Tag Archives: Nandy Ekle

Love Is A Rose

Posted on by
Reply

POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Love Is A Rose

By Nandy Ekle

 

My favorite writing tool is the metaphor. This is the comparative device that shows, not tells. So here are some metaphors I’ve used, and I would love to hear about some you may have used, or seen someone else use.

Liquid mercury. Remember the old-fashioned thermometers you had to hold under your tongue, or in your armpit, or . . . somewhere else? Those little tubes contained a silvery ball of mercury that would rise when heated by your body to a line on a graph that showed what your temperature was. If one of those little glass tubes broke, the mercury fell on the floor like liquid beads, except you couldn’t pick it up. If you tried, it would change shape and roll away. This always reminds me of something that might be hard to grasp, sort of like an idea . . .

Love of books. Reading books is as much a need for me as breathing air. I need that quiet time to myself to let my imagination out to play. As a kid, my imagination ran full speed all the time and I had to learn to put it in a box during the times I was expected to pay attention to the real world. But as a writer, my imagination is a very important thing. However, it tends to shrivel up if it’s not used. And that’s what books do for me. So to illustrate this, I thought about a character from a book that falls in love with his reader. Not only does this show how much I need books in my life, it also shows that books need readers.

Spiders. I am proud to admit that I am a confirmed arachnophobe. To me, spiders are the absolute worst nightmare that ever crept on the face of the earth. While this irrational fear can be paralyzing in some situations (depending on the size of the monster), it has also given me some excellent stories. After all, who can write about that kind of fear better than someone who experiences it? So it’s in this vein I use it as a metaphor to illustrate things that are paralyzingly scary, such as a character who has an arrogant attitude and must learn to put his ego aside to save his family from a devious creature that has invaded his home to terrorize his children. The spider actually represents his fear of inability to protect the home.

So, go ahead and tell me about some of your favorite metaphors. Just post a comment down below, and don’t worry about being long-winded or short winded. I love to hear from my readers.

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

 

 

The Blank Wall and Paper

Posted on by
Reply

POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

The Blank Wall and Paper

By Nandy Ekle

I have a friend who is an artist. She paints everything from glass jars to cardboard boxes. When we moved into our house with the extremely white walls, she was so excited.

“I love your new house,” she said.

“Thank you,” I said. “The walls are so white it makes the whole house gleam.”

She looked around the room and I could see the proverbial light bulb going on above her head. “I look at those walls and see canvases just waiting for paint.”

I smiled and just went on with my unpacking.

Now, quite a few years later, I remember her telling me that, and I think about the blankest thing that inspires me. When I was a kid in school, my favorite time of year was right before school started. My mom would cut the school supply list out of the paper and drive us to the five and dime store. There we would load up on crayons, pencils, paste, and paper. Lots and lots of paper. Back at our house the supplies were doled out and I spent the last few days of summer arranging and rearranging my school supplies.

I had to touch every brand new crayon, sharpen all my pencils and smell the paste. But my very favorite school supply was all that blank paper with the blue lines, just waiting for words to be inscribed.

To this day, well past my school days, blank paper still makes my heart smile, kind of like the blank wall my friend was excited to see.

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

 

Freaky Friday

Posted on by
Reply

POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Freaky Friday

By Nandy Ekle

 

 

I’m in a deep sleep, the first really good night sleep I’ve had in a while. I dreaming I’m sitting on the couch holding a kitten that purrs as I scratch it behind the ear. The kitten climbs up on my shoulder, then screeches in my ear. I jerk awake shaking from the shock of the alarm screeching next to my head. In my startled condition I reach for my cell phone to turn off the alarm before it wakes my husband. My hand brushes against something made of wire and it tumbles off the nightstand into the darkness of space. I hear it thump on the floor somewhere around my bed and realize it was my glasses, without which I am totally blind. Nothing else to do but turn on the light, as if that will help. Ever tried looking for glasses when you can’t see because you don’t have your glasses?

Very carefully I find my spectacles with my eyes moments before my I find them by stepping on them. I head into the bathroom sure that a hot bath and good book will improve the path my day seems to be on. Turning on the water I go to gather my clothes for the day. When I get back to the tub, I step in the water and discover I did not balance the hot and cold correctly and my lovely hot bath is actually a disappointing tepid bath, and my new book is not living up to the beautiful picture on the cover.

I suddenly realize what has happened to me. I have woken to another Freaky Friday.

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

 

Fill In the Blank

Posted on by
Reply

POST CARD FROM THE MUSE

Fill In the Blank

By Nandy Ekle

 

The last couple of weeks I talked about my need for organization in my every day life, but the total lack of structure in my writing life. And I’ve studied and been told and shown what an important tool outlining, planning, and plotting can be for a writer.

Let me just say, whatever your writing habits are, I will never tell you you’re doing it wrong, especially if you can successfully write “The End.” I very firmly believe each writer’s methods are right for them. But I also feel it’s important to have an open mind and trying something new to be sure you have the most effective way for your writing.

Last Friday I ended in the middle of telling about one story I wrote in a completely different way from my normal seat-of-the-pants method. This particular story, I did the plotting and planning, the story boarding and characterization, and the theme and each event. Even though this story is one I love very deeply, I didn’t have as much fun writing it as I normally have. The spontaneity was gone. The surprise was gone. I felt as though I was filling in blanks to a story already written.

But as I mentioned last week, something very interesting happened. The story was successful. I entered it in a contest, and it won second place and it earned the second spot in an anthology (available on Amazon). The other thing that happened was that the main character became one of my all-time favorite characters. And I think the reason that happened is that in my characterization of her, I realized she represents both of my grandmothers rolled into one.

Now, there’s another story I wrote in my normal way. This story, I had a theme and a situation. My character had a paranormal ability, but she didn’t want to reveal her talent, so she made up a story when caught using her gift. This was where I started. As I wrote, events of the story came to life as if I were a reader reading it. For me, this is the “funnest” part of writing. The tale unfolds in my head as if I’m watching a movie. In fact, as I headed into the final scene, I still was not sure who my villain was. As one of my “movie” scenes played, the secret bad guy turned his face to me and winked. This was when I saw the end of my story. To this day, I get cold chills when I remember the scene.

This story has not found a home yet, but that’s one of my resolutions for this year.

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

 

Just A Few Words Before Bed

Posted on by
2

POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Just A Few Words Before Bed

By Nandy Ekle

 

 

Yes, I have waited until the last minute to write my blog. Why? Because it’s what I do. I am a “pantser,” and I write my best in the eleventh hour, literally. The clock proudly says we have two minutes before eleven o’clock p.m.

I really can’t tell you why that works for me. It’s really strange because all the other parts of my life are filled with routines. I wake up, get dressed for my day job. When I arrive at my cozy little cubicle, I have another set of routines. Boot the computer, sign on to all the apps – and this must be done in the correct order – get my pad of paper from the drawer. Get my coffee, heat my breakfast, check my email . . . I even have routines for the work I do. Open the request, write the account number on my paper pad, look at notes, look at documents, find the letterhead for the letter . . .

When I get home in the evening, another set of routines begins. Change clothes, prepare a meal, eat said meal, open computer, email, Facebook, shopping sites, Pinterest, Facebook, game – or yarn – or cross stitch . . . Then I go to bed.

But my writing life is completely different. I sit in front of the computer tapping my feet on the floor, chewing on the inside of my mouth, pretending I’m not really watching television. Writing? Who knows anything about writing? There ain’t no writers here.

However, the minute my head hits the pillow, characters begin to talk to me. In fact they talk so loud that sometimes I’m nearly convinced they are standing right next to me. Or when I get in my bath in the morning, a though will come to me about a story I’ve he bouncing around in my head. Or driving down the road. Or as I sit in my cubicle at 2:30 in the after noon, wondering how to put my correspondence into a nice, formal, understandable letter.

It’s at times like these I feel the most lost. I have a brilliant idea of how to get the dog to stay out of the kids’ way. These are also the times when the muse is absolutely not in touching range.

I’ve had a paper and pencil next to my side of the bed for years. I’ve had it next to my bathtub, I’ve had it close by in my purse. So why do I never find any ideas written down to remind me of my stroke of genius, and then the idea is gone.

According to books about writing written by writers, one of the main reasons we do this is because we are not used to writing something every day. The ability to write is like exercising. Use it, or lose it.

And so, my dear writer and reader fans out there. Write something every day, even if it’s something that does nothing to keep you above water.

Congratulations. You have just received a postcard from the muse.

New Year, New Goals

Posted on by
Reply

POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

New Year, New Goals

By Nandy Ekle

We are one week into the new year and I am just now getting around to thinking about my goals for this year.

This past year brought a lot of adventure and some frustrations. I struggled with decisions regarding my health, I lived through a wild midnight storm which ravaged my house (in the words of my grandson, “Nana, your house is broke”). Because of this we worked with insurances and contractors to repair the damage, and actually came out ahead with a lot of upgrades. A few family problems, the health issues, and the culmination of that right before the Christmas/New Year holidays. And, of course, Christmas and New Year found us traveling to visit our children and our parents.

Needless to say, my writing has suffered. Oh, that’s a vast understatement. My writing has nearly completely stopped. And that, my dear Word Smith Six followers, is the source of tons of frustration.

So. We are one week into the new year. The time has come to pack all that away in a box and hide it under the bed. The time has come to look ahead and find the inspiration and the voices begging to be converted to words.

And so, beloved followers, I will make this promise. I will write a new original blog each week. I will not allow a Freaky Friday to go by without new words appearing on this blog site.

And the other side of my promise is to write at least 1000 words a day. They might not necessarily be intelligible words, but they will be my words. And according to the experts, this should strike that flame again.

Comment below and tell me about your writing goals for the 2016 year. I am very interested to hear about them.

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

A Little Magic

Posted on by
Reply

POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

A Little Magic

By Nandy Ekle

He walks on the stage with a certain flair and the audience applauds. Removing his cloak with a swirl, a deck of cards appears in his hands. He pulls them from the box as his lovely blond assistant rolls a table out in front of him. She waves her hands in an arc and prances off the stage with a huge smile on her face.

The magician lays the card deck on the table and then removes his white gloves. He shakes his arms slightly at the wrists to prove he is not hiding anything there. The audience barely breathes while anticipating how he is going to amaze them. The music swells and the lights dim.

With an almost dainty movement of his hand, he pulls several cards from the stack on his table. The magician balances them against each other in perfect harmony. He pulls another few cards and balances them on top of the first layer. As he continues building his card house, the audience leans in closer and closer. The building is growing and each layer elicits a gasp from the crowd. Deftly, artfully, the wizard draws the crowd closer and closer.

As the last card is tenderly placed at the top of the tower, the crowd has climbed onto the stage to be closer to the card house. The magician stands back for the audience to admire his work of art. As they inspect the fragile building on the table, the illusionist leans closer and blows a quick blast from his lips. Instantly the cards explode in the air and turn into snowflakes.

The audience erupts into a cacophony of cheers.

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

 

Feelings

Posted on by
Reply

POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Feelings

By Nandy Ekle

 

Feelings. Emotions. Moods. Heart. These are some of the heaviest words in the English language. They are also very important to a story. The reason they’re so critical is because our stories are about people. And people have feelings and emotions oozing from every pore.

Our feelings are what make the difference between a newscast and a gut wrenching story that stays with a person for days, begging to be read again. The stronger the emotion, the deeper the tie to your reader.

Now, as a woman, I realized something a long time ago. Emotions are scary. The more emotion I feel, the less control I feel. What this means as a writer is that I tend to shy away from emotional writing. Cramming so much feeling into my words touches my own emotions and I feel the longing, the desperation, and the pain of my characters. But the thing to remember is it will also touch my readers’ feelings and make them love the character.

Some of the emotions we need to use copious amounts of are anger, sadness, betrayal, fear, happiness, love, depression, confusion, hunger, and longing, just to name a few.

One of the main things I find myself saying to people when they ask me to edit their stories is “more emotion.” Make me feel her desperation for love. Make me feel his helplessness. Make me want to cry my eyes out. And make me want to curl up in a ball in the corner and cover my eyes as I tremble with terror.

I think the way to do this is to truly connect with my own character. And this will be the subject of my next blog.

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

Injecting Perfection

Posted on by
Reply

POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Injecting Perfection

By Nandy Ekle

 

The twisted little body lies on the slab. So far that’s all it is, just a lifeless rag. I’ve put a suture here and there to string pieces together in an effort to make the body whole. There are a few loose ends, but those will heal once the life begins.

I have a whole ward of these lifeless little things. Some of them could be beautiful; some of them could be powerful. But all of them are mine. The only thing missing from each one is a beginning sentence.

These special little wads of bodies are ideas that I’ve had for stories. They pop in my head at random times, sometimes uncanny in their ability to find the most inappropriate moments to show up. I can be in the middle of a sentence during a conversation with a complete stranger when one of these ideas knocks on the door and says, “Guess what!” Or I can be deeply immersed in reading a work with strong hands that keep my attention, except for the split second when I hear, “Sort of like what happened to me.” Music brings them, pictures bring them, people walking down the street bring them. One time an idea spoke so loud I woke up from sleep in the middle of the night to listen.

I take the idea and lay it on a slab, gluing it down with my ink and a promise saying, “Don’t go anywhere, I’ll be right back,” and usually I do come back and fiddle with it a little more. Occasionally, though, they get tired of waiting on me and go on to find someone else with more time – but for the most part, they wait patiently.

So I look at this one particular idea and see the marks of where I have tried to find the right sequence of words to inject into its veins that will open its eyes. I see a lot of needle marks, but still the eyes have not opened. I do remember a flutter, though. This poor little waif is in two parts, and the second part is set. The first sentence of that scene caused the eyeballs underneath the lids to roll in a curious REM fashion, but they did not open. The first part is not there yet.

From all the words that exist in language today, there has got to be a combination that works to open these eyes. And so I will continue to look for the perfect fit, that special key that will give life to this story. Then I can move on to the next.

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

Facebook Page Promotion

Posted on by
Reply

POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Facebook Page Promotion

By Nandy Ekle

 

Several years ago I met a crew of writers at a certain online writing community, which I will not name for a lot of different reasons. These writing friends and I have all left said online writing community, but we’ve kept in touch on Facebook. And that makes me a very lucky person, indeed.

One of my friends lived in Texas when I met her. Of course, the other friends who didn’t understand Texas thought we must just hang out together all the time since, of course, we both lived in the same state. What most of them didn’t understand is that she lived about 600 miles away. And that even though our state was big enough to hold both of us, it was still a huge distance away. So much so that you would never even believe it was all Texas.

A couple of years ago, she moved to the Pacific Northwest. We still keep in touch through cyberspace, and I’m very thankful for that because she is an amazing writer.

But more than being an amazing writer, Mrs. Heiser is also an incredible editor. In fact, my blog this week is about a new Facebook page she has opened called “Ask Midge.” On this page she invites the public to ask questions about writing (technical, structural, theoretical . . .) and she also gives some pretty good tips.

So, if you are on Facebook, you should look up the Ask Midge page. “Like” it, “follow” it, enjoy it.

And you can tell her Nan sent you. https://www.facebook.com/askmidge/photos/

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