Category Archives: Writing

ARE YOU AFRAID TO FLY?

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ARE YOU AFRAID TO FLY?

 

It’s amazing that so many people have a fear of flying. Several years ago, while on a plane from Saint Louis Missouri to Portland Oregon, I remember boarding and seeing a man who looked as pale as death. He took his seat across the aisle and immediately buckled the seat belt, grabbed the armrests and shook so violently I wondered if it was the engines or him shaking the plane. After sedating himself with a couple of adult beverages, he slept soundly to our destination.

While I have never been afraid to travel in an airplane, I have experienced a fear of flying. Realizing I would never pilot an F-16 fighter jet, I turned to the hobby of remote control airplanes.

After what my wife called “investing heavily” in a kit, I began to build my first R/C airplane. For days I trimmed every piece of wood with the skill of a surgeon to the exact specs. For weeks, I placed every drop of glue precisely in the correct spot, as to not change the balance of the plane. And after months of careful tune-ups on the engine and electronics, along with a few instructions from others to assure that my plane would soar with the eagles, fear took over.

What if it crashes? All that hard work and time will have been in vain.

On my first solo flight, I rolled the plane down the tarmac and lifted off. A feeling of accomplishment flooded over me as I made one pass, then another over the stands. Not wanting to run out of fuel and lose the plane, I made the approach to land. That day I witnessed the most horrific sight—in front of me laid splinters of wood, pieces of plastic and shards of metal. I crash-landed my plane.

In writing, there are moments when we are afraid to submit a piece of work, fearful of rejection. We work on a piece until it is perfect then, “WHAT IF” takes over. What if it’s rejected? What if it was a waste of time because no one likes it?

The good news is that my first plane did finally soar. I learned that my time wasn’t wasted at all. In all the hours of building I had learned how to repair the broken plane, and after adjusting the mistakes I made in the landing approach, confidence took control.

Yes, I have letters of rejection for my writing, however with repairs and a few adjustments, those same pieces have been published.

Don’t be afraid to fly!

Rory C. Keel

CREATIVE NONFICTION

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CREATIVE NONFICTION

By Natalie Bright

Real life stories seem to be everywhere, from reality television to magazines covering genuine people overcoming life’s obstacles. When you recount your life or if you have ever talked to someone about their life experiences, things are remembered in segments or scenes. Creative nonfiction takes those scenes, fills in the background, and introduces the characters in a narrative form.

“Creative nonfiction is the fastest growing genre,” says Lee Gutkind, award winning author and professor at the University of Pittsburgh and speaker at Frontiers in Writing in Amarillo.* He sites proof as evidenced by the decrease of fiction in popular magazines.  “More and more publications have cut back straight fiction into stories based on real life experiences.” he says. “Five years ago the adventure nonfictions were popular. Today we are in the middle of an information explosion and readers want more serious topics such as science, technology, and economics.”

When crafting creative nonfiction, story must come first. The substance of the information is important, but the story has to come before the factual information. It is the people and the story that will hook the reader.  Gutkind stresses that the writer must find the true scene. It’s got to be real and true with accurate information.

Once the real life story is uncovered, the first three paragraphs formulate your hook. “Your beginning must be fast, soon, now, best and strongest,” he says. “Sixty percent of the readers are lost at this point.  Your goal is to engage the reader at the very beginning and keep them turning pages.”

Gutkind recommends crafting your creative nonfiction story around a frame and focus. The frame is the container or overall narrative structure of your story. Your narrative should be presented in an interesting and orderly manner, the simplest being the chronological beginning to end scenario.

The next essential part of your article or book is the focus, or overall theme. What is the primary point that ties the elements of your story together? Another way to determine the focus is to ask yourself why you are writing this particular story. As the author, what do you want to say about this topic? The focus will also help you to determine which facts are essential to the story and to identify details that may need to be excluded.

One cannot forget an important building block of the creative nonfiction story which is the story itself, or the facts. Gutkind explains, “The story determines the research the writer must do.”

As you work on the ending, always keep your overall story structure in mind or frame. “Guide your reader’s to what it is you want them to believe but use evidence,” explains Gutkind. He says don’t worry about endings, as the perfect ending may only come after completion of the entire book.  “Lead the reader through your story. Don’t tell people what they want to know until you’re ready to dispense with them.”

Natalie Bright

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 For more information, The Art of Creative Nonfiction by Lee Gutkind

*Frontiers in Writing is a summer writing program sponsored by Panhandle Professional Writers. Mark your calendar and join us in Amarillo, June 29-30, 2012!

I NEVER KNEW

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I Never Knew

When we packed up Mom’s belongings, my sisters and I did not take time to read through all the papers in her cedar chest. We looked for the necessary documents and dumped the rest in a box. I started sorting the files one winter afternoon. Mom kept every transfer order, citation, and shipping inventory from Dad’s service career beginning in 1939 when he entered the Civilian Conservation Corps to his retirement from the Air Force in 1969. I learned things about my father.  He served in two branches of the military; the Army Air Corps in World War II and then was recalled to the newly formed Air Force during the Korean War. He was an expert marksman. His fitness reports indicated he was respected by his peers and his superiors.

I enjoyed these revelations. They brought me closer to my dad, but I treasure his green notebook. You see, I met my grandfather that day. Frank Brown died in 1941; six years before my parents married and ten years prior to my birth. But when I read Dad’s handwritten stories, I met a wise, simple man who loved his family. I also learned where Dad got some of his homespun declarations like, “You will finish high school even if I have to take you to class and bounce you on my knee.”  I’m thankful we have this notebook.

Journaling and maintaining family records might seem frivolous, but they have a purpose. For example, they validate history. Think back to your history classes. How many times was a journal or set of letters cited to verify the facts surrounding an event? Mrs. Dickinson’s writings detailed the battle of the Alamo. Letters from the American West to families back East told of the hardships involved in settling the frontier. Homemakers’ recipes spoke of canning vegetables and making jams and jellies to feed the family during the winter months. These personal glimpses of history are priceless as they involve the common man and not just the historically famous names.

While I don’t believe it necessary to record putting the carrots in the Crockpot, I do suggest recording special events for posterity. I wish I had listened when my parents and grandparents spoke of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl days. I further wish I had recorded the stories. My nieces and nephews will never hear about the events from the viewpoint of a family member. There is nothing to pass on to them so that they will know their great-grand parents and great, great-grandparents contributions to history. My father was wiser than I. After all, I got to meet my grandfather seventy years after he died.

Cait Collins

GARAGE SALING

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Garage Saling

Second hand stores, pawn shops, garage sales. These are great places to find a good bargain, if you’re willing to hunt and haggle. If you know what you’re looking for and how much money you want to spend, these kinds of places can pull you in and keep you busy searching for treasures all day.

But saving money is not the only treasure at a “Used” store. When you walk in the door, what’s the first thing you notice? If it’s a store front shop, you probably see racks and racks of clothing, shelves of old dishes, boxes and bins of toys and books, maybe furniture, bedding, and even electronics. If it’s a garage sale, there are card tables and home-made racks and shelves lining a driveway or yard.

But look closer. Gently handle the set of china plates and what do you see? Maybe you see the chip or crack on the edge. Or maybe it’s the fact that the set is not complete. But do you see the age? Can you sense the previous owner, the housewife who was widowed after sixty years of marriage?

How about those child size jeans? They look a little frayed in the knee and feel thin in the seat. Do they remind you of a little boy who learned to ride his bicycle while wearing them?

And the stuffed animal loved ragged by the little girl who took it to the hospital when she had her tonsils removed?

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

Nandy Ekle

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

by Sharon Stevens

Recently I took a story back to my critique group. My words had been posted in a blog, but I knew from the moment I clicked it into cyber-space to our facilitator that it wasn’t quite right. It may not have been terrible per se, or even wrong, it just needed work, and I looked to my fellow writers to listen to the story and help me “fix it”.

I think they were relieved. They had been confused by the story and didn’t quite know how to tell me. It didn’t connect and not only that, it was filled with many words leading nowhere. The main focus, the heart of the story got lost somewhere in all the jumble.

Our facilitator told me to rework it and bring it back, and he would repost it. No one would ever know.

I left that night even more confused than before. None-the-less I took it back home and worked and reworked the story, following the advice of my fellow writers until it was perfect with a capital P. If I do say so myself it was my finest masterpiece. Granted the word count was over a thousand words, but strong, connected and glowing. Every thought matched to the next. Each paragraph connected together in one sweeping saga linked heart and soul. All my facts were checked and rechecked. All the names honored and placed within the body of the piece. I made sure the story was grammatically correct with every word in its place. I took out all the “wases”, found the echoes, edited the errors and streamlined the focus.

After I had read this saga over for the millionth time I felt it was ready to resubmit. I highlighted to copy and save and then paste to the facilitator. (He would be so proud of me.) And then I clicked a key, I’m still not sure which one, and my work was gone. Not gone to my blog post, or gone to my file folder but gone gone…never to be retrieved again.

I stared at the screen before me not comprehending what had just happened. I pushed paste and paste again, and the computer still glowed empty.

And that is when it hit me. I realized what I had written and what I had initially taken to my critique group and what they had tried to get me to see, was nothing more than an acknowledgment. My story wasn’t a story after all, it was simply a dedication, a Pulitzer prize winning entry to a story not yet written aimed at all those who had paved the way for me in Heaven as well as here on earth.

This is who I am and who I will always be, but it provided a revelation. I worked so hard honoring the people and memories close to my heart who inspired me to put words on paper. I guess I just wanted them to know how much they touched my life and lifted me up and encouraged me to dream. As one of the members of my writing group explained that my heart was so full that it spilled over into my writing.

When my blog disappeared I was hurt. Not only that, I was devastated, dumbfounded, depressed, discouraged and any other “dis” in the dictionary. But I truly wasn’t that upset. There was no gnashing of teeth or ripping of clothes or tearing of hair. There were tears, but no sobbing. It was all just so perfect and I didn’t think I could retrieve it from my memory word for word.

It wasn’t until I found Jennifer Archer’s book, “Once Upon A Dream” at our bookstore, and read her acknowledgment to her friends and fellow writers that I came to my “aha” moment.

There was no question the fault of loosing my written work lay with my stupidity, for not saving it first before taking any other action. That’s a given and one of the first rules in writing!

When I clicked on that key that wiped out my tale it was if the Angels above were admonishing me. “Get past this, go further, reach higher, GET OFF THE FIRST PAGE! We know what we have done and we are proud of what we accomplished while there on earth. You don’t need to acknowledge us any more. You have a glowing, empty screen before you. Now go and write your story.

And so I did, with one last acknowledgment.

Jennifer Archer will be the guest speaker at the Panhandle Professional Writers meeting on September 17, 2011. She will be at the east campus of the St. Stephen’s Methodist Church, 4600 S. Western from 10-3 speaking on the “5 Senses: How to Capture the Magic & Bring Your Story Alive.”

PPW was founded by two women, Laura V. Hamner and Phebe Warner who not only encouraged writing, but were involved in the entire community way beyond the pages of a story. They along with Loula Grace Erdman and the many members of PPW down through the years, have made it all possible for those of us who love to share a story with each other, and in a tangible medium with a printed page.

Jennifer will be speaking on how to make your writing glow for a reader using all your senses and theirs. She should know, she knows how to write a great story.

But I can’t leave without honoring HER acknowledgments, as I think she said it best. But with doing so I want to honor MY Wordsmith Six critique group, Natalie Bright, Nandy Ekle, Barbara Propst, Joe Nichols and Craig Keel.

In Jennifer‘s words…“Many thanks to my Thursday night critique group: Karen Smith, DeWanna Pace, Jodi Koumalats, Bruce Edwards, Kim Cambell and Judy Andrew. Each week you challenge me, encourage me and teach me something new.

Thanks also to Ronda Thompson, Kimberly Willis Holt and Charlotte Goebel for giving me their time, suggestions and friendship.

And, as always, to Jeff for making it possible for me to chase a dream.”

Sharon Stevens

AGING WITH HONOR

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Aging with honor

Getting older doesn’t happen to everybody. You have to stay alive first, as my previous blog about my cousin Bryan solemnly reminded us. For those of us dealing with the physical slow down that comes with the years, I think we have to stay active as possible, yet accept what we can no longer do without complaining or becoming depressed about it.

In my novel TRAILS END, seventy-eight year old Robert Jarrett is determined to ride and train the young colt (Trails End) by himself. This causes a spat between the rancher and his wife, Allie. Because I am trying to make the story as realistic as possible, Allie wins.

Robert decides to have Donnie Williams, (the homeless boy he bailed out of jail) ride Trails End for him. This puts enormous pressure on the boy, but Robert believes it will build his confidence. I believe this demonstrates an example of admitting your limitations while helping someone else. Aging with honor.

Rare But Special continues his race carrier at The Downs at Albuquerque. As of this year, the New Mexico track is excepting all ages of horses. This will also allow a good horse to “Age with honor”.

Joe Nichols

WRITE TO MAKE DIAMONDS

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Write to make Diamonds

I recently conducted some interesting research on diamonds, how they are formed in the earth, the process used in mining these allotropes of carbon and what happens to them on the journey from mining to the market.

Dealing with diamonds the industry uses what is called the 4C’s. The first “C” is the Carat. This is a term used to reference the size of the diamond. The second is Color. This can range from colorless, the most valuable, to a yellow hue. On occasion a diamond of another color is found such as the blue Hope Diamond. These are rare. Thirdly is the Clarity. This describes the degree to which a diamond is free of blemishes and inclusions. Finally is the Cut. The cut is the jeweler’s touch. The angle at which a diamond is cut makes it attractive to the eye and gives it its shimmering brightness.

I have found that these “4C’s” are very useful in writing.

First, the carat. What size does my writing project need to be? Many contest pieces, devotionals, short stories and articles are subject to a specific word count. Publishers and agents may also require a word count in the length of some novels.

Secondly is the color. What is the genre’ of my writing? The answer to this question will not only help you in what to write, but in determining your target audience when it comes time to publish.

Third is clarity. What point of view are you writing from? Is it first person or third person, past or present? Double check your grammar usage and make it proper for the piece; and don’t forget the punctuation and spelling. These things can determine whether your story shines or is as clear as mud.

Finally the cut. The goal of this stage is to produce a faceted jewel where each angle between the facets optimizes the luster of the diamond. The jeweler cuts out weaknesses and flaws to focus attention on the beauty of the diamond. As writers, we type as fast as we can, elaborating on every little detail and sometimes find ourselves in a dark alley away from our storyline; or we add filler just to make the word count. Let’s face it; there are some things that will need to be taken out to make it shine.

At the jeweler’s a rough diamond is placed in a small vice, then carefully and strategically cut, and when it’s polished, it’s beautiful!

The diamond is your story.

Rory C. Keel

Toss, Salvage, Donate, Keep

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Toss, Salvage, Donate, Keep

One of the benefits of moving is the opportunity to go through all the stuff in the house and do major editing. I make four stacks – keep, toss, salvage, and donate. It’s not always easy to decide which pile is the right one. Toss is more obvious. Trash is trash and surprisingly I accumulate a ton of that. The salvage pile includes items like a blouse with a missing button. Keep and donate are more difficult. Dishes, clothes, and furniture normally fall into all the categories. Sometimes I make a fifth stack called “I’ll decide later”. By the time I’ve gone through everything, I have packed boxes labeled for the movers, tagged boxes with bright pink sticky notes for charity, and bags of trash are ready for the dumpster. Even with all the editing, I realize I have too much stuff.

Sometimes we need to assess the baggage in our personal and professional lives. Over the years, I learned we carry around baggage that hinders our growth toward healthy attitudes and creativity. Let’s start with the toss pile. Get rid of procrastination. This is one of my weaknesses. I tend to put off things I could be working on now. I claim I can do my best work under pressure, but why add to my stress. Get rid of guilt, resentment, and the “I can’t” attitude. They are counter-productive.

Salvage that under the bed project. I have a novel that fell apart because of September 11, 2001. I took a break from packing to read parts of that story and decided to box it because I think it may be some of my best work. When I’ve completed my current project, I plan to pull out MACON GEORGIA and rework it. Most writers have such manuscripts. Perhaps now is the time to revisit the work.

Donate your time to other writers. Every writer has something to pass on to their peers and beginners. We’ve all learned something along the way. Maybe a trick for formatting or tracking submissions would help a beginner or even a more experienced writer. Don’t keep your tips to yourself. Think about all the folks who helped you, and return the favor.

There are definite keeps in life. I treasure my family and friends. They have supported me through the bad times, shared my tears and disappointments. They have celebrated my successes and kicked me in the backside when needed. I could not survive as a person or a writer without them. I keep copies of my successes to encourage me when the project stumbles. And I maintain a file of failures to keep me humble when I succeed.

Cait Collins

HONOR TO THE MASTERS

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POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Honor To the Masters

“I love that story!  It’s my all time favorite!”  You have the story almost word for word, almost every dot of punctuation embedded in your heart, and you still can’t get enough of it.  You’ve probably read the book and seen the movie a thousand times a piece, and it still thrills you to the core.

There are a ton of reasons that particular story calls to you over and over. It could be the high concept, or a perfect plot with no loopholes. Maybe the voice is comfortable and striking at the same time. Maybe the world and the atmosphere bring you exactly the feel you are looking for, or any number of other traits of a great story.  But actually, it all boils down to plain good writing.

A master of words can take any theme, any plot (no matter how weak) and make it fascinating.  He can make you hear the words as if they fall out of his mouth.  She can set the tone in the first sentence, with the first couple of words on the page.  A master can weave a spell around you with very little effort, and you are helpless to break free until you see the words, “The End.”  And then you are left feeling lonely and know that it won’t be long before you must open that book and read it again.

These masters of the craft feed our desires to be just as good at writing as they are.

Study your favorite book and analyze exactly what it is that stays on the edge of your consciousness when the book is closed.  Then you can give them the ultimate homage by emulating their eloquence.

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

Nandy Ekle

RARE BUT SPECIAL

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RARE BUT SPECIAL

We all are faced with tough decisions concerning our animals. It doesn’t seem appropriate, but sometimes the emotions we have dealing with pets and livestock traumatize us more than our family situations.

Rare But Special ran his best race. He broke from the starting gates in the lead, and easily maintained that position until the straightaway. Down the stretch, a horse challenged him on the outside and took the lead by a half-length. In only a short distance, our horse regained the lead and left that horse behind. At that point, we thought victory was ours.

We wanted that horse to win so bad. He evolved from a starved unbroken five year old, to a serious contender in a sanctioned race. Because of his age, he needed to win first to continue his racing career. Two horses inched passed him in the last fifty yards, and he won third. This was his first long race, 870 yards. The mental and physical conditions are strenuous for that distance, and the race he ran was amazing under the circumstances. My wife and I are so proud of him, yet heartbroken he didn’t win. He may be out of options, and we’re faced with deciding his future. He really isn’t suited for any other purpose.

Donnie Williams witnesses this type of situation in chapter three of TRAILS END. It’s a hard part of owning animals. They can become so close to you, they are part of who you are.

I don’t know the topic of the next blog, but it’s going to be fun and positive, opposite of the last two. I hope to have you back for next Wednesday.

Joe Nichols