Category Archives: Writing

A Pinch of Rodeo – Dismount

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A Pinch of Rodeo

Dismount

By Joe R. Nichols

My dismount in bull riding was terrible. A guy should pull the tail of the rope through his hand, pick a spot to land, and bail off trying to land on his feet. This will keep you healthy. What did I do? Well, if I was fortunate enough to make the whistle, I just quit trying to stay on. Sometimes they would fling me, sometimes they would slam me, but it was never pretty.

Tabasco, of the C-T Rodeo Company, was a small red motley-faced bull with no horns. He would have to hurry to weigh 1100 pounds. What he lacked in size, he made up for in effort. He never went in the same pattern twice, always bucked hard, and kicked high. They didn’t ride him very often.

The other characteristic of this bull; he was extremely hot headed. He was fast and very difficult to get away from. Pound for pound, he was a bad little cat.

Richard had been on this bull four times, and rode him every time, but he was missing four shirts as a result. Nobody was better at getting off than Richard, and even though he hit the ground running, Tabasco would mow him down and stomp the shirt off of him. His advice to me, “You might want to make an effort and pay attention to your get-off. He’s not going to let you get away with your usual flop routine.”

I got him twisted, and I was determined to make a good exit. I had the tail of my rope across my leg, but every time I went to step off the right side, he jumped to the right. I tried to wait him out, but after three attempts, he clicked my feet behind me, laid me down over his neck, and then lofted me in the air. After completing a somersault, I landed face up directly in front of him. I don’t know why he spared me, but he gave a snort and left. Never touched me.

This made my friend mad. “I can’t believe that,” he ranted. “I do everything right to get away from him, and he chases me down and hooks my clothes off. You just flop out there on your back like a fish out of water, and he don’t even look at you. I mean you were right there in front of him. That ain’t right.”

I laughed, although he never meant any of his words to be funny.

A short time later, I drew the bull again. Richard never said a word to me before the ride.

This time, Tabasco was spinning to the left when the buzzer sounded, and then he drained me off to the inside. I was on my feet with my hand still in the rope. I really wasn’t hung up, it was mostly a symptom of not being able to get any distance between us. He leaped and kicked and twisted, slung his head, and bucked all around me, but he never disturbed a single thread on my clothes. The bullfighter tried to get him to line out, but Tabasco payed him no mind. Finally, in desperation, the clown grabbed me around the neck and tipped over backwards, pulling me loose. There we were, laying side by side on our backs, with ol’ Tabasco breathing down on us. Never touched us.

When I saw Richard behind the chutes, he shook his head in disgust. “That proves it,” he said. “God takes care of children and idiots.”

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.

PUDDING

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PUDDING

By Sharon Stevens

My husband was preparing supper on the stove. He does it all the time and I, for one, am so very proud that he does. But this is not what my blog is about this week.

I decided that I wanted to have a little sweetness after the meal and found packages of JELLO pudding up in the cabinet. After choosing “cheesecake”, my favorite, and reading the directions I gathered everything together and began to mix. One problem became apparent though. The instructions said to mix for two minutes. Well my husband was at the stove and the timer was on the microwave aboveYou may think this was no big deal. “Tell him to punch in the time” you say. “Yea right”, I say. By the time he turned from the stove to ask how many minutes, and then by the time he turned back around to set the timer, and then by the time he asked me again, “how many minutes?” the whole shebang would be over. I know this from past experience. Of course there is no way you can ever ruin JELLO pudding. They give so much leeway when you purchase the product. The directions are just guidelines not set in stone. The company just wants you to mix until everything is mixed together and a little more.

You see I can’t even bake bread, or a decent cake, or brownies. Just because the recipe says to cook in a 350-degree oven for thirty minutes this doesn’t mean MY oven or MY temperature or even MY minutes. And when they say cook until the surface springs back, or that a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, well then Heaven help us! This just doesn’t apply to me.

So many times we have the same problem in our writing. How can we ever know it is done? We keep mixing and adding until the most basic recipe is lost in translation. Sometimes we step back to let it preheat or to stew just a little bit thinking this will fix it. Oftentimes the results are far worse. If I stirred the pudding mix for 1.35 minutes or 3.24 minutes I really don’t think it will ruin the final dish. What destroys the original is the distress we insert as we go. We may be mad or angry and our spoons become our weapon. We may be happy or sad and the same utensils we laid out in the very beginning become a symbol for our tears of joy or pain. Under mix or over mix, you just never know.

After we ate the “sloppy Joe’s” my husband made for supper, he dished himself up a bowl of desert. I didn’t tell him he was in the way so I couldn’t set the timer. I NEVER want to discourage his time at the stove. I hope when he tasted my contribution that he couldn’t tell that I didn’t mix it for the exact amount of time the instructions on the box called for.

My sweet husband told me he liked it and that’s all that matters.

Must be that the proof was in the pudding.

The Choice

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Outtakes 84

 

The Choice

By Cait Collins

 

I was once asked which one of my senses I would be willing to give up.  The choice was mine. Did I want to live without my sight, my hearing, the sense of smell, taste or touch? I didn’t know how to respond then, and I don’t know how I would answer now.

I cannot imagine not seeing another sunrise or watching kids make snow angels. I’d miss the fall colors and baby smiles. Imagine going through life and not hearing the gentle rain fall, the voice of a loved one, a child’s laughter. How I love the smell of fresh baked cookies and the scents of the forest on a spring day.  What if I could not taste the spicy bite of my sister’s enchiladas or the slight bitterness of dark chocolate? Touch might be an obvious choice, but then again I’d never feel the downy softness of a rose petal or the feathery paper birch bark as I peel it from the tree trunk. The choice is more difficult because I’ve been blessed to have all my senses. I know what I would be missing.

Test your writing skills. Your protagonist regains consciousness following an accident. He cannot (see, hear, smell, taste, or feel). You select the lost sense. How does the character react to the news?  Is the loss temporary or permanent? What ordeals and obstacles are faced and battled on the road to recovery?   Try writing the scenes with each of the senses and note the differences in response and recovery depending on the missing sense.

Enjoy the exercise.

2013 Frontiers in Writing Contest

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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 along with your entry.

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

Sponsored by the Panhandle Professional Writers

Characterization Part 4

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Characterization Part 4

By Natalie Bright

 

Characters with Attitude

Based on previous blogs, you now know the history of your characters. You also know what makes them tick emotionally.  It’s great that you know so much about your characters, but you can’t use it in your novel. Do not bore the reader to death with too much back story.

When I lunch with writer friends or meet with my critique group, we have in-depth conversations about our character’s motivations. We question their motives because characters should ‘stay in character’ for the entire novel. I’m reading a book now where the main character steals money from a classmate and plans a trip with a fake passport. I’m totally bummed. I really liked this character and now I don’t. To me this action seemed out of character for the person I thought she was. (But it doesn’t really matter because I’m not the author, and ultimately we can write our story the way we want to.)

As you write, you will only reveal a small amount of the history you’ve created.  Knowing that background is crucial for it will shape how they act and speak. Their personality and attitude will come through as they face the conflict in your plot. You will reveal your character through dialogue, their actions, and how they respond to conflict.

If the main character is only nine, remember his ideas will be shaped by the experiences he had in those nine years. He hasn’t lived a lifetime yet.

Profiling

Put some serious thought and effort into profiling your characters. Identify specific strengths and weaknesses. If you believe they’re real, readers will believe your characters are real too and will care about their story. For example, author and teacher, DeWanna Pace, pointed out that in most main stream action/adventure stories the strengths of the hero overcomes the strengths of the villain. In the case of romances, the strengths of the hero and heroine combine to overcome the conflict in the plot line. You’ve got to know their strengths and weakness in order to intertwine these traits into the plot.

Heroes have Flaws / Villains have Reaons.

Develop a detailed profile for each of your main characters.

For the protagonist, assign three likable traits and one bad trait. These can be internal or external, emotional or physical. Having bright red hair can be a good or bad trait, for example, depending on the circumstances you’ve set-up for your character. Your main character may whine and complain constantly, but please, give your readers something to like about her. Otherwise, we could care less how her story ends.

For the antagonist, assign three bad traits and one redeeming quality. Give your villain one good trait that makes him likable. Maybe he has a deep love for his mother. Perhaps your antagonist is worldly and extremely beautiful, but evil to the core.

Interview your characters to determine their motivations. You can do this through a structured exercise or by free writing. Start writing in first person from your characters head, and see what they can tell you. Phyliss Miranda uses this method and highlights the traits as they are revealed in the manuscript, which helps her make sure she doesn’t repeat the same information.

I attended a workshop given by a romance author who creates astrological signs for her hero and heroine. The conflicts and commonalities are determined by a star chart, and then she fills in the setting and plot line to construct their journey to find love. Also, there is David Freeman’s “Diamond Technique”, basic Metaprograms test, or “The Hero’s Journey” concept of plotting.  

Character development continues next Monday. Stay tuned!

Pressure

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A Pinch of Rodeo

By Joe R. Nichols

Pressure

Dealing with pressure is a big part of winning.

I arrived at my Mom and Dad’s house around five in the afternoon. “Your Dad has been in such a dither about you riding in this rodeo,” Mom confided in me.

“Why?” I asked.

“Well, they interviewed the stock contractor on the radio. He predicted you will win the bronc riding because you drew his best horse. Everyone has been asking Nick about it. It’s got him so nervous he can’t hardly stand it.”

Then Dad came in from doing chores. “Whats this horse you’ve got tonight?” he demanded.

“Red River. He’s a good one.”

“Well, can you ride him?”

I laughed as I explained that I could, and that I already had ridden him several times.

“Well Floyd’s been on the radio chirping about how you have this National Finals bucking horse and you’re gonna win the rodeo. Everyone in Saline county must of heard it. I go to the sale barn, and I got quizzed about it by everybody. Then down at the hardware store, they all had to interrogate me some more. It’s just crazy. Why would Floyd do such a dumb thing?”

“I don’t know. Sounds like a pretty bold thing to say.”

“I wish he’d of kept his mouth shut.”

Mom laughed, as she looked my way, “He’s been like this all week.”

Riding in the hometown rodeo and having the opportunity to win it, might have caused a little nervousness, but I could handle that. This was much different.

A fear of failure welled up inside me. I couldn’t bare the thought of my father having to deal with all his friends if I got bucked off.

When I prepared to ride that night, my mouth was so dry I couldn’t spit. I tried to get myself relaxed and loose, but that sick feeling would not go away.

Who ever drew Red River always went last. The announcer built the tension for the big climax as I settled in to my saddle. I called for the gate, and left the chute with a strong mark-out. I was anxious to get the motion started, but I held my spurs in the neck long enough to feel the timing. The red bronc circled to the right, having his normal good trip.

Dad had good luck that night, and I did win that rodeo. Afterword’s, I went up to where my folks were sitting. I sat down beside Dad. With a big heaving sigh he said, “Man, I’m glad that’s over!”

“Me too.”

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.

Blizzard

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Outtakes 83

Blizzard

By Cait Collins

 

The Texas Panhandle was hit by a blizzard on Monday, February 25. Officially, Amarillo received 19 inches of snow, but the hurricane force winds blew that 19 inches into 2.5 to 7 foot drifts. By mid-morning, roads into and out of the city in all directions were closed. The National Guard was called out to assist first responders in reaching stranded motorists. In some areas, authorities were stopping travelers and sending them back. Motels and hotels were full and shelters were opened. Power was out in some areas of Amarillo. I called my 97-year old friend who was without electricity and heat for a short time. I was terrified when she told me about losing power. Thankfully, she is okay.

My family was lucky. Most of us got a snow day. One sister was at work at 5AM, Her company ordered the closing at 1PM. By this time, she was snowed in the parking lot. Her employees and a couple of patrons helped her out. She made it home about thirty minutes later, but got stuck when she tried to turn into the alley. Another driver stopped and helped her get her vehicle to the side of the road.

The storm has moved on and the clean-up has begun. My sidewalks are clear and the ice and snow removed from my front door. I still have to take care of the drift behind my car and help my sister clear the huge drift behind her car. Her side of the parking lot got the worst of the drifting. We joined a neighborhood dig out. Together, we cleared the snow and put each other in position to go to work on Wednesday.

One of the young men in the group had just moved to Amarillo. This was his first blizzard. He told me he did not enjoy this. The truth is none of us like these storms. They disrupt lives and increase our stress levels. Thankfully, we don’t get this much snow very often. The good news is 19 inches of snow equals about an inch and a half of rain. That’s moisture our farmers and ranchers desperately need. While I don’t enjoy the inconvenience, I will not complain. This snow will help the economy of the Panhandle.

I am going to complain a bit. I’m cold and my neck, shoulders, and arms hurt. I’m sure that by morning moving will be difficult. But I had fun and got to meet new people. Now it’s time for a hot bubble bath, a glass of wine, and a good book. Tonight I just want to relax, enjoy a bowl of stew, and watch my favorite TV shows. I’ll get back to writing tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day.

What Do You Know?

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What Do You Know?

By Rory C. Keel

That is an interesting question. I greeted a young man I hadn’t seen in a while by asking him “What do you know?” It would have been really interesting if he had replied with a long string of facts or some secret revelation that would make a good story. This would help with the dilemma of where to get a story, or what to write about?

This is one of the great mantras of the writing field. Let’s explore what this means.

Physical

First, write what you know about the physical truths.

Describe what an object or a location looks like. What are the sounds or smells that would help you explain where you are or what you’re doing? What kind of textures do you feel when you touch it? These are the physical attributes of a subject.

Emotional

Secondly, write about the emotional truths. When writing about the emotional aspect of a situation, describe the feelings of the reality of the moment you are writing. These emotions create the mood of the “now” moment of your story. This creates believability and connects the reader to the action. When the reader “feels” emotions along with the characters and senses the mood of the setting, the reader will accept your story.