Outtakes 189
Characters and Conflict
By Cait Collins
Setting up conflict in a story can be tricky. A writer who is not in tune with the various idiosyncrasies of his characters may have difficulty in creating the tension needed to craft plausible conflict. The story is not the incident; it’s in the characteristics of the people involved. Human resources and training department employ personality profiles to help determine the traits that each team member possesses. Knowing the personality types for a team enables managers to better assign tasks and manage a group.
For example, two co-workers have a difference of opinion regarding the best way to handle the upper management directive to set up a data base to track expenditures for the past ten years. The information pertains to the sales department, the tax department, and the advertising department. One of the people charged with the task is methodical; compiling the necessary information with attention to detail.
A second worker approaches the job in a helter skelter manner. There’s no organization or precision in the work. Errors are abundant. It’s impossible for the data to correlate with the more methodical worker’s.
A third person, the peace maker, tries to help out. Instead of getting involved with the project, the team member keeps looking for a “we are friends” moment. Everyone must get along he or she insists. By trying to force peace, the other co-workers become more stressed and less productive. The project stalls and management gets involved.
This is your assignment. Write the confrontation between the three co-workers and the managers.
Stay on Course
By Rory C. Keel
In writing, most authors have a general direction for their story. However, a story will often veer off course and become confusing. While it is understood that part of the story is developed during the writing, subplots or irrelevant information should not take over and distract from the main story.
Causes that often affect the writer
While the writer needs to allow flexibility for background and characters to develop, these things give fullness to the story and shouldn’t drive the direction of the story.
The good story divergence is the one that causes a change but still holds within the original framework of the story. The bad story divergence jumps out of the frame and pulls the story off course.
Outtakes 188
Reunion
by Cait Collins
I’ve been fortunate to be associated with some very talented writers. Many are still trying for the big break, but they continue to work at their craft. Because of schedules, new places in our writing careers, or new locations, we don’t often see each other. It’s sad, but that’s the way of life. Recently we lost one of the talented writers.
I didn’t know DeWanna Pace as well as many of the writers and published authors in the Amarillo, Texas region. My association with her was limited to conferences and writer’s meetings, but I always believed there was something very special about her. She had this way of making you feel important. When she was talking with you, you were the only person in the room with her. She focused on the conversation and listened. Really listened.
DeWanna was unfailingly kind. She put other people first. I remember the day I was released from the hospital and found DeWanna sitting off to the side in the entry. I stopped to speak with her and learned her mother was being admitted. I asked if there was anything I could do. All she wanted was prayers. In return, she asked if I was visiting someone. I explained I had just been released. She offered to help me. If I needed anything all I had to do was call. Her own plate was full and yet she was concerned about me.
She was a great teacher. When she presented classes at writers’ conferences, her sessions were always well attended. She encouraged young writers. Even though her health was not the best, she kept her commitment to speak at the last writers’ conference held in Amarillo. It was important to her to pass on what she had learned.
This past Saturday, we celebrated the release of DeWanna’s latest book, The Daddy List, at a reception at Barnes and Noble. There was no book signing; just a meeting of people who had been touched by her generosity and talent. I found myself hugging my fellow writers and catching up on their lives and work. The passing of years did not matter; we were writers honoring one of our own. I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon.
Stay on Course
By Rory C. Keel
In writing, most authors have a general direction for their story. However, a story will often veer off course and become confusing. While it is understood that part of the story is developed during the writing, subplots or irrelevant information should not take over and distract from the main story.
Causes that often affect the writer
While the writer needs to allow flexibility for background and characters to develop, these things give fullness to the story and shouldn’t drive the direction of the story.
The good story divergence is the one that causes a change but still holds within the original framework of the story. The bad story divergence jumps out of the frame and pulls the story off course.
One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, looking for long words because you’re maybe a little bit ashamed of your short ones. This is like dressing up a household pet in evening clothes. The pet is embarrassed and the person who committed this act of premeditated cuteness should be even more embarrassed.
–Stephen King
Outtakes 187
The Music Man
by Cait Collins
When someone says, “I’m a writer,” what is your immediate response? Perhaps you ask, “What do you write?” Meaning do you write poetry, science fiction, romance? But what if someone said, “I write songs?”
Song writers, or lyricists, are prolific writers. They pen some of the most beautiful works.
I can’t imagine not having musicals like Carousel. Camelot, Evita, Phantom of the Opera, Cats. And what about the songs of Neil Diamond, Enya, Gordon Lightfoot, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Simon and Garfunkel, and Taylor Swift.
Song writers are story tellers. Their works employ some of the same structure as a novelist or screenwriter would use. Think about it. A vocal piece has a beginning, middle, and an end. For example listen to a good old somebody -done –somebody-wrong song. It goes something like this. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, but along comes Mr. Heartbreak and the relationship starts to fall apart. Boy decides he loves the girl enough to let her go. Heartbroken, he watches her marry the other guy. In a three and a half minute song, you have a romantic story of love and loss.
Good song writing contains vivid images, scents, tastes, and touches. The Canadian Railroad Trilogy written by Gordon Lightfoot begins with images of majestic mountains, virgin forests, and builds to the laddies swinging hammers, and the first trains making their way across the country. Close your eyes when listening to a favorite song and “see” the words. View it like a movie short, and you will soon realize the enormous talent and craftsmanship of the writer.
Grizabella remembers a time knowing happiness in Memory from Cats. The Fiddler languishes If I Were a Rich Man. Evita begs Don’t Cry for Me Argentina. And the Phantom composes The Music of the Night. And we all remember the words. We sing or hum along with the singers remembering our own experiences and emotions. Long after the stage lights dim, we remember how lyrics touch us. The songs become a part of us. A tear slips down a cheek, or a smile softens features when we hear the opening notes of a beloved song. And the song writer takes his place among the select who call themselves “writers”.
Stockpile People
By Rory C. Keel
A writer needs to have a stockpile of people. No, not like in the movie Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but a file full of descriptions, characteristics and quirks of real people.
The truth is that all characters are based somehow on actual people. Think about it, even the characters you invent are based on elements taken from real people. The people you place on the page come from someone that you, as the writer, have seen or come in contact with, either personally or by hearsay.
The Gathering
To place these characters on your page, you must own them, every part of them the good, the bad, and the ugly. To do this you need to try and understand real people. Interact with them, watch them and observe their condition in life. When you finally know them, they are yours. Gather them up and stockpile them by writing them in a file. They will be glad to repeat their behaviors on the pages of your writing.
Query Letter Basics
By Natalie Bright
1. Address your letter to a person; the right person.
2. How do you find the right person? Do your homework.
3. Research online: For agents you can find client lists, interviews with information such as what they are looking for and they’re favorite books, and agency information. For editors you can find interviews about what they want to see in their inbox, what they like to read, and what they like to see in query letters.
4. Keep the tone professional, not silly or stiff.
5. Begin with specifics: genre, word count completed, main hook.
6. Describe the elements of your story that will appeal to readers, the heart of your story, the essence.
7. Describe your life experiences as they relate to writing, but be brief.
Good luck!
Outtakes 186
Uncomplicated
by Cait Collins
Think back to when you were a kid. You didn’t worry about where you would live, buying groceries, paying bills, or finding a doctor. Your parents took care of those things All you had to do was play and have fun. A child’s life is so uncomplicated until it gets mucked up. With too many activities, to manage, too much pressure to succeed, and not enough time to be just a kid, life becomes a complex maze. . And sometimes this’s the way we write.
Our stories get complicated when we over think and over write the piece. Even though we have a plot line, we know the beginning and the end, and we have an idea of how to go from point a to point z , we’ll still bury the characters in back story, stifle them with orations, and baffle them with details. When the story is completed we have a ton of complicated plots, unnecessary information and complex phrases. The story is tedious, the pace slow, and the characters made of cardboard. What happened? Simply put, we made a simple story complicated.
I don’t spend tons of time researching every detail I think I might need. I cannot force myself to outline each scene and stick to the plan even when the plan is falling apart. I’m a “pantser”. I fly by the seat of my pants, and so do many of my writer friends. Pantsers have character sketches, jotted notes, and maybe a brief time line. We tend to allow our characters to act independently of our control. Believe me when I say some of my best work comes when I let the characters take over and lead me down the road. It may not be the route I had in mind, but often it is better. By stifling the character’s need to play, I complicate the story. Planners, on the other hand, need defined structure to keep the plot moving. Both ways work as long as we discipline ourselves to allow our opposing characteristic to have a say in the process.
There are simple steps we can take to keep the work in our respective voices. Don’t over-do the description. Sorry, but two pages of an ode on the rising sun becomes boring in a narrative. Don’t allow technical jargon to over-power the story. Do permit your character to play. Bored children give birth to mischief and a ruined plot line. Do allow your imagination to blossom. Refuse to force ideas to make the plot follow your directions. Do be prepared for rewrites. Think like a child and act accordingly. A little temper tantrum may be the best thing for the story.
