Category Archives: Writing

Your Taste Buds

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Outtakes 35 

Your Taste Buds

I wouldn’t call myself a picky eater. I’ll try most anything once as long as it sounds appetizing. I’ll even try a few things that sound crazy. For example, my co-worker loves bacon. When we asked if she had a theme for her office birthday celebration, she requested bacon. Imagine how many things are made with bacon. There are bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches, loaded baked potatoes with bacon, bacon bits in a green salad, scrambled eggs and bacon breakfast burritos, baked beans with bacon. I could write a cook book on bacon recipes. Did you can even buy chocolate and bacon candy bars, and beef jerky flavored chocolate bars.

I like peanut butter and chocolate, mint and chocolate, chocolate covered cherries, chocolate and caramel. Well, you get the idea. But chocolate and bacon is a little out there. So is beef jerky flavored chocolate. But when samples of my friend’s birthday gift were offered, it bit. Literally. The chocolate shell was pretty good, but when the bacon crunchies landed on my tongue, I swallowed hard. My lips curled and my nose wrinkled. I got it down, but I never again want that flavor combination in my mouth.

Then I took a bite of the beef jerky flavored chocolate. My taste buds revolted. I grabbed a piece of paper off my desk and spit out the offensive candy. I can’t really describe the flavor. It’s a cross between scorched chocolate and under cooked beef. A whole bag of Hershey’s crème de menthe kisses could not erase that taste from my tongue.

Let’s face it, some flavor combinations work and some don’t. Same goes with our characters.  A woman defined as classy dropping the F-bomb every other sentence is too jarring. However, that same character with racist tendencies is believable. An explorer who hates to travel and experience new cultures might not ring true. On the other hand, if the character travels in search of a lost child or the cure for a terrible disease, it works. It’s all in how the writer develops the character. How are the situations set up? Is there sufficient background to grab the reader? Are the characteristics consistent beginning to end? Well-crafted characters with outrageous flaws could make for interesting reading. It’s all in the mixing and blending.

A thrilling Suspense

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Whatever happened to action/adventure stories? Today they’re called thrillers or suspense stories.

This genre defines itself with stories that evoke an emotional thrill by placing the reader in the middle of situations such as a conspiracy or an eco-thriller.

Suspense might include an aviation story set in the past, or even a future time, and may include a familiar theme such as legal or medical thrillers. In thrillers that have espionage, exploration or treasure hunters, the protagonist’s life goes beyond the ordinary.

Thrillers are usually full of fast action and the hero always wins and leaves the reader wanting more.

Rory C. Keel

Part 4 Giving and Receiving Critiques: Respectful Behavior

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Part 4 Giving and Receiving Critiques: Respectful Behavior

By Natalie Bright

The personality of your group can dictate the overall benefit you receive from participating. The members may be the most creative writers you know, but they may not be who you need critiquing your work. You may need a “brainstorming” group. You may need a group with several grammarians, who are experts in the rules of English. Or, you might consider a “genre” group, in which all members write mysteries, for example.

Your ideal group might be one beta reader or an online group with hundreds of members. The critiques you receive might be via email or a weekly face-to-face meeting. What do you want from a writers critique group? Identify your goals and share them with the group.

Essential Keys to a Successful Critique Group:

  • Leave your personal feelings at the door and listen with an open mind.
  • Don’t use up valuable time explaining away and defending your work. In reality, this would not be an option when reviewed by an editor or agent. Just listen.
  • Establish ground rules.
  • Critique the work, not the author
  • Be respectful of all work and individuals.
  • Share professional goals: critique with the idea of moving each participant closer to their goals.
  • Your work is not another writer’s work, and their work is not yours.

Happy writing!

Natalie Bright

Did You Write A Blog

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Did You Write A Blog

 Ten forty-one p.m, Thursday night, a few moments before exercise time and I still have not written my Freaky Friday blog. What to write? What to write?

I sit here with my fingers on the keyboard willing words to scroll across my brain in some sort of order that looks like an interesting piece. My fingers tap on keys and letters rush together forming words on my screen. But do they make sense?

Well, the theme is here: breaking through the block. The tools are working: letters to words to sentences to paragraphs. The form is here: big title, middle title, by-line. But is the meaning here?

Sometimes the best way to break a block is to pick up a pen or pencil, or put your hands on the keyboard, and starting typing words. Most of the time, the first few words come out forced and silly, but will soon become exactly what you were looking for. If you doubt that, just read this blog.

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

Nandy Ekle

TENDER

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TENDER

I found two one dollar bills in my dryer this morning. To find these meant they had been washed in our washing machine and cleansed by the water from our own well. This water was unquestionably drawn from the Tierra Blanco Creek flowing from the Ogallala Aquifer underneath our land. The electricity for the washer and dryer may have been supplied by Excel Energy, but as God and John Wayne are my witness I know the power was provided by the sun during the day and the moon and the stars at night.

Yep, these are my dollar bills. I know this because one is I picked these out of the dryer myself, and I know my husband never has any ready cash on hand. And two, I was washing MY clothes and not his. So I claim them lock stock and tender.

What to do, what to do. This money instantly began to burn a hole in my pocket with possibilities galore. I could use them to buy my daily soft drinks or powdered sugar donuts at Marks Chevron across the street from our Buffalo Bookstore. Maybe I can save it for popcorn at the Varsity Theater down the block. Naw. What about if I use it to purchase gee gaws at the Hideout next door or maybe I could travel down to Dollar General to buy Ginger snaps for the cookie jar in our business or candy for the goodie bags. What if I pay for printing at Hayley’s Printing on the Randall County Courthouse Square or to find some treasure at Stevens Flowers or H.R. Flowers down the road. Or there is coffee at the Palace, or ice cream at the Rock and Roll Soda Shop.

Agony! Endless possibilities! Glory be!  After pondering my dilemma and contemplating the consequences of my actions and reactions I formulated a plan. I will first put one of these precious bills in our cash register, and get change to buy both the Canyon News and Amarillo Globe News. Who knows where those quarters will go.

The other dollar I will tuck among those who have found their way into my pocket. Without a glance I will pull it out to pay for something, and send it on its maiden voyage from me to some unknown destination around our big blue marble.

I may never know, can never know where this money came from, and I have no clue where they will travel in the future, or how they will be used. Perchance they may have originated at a local bank, or a banking institution millions of miles away. They could have come from a tourist or a tramp, a child or child at heart. The combinations are not only endless but timeless.

Each time I glanced at these bills before they went into circulation, no matter how hard I tried, George Washington wouldn’t and couldn’t share any clues of his travels, and I know for a fact he had no way to document his path. I couldn’t find a “Where’s George” anywhere on his person.

So his appearance in my dryer will have to remain a mystery forever and ever Amen.

As writers we string words together and send them out the door, or the internet, or facebook, or twitter. We have no clue who or whom will pick them up and settle them in their hearts or pass them on to the next destination. This is why we write. I take this back, this is why we SHOULD write. For when we focus on connecting to one certain individual or a single interest we have lost the journey and sacrificed the story. And if we spend all our time worrying who we can link to, or who it will offend we can never fully set ourselves free to write. We just cannot choose who receives the message.

Besides imagining the other is way more fun. Happy Trails!

Sharon Stevens

The Journal Jar

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Outtakes #34

 The Journal Jar

I believe writers should write something every day. I do have an advantage as my job requires me to write. That does not mean it’s always easy to be creative in my commercial endeavors. Unfortunately, sitting at the computer forcing words on to the screen does not always provide useable material. That’s when I look for alternative inspiration.

A Secret Sister gave me the best gift for a writer—a Journal Jar. The jar is full of slips of paper with writing assignments. Subjects include music, art, family, friends, school days, holidays, and dreams. I have a special journal I keep with the jar. When I get stuck or don’t have hours to sit at my computer, I pull a slip out of the jar, paste it to the top of a blank page, and begin to work on the request.

There’s true liberation in this type of journaling. The writer is not confined to reciting historic events in a who, what, where, when, why format. Instead he is permitted, encouraged to relive an event. Recall the sights, scents, sounds of the occasion. What about creating your dream job? What would you do? How do you envision your day? What kind of education would you need? In a few minutes, a couple of pages are filled with creative details.

Not only does the Journal Jar provide a creative outlet for the writer, it is a record of the times. It may also give your children and grandchildren a chuckle when they read about your youthful exploits.

So where do you find Journal Jar strips? My Secret Sister found mine on-line. Fire up your favorite search engine and browse the web for journaling supplies. Don’t forget a book or notebook to record your assignments. Oh, yes, you’ll need a pen. I like gel pens in different colors. Open your journal and your mind. It’s fun.

Cait Collins

Stories of Our Youth

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Stories of Our Youth

The Young Adult Genre is comprised of works written for the age group between twelve and eighteen, according to the Young Adult Library Service association (YALSA), which is a division of the American Library Association (ALA).

While written for a young audience, many adults also enjoy young adult stories and adventures. The protagonist as well as most of the main characters will usually be close in age, and the stories may deal with any social topic or subject that allows the character to deal with an inner struggle. The young adult genre will show the main character growing as they work to learn important life lessons.

Sub-genres include stories that fall into most other genres such as fantasy, horror, mystery, romance, science-fiction, historical and adventure, with a writing style that appeals to a younger audience.

It has been many years since my childhood, yet even today many of my favorite books are still those from my youth.

Rory C. Keel

Giving and Receiving Critiques: Consider the Ground Rules

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Part 3:

Giving and Receiving Critiques: Consider the Ground Rules

By Natalie Bright

In receiving a critique of your writing, it’s only fair that you’d be expected to give back.

Once you’ve identified several reliable critique partners, set some rules or guidelines to ensure that everyone is in total agreement as to how the critique should proceed. This only makes certain that the process is fair to everyone involved, and that it’s not a waste of your time. I’ve read numerous manuscripts for people, and it’s always nice to hear “send me one of your stories sometime.”

You can learn much about story craft by reading other people’s work, in addition to having them read yours in return.

The Rules Rule

Based on my experience, following are a few basic rules to consider for critique groups:

*Confidentiality

*Page limit: minimum or maximum number of pages to submit for critique

*Time limits for equal time of discussion

*New or edits: limit submissions to new material only, or can members bring edit? This eliminates the problem of someone bringing the same chapter over and over.

*Determine order of reading, if you meet in person.

*Find something positive, then move into the negative. Identify strengths and weaknesses.

* Group size; do you want to limit the number of members?

Wordsmith Six

My first critique group, that I found through the creative writing course, sadly didn’t stay together for various reasons. Some of us had work and family obligations that made it impossible to attend meetings, and several others moved out of the area. A few of us from the original group met a few more writers through a local writers organization, and we formed a new group about three years ago. Six months ago we started a blog about our publishing journey.

Even though we write in a variety of genres, the commonality is that we are all actively writing and submitting for publication. We stay on task. I come away from every meeting with invaluable critiques.

Here are the rules of Wordsmith Six critique group: we meet every other week, and our meetings usually lasts three to four hours. Due to time constraints, we’ve set a maximum of ten pages each. If we don’t have our own work to read, members bring a general interest article on writing craft or share notes from a recent conference, for example.  The key is everyone participates.

We generally restrict readings to new material, however if a piece has had a tough critique, then we’ll look at it a second time after edits. We draw numbers to determine who reads first, and we each read our own work out loud to the group.

Productivity is the Key

This is a biggey rule: we work first, and visit last. Everyone arrives on time, we begin on time, and we get right to business. After the work is done, a few might hang around to discuss character motivation, books we’re reading, or just gabbing about families.  The main point is that our writing is the main focus, and the main goal is to keep everyone moving forward.

Members who only bring chips and dip do not make for a productive atmosphere. Everyone understands life is crazy, and some weeks are unbearable as writers. We all know this. Do your critique mates a favor, and become a dependable giver as well as receiver. As you become familiar with each others work, you’ll move beyond basic grammar checks. A magical thing happens when you begin discussing character motivation and plot structure. As you realize the development of your story through others eyes, you’ll be able to edit and polish your work until it shines.

Next week in Part 4, I’ll discuss responsible behavior.

Natalie Bright


Getting the Facts

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TRAILS END – The Novel

Getting the Facts

Last week I wrote about continuing to improve our abilities, and to learn new skills, even as we age. I attended the Team Roping school taught by Rickey Green, and would like to share a little about that experience.

In sports or any profession, there are individuals who completely change the standard methods in use. In his era, Ricky revolutionized the excepted way of roping the back feet of a steer, and left his competition behind. Everybody had to change what they were doing to catch up, because his ideas worked better and faster. After slowing down from full time competition, he then devoted himself to teaching others to rope. In the same way he competed, he so improved the process of instruction that he is today considered one of the best clinicians in the business.

If you want to improve your skills, in whatever field, you need to learn from the people who have made a living at doing it. Not someone who has made a living at teaching it, but someone who was successful producing income from it. Then you have to be sure that person is capable of instruction. This takes a lot of effort to develop. I’ve known World Champions who couldn’t teach you how to tie your shoe.

In the story of TRAILS END, Jim Barnes is that very type of person to teach Donnie Williams how to ride broncs, and how to win. But is the veteran bronc rider a good influence for the young and impressionable kid that worships him? I hope you will be interested to find out.

I would like to thank Rickey Green for a great positive experience. I wasn’t able to put the information to use during the school, but I’m confident I now have the tools for success. Thanks also Rickey, for making the learning fun.

Thank-you all for reading,

Joe

What If . . .

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

What If . . .

We all play the game and sometimes it’s not a very healthy game, as when we can’t sleep because we’re too worried about something with a very remote chance of happening. But there are times when the What If game is good for us.

For example: You at the planetarium with your granddaughter and she asks you, “What if the stars are not just pictures on the wall and an alien walks in the room while the lights are off.” Does that sound like a story?

Or how about this—what if you’re reading a book written by a very popular horror writer and a spider crawls out from the pages? After jumping around and stepping on the little monster, can you think of something to write about?

One more. You are watching your favorite singer on television during family time and loving his show when there’s a knock on your door and there on your doorstep is the singer himself grinning as if he’s very happy to see you.

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

Nandy Ekle