Category Archives: Nandy Ekle

Atrayou and the Child Like Empress

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Atrayou and the Child Like Empress

By Nandy Ekle

“You must contact an earthling child,” the child-like empress says.

“An earthling child? Where do I find one?” Atrayou asks.

“You can only find an earthling child beyond the boundaries of Fantasia.”

This is one of the themes of the movie, The Neverending Story, one of my favorite children’s storiess. The theme simply means that your character must reach out to the reader. And so, how do we do that? How does a character reach beyond the boundaries of the page?

One of the first things to consider is who is the earthling child you are trying to reach? If you write romance, your audience is probably female. So your main character should be female. If you write for children, your character should be a child. Your character should be identifiable with your readers. They should have a lot of things in common.

When you connect with your reader, they will follow your character through the whole story. This is the object of your writing, to get the earthling child to go on the adventure with the character.

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

The Name Game

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The Name Game

By Nandy Ekle

A face materializes before your eyes. It belongs to a new character who has come to tell you their story. You see the hair and the color of their eyes; you hear their voice as you learn what they have to say. Then the time comes to name them.

Some characters come to us already named. A lot of times naming a character is easy because they have specific traits or a specific role. I like to choose names that have something to do with the story. I keep a baby name book handy and a bookmark to baby name sites that can tell me meanings of names. It just makes sense to have a depressed female character named Mara, or a very passive male character named Bob. Or a serial killer whose last name is Carver.

But sometimes a character comes to us with no particular name. This is a little more challenging. When this happens there are a few rules to help us name give our characters realistic names. To make them believable, we should take into account the story setting. Different names might indicate different regions or ethnic backgrounds. Time also makes a difference as to name trends. Clara might be an older woman and Brittney might be a younger one. Elizabeth is an older name while Sierra is a younger name.

Another thing to take into consideration is the type of character you have. A passive male character might be Bob, while a romantic male could be Collin or Mark. A cowboy could be Cody or Don and a bully might be Bruce or Oscar.

One thing to keep in mind is the rule of twist. How fun would it be to have a young child named Bertha, or an old man named Brylan. Or think of a gloomy woman named Susie and a bubbly woman named Morticia. But make sure there’s a reason for the twist or it becomes unbelievable.

And don’t forget the originality nicknames bring to a story.

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

Order From Chaos

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Order From Chaos

By Nandy Ekle

The kids fight to see who will be in bed first, but after getting there and pulling the covers over their heads, they lay awake listening for every little sound. Is Santa here yet, they ask each other in whispered voices so they won’t get in trouble on this night when they need to be extra, extra good. Eventually each child nods off, snores and dreams of a special toy they had fervently asked for.

Christmas morning the sun peeks in through the windows and every kid wakes up with a deep breath and the feeling that something has happened during the night. They jump from bed and run into the room where the tree stands sparkling. Their parents follow them with tired knowing looks on their faces. The presents are passed out and the chaos begins. Ribbons and paper fly through the air as the children rip it from the boxes to find the surprises hidden underneath.

As a young mother I would watch my own brood tear through the paper in less than fifteen minutes and shake my head. I had been a meticulous gift wrapper and the destruction often left me wondering why I took so much care. Then I would look at the mess of tags and ribbons and gibblets of paper all over the floor I kept vacuumed and clean and wondered why I bothered.

But when all the frantic unwrapping and opening and string cutting and shouting was over, the clean up came and life became normal again. And the happy looks my kids wore on their faces reminded me what it was all about.

So where am I going with this happy memory? Well, it occurred to me that the pantser style of writing, which is the way I write most of the time, is a lot like Christmas morning. I get an idea in my head that buzzes around enough to keep me from sleeping the way I should. As I lay awake at night thinking about the new characters and what they want and why they can’t have it without an adventure, every thought from kids’ lunch money to laundry can have a bearing on my story. When I finally get to sit at the computer to tune in to the voices telling me a story, I tear through the words as if they were simply thin tissue paper covering a secret surprise inside a box and the only way to get to the center of the adventure is to violently rip every shred of taped paper and fling it away.

Once the story is revealed, I can look around the room. It appears as though an explosion took place, only instead of bright colored paper, it’s words. Then comes the job of putting everything in order—tossing out the trash, rearranging scenes and characters, making sure all the little pieces are still there without a lot of extra stuff that doesn’t fit anything. When it’s all done, I see the look on my readers’ faces and remember what it’s all about.

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

Waxing Poetic

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Waxing Poetic

By Nandy Ekle

The world is full of things that are similar and things that are very different and we like to compare things to get a better understanding of them. So we use similes and metaphors.

Similes are when we say that something is like something else:  Leaves fell like ideas all around me, but the wind blew them away before I could gather them together. This is a tool to use in description, but also works well for narrating and dialogue. It’s probably the easiest to  understand in symbolic language.

Metaphor is when we use one object to describe another as if it is the other object: When the thermometer broke the silvery liquid inside dribbled to the floor. As this liquid reached the floor, it didn’t make a puddle but beads. I tried to pick one up, but it became liquid and rolled away before I could pick it up.

Two images that mean the same thing, both poetic ways of saying the same thing.

What simile and metaphor can you use in your story telling?

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

 

Experience the Season

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Experience the Season

By Nandy Ekle

Bright sparkly lights. Cold wind. The taste of peppermint. Festive music. The smell of burning wax from candles. The silvery icicles hung from the tree in our living room window. And magic in the air. These are my memories of Christmas as a child. My mother made new ornaments every year from Styrofoam balls and sequins. My dad wrapped presents and made his own bows. We three kids tried a little harder to get along so Santa wouldn’t bring us coal.

A very strong memory I have is of my parents collecting toys and fun things for a family we knew who were having a hard time. Mom and Dad took us shopping to help find little trinkets for the children of the family since we played together. Our job was to pick out dolls and hair brushes and pony tail holders, wrap them in the colorful paper, then be quiet and pretend we didn’t know anything about it. When my friend, the oldest daughter of the family, called to tell me about the sack of presents left on their porch Christmas Eve night, I had to act amazed to hear that such a thing happened, all the while giggling inside myself.

As an adult, wife, mother, grandmother, we have tried to make our own traditions. The endless baking. Sitting on the floor with gifts, paper, tape and ink pens spread out while I wrap presents. Gathering the same addresses every year for the Christmas cards.

I think in the past couple of years a new tradition has started. This one has nothing to do with the rest of the family, but has everything to do with feelings. The last few years I have woken up on a cold morning humming a song that inspires a new story. I sit at the computer as the sun slowly rises over the horizon and the magic of the season makes a new story appear on the “paper.” The best thing to do when that happens is to go with it. Let the memories, feelings and emotions of the holiday flow and you’ll probably find your best story.

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

Music to Write By

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Music to Write By

By Nandy Ekle

 I love all kinds of music and this time of year is rich with tunes. There are hymns to God as well as love to fellow man. There are songs about the magic of the season and joy of children learning about Christmas. And there are always love songs because this time of seems to inspire romance.

For the past few mornings I have woken up with a certain song in my head that I’ve heard on the Christmas radio station. It’s not necessarily a happy song, and that’s why it continues to play through my brain. I know there’s a story in that song.

When I hear the words, its’ easy to slide into that zone and visualize the confusion and torment the singer feels. I hear, see, and feel the whole thing play out. I can even smell the scents in the room where the holiday party is taking place. The character in my head picks up a nibble from a tray and I taste the morsel as he/she pops it into his/her mouth.

My job now is to write down what my character tells me through the song. I need to let go of the reins and let the zone overtake me completely to get my own words on paper.

Listen to one of your favorite Christmas songs and let your senses take over. Let the magic of the season write the story for you.

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

Nothing to See

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Nothing to See

By Nandy Ekle

I watched a movie the other day that gave me some inspiration. A man stood on the road with a little girl next to him.

“What do you see?” he asked her.

“You know, regular stuff.”

“Okay. Now what do you NOT see?”

That line blew my mind. I tried it the next day. I looked at my desk and listed all the things I could see there. I have pictures of my family, an Easy button, a goofy old trophy, telephone and computer.

So then I thought about what I didn’t see on my desk. I started with obvious things like the sun, kitchen sink, dog, and fried chicken. Before long I wasn’t seeing things like a superhero fighting a bad guy to save his girl, or a woman playing a practical joke by convincing the world she has a ghost. Once I wasn’t seeing those things, I also didn’t see the woman loved by the superhero realize how much she also loved him, and how the woman playing the practical joke had to learn a painful lesson.

You should give it a try.

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

Spaces

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Spaces

by Nandy Ekle

What is your writing space like? Do you like dark or bright? Do you like quiet or mild chaos or even outright bedlam? My space used to be child’s bedroom. The child grew up, moved out, and I got the room.

I painted the walls a green-blue-gray, what I call Right Before the Storm. There’s still a bed in there (have to have it for grandkids), but I’ve also put a good desk, a bookshelf and a file cabinet in there. Because I love trees and forests, my husband gave me a piece of redwood tree bark and a picture of the Redwood Forest. I have a haunted house calendar and a wooden plaque shaped and painted to look like an old manual typewriter. I also have a plastic clock that’s supposed to look like it’s melted.

There’s another object I have that I am very proud of. For my birthday this past year, my friend gave a black enamel candelabra that holds three candles. I told her I had always wanted to walk through a dark house holding a lit candelabra just like in an old gothic horror movie. She didn’t laugh at me or make me feel silly at all. In fact, she knew exactly what I meant.

I love to write dark themed stories and these things help get my mood set for a lot of horror fun. If you have trouble getting in the mood for your story, you might try rearranging your writing space. Sometimes the muse hides somewhere that’s been the same for a long time.

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

Dreaming the Impossible Dream

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Dreaming the Impossible Dream

by Nandy Ekle

 

This is not a political rave or rant, but I will be talking about the night of the election. We sat in our living room watching the news reports on the television and the computer at the same time. When “the fat lady sang,” we migrated to bed since we had to get up early for work. I lay there for a while with my eyes open, then they closed and I fell asleep. That’s when the adventure began.

Behind my closed eyes a dangerous new character made his presence known. It started with a knock on my front door. When my dream self answered the knock, he pushed the door open, entered my house and began to ransack my living room. As my night wore on, this character continued to wreak havoc.

The next morning I woke up feeling like I had visited another planet. I went to work and tried to do my job efficiently, but the new character stayed in my head all day. He had messed up my night and was now effecting my day.

When I got home I grabbed my computer and began to write. I had the beginning of a story that I started, but then it went nowhere. My new character fit perfectly in this story.

Congratulatioins. You have just received a post card from the use.

And So It Begins

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And So It Begins

By Nandy Ekle

November first. The madness launched twenty-one hours ago (from where I sit on the globe). The crazy, hilarious, maddening self-punishing NaNoWriMo began. For the next 29 days, I will perform all my daily tasks while breathing, eating, living in the dream world of my newest work in progress. I have 29 days to write the 50,000 words it will take to put the story down on the paper of my word processor.

I have not finished a NaNoWriMo yet, and this year I am actually starting a little behind the eight ball. The story I am writing began as a tiny seed in my brain about twenty years ago, so you’d think I’d have the whole thing worked out by now. Since deciding the time has come to commit to my young character, I have discovered several things I didn’t notice about her before.

So this morning, as I wrote the first words of her tale, an entirely new element of my character popped up. This new discovery is something that will take some research because I know nothing about cheerleading. I wrote a status on facebook asking for help from some of my friends with cheerleading children. I googled cheerleading stunts and found tons of information. However, since I have such a limited amount of time, I will simply write the highlights of my character’s activities.

Another thing I realized as I started this story is my limited knowledge about colleges around the country. So when the place came to name a famous college, I simply put in brackets {large college far away}.

The point is, in a mad dash to get words that make any kind of sense at all down on paper, the research does not have to be immediate. Simply put a note in your manuscript and you’ll remember to look it up later when speed is not the issue.

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