Category Archives: Writing

PHONE HOME

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PHONE HOME

By Sharon Stevens

 

“The only hope is at home.”

Matt Laur

Recently on a trek out of town my husband and I stopped at a convenience store in Clayton New Mexico. As always I picked up the local newspaper and came across an article from fifty years ago dated October 3, 1962.

Operators of the local telephone company quickly rushed Mrs. Brown, and Jeanine Brown, sister of Charles G. Brown, to the R.E.A. office. On three extension phones the family had a fine time visiting for 22 minutes with Charles, stationed 450 miles north of Tokyo on the Korean front lines. Charge for the 22-minute (phone) conversation was $88 plus taxes, which made for the total of $105.60. The Browns think it was worth it.  

Without a doubt I know what transpired. When the call came in one of the office workers was sent on a mission to locate Mrs. Brown and Jeanine. They may have been at the dry good store, the soda or the beauty shop or any of the other shopping opportunities. Wherever they roamed in town someone was able to find, and then rush them to the office for the long distance chat with a loved one so far away.

Oh the wonder and beauty of small town life!

Today at the Buffalo Bookstore Connor Woods, a young WTAMU student on staff with The Prairie came in researching information about local authors and writers. Within minutes we had pulled articles and books from the entire panhandle area and shared the rich treasury that surrounds us.

This reminded me of the time when I was working on our heritage project fifteen years ago. I had visited with LaRae Scott at the Canyon Public Library. Within the hour she had pulled over 300 sites so that I could link to the research I was interested in.

As writers we can visit with anyone at any time about some facet of our story. There will be someone, somewhere that can connect us further or lead us in the right direction. Every person at our public, college, or museum libraries will guide us with the information not only at their fingertips, but also within their heart. Many have a passion that just cries for expression.

This week celebrates the release thirty years ago of Steven Spielburg’s, “E.T.” and Elliot’s ride across the moonlit sky so the Extra Terrestrial could PHONE HOME. I wonder if it would have taken E.T. so long to get to his destination if they had visited a local librarian and researched how to call his family. How much would it have been worth if they enlisted the help of someone knowledgeable.

And a reminder that we will be celebrating Homecoming week for WTAMU. The theme for this year is COME HOME and reminds alumni and community alike to return to gather together on behalf of our college and its rich heritage and legacy.

Come enjoy the Homecoming parade, Fair on the Square and all the festivities Canyon has to offer. It will be well worth it. After all, we are already Home.

The Politicians

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Outtakes 63

 The Politicians

 By Cait Collins

These days you just can’t escape it. Turn on the television and you are bombarded by political ads. The news media spends 95% of the program reporting who said what, who lied, and who flip-flopped. It almost makes you want to unplug the TV until after Election Day. But if we were to do that, we’d miss some really great characters. Think about all the flaws and flubs; the wow and brilliant. Some of it is really sad, and other times you just shake your head in disbelief. Or you think, “I wish I had thought of that comeback.”

I find it easier to write scenes with corrupt politicians. The bad guys are everywhere. They are not unique to one party. All political parties have their less than honorable candidates. They plot and scheme their way into office. They can be subtle or overtly evil. They kiss babies and in the next breath throw an underling under the bus. You got to love these guys even while you hate them. They make good reading.

On the other hand, there’s something to be said for the incorruptible candidate. He’s the baby-faced guy who doesn’t look old enough to shave. The opposition considers him clueless or simple. Don’t be fooled by the innocence. Our guy is brilliant. He masks his determination and ability with a broad smile and hearty handshake. His opponent smirks thinking the goody-two-shoes has no chance to win. He underestimates Mr. Smooth and paves the road to his own down fall.

So here’s your challenge. Pick an elected office. It doesn’t have to be a national position. Your candidates may vie for any office. Write two character sketches; one for the sleaze and one for I-aim-to-please. Avoid the clichés and cardboard characteristics. You want the candidates to have depth and layers. Trade the sketches with critique partners and friends and have them cast ballots for their favorites. May the best man win.

A child can ask a million questions.

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A child can ask a million questions.

by Rory C. Keel

We encourage children to ask questions because it indicates that a child wants to learn and fill his mind with knowledge. This is the way they develop the skills to reason and the ability to know about the world that surrounds them. To a parent though, there is one question that can grate on every last nerve. “Why?”

The question “why” can cause various reactions in adults, from a simple frown to a severe nervous tick, and sometimes bordering on the edge of insanity, especially when it’s repeated like bullets from a machine-gun, “Why is this…? Why does he…? Why did it…? Why? Why? Why?”

Why does this question aggravate parents? Because we feel obligated to answer every “why.” Yet we may not have the answer. Our mind is forced to think rapidly.

What does this have to do with writing?

Ask questions

Asking questions will bring out specific information that will bring your writing to life.

As you begin the research on your story idea ask the question, “What if…?” about every detail of your story and keep a list.

What if the (main character) is a male or female, alien or animal?

What if the sky is cloudy or clear?

What if it is hot or cold?

Write down every question and answer that comes to mind, even if it seems “off-the-wall” weird.

When you have run out of “What if…?” questions ask, “What is expected?” And in turn ask, “What is unexpected?”

These questions will beg you to answer them and force you to open your mind to endless possibilities to create and keep your story moving along.

Do you feel compelled to answer all the questions?

 

A Writer Writes

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Middle Grade Mondays

A Writer Writes

Burn the Candle at Both Ends if You Have To

By Natalie Bright

NYTimes and USA Today bestselling novelist and author of 37 books spoke at the Frontiers in Writing dinner in Amarillo this past summer, an event sponsored by Panhandle Professional Writers.

Jodi Thomas [www.jodithomas.com] talked about the changing landscape of writing. “I started a career as a home economics teacher, thinking that there would always be a need for Home Ec Teachers. Then I turned to writing. The first book I tackled was an historical novel, thinking that there would always be a fan base for that genre.”

Today she finds herself in the middle of fulfilling a contract for a contemporary series taking place in her fictitious Texas town of Harmony.  What started out as a trilogy has turned into at least a seven book series, and possibly eleven.

Today’s changing landscape of the publishing industry offers many opportunities for writers and it all boils down to a writer writes. She encouraged us to treat writing like we would any other job. Set a schedule, make and meet daily writing goals, don’t complain that your family doesn’t understand. Jodi said, “If it’s important to you, then it’s your job to make them understand.”

Today’s changing marketplace is one of the best times to be a writer. The markets are exploding and the demand for creative people has never been greater. “Set your own time to write and burn the candle at both ends.” Jodi told us.  “For some of us we’re not running away from life by writing—we’re running towards it. Do what you love even if it’s not going to be easy.”

She left us with a verse from a poem by Edna Vincent Millay:

My candle burns at both ends

It will not last the night

But oh my foes and oh my friends

It gives a lovely light

 Natalie Bright

www.nataliebright.com

NANO NANO

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

NANO NANO

By Nandy Ekle

It’s almost here! I can feel it in the air and smell it everywhere I go. There are whispers of excitement all over the world! Writers everywhere are gearing up, tucking in, researching, outlining, planning, reading, listening to music, dancing, whatever else they do to get ready for National Novel Writing Month.

November has been deemed National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, also affectionately known as NaNo. And what a month of adventures this has come to be. For thirty days a writer is encouraged to live totally inside their story. If you join the website, which, by the way, is absolutely free, you can register as a writer and meet thousands of other writers, make new writer friends, and converse about writing things twenty-four hours a day. But that’s only a small part of NaNo.

The goal of every November is to write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days. This actually can be done with a lot of discipline, commitment, perseverance and support from those around you. Yes, the 40-hour a week job still has to be done so you can buy groceries and soap to do the laundry that also still has to be done. But the rest of your waking hours, and some of your sleeping hours, will go into the story you have been waiting all year to put down on paper during this adventurous month.

The rules are simple. Write a novel of at least 50,000 words. It must be a brand new piece of work, meaning not one single word of the story has been written before. You are allowed to research and outline before you begin, but not actually start the story. And believe me, you will want to do as much research before November first as you can so that the rest of your time will be for writing.

It’s a very fun, challenging and exciting month. The work you produce will in no way be publishable, but it will be a novel-length manuscript giving you something to build on. The NaNo site even has a list of published books that were written as NaNo books.

Go to  http://www.nanowrimo.org to register. Look around and search for Nandy Ekle. I’ll need all the support I can get!

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

SUITCASE

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SUITCASE

by Sharon Stevens

 In the movie, “Hope Springs” written by Vanessa Taylor, I was struck by the scene in the hotel room where Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep were packing to come home from their marriage retreat led by Steve Carell. They were having a very heated exchange as they disagreed on the purpose for coming. In anger Meryl folded her clothes into the new suitcases she had bought specially for the occasion.

What touched me more than anything is that it seemed her clothes were swallowed by the darkness inside that could never be filled. No matter how many clothes she had brought with her they would hardly cover the bottom of the bag.

After they returned home, she and her husband had reached an impasse and she was packing to leave. This time though there wasn’t enough space in her suitcase for all her memories and treasured moments from the marriage. She sat down on her bed and looked around the room at family pictures, the walls, the curtains, the windows, the carpet, and her dresser filled with the silly odds and ends all mothers and wives savor. Her face was terribly sad as she realized the suitcase wouldn’t close,…couldn’t close, with all the things she wanted to tuck inside. How do you choose what you leave behind?

What a wonderful image to explain going from an exciting adventure all the way through to horrific pain and distress.

I loved this movie for so many different reasons. Of course my husband and I saw this from totally different perspectives. I know that even the most perfect marriages have baggage dragging them down.  But what I saw from my side of the bed was thoughts not only about discord in everyone’s life, but about the writer who wrote the story, and the screenwriter who transferred it to the screen. I wondered what they packed in their suitcase to help them write their saga.

I have so much trouble packing my bags for any journey because I know I can’t stuff everything I treasure for the trip. In fact there will never be enough bags in the world, or big enough to handle the volume. And the weight charge would be greater than the national debt.

In “Hope Springs” there were only seconds in these two scenes to impact my psyche to store away in my soul for future reference. Powerful thoughts to help remind me when I get stranded somewhere down the road. I have no idea where, or why, or when these will reconnect, but I am quite sure they will be seen again when I reach my destination. Then I can unzip the bags, empty them onto the bed, unfold my clothes, and then either wear them or put them away.

As writers we sometimes ponder the big picture when our focus should be on the simple scenes in our life. We have a duty to break it down in smaller bags. We can’t pack it all in and expect the reader or the viewer to comprehend our innermost thoughts. I admit I am the world’s worst in trying to stuff every moment inside hoping at least one idea will be understood. I have to work on that not only with everything I write, but everything I say and do.

Terrible habit I have. I’ll work on that.

The most important mission we have as writers is that we need to know when we pen those wonderful scenes straight from the heart that someone out there will be touched enough to remember and relate.

And also we need to be aware that we should weave a story worthy of someday being good enough for our work to appear on the big screen, our words spoken by the greatest Hollywood stars, with direction from A-list directors.

After all, who by far is better than a writer to understand the meaning behind one egg over easy at the beginning of the movie, and TWO eggs cooking in the skillet in the final thoughts?

As I am finishing this, the Mitt Romney and Barack Obama presidential debate is playing in the background. I wonder not only what they packed in their bags to prepare them for their thoughts, but what their wives packed as well. After all, it is the anniversary of Barack and Michelle Obama.

Highlighters, Red Pens, Sticky Notes, and Flags

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Outtakes 62 Release

Highlighters, Red Pens, Sticky Notes, and Flags

By Cait Collins

There comes a time when every writer must step out of the author box and enter the editor arena. As difficult as creating the story might be, editing is, in my opinion, worse. As writers, we tend to become attached to work. We lose sight of the bigger picture. Every scene has special meaning, the characters are our children. Here’s the reality check. Failure to objectively review our stories and make critical edits lessens the chance of publication.

This is my formula for making the final edits on my novel. I print the entire work. Being a dinosaur, I work better with a printed copy than the computer screen. While the printer is cranking out the pages, I gather my supplies: yellow, blue, pink, and green highlighters, red pens, neon colored sticky notes, and sticky flags. I pour a glass of my favorite wine, gather up the pages of my novel, and curl up on the couch to read.

The first read is for the overall story. I highlight areas that might not contribute to the plot or storyline. Sticky notes are attached for research into customs, geology, history, legal issues, etc. Flags denote possible continuity issues such as name spellings, hair or eye color, time line problems. If the work has an awkward time frame or is too long, I will sketch a screenplay and treatment. These instruments help me to see where I can make cuts or adjustments in the novel. They also give me a second product to submit.

The next step is a chapter-by-chapter review of the notes from my critique group. I do not make corrections following each critique meeting. I’ve found I spend too much time editing the completed chapters and less time finishing the work. Once the novel is finished, I have a better idea of the necessary changes based on the notes. After reviewing a chapter, I will make the corrections in the computer work file. Finally, I do a final read for typo’s, grammar and punctuation errors, word echoes, and tense errors. Now I have a completed work ready for submission.

My method may seem tedious, but it works for me. It allows me to view the novel with an objective eye and submit a quality product. The point is that every writer must develop their own system for editing. There are no rights and wrongs. It’s simply a case of applying the seat to the chair and cutting, adjusting, and correcting. After all, editing is just another phase of the creative process.

What’s the Difference?

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What’s the Difference?

Blog

Is there really a difference in a website and a blog? A blog functions as a web log or online diary. Think of it as keeping a journal of Ideas or thoughts on a specific topic online.

Blogs are relatively inexpensive to generate and easy to produce. They are an excellent way to promote your work and yourself to an unlimited audience of readers.

Website

A web site should be considered your official address and location of your web-based business. This is the place people go to purchase products and find official information about you and your writing.

Benefits to the Writer

What are the benefits of blogs and websites to writers? Working together, they can generate worldwide exposure for you and your products. Unlike the past where publicity took months or years, now it can be done in minutes.

Rory C. Keel

MORE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

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Middle Grade Mondays

MORE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

By Natalie Bright

At this year’s Oklahoma Writer’s Federation conference in Oklahoma City, I attended a very informative session by C.Hope Clark, blogger and author.

RECOGNIZING OPPORTUNITY

C. Hope Clark [fundsforwriters.com] encouraged us to take advantage of all opportunities. As a writer, you may want to establish brands in various venues. She said, “Become a person who is reachable; become a personality.” Her fundsforwriters blog has around 43,000 weekly visitors, which was not her first goal. She began with the idea of writing mystery novels, and by being receptive to the opportunities around her, she successfully developed an invaluable and popular resource for writers.

POLITCIS AND RELIGION

Social media reaches a world wide audience. If you’re an active blogger and tweeter, most likely you have followers from all socio backgrounds and everyone these days has a political opinion. Besides political leanings, more than likely, you have readers who are atheists, wiccans, Baptists, Methodists, and Catholics. As a personality, trying to sell your book to as many readers as possible, why would you want to offend anyone?

Clark does not want to offend anyone, politics and religion are prohibited topics on her blogs, and any controversial comments are deleted.

BIG, BAD and BOLD

On the other side of the issues, you may want the attention. Clark noted that if you do want to be deluged with controversial comments and the arguments don’t bother you, then you should declare your position loudly. If you’re going to say it, say it loud, say it bad, and say it bold. And don’t be offended at the results.

PASSIONATE ABOUT PLATFORM

Clark reiterated the need for consistency when using social media. The most important place to start is:

  1. blog
  2. twitter

The second next most important thing you can do is to include your full name in comments on other people’s blog. Remember why we’re doing this in the first place; “don’t rush the book”, she said. As we’re writing the best possible book ever, we can be quietly and consistently building our platform.

Ms. Clark said, “Don’t just be a writer like every other person that’s out there. Recognize opportunity when it knocks on the door.”

Natalie Bright

www.nataliebright.com

The Empty Room

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

The Empty Room

I stand here in this room listening for any sounds at all.  Nothing.  Dead silence.  I do hear echoes from past rants and raves, parties, fun, news casts, but all is quiet now.

The room is dark, but a little light comes in from the hallway where there are thousands of lesser doors.  The bit of light sneaking in behind me shows confetti, glitter, tissues, and even candy lying on the floor as a reminder of the phantom cheers and cries of the characters that are normally here.  There is a table near the podium in the corner covered with sheets of paper that contain words—happy words and lonely words, funny words and mad words, velvet words and loud words.

Where are the characters that inhabit this room?  There was someone in here not long ago, but they are all gone now and the silence is deafening.

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

Nandy Ekle