Category Archives: Nandy Ekle

Let’s Talk

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Let’s Talk

By Nandy Ekle

“Hi. My name is Main Character.” He raised his hand in a wave.

“Hi, Main Character. My name is Nemesis.” He nodded toward Main Character.

Main Character smiled. “It’s good to meet you.”

“Thank you. It’s good to meet you too.”

Main Character looked past Nemesis’ shoulder and Nemesis looked down at the floor. The clock ticked an awkward moment.

Main Character jerked his face back to Nemesis’ face as a flash of thought passed through his mind. “We’re supposed to inspire writers to write a believable dialogue.”

A light snapped on in Nemesis’ eyes. “Oh. Do you mean, like, actually sounding like two people having a conversation instead of sounding like two sides of the same person?”

“Yes. That’s right.” Main Character smiled while his head moved up and down.

“I see.  How do you think a good writer does that?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Main Character said, “Well, I think they have to just almost actually hear two different people speaking and write what they say exactly the way it’s said.”

Nemesis’ eyes darken slightly. “Ya’ know, Mainy, I do b’lieve you jes’ hit da nail rat own its big ol’ head.”

“Yes. And that means the writer needs to know his characters very well.” He took a coupe of steps backward.

“Yore galdern rat ‘bout dat dar rule.” Nemesis took a couple of steps forward toward Main Character.

Main Character turned his head and looked over his shoulder for the door behind him, then he looked back at Nemesis. His brow was lined with worry. “So, do you have any advice to add to that?”

Nemesis stopped moving and lookd up into space as if an idea would appear like a light bulb. “Well . . . yeah. They prolly need to make shore dem readers know who’s tawkin’ when. ‘Cause, like us? We ain’t just standing still flappin’ our gums. We’re acchully doing’ sumpin’”

“That’s right,” Main Character said.

Nemesis grinned a dark toothy grin. Yeah.” He turned to look at the person reading their dialogue. “Got that, reader? Now.” He paused and leaned forward until his nose nearly touched the reader’s nose. The dark light came back to his eyes. “Go do it!”

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

Announcement

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Announcement 

By Nandy Ekle

This year’s spring season seems to be here. Spring is that time of year when young things are born and older things take deep breaths of relief. The harsh ice storms are getting further apart and the sun becomes stronger. The new world can’t wait to open up.

We’ve been locked indoors all winter watching the weather beat us with wind and snow. And what have we done while avoiding opening the front door? Hopefully we’ve been putting our perceptions of the world on paper. We’ve created places and people in impossible situations. We’ve spent time away from our own cold dark days having adventures that are meant to warm everyone who reads them.

With the spring sun the leaves bud on the trees, the flowers bloom and your work needs a place to go. And I have the perfect place!

The Panhandle Professional Writers right here in Amarillo, Texas, is sponsoring a writing contest called Frontiers in Writing. Get your winter stories, dress them up and send them off to be read and judged. Money prizes wait for you. Professional eyes wait for you. Prestige waits for you. Your fans wait for you.

I just have one question: What are YOU waiting for?

www.Panhandleprowriters.org.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

The Gift Of An Author

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

The Gift Of An Author

By Nandy Ekle

 

Imagine walking down a hallway of closed doors. Each door has a plaque above it with the title of a story, and a few doors have plaques with no words on them as if waiting for a name. You hear voices behind every one and knocking comes from the other side of two or three at the same time. You’re standing in front of a door listening to loud, insistent pounding and a voice calling your name over and over. You reach out to turn the knob and realize it’s locked and you don’t have a key.

Where is the key? That door was just opened a few days ago and you visited with the voices behind it like gossiping neighbors. Why is it locked so tightly now?

This is how I imagine writer’s block. It’s frustrating and scary and can even be debilitating. It’s like losing eyesight or a hand. And I’ve been there lately.

These are the times I turn to my good friends Stephen King, J.K. Rowling and a myriad of other flourishing writers. I open a successful book written by one of these masters and beg them to instruct me once again about writing again. I get lost in their stories and feel them tug at the door with me.

Then the miracle happens. As I turn the page, enrapt in the worlds they created, I find the key to the door. I slip it into the keyhole and feel the lock turn, allowing the door to open. My characters run out and embrace me as my hands fly across the keyboard of my computer once more.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

Snowbanks

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Snowbanks

 By Nandy Ekle

A rare occurrence happened this week. Snowpacolypse struck. This area of the world is usually very dry. We get occasional snow, even a little rain from time to time, but an actual dumping of snow is fairly rare.

So for two days we were stuck in the house waiting for the wind to stop howling and screeching through our chimney. When all had moved on, we cautiously stuck our heads out the door.

The whole entire yard was covered with the sparkling white blanket.  I stood looking at the beautiful scene and thought about a scene from a book I read as a kid. Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about snow so deep that her pa had to dig tunnels from their house to the other parts of their homestead.

Strange weather makes an excellent backdrop for a story. The storm could be part of the conflict, almost like a character. Or the storm could simply be the setting. It could be the staging or the glue that holds the whole story together. Or it could be helpful in bringing about the conclusion.

Use the weather around you to help your characters learn something.

Congratulations.  You have just received a post card from the muse.

The End

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

The End

By Nandy Ekle

 I need to end my story. I brought the character through the adventure, but at the critical point, she just froze in mid air. Now, a year later, I need to bring the whole thing together to end it.

I know a character has to want something. The whole point of a story is to illustrate a character pursuing a desire. They might want a relationship with a lover. They might want a new career. They might want safety, health, recognition, or even invisibility. And so they strike out on an adventure to get what they want.

The next element of a good story is something blocking their way. This problem could be in the form of a natural disaster, such as a tornado or hurricane. It could be another person, such as a wicked witch or an evil step-mother. Or the problem could be within the character herself. She might want the thing, but be afraid to get it or have a feeling of unworthiness.

Another element is the theme of the story. This is the general reason for the whole tale. The character goes through the adventure to learn a life lesson. This is the glue that holds the whole story together. Why does the character want to save her stale marriage? Maybe she tells herself she doesn’t want to lose the comfort of routine and join the ranks of single mothers. But maybe deep down inside she really loves her husband and wants his attention back on her.

So how does the story end? Your character will learn the lesson and either live happily ever after or be sadder but wiser.

And don’t forget the twist. In order to twist the end, you have to know a secret about your character and keep that secret until the very end. Our lady character above loves her husband and misses his attention. So her imagination goes on a rant and builds suspicion, convincing her his attentions are on another woman. He’s distracted, works long hours, smells like cigarettes when he gets home and goes directly to sleep. What she doesn’t know, and my readers don’t know (until the last page) is that her husband has developed superhero powers and spends his evenings fighting crime with a sidekick. Her marriage is saved, their love is renewed and the reader gets a fun little surprise as a reward for sticking with the character through her whole adventure.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

Calling All Writers!

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Calling All Writers!

By Nandy Ekle

We need writers. We need writers who have unpublished stories, poems or articles. We need writers who have unpublished stories, poems or articles who love being read. We need writers who have unpublished stories, poems or articles who love being read and critiqued. We need writers who have unpublished stories, poems or articles who love being read and critiqued and who also love winning prizes.

Did that cover it all?

Our FiW Contest opened for submission January 1, 2013 and will stay open until       April 1, 2013. So get your entries sent in. You can find the rules and registration page on the website – panhadleprowriters.org – and in the Windows Newsletter. Or you can write directly to me for more information. My email is keelnancy@yahoo.com.

I’ll see you guys in the contest!

The Puzzle

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

The Puzzle

 By Nandy Ekle

I took a walk through my hall of unfinished stories. My hand brushed along the half filled pages, fingertips touching each and every one. As I passed by a lonely little three-page rag, I noticed a sparkle from its eye. So I picked it up and read its words.

Three pages, around 1000 words. My character spoke so loudly I was mesmerized. I felt her loneliness and her growing neurosis. I could see her problem clearly. Goosebumps the size of watermelons grew on my arms and my scalp tingled. Then, at the bottom of page three, the whole thing came to an abrupt stop in the middle of a paragraph.

It’s been about a year since I wrote those three pages and several other stories have channeled themselves through me. I looked at the blank space at the bottom of the page and felt lost. Where was this going? What was my aim? The girl had shown me her problem, but the reason for the problem was gone, along with the ultimate outcome.

But I can’t scrap it. And so I will put on Doctor Freud’s hat and figure out the rest of the story. Number one – she definitely has a problem brewing. And I think I can see exactly what it is. Number two – why is this a problem? Well, because there’s something she wants. I need to remember what her greatest wish is. Number three – what will this desire cost her? Hhhmmm. A little trickier. I need to know her a little better to remember the things most important to her. Reading what I have a few more times will help me with that. Number four – can she achieve what she wants, and if she does, is it really what’s best for her?

As you can see, my work is cut out for me. My muse stands in the corner of my writing space staring at me like a stern math teacher waiting for me to work the equation and get the right answer. However I think I have enough to go on with my three pages, and maybe a few hints from my silent muse.

Congratulatios. You have just received a post card from the muse.

Submitaphobia

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Submitaphobia 

Picture a girl covered in filthy rags and smudges of dirt on her face. We don’t know if she’s beautiful or not because of the stringy hair that covers her eyes and the spots of dirt and ash on her cheeks. This is our story’s first draft, like when you are in a hurry to get supper cooked and ingredients and silverware seem to land all over the kitchen.

Now you take a warm wet wash cloth and wash your girl’s face. You brush and arrange her hair. Then you take the dirty rags she wears and burn them, handing her a fine ball gown that glistens and sparkles and heralds perfection. You dress her in that gown and step back and say, “What a perfect beauty I have created!”

Of course, the metaphor is easy to see. You have edited and re-edited and re-edited your story and brought it to the closest thing to perfection you have ever read. And you’re bursting with pride.

So the next thing you do with your beautiful perfect princess-like girl is shove her in a closet and lock the door. This is what happens when you suffer from submitaphobia.

The only cure for such a disease is to remove the –aphobia and send your darling out to the ball. She will never meet the prince locked in the closet.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

Nandy Ekle

Will There Be Blood

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Will There Be Blood

By Nandy Ekle

Intense labor. Sweat pours out of my skin. My fingers fly as my character talks to me. A lot of work goes into writing a story.

Sometimes the work is putting my hands on the keyboard. Sometimes the work is typing it all before the story leaves. Sometimes the work is holding the idea while I get to a good writing place.

Today the idea that has been rolling in my head for two months grew legs and walked onto the page. I opened the computer, put my fingers on the keys and the character appeared on the screen. She spoke and told me her story and I wrote it exactly as she said it.

When I finish the story, more work waits for me. The proofreading, editing and polishing will begin. This is where the blood comes in. Cutting the unnecessary words from the manuscript is like surgery.

And yes, there will be blood.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.

A Place To Go

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

A Place To Go

By Nandy Ekle

Now that you have a creation ready for the world to love, where do you send it? Here is an excellent suggestion.

 Announcing

2013 Frontiers in Writing Contest

Now Open For Entries 

For one low entry fee you can now enter multiple categories

Cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in EVERY CATEGORY. 

Go to:

www.Panhandleprowriters.org

Entry rules, procedures and format regulations are listed on the

FiW Writing Contest Page 

Download FiW entry application and mail with your entry.

Entry fees can be check, money order, or pay online using “Payments” on the PPW website.

Sponsored by the Panhandle Professional Writers