Constructing Stories

From Prose to Comics to Sceenplay

2011-01-07T09:07:00.000-08:00

2010. Done. Gone. Unless you have a time machine (ala Timeslingers), then you're stuck with 2011. No going back.

2010 was an interesting year. Nathan and I worked on the Timeslingers ebook (which should be self-published sometime in early 2011), we worked on a new comic book series called The Standard (which is still being developed), and I started working on a screenplay based on The Standard. Not to mention beginning some work on Season 2 of Timeslingers. It didn't feel like much when I was working on it, but if I look back...I accomplished quite a bit. More than I anticipated, at least.

On the personal side of things, my wife and I acquired a cat (Addie Mae), my mother relapsed with her cancer (which is now in her bones - your prayers are appreciated), I spent more money on my house than I care to think about, and I ingested quite a few books and comic books.

It was a fascinating year. Questions for you, as you read this...how was your 2010? What'd you work on? How did the year pan out? And what would you like me to blog about? I'm all out of ideas!

The Talking Dolphin and the Volcano

2010-04-20T21:49:00.000-07:00

"Where is she? Is she back?"

Clint Sampson stormed into the underwater laboratory's control room. Bright crimson spread across his forehead and cheeks. His team knew the look well. Clint's temper burned so hot it could burn a hole through the sun. But this expression was different. This outburst was laced with worry.

Elena glanced at Darius, and then back at Clint. "We haven't heard from her."

No one but Clint could bear the burden of his daughter's disappearance. The two had fought hours earlier, and she had snuck out into the ocean alone shortly thereafter. No one was allowed out into the field alone, but Clint's daughter had managed to sneak out without anyone noticing. Clint checked his watch.

"What time did she leave?"

Dr. Arlington, the team's oceanographer and desk agent, shook his head. He had been checking the exit chamber's security camera for the last ten minutes. "At least an hour and a half, maybe longer."

Clint swore. "She's running out of air." He strode to the locker where his underwater tactical suit was located.

"You can't go after her," said Dr. Arlington. "It's not safe."

"My daughter is going to die unless we do something now!"

Clint's gray eyes could cut corregated steel. The muscles in his wide, powerful jaw flexed as determination took strides toward desperation. Head of Central Ocean Research for the Environment (or C.O.R.E.), Clint had spent his entire life investigating one of the earth's last unexplored frontiers. But the ecosystem that had made his life was in the process of ruining it.

"The volcano is still active," said Dr. Arlington, C.O.R.E.'s head of environmental impact. "It's suicide. I can't let you-"

"It's not your call," said Clint. "Open the chamber,"

Clint pushed past the doctor and headed for the transfer chamber that would give him access to the watery world outside the plastic confines of the research facility.

Darius, the bombastic, adventure-seeking technician, swore. He'd been working for Clint long enough to know that his boss was reckless enough to get himself killed. And if there was any hope of finding Tricia, Clint's daughter, it would have to be a team effort. "Wait for me, boss! You know the rules, nobody goes it alone."

Elena frowned. She approached the doctor. "We're gonna need the DCS."

"It's not ready," said the doctor.

"It's good enough."

Arlington's lips pursed, but he offered a curt nod and headed for the huge tank adjacent to their headquarters.

"DCS?" Clint asked.

"Dolphin Communication System," said Arlington.

"Dolphin...what?" asked Darius.

"Communication System," said Elena. "It's a device that interprets the electrical signals in the dolphin's brain and then communicates the results back to us."

"You're saying they can talk to us?"

"No," corrected the doctor. "The dolphin's sonar is being analyzed by a sophisticated algorithm that determines exactly what the dolphin is experiencing in real time. That data is relayed through the mainframe, which interprets the message and give us a visual and verbal confirmation."

"Right," said Darius. "So the dolphin talks...great."

Clint pulled on his underwater tactical suit, finishing with the helmet. His voice came through the lab's loudspeaker. "My daughter has fifteen minutes of air left, if that. Open the chamber. Let's go!"

Darius and Elena scrambled to get their tactical suits on as Dr. Arlington moved to the tank in search of his special dolphin.

_ _ _

Clint led Darius and Elena into the ocean's depths. The ocean's cold, black blanket wrapped itself around the rescue team as they descended toward the jagged mountain range rising out of the ocean's floor. The team's only respite from the darkness was the brilliant yellow flashes of light that pierced through the shadows every time the volcano spewed magma from its gaping fissure. A massive column of white smoke laced with deadly sulphur billowed toward the surface. Getting too close to the volcano meant instant death.

Dr. Arlington's voice came through the speaker system in each team member's tactical suit. "The seismic energy is growing! Another fissure could open at any minute! It's not to late to-"

"I'm not turning back!" said Clint. "Where was Tricia's last location?"

"She shut off the GPS, but I know the general direction in which she was headed. It looks like she made for the cave system we discovered yesterday. I've instructed the DCS to search there first."

The razor-sharp maze of reef surrounding the mountain range loomed. Caverns, caves, and corridors littered the reef. Clint's daughter was lost somewhere in that labrynth.

"Three humans at ten meters." Came a strange, electronic voice through their headsets.

Darius nearly lost his ski as he flinched in surprise. "Who was that?"

"The DCS," said Elena. "The dophin."

A shadow glided past them as the dolphin sped toward the reef. Clint cranked up the ski's power and headed after the dolphin. Elena and Darius followed suit.

Seconds later they reached the cave system. The dolphin paused at the entrance and circled. "Cavern reached. Awaiting orders."

"I'm sending her in," said Arlington.

The dolphin completed one last circle before darting through the opening. The team followed. The narrow opening led to a long corridor that became even more confined as they continued downward. The walls began to get closer. And then, a tremor ran through the passageway. Loose debris swirled through the corridor, blinding them.

Clint cursed. "Visibility just went straight to hell."

"Seismic activity is off the charts. Something is about to happen. We need to find Tricia fast!" said Arlington. "The dolphin navigates with sonar. It'll be fine. Hurry!"

Soon, the walls were so close the team had to travel in single file.

"This is getting dicey," said Darius. "What was she doing this far in?"

Before Elena could answer the dolphin's electronically interpreted voice spoke, "Body found."

"That's her!" Arlington exclaimed. "From what I can see based on the dolphin's sonar it looks like she's pinned underneath something. She's unconscious."

Clint reached her first. A narrow part of the passage had caved in, pinning Tricia to the reef. The team jumped into action. All three put all their strength into pushing the pieces of reef off Tricia's back.

"Just a few bruises, maybe a concussion, but her oxygen is almost gone," Clint said. His voice relayed a hint of hope for the first time. "Let's get her back!"

Another severe tremor ran down the mountain range's spine. The corridor shook violently. The sand, dust, and debris thickened within the chamber. A blinding yellow light flashed from somewhere below them, shooting through the holes in the reef system. The light was so bright Darius shielded his eyes.

Elena spun. "I can't see a thing!"

"A fissure just opened up underneath you!" Arlington said. "You have to get out, now!"

Clint twirled his ski back around, grabbed Tricia, and started back down the corridor. "Go! Go! Go!"

"Where? I don't even know which way is up!" shouted Darius.

The dolphin snaked past them and darted through the passageway.

"Follow her!" said Arlingotn.

The team chased after the dolphin as it swam through the narrow passageways. A huge cloud of white smoke began drifting up toward them. Elena's eyes widened at the sight of the smoke. If it reached them, they could die.

Just as they were about to reach the exit the dolphin stopped. Their path was blocked by a mass of collapsed reef. The team's morale sunk as the boiling water and white smoke drifted ever closer. Bright flashes of light shone through holes in the reef. The temperature inside the caves rose.

"We're stuck!" said Darius.

The dolphin sped past him and darted into an adjacent passageway. Clint didn't wait for Arlington to tell him what to do, he kicked his ski into gear and raced after the dolphin. Another earthquake struck. The reef walls rattled. Pieces of rock toppled over all around them.

And then the dolphin disappeared.

Another exit opened was right in front of them. They burst out into the open ocean as white smoke engulfed the reef.

_ _ _

Back on the surface of the water, above the underground lab, Dr. Arlington leaned over the side of the boat to stroke the dolphin's glistening gray skin.

"Good girl!" he said. "It worked! The DCS worked brilliantly! And she performed like a champion!"

Clint nodded. He glanced sideways at Tricia and hugged her closer. "Saved my daughter's life. I owe that dolphin a drink."

"Maybe we could get a big pool? She'd make a great pet!" said Tricia. Her smile was enough to make the team breath a deep sigh of relief. If they'd found her any later she would have died. They'd barely made it out alive themselves.

"A pool? After what you pulled? How about, you're grounded! No more water for you, young lady," said Clint. Tricia gave him a hurt look, and he relented. A smile even graced his lips. "And I guess I could work on being a better father. We'll call it even."

Tricia smiled, which brought a smile to everyone else on the team.

"I still don't get how she talks," said Darius. "I mean that's pretty amazing."

"Indeed," said the doctor. "In fact, she told me she found you very ugly."

Darius' mouth dropped open until he saw the sly smile on the doctor's face. Elena chuckled, and then shoved Darius over the boat's side. He splashed into the water. Even the dolphin chortled.

"I'm just glad I've got you back," Clint said to Tricia.

The two shared a long embrace.

Saturday Special: Comic Book Prose!

2010-04-17T11:40:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a fight sequence for the comic book Nathan and I are creating. Felt like I needed to flesh it out in prose before I took on the attempt at making panels. Here's a prose preview of The Standard: Issue #2:

The Northern Club - Las Vegas, 1938

“No! Please! Somebody help!”

I wake from disturbing dreams to the sound of some dame screaming. Rolling off of the stiff mattress, I grab my firearm off the nightstand and dash to the door. She sounds like she’s right outside my room, in the hotel’s only hallway. I yank the door open and explode into the narrow corridor.

“Here! Take it back! I was just joshin’, mister!”

A young hooker, maybe eighteen or nineteen, has her back against the hallway’s far wall. Her face is frozen in fear, contorted into an expression of pure terror, and she’s holding out a hand full of stolen twenty-dollar bills as if it’ll buy her life back.

A colossal brute of a man fills up the hallway between her and me. He’s an unnatural giant wearing only a pair of slacks and a white undershirt without sleeves. His arms ripple with muscles I didn’t know the human body had and he’s got a knife in his right hand—as if this colossus needs a blade against the petite pretty he’s got pinned to the wall.

“There a problem here?” I ask. Not that I want to. This guy could tear me in half. The dead weight of my gun feels awfully good.

The monster turns slightly to look back over his shoulder at me. His hair is a mess and his teeth are barred like a glowering gorilla. But the creepiest part, the part that sends a chill up my spine, is that his eyes are pure midnight—no whites, just black and smoldering pupils. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I know this guy. This guy’s a buddy of mine—the guy that I just rode into town with yesterday. Only now he looks like he’s possessed by the devil himself.

“Clift?”

Something in my voice doesn’t want to believe it. I mean, the guy has grown a full foot in height, not to mention adding a hundred pounds of pure muscle. It’s crazy. I suddenly wonder if I’m still dreaming.

He takes one step forward and roars as he slices the knife through the air at my head. I duck, but I can feel the blade slide within inches of my cranium. The knife’s blade punches right through the wall and sticks. Clift bellows out in anger and swipes his left arm at me in a sweeping backhand blow. It catapults me into the air and sends me reeling. The wall comes at me like a freight train. I grunt as the wind gets knocked out of me. That’s when I feel my fingers lose their grip on the pistol.

I scramble back out of the way as he grabs the knife and yanks it out of the wall. He doesn’t recognize me. If it’s even him. I’m beginning to think someone or something has taken over his body.

“Clift! It’s me, Sam! What the–”

He hurls the knife at me. I expect my life to flash before my eyes, but I doesn’t. Instead, the world starts to slow down. The knife twirls through the air, coming at me in slow motion. I have enough time to frown and tilt my head to the side as it flies past. That’s when the ‘I’m still dreaming’ explanation starts to feel a lot more comforting. But I don’t have time to pinch myself yet. Time jumps back to normal pace as the knife clatters across the floor somewhere behind me.

Clift charges. As he gets closer it happens again. Time slows to a crawl. I duck under his haymaker punch and slide past him. That’s when I realize that it’s not time that has slowed down, it’s me. I’ve sped up.

I scramble back down the hallway toward the girl as Clift’s grotesque growl gets guttural. We both lock our eyes on my pistol. It’s halfway between the both of us. His lip snarls. His eyes are pure hate. If he gets his hands on me he’ll tear me limb from limb.

He takes a lumbering lunge forward. I use my newly acquired speed to dart for the gun. I slide underneath his diving tackle and snatch the pistol off the wood floorboards. He sails over me and slams into the ground. The hallway quivers as if an earthquake hit.

Scrambling to my feet, I lift my pistol and aim. But Clift’s back to normal size, the way he was yesterday when I saw him last. He’s on his back groaning. I take a few hesitant steps toward him as the young woman flies past me in a flurry of motion and darts downstairs.

“Clift?”

He blinks. I can see his eyes now. They’re normal, like a human being’s eyes should be. Pupils. Whites. The whole shebang.

“What the–” he says. “How’d I–”

“It’s just a dream,” I say, even though I’m beginning not to believe it myself. I pinch my arm to be sure. I don’t wake up. “N-nothing to, ah, nothing to worry about.”

“What’s going on up here?” asks Patrick Sullivan, the local mob leader. He appears at the top of the stairs with Glenn, the third member of our little gang. Sullivan looks pissed. “Sonofa- what are you doing?”

The dreams I had last night start coming back to me. This is just the beginning. I need to get on that train. I need to meet the Prophet.

Memories of Paradise

2010-04-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

"I remember this place."

She dipped the tip of her big toe into the placid pool and watched the concentric circles glide across the surface. Her head tilted to the side as the tiny little black fish swimming in the pool nibbled at her skin. The warm smile that appeared brought tears to my eyes. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"I thought you'd like it," I said.

"Oh, I do!" she said. Her deep brown eyes shimmered as they turned to meet mine. "Thank you."

I fought every impulse to look away--seconds so precious would cost too much. "I-I'm sorry."

"For what?"

A tear slid down my cheek. And then another. I blinked them away. I needed to see her face. Her lips. The supple cheeks that I longed to caress. Even the rounded tip of her nose. I needed to memorize it--to keep it so close as to let it become a part of me.

"It's okay, darling."

I shook my head. "I'm not going to--I can't be okay."

Her smile softened, "But you will." She looked away. Her head fell back as she let the cool trade winds toussel her hair. The stars danced in her pupils with a thousand pinpoints of light. When her eyes found mine again my heart skipped a beat--the same way it had so many years ago when we'd first met.

We'd been so young, then. So full of life. I took a deep breath. "Don't ever leave me."

She wrapped her arms around me. Our lips pressed tightly together. I held her as though I would never lose her again.

She whispered gently in my ear. "I love you."

Her warm tears intermingled with my own as time began to fall away. The cool touch of the breeze faded out. The muted moonlight sucked the twinkling stars into an unconscious black. I held onto her as long as I could, and then even the heavenly sensation of her skin dulled.

_ _ _

When I opened my eyes only the tears were still there. Flourescent beams replaced the beautiful moonlight. Heat pumping through the airducts took the place of the island breeze. There was no pond. No fish. No trees.

"Mr. Salazar," said the nurse. "I'm sorry, but the transmission window has passed. The impulses in her brain just faded away. I need you to sit up, now. Can you do that for me?"

She helped me into a seated position and peeled back the nueral trasmitters attached to my head. I ignored the litany of other instructions and tried to remember those last moments. My wife lay peacefully in the hospital bed across the room. Pushing myself up, I shuffled to my wife's side, and took her hand in mine.

"Sir? Did the location you selected appear? Did the neural transmission generate the proper memory? Were you able to communicate with her before she passed?"

I leaned down, kissed my wife's forehead, and whispered back,

"I love you, too, my dear."

The Elephant and the Mammoth

2010-04-10T18:23:00.000-07:00

Brief children's story inspired by Chris Samnee's topic suggestion:

The shade of the massive tree overlooking the watering hole felt cool and refreshing to Maratma's gray, wrinkled skin. Still, the two-year-old elephant soon grew restless. Peering up at her mother, she tried on her most innocent expression and pleaded, "Mom, can I go out into the water?"

Nembula, Maratma's mother, let out an exacerbated sigh. "You can't sit still, can you, Mara?" A sly smile crept onto the little elephant's face as she shook her head. Nembula did her best to giver her daughter a disapproving look, but she quickly gave up the fight. "Okay, fine, but stay close!"

Maratma ("Mara" for short) nearly jumped for joy. Thanking her mother, she sauntered out into the watering hole and began to explore the long shoreline of the massive pond. She walked, played, and sang to herself as she dipped her trunk into the water and tossed it over her back to cool off her skin. Soon, she was lost in her imaginary world. That's when things started to go wrong.

First, Mara lost track of time. Next, she lost track of her mother and her tribe. Then, she realized that she was just plain lost. She had no idea where she was. Her eyes widened and her heartbeat began to race. She'd never been lost before, and it was downright scary. She grew very quiet and listened. The thick forest surrounding the watering hole produced the strangest noises. She'd never noticed them before, and they sounded so foreign and frightening. Even the trees in this part of the forest seemed to lean farther over into the watering hole, making for long, creepy shadows that stretched out across the water.

Mara looked back the way she'd come. Nothing about the shoreline looked familiar. She called out, "Momma! Momma!" But no one answered. This part of the watering hole felt different. She backed a little farther out into the water and sat down. The water no longer felt cool and refreshing. Now it felt cold and unfriendly. Sinking lower and lower into the water, she suddenly felt very alone. And that's when she started to cry.

As the first tear slid down her cheek she heard something. Her giant ears twitched. Her heart beat even faster. Had she heard something walking through the forest close by or was it just her imagination?

"Hello? Is someone there?"

Suddenly, the foliage burst open to reveal a creature not much different than Mara. Startled, she jumped to her feet and watched as a small boy elephant with long, reddish-brown hair and short, developing tusks splashed into the watering hole. He stopped when he finally noticed that someone else was there. His eyes were almost as wide as Mara's.

"Are you crying?" he asked.

"No," Mara said. "I--You just splashed water in my eyes, that's all!"

"No I didn't!" He said indignantly.

When he shook his head the strands of hair covering his body swayed back and forth. For some reason it made Mara giggle. She didn't have any hair, but his body was covered with it!

"What are you laughing about?"

"You!" she said. "You're all hairy!"

"Of course I am! I'm a wooly mammoth!"

"I've never seen a mammoth before," said Mara.

"Well, it's your lucky day," he said. "We don't normally come this far south, but Papa says we have to so we can eat. We've been pretty hungry lately."

"Oh, well, I'm sure you could have some of our food."

"Really? Where is it?"

Mara shrugged, and for a split second the fear of being lost returned. "Actually, I--I'm not sure. I'm lost."

"You're lost? Well... where did you come from?"

Mara glanced back over her shoulder. "That way, I think."

"I have a pretty good sense of direction," said the boy elephant. "If I help you find your way back could you give me something to eat?"

Overjoyed at the prospect of finding her mother again, Mara quickly agreed.

"My name's Pompulu," the little mammoth said. "But most people call me Pomp."

"My name's Maratma," she said. "But you can call me Mara."

So, off the two elephants went, splashing and playing in the watering hole on their way back to where Mara's tribe had been staying. It didn't take long for them to come upon the first sign of Mara's camp. Three boy elephants, all slightly older than Mara, roughhoused in the shallows of the watering hole. Mara lifted her trunk in a greeting, but when they saw her, all three boys froze.

"What's this all about?" asked Grudel, the oldest of the boys. They gathered into a tight group and glared at Pomp. "Who's he? What's he doing here?"

"He's hungry," said Mara. "His tribe is here looking for food."

"All the food around here is ours, hair ball," snarled Grudel. The other two boys raised their trunks in agreement and honked rudely. Grudel shook his head, "Go home, freak!"

"I was lost!" Mara said. "He helped me find my way back!"

"He's not welcome here," said Grudel.

"Why not?"

Pomp interrupted. "It's okay, Mara. I'll just go back-"

"Yeah he will!" said Grudel's friend, Dargan. "Back to the rest of his hairy, ape-like friends!"

Pomp's face flushed. He honked loudly, lifted his left leg, and then slapped the water with it. That made the three elephants recoil and prepare for a scuffle. Mara intervened.

"Wait! He helped me!" said Mara. "Leave him alone! Come on, Pomp, let's leave these three to their stupid games."

"You shouldn't play with him, Mara," said Grudel. "You'll grow hair all over, just like him."

Mara ignored the comment and led Pomp back into the forest and out of sight of the other boys. Pomp still seemed upset, but Mara hoped he would soon forget Grudel and his friends. "Look, you wait here and I'll go get some food for you, okay?"

"I don't know. Maybe I should just go-"

"No! You helped me and I said I'd bring you food! I'll be right back."

Pomp reluctantly agreed and Mara trotted back to her camp. There, her mother and some of the others were talking in hushed tones. Mara caught only bits and pieces of their conversation, but she knew they must be talking about the mammoths.

"...this far south?"

"...can't be good. We'd better be careful..."

"...and keep our children within sight!"

When Nembula say her daughter trot into camp she quickly broke away from the gossiping elephants and scolded Mara. "Where have you been? I was getting worried!"

"I was just-"

"It doesn't matter. Go get ready for dinner!"

"But I have to-"

"No 'buts,' Mara!" said Nembula. "Get along, now!"

Nembula moved back into her circle of friends. Mara frowned and pretended to get ready for dinner while she gathered food to take back to Pomp. When she had nestled enough vegetables in her trunk to feed Pomp, she waited until her mother wasn't looking, and then snuck off into the forest.

When she reached the area where she had left Pomp he was nowhere to be found. That's when she heard a commotion coming from somewhere deeper into the forest. Hurrying through the brush, she came upon a circular clearing and stopped.

The three boys, Grudel, Dargan, and Tribulun, had surrounded Pomp in the center of the clearing. They were taunting him and kicking dust into his thick coat of hair. Pomp looked angry and scared. Mara dropped the vegetables and was about to rush to Pomp's aid when the tree line on the other side of the clearing parted. Two massive trees toppled over as a giant wooly mammoth crashed into the clearing and announced his arrival with a loud, angry honk.

The three elephant boys quickly retreated as the mammoth lumbered over to Pomp's side. The hulking mammoth had long, intimidating tusks and its body was covered in layers of long brown hair. It raised its trunk into the air and barked at the elephant boys again.

Another deafening honk sounded to Mara's right. Humanaram the Elder and two other adult male elephants from her tribe rushing into the clearing. The three boys hid behind them as they sauntered into the clearing to face the mammoth.

"What are you doing here?" asked Humanaram. "This is our watering hole. You are not welcome here!"

The mammoth snorted. "Food grows scarce in the north."

"The food here is ours. The watering hole is ours," said Humanaram. "Go away. Do not return here again."

Mara felt sorry for the mammoths, and she felt betrayed by her own tribe. Pomp had been so helpful, and the elders were ignoring the needs of the mammoths. Frustrated, she jogged into the clearing.

"But he helped me!" she called out. All eyes turned to her, which made her feel very small. But, having already made up her mind, she continued, "I was lost and Pomp helped me find my way home!"

"Quiet young one," chided Humanaram. "You know not what you say."

"But, it's true, he-"

"Enough! They are not like us, Maratma! They do not belong here. This is our land. They must go."

The older mammoth nudged Pomp. The two put their heads down in shame and walked back to the edge of the forest. Grudel and his friends sneered, but Mara ignored them. Rushing back to where she had dropped the vegetables, she gathered them into her trunk and then raced back to where the two mammoths had disappeared. She caught up with them a short while later. The older mammoth was scolding Pomp.

"You cannot wander off like that, my son," he said. "These lands are not ours. These creatures are not like us."

"But they are like us!" said Pomp. "They just don't have any hair!"

"It is more complicated than that."

Mara honked gently to get their attention. They turned in unison. Mara didn't have anything good to say, so she just held the vegetables out. Pomp glanced up at the older mammoth, who nodded his permission. Pomp hurried forward to Mara while the older mammoth continued walking. At first, neither of them knew what to say.

Finally, Mara sighed, "I'm really sorry."

"It's okay."

"I don't understand."

"Neither do I."

"But, they should not have treated you like that, even if you are hairy," she said. Pomp just shrugged. Mara continued, "Well, I'll never treat you that way. None of you. As far as I'm concerned we're in the same tribe."

Pomp seemed to brighten up a bit. "I like that."

"So, we can still be friends?" asked Mara. "Even if we never see each other again?"

Pomp looked back at where the older mammoth had vanished, and then looked back at Mara. He smiled broadly and nodded. "I'd like that."

"Then it's settled. We're friends. Thanks for helping me get back home."

The two talked for another minute before the older mammoth barked for Pomp to catch up. Rolling his eyes, Pomp said goodbye and trotted back into the forest. Mara hesitated before heading back to her tribe. The way they had treated Pomp had upset her. Snorting in disgust, she made a promise to herself that no matter how different another creature was, she would still respect them and help them however she could.

Outlaws and Hot Rods

2010-04-09T16:27:00.000-07:00

Scene inspired by Bill Hoge:

The sun's heat cooked the two lane highway like a stovetop frying a strip of bacon. On either side of the gray asphalt, orange sand broken by an occasional rock or shrub stretched out for hundreds of miles. Both ends of the highway vanished into the shimmering haze radiating off the ground. The only thing in sight was the rundown, rusty, raucous bar that sat off the highway. The Back Road.

"Aaron, please!" Bonny pleaded with me. Her big, clear baby blue eyes usually put my temper on ice. Not this time. "Don't do this! It's crazy! Nothing happened between us!"

I brushed the long strands of blonde hair out of my face. "You think I can let him get away with saying that?"

"He didn't mean anything by it. It was just a joke! Nothing happened!"

"Dones't matter. He's gonna pay for it," I said. My lip curled up into a junkyard dog's snarl. "I'm doin' this for you."

The sympathy in her baby blues froze. Her pupils became as cold as a glacier. "You're doin' this for yourself, Aaron."

"I'm doin' this because I love you."

"If you love me, you'll get out of the car and drop this."

For a split second my fury backed down to a low boil. Her eyes, her words, and the set of black bangs that curled over her forehead were almost enough for me to call it off. But, before the pride in me fully quit, Dave burst through the Back Road's front door and waltzed out into the parking lot. The others loitering in front of the bar snapped to attention.

"Lookie here, fellas! Two little ladies all dolled up and ready for a party!" shouted Dave.

That's all it took. My mouth clamped shut. Bonny knew I'd made my choice. She backed away from the window. I could see tears in her eyes as she retreated, but I didn't care. This was between Dave and I, and he was about to get what was coming to him.

"You ready?" I shouted across the lot.

Dave's eyebrows jumped up above his brow. "You hear that, boys? This little darlin' has her panties in a bunch!"

"Well?"

He cut his chuckle short and sneered. "I'm an Outlaw, kid. I'm always ready. The question is--are you?"

I pinned my 1946 Ford Coupe's accelerator to the floor and shoved the stick into first gear. The smell of asphalt grating rubber to shreds filled my nostrils as my car squealed into a U-turn and shot down the highway. When I reached my spot I pulled the e-brake and spun back around.

As Dave slid behind the wheel of his hot rod I caught the lettering on his leather jacket. "Outlaws" was emblazoned in bright orange and yellow flame across the top. I spit out the window. We had given the same oath. Brothers 'til the end. That end was coming quick for Dave.

Dave's Chevy, coated in bright cherry red and gleaming chrome, came to life. The roar of the engine and a cloud of white smoke signalled he was ready. He charged into position--down the highway in the opposite lane. Our cars were lined up like horses about to propel their riders into the joust.

I ran my hand over the shotgun lying next to me to make sure it was within comfortable reach, and then I adjusted the hood-mounted 50-caliber machinegun. Taking a deep breath, I searched for Bonny. Dozens of guys were filtering out of the bar and into the midday sun. Nobody wanted to miss this--except Bonny. I spotted her just before she disappeared into the Back Road.

"Not even gonna watch," I muttered. "She doesn't understand."

Dave's engine revved. I snickered and gunned mine. My hand sat on the skull head shift nob. My fingers twitched. The battle would be brief. One or two passes. My goal was to take out the gattling gun that sat on his roof just above his driver's side door. That would give me the upper hand on the second pass--

I didn't have time to finish the thought. He dropped his Chevy into gear. I swore and did the same. Our cars hurtled down the two lane highway at one another.

First gear. Second. Third. Fourth.

His gattling gun started to twirl. I grimaced and grabbed the controls for my own machinegun. BRRAATTTAATATATATAT!!! Bullets pelted the front of my car. I returned fire. CLAKAKAKAKAKA!!! I squinted as black smoke from my engine buffeted my windshield, momentarily blinding me.

He sped by me. We both hit our e-brakes and screeched into a J-turn. I pulled the tigger again. Nothing. My machinegun was toast. He'd managed to take it out. I took a quick glance back at Dave's car. His gat was busted. That put us on equal footing. I lifted my shotgun off the passenger seat and set it on the sill of my driver's side window.
His car roared again and sprinted toward me. I kicked my Ford into gear and charged. Dave leaned out the window and aimed a .45 revolver at me. Ping! Ping! Crash! His third shot punctured the windshield and took my right ear clean off. Blood splattered all over the back seat. I bit the side of my cheek, let out a menacing scream, and forced myself to stay focused.

The seconds grew longer as our hot rods barreled down on one another. My finger graced the trigger. I waited. Our cars passed. His window flashed past mine. I yanked the trigger back. Both barrels of my shotgun unloaded right into his driver's side window. Slamming on the brakes, I grabbed a handful of extra shells and waited for my car to stop before hopping out.

My head throbbed and my thoughts grew muddled. I felt warm liquid drip from where my ear used to be to my shoulder. A wave of dizziness swept over me.

Dave's car had skidded off the road. Rust colored dust shrouded his car. I shoved two shells into my shotgun, I trudged toward his Chevy. When the dust cleared, Dave fell out of the front seat. His left arm was a bloody stump cut off above the elbow. I'd timed my shotgun blast well. His eyes went wide when he saw me coming for him. Holding up his remaining arm, he shouted, "All right! All right! We can work this out!"

"Yeah," I said. "I'm about to."

* * *

I entered the bar and basked in the cheers. As Outlaws, we never mourned the dead, we just drank to them. I couldn't manage to wipe the huge grin from my face as my fellow gangmembers clapped me on the back and shoved pints of beer into my hands.

I'd gotten what I'd wanted. Respect. My eyes scanned the room for Bonny. I figured she'd respect me now, too. But she was nowhere to be seen. My brow furrowed. I stode up to the bar. The bartender instantly slid a bottle up to me.

"Nice work, kid."

"Thanks," I said. "Where's Bonny?"

He didn't answer. He just held out a slip of paper. I took it from him and read it while the room around me started another cheer on my behalf.

Aaron, I'm leaving. I can't have Dave's or your death on my hands. This was never about me. This was about you. You're not the man I thought you were. You really are one of them, and I guess I'm not. Goodbye. I did love you.

- Bonny

Hunting Yeti

2010-04-06T21:50:00.000-07:00

Another short story/scene:

Dusk lurked on the other side of the Himalayan mountain's peak. The chilled wind taunted us as we navigated the long shadows. Our ragtag band of rugged explorers trudged along the narrow trail in a silent, single file march.

"Clearing!" shouted our local guide. "Rest?"

I nodded and signaled for for a break. The guide led us out onto a ten foot by ten foot stone ledge that jutted out of the steep slope. I stepped to the edge of the rock, swung my pack off, and knelt to search for my water bottle. As it graced my parched lips, Thompson hollered. His shout cut in and out as the wind stole the words and whisked them away, but I got the gist. He'd found something.

Abandoning my quest for water, I jumped to my feet and pushed through the others to get to Thompson, who stood over a deep crevice in the mountainside. The entrance to a cave. Thompson, my wide shouldered, brute of a friend, beamed.

"He's in there, boss!" Thompson said, his baritone hoarse from sucking in the cold air. "I can smell him."

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I had a hunch, too. I took a step forward and felt a hard tug on my backpack's strap. Turning, I met the disapproving glare of Talia, my wife, whose icy gaze made me freeze.

"Not so fast," she said. Her hands rested on her hips. She meant business. "Head lamps, maybe?"

"Everybody light up!" I shouted. I flashed her a smile. "Course, sweetheart."

One by one we lit out head lamps, careful to block the wind so that the wind didn't snuff the candle out before we even set foot inside. I entered the cave first and heard Steve's call from over my shoulder.

"The guide's spooked. Says he'll wait out here."

"By himself?" my wife asked. "That's crazy!"

"Leave him," I said. "Everybody stay close and be on your toes!"

We descended into the crevice. My wife came behind me, then Steve, and then Thompson. A cool draft of cold mountain air snaked through the underground tunnels. Compared to the buffeting wind, it felt refreshing. The slim passageway soon opened up into a massive room. I stopped dead in my tracks.

"What is it?" asked Talia.

I pointed. A dung heap. Not a goat's. Certainly not any other creature that would venture this high into the Himalayas. Talia's eyebrows shot up. A professor of biology at Yale, she knew a thing or two about animals. This wasn't something she'd ever seen before.

"Pretty fresh," Steve commented.

"Look alive! This may be it."

I took another step. Stopped. Thompson swung around. "You hear that?"

"Sounded like it came from deeper into the tunnels," said Talia.

"Wasn't human," Steve said.

We paused in the dense darkness and stretched our ears. Only the momentary drip of water off the cave walls could be heard. I grimaced and waved us onward.

"I don't hear it anymo-"

Thompson shut his mouth as a shadow passed through the black recesses of the cave. Steve cursed and grabbed at his satchel for a pistol. Mine was already drawn.

"Back's to each other!" I hissed. "Be quick about it!"

We backed into a four-pointed star and stared into the black that surrounded us. Doubts started to set in. Had we really seen the shadow or was it just our minds playing a trick on us? Where had it gone? Where was it now?

"I hear something," said Steve. He broke the four-pointed star configuration and took two steps forward. "It was right over here."

He took another. Then two more.

"Careful, Steve," said Talia.

She had barely uttered the words when a cacophonous bellow boomed throughout the cave. Steve's eyes went wide. The hulking figure of a beast covered in white fur flashed out of the darkness and into the light cast from Steve's head lamp. Steve's cry and the light from his head lamp cut out simultaneously.

Silence followed.

Stunned, I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Steve? Steve! Where are you?"

Thompson let forth a guttural groan. "It killed him! The bloody thing snapped his neck! Where are you, you sonofa-"

Another bellow. The beast appeared right in front of Thompson. Easily twelve feet tall with dingy, white fur covering its entire body, the creature appeared unearthly. Yellow fangs barred in defiance as it threw its arms up in a crazed fury. Thompson brandished his knife, and then charged. Talia and I cried out as one, but to no avail. The monster swept one arm across its chest and swatted Thompson to the other side of the room. I heard a thump, a sickening crack, and then nothing. Thompson was unconscious, or worse.

My hand trembled as I aimed my gun at the beast. It snarled and took a step closer. Talia frantically pulled at her backpack. I pulled the revolver's trigger back. The flare from the pistol lit up the room. The monster took the shot in the chest and screamed in pain, but the bullet only seemed to make it angrier.

Talia finally found what she was looking for. Pulling out a kerosene lantern, she hurled it onto the cave floor. The lantern shattered, sending a splash of kerosene between us and the creature. She pulled a match next and tried to strike it. I fired again. The creature snarled this time and barred its teeth. The bullets only provoked it. It spread its arms and growled defiantly.

"Talia! Run!" I shouted. "Go! Save yourself!"

"You're coming with me!" she shouted.

The match suddenly caught fire. She flung it onto the ground just as the monster charged. The flames leapt into the air as the creature passed through them. It shrieked and writhed as its coat caught fire. Flailing wildly, it jumped back and glared back at us with hate-filled eyes.

"Come on!" Talia shouted. "Let's go!"

We ran. Our legs burned from the high altitude. We made two turns. The exit was so close. The pain-filled moans of the beast grew distant. I almost breathed a sigh of relief when Talia suddenly stopped.

"No!" she cried. "No, this can't be!"

"What? What is it?"

Her fists pounded into the cave wall. Realization set in. A dead end. We'd taken the wrong path. Tears slid down Talia's cheeks. I swore. And then we both shut up. A sound traveled down the length of the corridor. A horrible, vile noise. The kind that nightmares are made of. Unmistakable, but unthinkable...

The yeti was chuckling.

A Table, 52 Bicycles, and Two Deaths

2010-04-05T11:59:00.000-07:00

Another short story for the week. I'm on a bit of a roll...:

The cigarette smoke makes my eyes start to burn. Sweat beads up along my brow. I wipe a strand of long, blonde hair off my forehead. I've got too much riding on this game. Far too much.

"Call or fold, lady," says the dealer. He's already pissed off that I'm even in the game. I begged him, and when that didn't work, I bribed him.

"Call," I say. It's my last hope. I can't fold. If I do I've barely got enough money for the next ante. This pot's big enough to get me the cash that I need, but my cards probably aren't. Two eights.

"You sure about that, darlin'?" asks the man across the table, the only one still left in this game. John Rider, our town's gambler, womanizer, and scumbag. His father owned half the herds in the region, but his son was never a rancher. Now he just drinks and gambles, a sleeps with prostitutes, and then drinks some more. "You'd better be."

All eyes turn to me. "I'm sure, Mr. Rider."

His eyes narrow. He chews at the end of his cigarette. The dealer frowns and barks at me, "Throw 'em down! Let's see what y'all have."

I lay my cards down first. John gives me the ugliest smile I've ever seen, leans forward, and slips his hand underneath the table. Then, in dramatic fashion, he slaps his cards onto the table.

A ten. An eight. A three. Two Jacks.

"Sorry, Ma'am," his sneer lingers as he pulls all the chips in.

Panic siezes my chest. Without that money my son will die, just like his father did. The nearest doctor is too far. My final attempt at trying to get enough cash to take him to Dallas has failed. He'll die. I have to resign myself to the fact that he'll die.

Unless... "Wait!" I shout. I jump out of my chair. It careens backward and falls over. Everyone in the saloon freezes. Heads snap to see what's going on. Rider's sneer turns south. I muster all the courage I've got. "You're a cheater."

"I'm sorry-" Rider starts.

"You cheated!" I yell, even louder this time.

"Darlin', you'd better sit back down and-"

"No! Admit it! Admit you cheated! Give me my money!"

"Easy missus," says the dealer. "You don't really mean that, do you?"

"I do. He's a dirty rotten no-good cheater."

Rider jumps out of his chair. His hand flashes to his side. The barrel of a pistol comes back up at the end of my nose.

"Shut yer trap, woman."

"All right, John," says the dealer. "Put the gun down. We know you ain't a cheat. Ma'am, that's a serious accusation. Tests a man's honor."

"He ain't got any!" I say. It's my last hope.

The dealer nods to a man nearby, who asks Rider to take off his coat. He does, slowly. They check it. Nothing. My heart starts to beat faster. Rider's snarling sneer makes my stomach turn.

"Well, I'm sorry, ma'am, but it doesn't seem like-" starts the dealer.

"No! It's true!" I say. They're starting to lose their patience. "Check under the table!"

The dealer's frown deepens but he nods. Rider balks, "You serious? You checked my coat! That's enough! I'm clean!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Rider. Has to be done."

Rider pulls his gun again. "Like hell it does. Back off!"

"He's a cheat and he knows it!" I shout.

That's breaks the camel's back. He swings the gun back around at me. A shot rings out. I close my eyes, but the bullet ever hits. Instead, it's the dealer's gun that's smoking. Rider's eyes are wide. The bullet is lodged squarely in his chest. He spins, falls back, and fires. The dealer catches the bullet in the forehead.

In the mayhem that follows, I grab enough money from the table to get my son to Dallas. I leave before they can hang me.

Conversations at a Bar

2010-04-04T20:14:00.000-07:00

This came to me, so I thought I'd write it out. I may even submit it somewhere. Let me know what you think:

Thin threads of smoke drift up out of ashtrays where dormant cigarettes rest for the night. The background noise fills the empty space around our corner table. Sports news, hushed conversations, and course laughter--how else would a dive like this sound an hour before closing on a Tuesday night?

It's just the two of us, now. Been that way for thirty minutes or so, and in that time we haven't said a word to each other. We've just sat with the silence of the background noise and smell of old, musty wood and dark places.

"You're no good for me," I say.

"You don't speak for a half an hour and that's the first thing out of your mouth?"

"I've been thinkin' it for that long."

"Nice of you to finally come out and say it."

I clench my teeth and try not to think too much. It doesn't become me. At least, that's what my wife used to say. She's the one that drove me to this whole affair. And when you look at it that way, it makes it even worse.

"I don't want to do this anymore. I can't do this anymore."

"Do what?"

"This," I say, waving my hand around the bar. The movement makes me dizzy, but I collect myself. "All this. It's a Tuesday night. What time is it?"

"Time for you to get another drink and shut the hell up."

A wave of anger washes over me. "Me? This is all your fault! All of it! First my wife, then the house, and now my job! If somebody should shut up it should be you!"

"Please. You're a big boy. You made all your own choices. Don't try to blame me now. It's a little late for that, isn't it, genius?"

"It's over. This is the last time."

"That's what you said last night. And the night before that. And last week. But you just can't get enough, can you?"

"This time I mean it," I say. The anger's gone, but the shame has set in. "This time I mean it."

"Sure you do."

The scales tip. "I hate you! You know that? I hate the sight of you! I can't stand your smell! You're a filthy, good-for-nothing whore and I hate that I'm here with you right now! You ruined my life!"

"You ruined your own life."

And that's the truth of it. I can't place the blame somewhere else. It'd be easier if I could. Real simple. But the fact is Guilt's the thing staring me in the face. It is my fault. All of it is my fault.

"Yeah. You're right."

I push my chair back away from the table and stand.

"Where do you think you're going?"

I don't bother to respond. Instead, I turn around and start walking toward the door.

"Hey! You just gonna leave me here? That's it? You're a coward! You are a worthless piece of flesh that nobody wants and nobody ever will! You'll be back! You hear me? You'll be back just like all the others!"

I don't bother to look back. It's over. It has to be. This time for real. I'll do whatever I have to. I'm not coming back to this place. I refuse to let it take hold again. I refuse to pick her up again.

It's not who I am meant to be.

Sunday Afternoon - Sci-fi, Comic Style

2010-04-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

Since I haven't done much writing for this blog lately, I thought I'd use it for random samples of fiction that pop into my head. Here's one now:

A bright, sunny, beautiful Sunday afternoon spreads out across the massive, rolling foothills. The state park, a gorgeous, untouched piece of God's creation seems pristine, the kind of place that you're supposed to go on a Sunday afternoon following the morning service at church. My three kids are pouring out of the back seat before I even turn the engine off. Justin and Michael flop into the long, green grass and the wrestling match begins. Miranda, my oldest child and only daughter, rolls her eyes and shakes her head. My wife, Julie, frowns and quickly exits the car to get after them.

"Sheesh, Dad, who'd you let raise those two?" Miranda asks sarcastically.

"Between you, me, and your mother," I say, "I wouldn't give them much of a chance. Total monkeys, those two."

She just rolls her eyes again. I guess fathers aren't funny to thirteen-year-old daughters. I'll live, though. My wife still appreciates the humor. Sometimes, anyway.

We load everything out of the car, trek up the nearest hill, and set everything down on the gentle slope. The boys immediately dive back into nature and let their momentum carry them down to the bottom of the hill. Without hesitation, they rush back up only to roll down again. Miranda pulls out her iPod and tunes the rest of us out while swinging her foot to the sounds of some music group I'd never listen to. Julie grabs her book, lays back, gives me one last smile, and then begins to read.

I take a moment, gazing out at the contrasting colors. Baby blue sky. Green hills. White clouds. Some yellow and purple flowers mixed in on the hillsides. It's the perfect beginning to the week, and nothing like the rush-hour traffic I'll be in tomorrow morning. I take one last deep breath and savor every second.

"Did you feel that?" Julie asks suddenly.

"Feel what?"

Her face bears a puzzled look. "I don't know. Felt like something was moving underneath me."

"You're probably just laying on an anthill," I say and offer a smile.

She shakes her head before burying it back in her book. Maybe she doesn't think I'm funny after all. I guess I can live with that, too. At least I think I'm funny.

"Hey, Dad!" shouts Justin. Michael mimics his brother seconds later. "Hey, Dad!"

"What is it, boys?"

"Look!" They're pointing up at the sky with their little heads tilted back in wonder. My gaze follows their outstretched fingers. Above us, a wide trail of smoke billows across the sky like the massive wake of an airplane, only twenty times as thick. Whatever's leaving the trail can't be seen, as if it's too far out of sight or invisible.

Before I say anything Julie tosses the book aside and turns over onto all fours. This time Miranda also notices what her mother does. "What was that?"

"I don't know!" says Julie. "It's like there's something below us. Something under the surface here!"

I'm about to scoff when the rumble they felt becomes a shuddering tremble. Justin and Michael cry out in terror and take off at full run back to where we are.

"Nothing to worry about!" I yell. "It's just an earthquake!"

But it isn't just an earthquake. The huge column of smoke overhead changes course. It's earthbound now, and coming fast.

I take off at a run in order to get to my boys. As a take my first few strides, all hell breaks lose. The ground between myself and my boys separates. A huge rectangle of grass-covered earth begins to rise into the air. I skid to a stop and fall back. My kids, now terrified, scream in terror and run the other direction.

I notice that the ground is still shaking as I push myself back up onto my feet. I look back up and realize that some massive door is opening right in front of me. I try to circular arch around it to reach my boys. As I pass by the entrance I stop short. I'm not expecting to see what's standing right in front of me.

A gigantic robot, easily three to four times my own size, stands on a platform that's rising up out of the earth. It's eyes change from dull gray to bright red. A tremor runs through its frame as though it's moving for the first time in many years. The enormous steel frame looks like something out of a science fiction movie. I stumble backwards as it roars to life. My boys are running wildly away from it, but another doorway is opening not far from them. In fact, the entire set of foothills is opening up. Over thousands of hatches are opening up. Some of the huge, mechanical beings are already making their way into the sunlight.

I take off at a full run. Above me, the smoke gets closer and closer. The robots that are already out of their chambers are staring up into the sky.

I reach Michael first. My arm wraps around him and lifts him off the ground. Justin is just a little farther ahead, but another hatch, a smaller one, opens up right in front of him. It's not a robot coming out of this hatch, though, it's a missile array. I dive and grab Justin's foot. We hit the ground as the first missiles launch out of the array right in front of us. The heat from the missiles sears my back as they arch into the sky. I gather my boys to me and glance back up at the sky.

The thickset, armored robots also launch into the sky. Giant jet packs attached to their backs propel them into the graying atmosphere where the pillar of smoke is close enough for me to finally see what has created it. A muscled man wearing a brightly colored outfit and cape appears out of the cloud.

The missiles explode on the superhero first. He waves off the damage as if the missiles are just pesky flies. When the robots reach him, the real battle begins. The sky collapses into orange, red, and gray.

Writer Interview - Lori Z. Scott

2009-11-03T18:28:00.000-08:00

In writing, there are thousands (if not millions) of different audience groups. The first story I read by Lori Z. Scott was from the science fiction anthology, Infinite Space, Infinite God. After exchanging e-mails with Lori, however, I discovered that writing science fiction isn’t her first love. What is? Writing for children!

What are the similarities and differences between writing for “grown-ups” and writing for children?

All good stories share certain elements. No matter what the target audience age, stories must have a compelling (or at least entertaining) plot with believable characters. In addition, writing must be tight, well-crafted, and engaging. Dialogue has to move the story forward. And humor almost always sells.

Also, the takeaway value of a story is important. I have seen both adult and children’s stories tackle complex topics, such as death. Writers may use different words, images, or viewpoints, but both help their readers empathize or cope with the issue.

One difference between writing for children and writing for adults is the complexity of the story. Simply stated, an adult novel can tackle a major plot and several subplots whereas a story for young children works best with one central focus.

Another area of difference can be found in writing technique. Children’s authors often employ tricks not often found in adult writing, including writing in rhyme (like Chicken Soup with Rice), using alliteration (as in A my Name is Alice), writing in patterns (as in Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?) writing a circle story (as in If you Give a Mouse a Cookie) and grouping events in sets of three (as in Goldilocks and the Three Bears).

In some sense stories for children hold an edge over adult stories, for a well written children’s story transcends age. Many adults regularly read (and treasure) books geared for children. C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia is a prime example. In fact, I regularly choose to read YA novels over adult novels.

When you first started writing, were your first works targeted at children or adults?

My writing journey is somewhat atypical. I taught elementary school for nine years before retiring to raise my kids. It was during this hiatus from teaching that I got into writing. It started when I saw a flyer for an amateur science fiction/ fantasy writing contest. I entered and won second place. Encouraged by my success, I tried MOPS International story writing contest…and WON! After that, I tried most anything that caught my fancy—science fiction and fantasy, short story fiction contests, personal essays, poetry, and devotions…all geared for an adult audience. I never really zeroed in on one particular genre until I wrote my first children’s story for a contest. I think the things I learned about writing early on helped me be a stronger writer for children. Plus I discovered all my years of teaching gave me an edge in the children’s market. Many poems, puzzles, and short stories later, I penned my first full children’s chapter book, which eventually led me to a contract with Standard Publishing for the Meghan Rose series.

Where did Meghan Rose come from and how has her series impacted your writing?

LOL. This is a long story I have told many times. When my daughter was in first grade, her teacher started reading the Junie B. Jones books in class. Since Meghan liked them, I picked up a few copies.

I enjoyed the humor in those books, but didn’t like the name calling, grammar slips, and bad attitudes. Then Meghan started acting and talking like Junie B., and I started looking elsewhere. I thought there had to something better—a book that was just as funny, but had a better role model. I simply SCOURED the Christian bookstores and talked to MANY store managers begging to find THAT BOOK. They carried Bible stories, devotional books, and picture books for that age group, but no chapter books.

At the time I did all this searching, I had already started publishing children’s stories, poems, and puzzles for magazines. So when my daughter--Meghan Rose, BTW--finally got fed up with my hunting and said, "Mom, you're a writer. If you can't find what you want, then YOU write it for me!!!!!!!!!" I did. LOL. I wrote the book I couldn’t find—a book just for her. I put in everything she wanted—an interesting story filled with giggles and characters worth rooting for—and everything I wanted—good moral values (but with nothing preachy about the story at all). (I hate preachy, I love amusing.)

I was preparing a VBS program to pitch at a writing conference when my bookstore conversations came back to mind. Almost on a whim, I wrote up a proposal for a whole series based on the book I wrote for my daughter. After all, I knew there had to be an untapped market because I WAS part of that untapped market.

I see now that bringing that proposal along was God’s leading. All the writing I had done up until that point—the short stories, puzzles, poems, articles—prepared me for that moment when the contract came.

The ultimate impact was to give focus to my writing. While I still love science fiction, my passion is, and perhaps always was, for children.

What resources have you used over the years to help hone your writing skills? What resources do you use now?

The best move I made as a new writer was to join a local writing group. That group not only gave me support and encouragement, it pointed me to potential markets, helped me critique my work, and kept me motivated. I also took a free online writing course, which proved helpful, and joined an online writing group, The Writer’s View. (I was part of the original TWV group which later split into two groups, one for beginning writers and one for more advanced writers.)
Writing for magazines is great for honing skills. It forces you to write tight, meet deadlines, and (often) address a theme. I also enjoy short writing exercises. You can often find these challenges online for free. It’s a great way to wake up the muse...and fun! Sometimes these exercises will even lead to a publishable piece of writing.

What advice would you give novice writers, particularly those interested in writing for young audiences?

I wrote an article that addresses this very question! It’s online at http://www.spiritledwriter.com/apr07/shape.html.

So, science fiction…how did that happen?

I love reading science fiction and fantasy. Ever since my fifth grade teacher read The Hobbit to our class, I couldn’t get enough of it. Of all genres, it’s my favorite. That’s why, I think, I was originally drawn to it when I began my writing journey. But even though I started with sci-fi, I believe I am a better children’s writer. My years of experience as an elementary teacher has given me a deep understanding and appreciation of children so it’s easy for me to write in a way that connects with them.

On a sidebar, a few years back, I had the privilege of working at the Wade Center in Wheaton, Illinois. The center holds most of C. S. Lewis’s original works plus the wardrobe that supposedly inspired the story The Lion, the Witch , and the Wardrobe. The Wade Center also houses works of C. S. Lewis’s pals, including J.R.R. Tolkien and Dorothy Sayers. I got to transcript recorded interviews of people who knew C. S. Lewis!

What’s one question you wished others asked about your writing? What’s the answer to that question?

Someone actually did ask me this question, but it’s not one I’m often asked and I think it’s a good one. She asked, “Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?”

Whether or not I have a real person in mind when I create a character—and I often do—there’s still a little bit of me in all of them. In the Meghan Rose Series for example, a lot of my personality is reflected in the teacher, Mrs. Arnold. Another character, Ryan, shows the jokester side of me, and Kayla reflects my goofy side. Lynette shows my stiffer rule-following, show-off side. Yeesh! The Meghan character herself is about 80 percent of the “real” Meghan, 10 percent of me and my creative musings, and 10 percent total fiction.

Writing = The Exploration of Truth?

2009-09-16T16:07:00.000-07:00

I rarely take the philosophical route. I'm usually more of a "logic" guy. But today, I'm offering up a recent thought that I had in regards to writing. If it's terrible and you hate it, tell me why. If you love it and want to endorse it (re-tweet, maybe?), tell me why. I'm sure it has been said before, whether by a lunatic or a genius, I don't know. But, the thesis for the day is:

Writing is an exploration of Truth.

Yeah, I'm throwing the capital "T" Truth out there. As writers, isn't our goal to replicate life? Even ridiculous stories featuring talking toys or cartoon animals attempt to draw inspiration from real life. Don't writers, then, seek to understand life in such a detailed way that it becomes a pursuit of the Truth? We draw intricately crafted character bios and backgrounds. We research setting, culture, and history. We walk readers down a plotted path that must be, if not logical, feasible. Right?

If a character murders another character, don't we have the obligation of explaining the factors that led up to the killing (if not through the main story, at least through the backstory)? What Truth led to the killing? Perhaps jealousy? Perhaps anger? Perhaps spite?

Take jealousy, for example. Do all jealous people kill? No. What factors in a person's life would lead them to kill out of jealousy? Once we move down this path, aren't we exploring the Truth behind human emotion and the implications of human behavior?

I think we are. The Truth might be stated in the negative (as in the jealousy example), or it might be stated in the positive, but either way, we are exploring Truth, right? Aren't we exploring principles that would lead us down a path that quests for the underlying Truth?

What do you think? Is there any truth (pun intended) to this idea? If so, does this apply to any other forms of art? If not, then what are we doing? What is writing all about?

Comics vs. Novels

2009-09-03T12:49:00.000-07:00

Today's topic: comics...or novels? Statistics, which I don't have references for, tell us that the predominent readers of novels are...middle-aged women. I haven't seen the same statistics for comics, but if you've ever visited a comic book store, I think a quick visual poll reveals that it's mostly younger males.

Much of that spread likely has to deal with the way women and men function. Men are generally more visual. Women are generally more of (for lack of a better term) "feelers." Women can immerse themselves in the words while men like to be "Oooo-ed" and "Aaahhh-ed" by steriod-injesting men and well-endowed women. Again, we're speaking in generalities. Of course men like to read novels, and of course women read comics, but I'm just speaking in overall terms.

So, I have two questions for you...

What do you primarily choose to read? (and let us know your gender - we'll do a quick pole)
If you also write, what kinds of implications do these (vague, unproven, and untested) statistics have on your writing?

As an aside, here are some suggested reading materials/people to follow/places to visit. Enjoy!

Jospeh Petro's "Standing Next to History" (an excellent memior about his time as an agent in Ronald Reagan's secret service detail)
Lajos Egri's "The Art of Dramatic Writing" (a great, thought-provoking exploration of the writing process)
http://www.pulptone.com/ (and follow @pulptone on Twitter)
People to follow on Twitter: @nscheck (illustrator for http://www.timeslingers.com/) @pulptone (creator of Sergeant Zero) @bobbynash (writer) @jamesscottbell (writer)
And of course...www.timeslingers.com - new episodes every Monday and Thursday!

Character Development is Difficult

2009-07-27T16:19:00.000-07:00

You've got this great character, right? She's spunky, a recent law school graduate, and she loves her Friday night writing engagements. Her only hope in life? That she'll meet the man of her dreams (preferrably, a firefighter), and live happily ever after.

Cool, interesting character. Now what? She has to grow, right?

Growth, in its most realistic state, is something that happens over fairly long periods of time. We have to experience life, react to it, process it, and then learn from it. Someone doesn't go from spoiled schoolgirl to serious, intentional scholar overnight. That's where the writer steps in. Our job is to tell the most compelling moments in a character's life. Compelling moments that build up to growth (whether positive or negative).

Sounds easy, right? Not particularly. We're suddenly called to be psychologists, in a way. We draw up characters so rich that they must behave as real people might when facing a similar situation. That means that we're required to analyze behaviors, motivations, and even thought processes.

It's not easy, but it's what we do. At least it's fun, right?

A Good Premise?

2009-07-16T14:22:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a comic book with Nathan. We're just in the conceptual stages. He's working out what the illustrations will look like, and I'm playing with ideas for the story. Grabbing Mr. Egri's work (The Art of Dramatic Writing), I'm trying to come up with a premise for the story.

Where do I start? It's got to be something I'm passionate about. Makes sense, right? Writing about something I'm not passionate about is likely to come out dull. Characters need to come alive. I need to care about their struggles. I need to either root for them or against them. What's the point of writing about people that I don't care about, right?

I started my journey by looking at lists of virtues and emotions. To start, I'm not interested in creating a story in which the lead character tears himself apart. There is certainly merit in those types of stories, but I'd rather stay on the positive side of things. I want to showcase someone dragging themselves out of the gutter to succeed.

I started to hone in on some of the following virtues that resonate strongly with me: "Faithfulness," "Honor," "Honesty," "Integrity," "Justice," "Diligence," "Discipline," etc., etc. What next then? I need some sort of conflict and then a resolution.

Here's what I came up with:

Diligent pursuit of the truth leads to freedom.

What do you think?

"The Premise" is not just a theme!

2009-07-15T16:09:00.001-07:00

Just had a great discussion with another writer regarding "theme." I had been using the term "theme" to describe what Egri calls "the premise." My fellow writer was quick to point out that a "theme" in and of itself cannot stand as a good story. Character and plot must be worked out first. Only then can the theme work in context.

Her point is excellent, which is why I believe Egri chose to call it "the premise." Why? Because the premise is made up of character, conflict, and resolution. Better said, theme, the characters, and the plot are all intertwined in what Egri would call the premise.

A writer writing about "love" as a general theme won't get very far without a solid plot and good characters. A properly formulated premise, however, will capture all of those things:

Love, unrequited, results in heartache.

The premise reveals what the characters must embody while it also reveals how the plot must be driven to its finish: heartache (which, you'll note, is the resolution of the premise!).

Man #1 loves Woman #1, but she loves Man #2. We can now hone in on our characters knowing that we have the basis of our framework. We also know the conflict (namely, that love will be unrequited), and how we wish to resolve the conflict (heartache).

What other examples might you think of?

What are you passionate about?

2009-07-08T17:29:00.000-07:00

That's one key question for someone seeking to develop what Lajos Egri calls "the premise." It's that undergirding message that flows through your work. It's not something you stand on a soapbox and preach to your audience, but it is something that reflects the science of human nature.

Why is it essential? For one, because people naturally gravitate toward works that say something. Maybe it's simple, like "Good triumphs over evil," but at least it's something. The premise allows you to set characters in motion and watch them play out exactly what it is you're trying to get across.

So, how do you create one? Egri gives us a simple formula: character + conflict + resolution = the premise (all right, so that's my interpretation of his work). Start with something that you're passionate about. I like to slog through a huge list of virtues or emotions, things like: diligence, faithfulness, honesty, ruthlessness, jealousy, etc. Select the most meaningful one you can.

Now consider that virtue (or emotion). What result would that have if played out in a certain scenario? Let's take jealousy. Okay. What's the result of jealousy? It blindly destroys love! It festers until it destorys the jealous person and sometimes even his or her lover...

Guess what, you've just defined the premise of Othello: "Jealousy destroys itself and the object of its desire."

I think Mr. Egri is onto something, don't you?

Breaking Down a Writer's Task

2009-07-01T09:59:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in the last post that I'm reading a book by Lajos Egri. I know what most of you (if not all of you) are thinking...who is Lajos Egri? I didn't know, either. In fact, honestly, the only reason I own the book is because a college professor made me buy it for a class (thank you, Dr. Esselstrom - the book is awesome!).

The book? The Art of Dramatic Writing. Mr. Egri focuses in on playwriting, for the most part, but the principles of this book are rooted in storytelling, which is what makes it so compelling. It's a look into human nature. An examination of life. Sounds like reading a psychology book, right? It's not far off.

As a writer, it is critical that we understand human nature. That we identify those things that make up life. Behaviors, emotions, connections. Those may be identified in some intense melodrama (e.g. Shakespeare) or they may be hinted at in action-adventure (e.g. Die Hard). Either way, you must identify those things.

I highly recommend Egri's book. It breaks down how a writer must behave in order to tell a compelling story. And, if we don't intend to tell a compelling story...why are we writing?

I'll be exploring my learnings more in the next few weeks as Nathan and I struggle through some of these questions in relation to all the Timeslingers items that we're working on. Stay tuned!

It's Official

2009-06-24T13:00:00.001-07:00

All right, we've got an official launch date for Timeslingers.com! If you've been dropping by the "online time travel adventure series" from Nathan Scheck and I, you've noticed that we launched the "preview episode." Well, as of July 6, 2009, all the other ones are coming. We update the site every Monday and Thursday.

As we talked about before on our podcast, the new installments take less than 5 minutes to read (most people get through them in less than 3!). Nathan's illustrations are bigger as well.

Please drop by when you get a chance!

Also of note:

I just finished reading a book by Alan Moore (popular comic book author and very strange dude) titled, "Writing for Comics." It was an excellent book on writing in general with some specificity into comics. I'll be discussing it more here when I get the chance.
I'm currently reading a very good book on writing drama by Lajos Egri. I'll also bring some learnings to this blog.
Nathan and I are also considering publishing a comic book, so we'll let you know how that's going.
And...I've got posts from Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff (more in the series I was running) and Lori Z. Scott (an interview).

So, there are plenty of things going on here! Check back soon for more! And check out Timeslingers!

PS. If you're a writer and you're on Twitter, check out the Twitter Fiction contests (yeah, you've got to be brief!) at Book View Cafe. Cool stuff! And, I tied for second place in the last one...so, obviously, I'm a fan.

It's Time to Vote

2009-05-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

We're coming down to the wire with the preview of the new Timeslingers.com. Nathan has been doing a ridiculously good job with the site, so we're almost good to go.

While I wrestle with character development for the final few episodes, I ask you to help us wrestle with something else. Our tagline. What should the Timeslingers tagline be? Here are the options we're considering. Please vote on your favorite:

#1:
Timeslingers
Shadow Phase: The chaos begins.

#2:
Timeslingers
Shadow Phase: Chaos rising.

#3:
Timeslingers
Shadow Phase: The order undone.

#4:
Timeslingers
Shadow Phase: History undone.

#5:
Timeslingers
Shadow Phase: Insurrection

#6
Timeslingers
Shadow Phase: The past is about to change.

We appreciate your support!

It's Been a Little While...

2009-05-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, I apologize for the lack of content coming from Constructing Stories! I got married in late March and bought a house (closed escrow the day before the wedding), which means more work and less writing. But, it's been a great experience, and I appreciate the support of friends and family!

Now for the writing news...

TimeSlingers.com is now on Twitter! We'll be letting you know how our progress on re-releasing the site is going, and then we'll transition into story update notices when TimeSlingers.com is live again. Sign up today at Twitter.com by visiting www.twitter.com/timeslingers.
I signed a contract last month so that my story (if all goes well) will be included in Infinite Space, Infinite God II. I'm very excited about that. Special thanks to Karina and Rob Fabian.

Hopefully, you're all doing well. We'll get back to the podcasts and the blogging soon! Thanks again!

Serendipity - On Being a Professional Amateur

2009-02-21T15:01:00.000-08:00

Maya's series continues this week with some thoughts about plotting (or a lack thereof). I love this post, because at one time or another, this happens to every writer.

Serendipity (or Writing by the Seat of Your Pants)
By Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

Sample sentence: Baldric concocted a cunning plan to scare the killer lawn gnome into staying away from the cave entrance so he could sneak in.

Writers sometimes use expositional sentences like this to cover plot holes. We’re writing by the seat of our pants—making it up as we go along. We’re stuck for a way to keep the bad guy out of the cave and we got nothin’. Instead of using the opportunity for some clever plotting we wing a cunning, but undisclosed plan.

It’s a form of deus ex machina. Sometimes it’s a magical mechanism or previously unknown power or ability that saves the day. The weapon or talent the hero wields to kill the rogue lawn gnome does not exist until he needs it. The magic horse is simply there when the prince is stranded someplace nasty. The pebble in the heroine’s shoe was just a pebble until it became more convenient for it to be a magical pebble.

Ultimately, the reader wants to be able to divine from action and dialogue and story arc a set of subliminal rules that help him predict what might happen and to whom. Plot twists only really work with those rules in place. Why? Because if the writer just makes stuff up as she goes along, the reader can’t tell a plot twist from the other gyrations the writer is putting him through.

“Just ‘cause” explanations, convenient objects or talents and repetitive changes in direction not only lose the reader’s trust, they wear the reader out. Any plot device that is important to the main thread and resolution of your story needs to be carefully worked out at least in part onstage, where the reader can watch.

No, you can’t think of everything up front. Sometimes you have to ad lib or you have an epiphany that results in a new plot twist, but then you need to go back and lay the ground work for it in the earlier portions of your manuscript so that it is appropriately built up and foreshadowed. If you provide the hero with a magical, singing sword of hoary legend on page 250, the reader needs to at least get wind of the hoary legend somewhere around page 75.

And if your hero needs to slip into the cave unmolested by that rogue lawn gnome, impress the reader by having him come up with a cunning plan worthy of showing off.

Exercise: Look at your own fiction or at fiction you've recently read—do you see signs of what I describe above? See if you can’t come up with a dynamite plan to sneak your hero past the lawn gnome—then let the reader in on part of your (hero’s) thinking. It will not only engender trust, it could prove pretty darned entertaining.

Podcast #2 - Serial Story Lessons Learned - TimeSlingers.com

2009-02-10T13:48:00.000-08:00

I hope you're enjoying Maya's series of posts about amateurish writing. Intersperced throughout her series, we're also running a number of podcasts about the serial story that Nathan and I are working on. "Blogging" a serial story every week can be really fun, but we've learned some lessons that you may find helpful, particularly if you're considering a similar storytelling strategy.

Last podcast, we discussed the TimeSlingers.com concept. I encourage you to check that out. It's a little over 5 minutes. Today's podcast focuses in on why we're updating the site, why it's currently on hold, and what we're doing to improve it.

Links mentioned in this post:
TimeSlingers.com (NOTE: as stated in the podcasts, TimeSlingers.com is currently on hold while we update the site)

WritersDigest.com

BipolarDragon.com

Amateurish Writing - by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

2009-02-04T21:09:00.000-08:00

Last year I ran an interview with Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff and then posted a series of articles she wrote on amateurish writing. The series was very well received. She has a knack for addressing topics in an interesting and engaging way. So, when I heard that she had written more articles on the same subject, I jumped at the chance to include them here on Constructing Stories. Let me (and Maya) know what you think!

Barney as Narrator
By Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

More often than I'd like to tell I see manuscripts that read as if they were written for children, regardless of who the target audience is. Partly this is the result of what the writer chooses to tell the reader, partly it's how the writer tells it.

Sample paragraph:

Queen Amelia looked at the new ambassador. He looks familiar, she thought. What she didn't realize was that the new ambassador was a disguised Lord Roberto.

"I am your new ambassador, Majesty," announced Lord Roberto in his disguise.

What’s wrong with this perfectly grammatical set of sentences?

There's nothing grammatically wrong with the paragraph, although "announced Lord Roberto in his disguise" makes it sound as if he's saying the line up his sleeve. But it has other problems:

It's juvenile-sounding and awkward.
It gives the reader information the point-of-view character doesn't have.
It repeats the fact that the Queen has a new ambassador three times, and the fact that it's Lord Roberto in disguise twice.
It repeats certain words in the same or different forms: look, ambassador, new, disguise.
The dialogue tag ("he announced") tries to inject false excitement into the scene.

In most writing suffering from the "Barney Effect," the characters rarely say anything. They shout, yell, bellow, scream, shriek, squeal, exclaim and cry their dialogue. The writer thinks he's injecting excitement into the prose when, instead, he's creating something that reads like those old Dick and Jane books we had to slog through before we got to read something with a plot.

How do you avoid Barney-isms?

Two simple changes will help a great deal:

Don't make your characters shout unless they're trying to attract someone's attention across a crowded room, or scream unless they're absolutely terrified, or cry out unless they're shocked and amazed. Have them simply say things.
Don't pause to inform the reader of what the hero doesn't know. (Unless asides to the "audience" are part of the "schtick" of your story.)

Exercise: See if you can make the Sample Paragraph above sound like it belongs in an adult book of fiction. Embellish at will!

Exciting News

2009-01-18T17:52:00.000-08:00

I hope you guys enjoyed the podcast. There's definitely more to come from Nathan and me in that department as we continue to refine TimeSlingers. But, I do have some additional news that I think everyone will respond favorably to: I'm finalizing some details with Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff and then I'll be posting more from her series on "Amateurish Writing"!

I'm excited about that, because Maya has a lot of experience and her posts are always very well received. So, I'll be running two series concurrently, the podcasts about TimeSlingers and Maya's insights on how we can avoid some of writing's pitfalls.

Also, as a plug for something new Maya's been working on, check out The Book View Cafe. I think you'll enjoy it, so I'm adding it as a permanent link on this site.

Stay tuned!

The First Podcast - TimeSlingers Concept

2009-01-12T19:32:00.000-08:00

My friend and TimeSlingers.com illustrator/story consultant, Nathan asked if I'd like to try a podcast. Who wouldn't, right? So, my series about writing for TimeSlingers continues, only instead of reading my writing, you can actually just listen to Nathan and I talk. Something about that seems strange since this is a writing blog...but I think it's fun, so let's try it out...

Enjoy!

Links mentioned in this post:
TimeSlingers.com
Infinite Space, Infinite God
AlbinoKraken.com
BipolarDragon.com

Help Me Write! - Character Development

2008-12-12T14:25:00.000-08:00

Last post, I talked about what Nathan and I are attempting to accomplish with TimeSlingers.com—the type of story, how we want it to play out, and a little bit about what kind of audience we expect it to draw in.

For this post, I’d like to focus on some of the potential pitfalls of our approach and ask that you help us find ways around those pitfalls. If possible, I’d love to look at case studies (current movies, TV shows, or books that do what we’re trying to do, and do it well).

The first pitfall that hits many hard-hitting, action-oriented, fast-paced storylines is a lack of character development. If the action is non-stop, and the point of view (POV) is third person omniscient, how do we understand the character and his or her development? Only through their actions and behaviors.

That makes things interesting, doesn’t it?

Let me point you to one of the more popular (and controversial) books of recent years, Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. Place your personal opinion aside for a moment, and let’s analyze the lead character’s development…oh, wait, the lead character doesn’t develop at all (unless I’m missing something)!

He’s the same as he was when the story began. The story is an action-packed ride, there’s no doubt about that, but do we really connect to the character? Or are we just drawn into the suspense, wondering what’s going to happen next?

Here, then, are my questions:

What are some action-oriented, nail-biting stories you’ve read (or seen in a movie or TV) that actually had excellent character development? (hint: think of characters you love, generally those characters have developed at some point)

Name your favorite fictional character and why they’re your favorite.

Provide me with some bad examples of characters that don’t develop at all.

Help Me Write! - Casting a Vision

2008-12-03T11:23:00.000-08:00

A vision is nothing if not cast. Give people the tactics without telling them what the strategy is and they’ll look at you like you’re crazy. Al Gore would never have been able to get the Internet started if he had just said, “Hey, let’s connect a bunch of computers.” No, I’m sure Al, when he envisioned the Internet, said something like, “Imagine a world where a wealth of information is at your fingertips!” I have to stop the analogy now; the sarcasm is dripping off the keyboard.

Becky left a great comment on the last blog post. I’m going to paraphrase, but it went something like, “What you’re proposing is not a good idea unless you’re doing something that I don’t understand.” As the guy who wrote about applying a core strategy and supporting it by adding value, I’m feeling a little sheepish. This week, then, let me explain the concept behind TimeSlingers.com. Let me cast a little vision.

The idea for TimeSlingers.com started a long time ago. My friend, Nathan, is an excellent illustrator. I write. We got to thinking (which is sometimes scary) and thought that we’d try something different. Our concept: to bring back classic newspaper serials, only this time, we’d use Al Gore’s miraculous invention, the Internet.

The synopsis? Science fiction adventure that felt like a television show (24, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, etc.). Brief and action-packed. It would leave readers wanting more. The storyline would be supplemented by e-mails delivered to readers who sign up to receive them. Readers could even comment on the blog and become more involved in the storyline and the characters.

For style, we would take on a more comic book-like approach to the writing (along with the illustrations). Packed with action. Internet readers, who tend to have shorter attention spans, would need to be able to read it quickly and move on. Illustrations would be a huge part of it. It’s a graphic novel supported by prose.

I’ll stop there for now, but I’m sure this raises some questions. Please ask! I want this to be a story that people get excited about, and I’d love to hear your ideas! Poke holes! Offer feedback! Give me your opinions!

Help Me Write! - Just a Little Off the Top, Please

2008-12-01T14:46:00.000-08:00

Last post we discussed writing for an online audience. Writer’s Digest posted an excellent article on writing blogs. One of their main points was that a blog post should be less than 300 words (though I've heard others say 500). As I mentioned last week, our TimeSlingers.com story segments were running from 450 – 1,100 words. The WD article got me thinking...what else can I do to shorten the story segments?

Obviously, shortening the segements isn't easy. I have to make tough choices (and, by the way, I really appreciate and value the perspectives shared by Sheree, Rebecca, and belle). Now, my task is to shave 100 – 750 words off my story segments to net out at around 350 words.

One thing I've been playing with is the way I describe basic elements of the setting (i.e. scene descriptors, time of day, the character’s surroundings, etc.). Rather than develop those items through the formal prose, I’m considering a different tactic: screenplay-like descriptors that introduce each scene. Here’s an example:

Example:

EPISODE 1-2

FRIDAY, NOV. 22, 1963 – 12:35PM
DALLAS, TX – TEXAS SCHOOL BOOK DEPOSITORY

This approach saves time by telling readers where the characters are and what time it is (crucial when you’re jumping back and forth through history).

Now, it's your turn to weigh in:

What do you think of this approach?

How does this approach help the reader? How does it hurt the reader?

Do you have any other suggestions that might save time? For example, should I add the character names to each title bar?

The New Series - Help Me Write!

2008-11-21T11:56:00.000-08:00

Yes, it has been another long hiatus for me. Turns out wedding planning and house buying is time consuming. Who knew?

While I have a brief respite, I thought I’d start a new series on Constructing Stories. Some of you may know that I write (with the help of Nathan Scheck and my soon-to-be wife, Jessica) TimeSlingers.com, a free, online serial story. It’s science fiction adventure—fast-paced and action-oriented.

We released half the storyline (which is currently posted) before realizing that writing for the Web meant altering things even more so than we had initially anticipated. The story needed to be brief, hard-hitting, and compelling. We want people to keep coming back every time a new episode is released.

My next few blog posts are all about how to effectively re-write and re-concept TimeSlingers.com. First up: cutting the fat. Story segments have ranged from 450 – 800 words. That’s way too long for the Web. Each post will be 350 words, max. Here’s an example of a comparison:

Old Version:

Silence, then a faint buzz followed by static. Marcus Kline cursed, shaking the communicator. With all the technology infused into the operation such glitches were uncommon, hazardous, and incredibly frustrating. The side effects of molecular teleportation were as varied as they were dangerous. A poor connection through the communicator was last on his list of things to worry about.

New Version:

Silence, then a faint buzz followed by static. Marcus Kline cursed. The side effects of molecular teleportation were as varied as they were dangerous. Communications failure could mean disaster.

I would love to hear your thoughts. To get the discussion started, let me raise several questions:

Do you miss anything that the first version had that the second version doesn’t?
Which version do you feel would be easier to read online?
Which version do you prefer?

Market Research

2008-08-31T10:54:00.000-07:00

Finally…I’m Back

After a two-month hiatus, I’m finally back! What happened? In short…vacation, a missions trip to the Dominican Republic, designing an engagement ring, and proposing to my girlfriend (who said, “yes,” and is now my fiancée).

Continuing where I left off, let’s apply another business principle to our writing lives…

Market Research

You’ve defined your goals, strategies, and maybe even worked in a few tactics. For example, let’s say you’re primarily writing to entertain, but you also want to provoke thought. You’ve also chosen to write science fiction adventure stories (which is a tactic that we’ll get to in a future post). That’s your brand. Think about a brand as the answer to this question, “What do you think about (writer’s name)?” In the example listed above, we’re hoping that the answer is: “He writes fast-paced, action-oriented science fiction that will make you think along the way.”

With your core strategy and value proposition settled, it’s time for market research. How do you do market research?

Look at what your competitors are doing. Try to define what their strategy is.
See what publishers are releasing to the marketplace.
Determine a target audience (one that would respond favorably to your strategy and tactics).
Match audience demographics to published works.

All of that takes a lot of time, but the benefits are huge. You’ll know what other writers (your competition) are doing, which can enable you to differentiate and stand out in the crowd. And, you’ll be able to give publishers and your target audience exactly what they’re looking for, increasing your chances of being published. And, in the long run, you’ll increase book sales.

What are some ways to do market research?

Read. Books, magazines (The Writer, Writer’s Digest, etc.), websites, and everything else you have available to you.
Talk to other writers. Collaborate.
Visit publishers’ websites. Talk to editors and agents. Ask them what they like and dislike. Ask them what they’re looking for. Ask them what the market is demanding.

Market research takes a lot of time, but the benefits are worth it. I’ve had success in the past by researching what editors were looking for and then writing a story to match that. What are some valuable sources for market research?

Example: How to Define a Core Strategy

2008-06-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

By J Sherer

Taking last week’s theoretical framework, let’s look at an example to showcase how it plays out. Theories are great, but if you can’t apply them to produce results, they don’t mean much.

Question #1: How can my writing add value to my readers?

Starting at a very high level, I’m going to use my own writing as an example. Notice I’ve numbered the value-added criteria. That’s important, because those numbers will help define your priority. That said, I add value by:

1. Providing entertainment.
2. Inspiring others.
3. Provoking thought.

Priority is essential. Imagine me sitting in front of my computer. I come to a place in the story (whether I’m writing the first draft or editing) where I have to decide what’s more important, entertainment or inspiration. If I can’t pull both things off, I have to strategically choose between the two. The choice may be subtler than that. In any given story arc or passage I may have to choose which element to emphasize. My core strategy should define that.

My core strategy defines whether or not I should write an action sequence or a heated argument, use simple sentences or complex, it may even help me choose a genre and define the story’s characters or its focus (especially true in journalistic writing).

Question #2: How do I want my readers to respond to my work?

Take yourself out of the writer’s shoes for a moment and place yourself on the opposite side of the page. Become your audience group. What does your audience expect? Do they want to be introduced to new ideas? Thrilled? Pushed into action?

Look at Dan Brown, writer of the bestselling The Da Vinci Code. While his primary purpose is to entertain, he definitely writes to provoke thought as well (though, in my opinion those thoughts are totally bogus...but at least it's interesting). His audience expects that from him. That’s his core strategy. That’s how he adds value.

Start at the core strategy, because it’s going to affect everything else you choose to do through your writing. If you have questions or comments, I’d love to hear them. Also, I’m headed out on vacation for a couple weeks (and doing some research for a novel I’m working on), so it may be a little while before you hear from me again, but I’ll be back soon to finish out the series. Thanks for reading!

Adding Value

2008-06-28T11:04:00.000-07:00

By J Sherer

Last post I asked all the readers to consider the question: why would anyone want to read my work? As a business must consider how to add value to its customers, so too does the writer. As a business chooses a core strategy, so too can the writer.

Let’s dig a little deeper. First, take the concept of added value. What options exist for adding value? Here are a few (I’d love to hear your thoughts as well):

Provide entertainment
Provoke thought
Relate common experiences or emotions
Develop an understanding or teach
Inspire (or maybe depress)
Offer social commentary
Express creativity

There’s a variety of ways to add value. Those are just a few. To compare, businesses add value through: excellent customer service, cutting-edge products, reliable service, etc. Either way you look at it, the writer/business is providing a product that is consumed by a given audience.

Many works of art include several levels of value-added material. The writer might provide entertainment while simultaneously provoking thought and offering social commentary. The key is to strategically choose your main focus. Don’t choose too many, because you will dilute your purpose. Let’s use a popular writer as an example.

Michael Crichton, author of Jurassic Park and Congo, writes first and foremost to entertain, but he also weaves in scientific facts and things he has learned about his subject. His strategy? Primarily to entertain, but in a way that heightens the readers knowledge.

When defining your core strategy, answer two questions:

How can my writing add value to my readers?
How do I want my readers to respond to my work?

These are two simple questions with millions of possibilities. Start at a very high level. Prioritize your answers. Maybe you want to provoke a new thought process with your readers, but is that more important than entertaining them? Don’t get too detailed just yet, that will come soon enough.

In the next post I’ll walk through this exercise in detail to show you how it works at a functional level. In the meantime, answer questions one and two (and if you feel up to it, post your answers in a comment).

Core Strategy and the Value Proposition

2008-06-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

By J Sherer

Four generic business strategies exist in the modern business environment:

A complete customer solutions strategy encompasses providing many different products and/or services in tandem in order to meet multiple customer needs all in one place (e.g. Starbucks, IBM, Micrsosoft).
Following a product innovation strategy means that an organization will constantly release the newest and/or best products in its selected category (e.g. Apple, Google, etc.).
Being the low cost leader involves providing products to a mass market at a very low cost to the consumer (e.g. Wal-Mart, Jiffy-Lube, Amazon).
Taking on a lock-in strategy means tying consumers into your service offering and keeping them there (e.g. L.A. Fitness, etc.).

These strategies can be combined, but are frequently used in singular (organizations can’t be all things to all people). Great. So…what does this have to do with writing?

Organizations have learned to define themselves through their core strategy because doing so allows them to clearly articulate their value proposition. What’s a value proposition? Simply stated, it’s what a company will provide consumers that will add value to their lives. Every company needs to ask itself that question. Why would consumers pay us money for this product?

Now, writers, take a step back. Ask yourself this: why would anyone want to read my work?

Let’s take one of the businesses listed above to explore possible answers. Starbucks. What does Starbucks provide its customers so that they’ll pay an absurd amount of money for coffee? The answer? Their value proposition:

Excellent coffee.
Friendly baristas (that remember your name and drink of choice).
Casual, relaxing, and inviting atmosphere.
Complimentary products (muffins, music, etc.).

We know how Starbucks gets people to pay for coffee, but do you know why people should read what you write? Think about it. You’re going to spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen. What is it that you’re going to provide that will add value to the reader’s experience, and what core strategy are you going to utilize in order to get there?

Let’s explore that together.

The Business of Writing

2008-06-23T12:25:00.000-07:00

By J Sherer

Profit. Shareholder wealth. Net income. Growth. Terms you might hear tossed around a table by a couple businessmen in khaki slacks polo shirts. Business has become increasingly significant in today’s world. Because of that, it has been studied, analyzed, and critiqued on a massive scale. That means there’s a wealth of resources regarding how to be successful in the business world.

In the writing world, though, “business” quickly becomes a dirty word. How many times have you read a novel and scoffed, “This guy has no talent! How was this published? He must have a great agent.” Or, maybe you’ve seen the rejection letter that states, “This is a good story, but it’s not right for our audience.”

Poor writers get published and make millions. Great writers struggle for years with little or no success. As writers, we shake our heads, frown, and blame a fairly generic term: “business.”

Are we being fair? Yes. Business principles will help or hurt your writing. But, they can go even one step farther: they can help you hone your craft.

There are two sides to the business of writing:

Getting your work out on the market for consumption. The final product. Business principles apply directly, because publishers are looking for customers. Money is exchanged. It’s a business transaction.
Developing our craft, polishing the art, and letting our creativity loose on the page. Business principles apply here? Yes, but far more subtly.

My intention is to analyze both sides so that you can look at your writing from another perspective. Hopefully, it’ll cause you to think about things in a new way, and maybe it’ll even help improve your writing.

Business is a lot more than just money. There’s a science to business that can be replicated across job functions and industry types. Writers can use the same principles executives use to drive success.

As I dive into this series, I would love some feedback. Is there anything that you’re interested in knowing about business? Maybe you’ve heard some buzzwords but you’re not sure they relate? Let me know and I’ll integrate that into this series. Should be really fun.

Disappearing Characters - On Being a Professional Amateur

2008-06-21T17:55:00.000-07:00

It’s with great sadness that I present to you the last of Maya’s series on being a professional amateur. I’m sure it’s not the last time Maya will appear on Constructing Stories. Besides, I do need to start righting my own posts again at some point, right?

Disappearing (or Uni-tasking) Characters
By Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

Waldo appears in chapter three and has an epic encounter with the villain, saves the day and endears himself to a female protagonist. He then promptly disappears for the rest of the book, while the reader is left to wonder where he went.

This is such a familiar scenario in the manuscripts I see that I begin to suspect the "Where's Waldo?" fad was started by a college level creative writing instructor or a convention workshop coordinator.

Characters are not widgets. By this I mean that they are not convenient objects that you can invent, use, and then discard by simply forgetting about them—sort of literary uni-taskers. Once you've written a character he or she has a certain reality in the reader's mind and in the world you created for the characters to function in. Your reader will think of Waldo as a person, even if to you he is just a convenient way to "off" the head troll.

There are several solutions to this. You might find another way to kill the troll that does not involve inventing a character just for that purpose. Let one of your main characters do it. Or turn Waldo into a multi-tasker. Give him a life. You might find he helps you write a better book. Better yet, back up and take a long look at the structure of your story. If you've had to invent a character for a specific purpose, ask yourself why that is and what it says about your story that once that purpose is fulfilled, the character has ceased to matter to you. Then address that issue.

You may find that the action involving the character:

Is taking place at the wrong time in the story.
Needs to be set up more thoroughly as part of the fabric of the story.
Is not as central to the plot of the story as you thought and can be cut.

Have you enjoyed Maya’s series, “On Being a Professional Amateur?” If so, check out her website at http://www.mysticfig.com/. In the meantime, I’ll be posting a series on how business strategy and writing craft actually may be related. Shocked? Sign up for the RSS so you don’t miss it. And, please let me know how you liked Maya’s series! Thanks!

Enter Stage Right - On Being a Professional Amateur

2008-06-15T11:21:00.000-07:00

It’s been a little while since I posted! Business travel, completing my MBA, and deciding to travel to the Dominican Republic this summer have been taking up my time. But, I am excited to complete Maya’s series this week. Today is the sixth installment, and later this week I’ll post the seventh. Enjoy!

Enter stage right
By Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

Many new writers I've worked with insist on walking characters into every scene. Literally.

It goes something like this: Van entered the house from the back door and set his lunch box down on the kitchen table. He walked across the room and opened the refrigerator where he took out a can of soda. He opened it and took a drink. Then he went into the living room and walked toward the bottom of the staircase. He entered the front hall and realized the front door was wide open. Someone had entered his house.

Cataloguing every move Van made when he got home from work before we get to the key Moment he discovers his house has been violated just softens the impact of that Moment.
To get off to a faster start, we might try something like this: Van was halfway across the living room, his mind on the can of ice cold soda he'd just opened, when he realized his front door was hanging wide open. He stopped and stared at it. Dear God, what if...? He realized he was holding his breath, listening to the house.

You may have heard the advice to start your story where it actually starts—that is where the action, suspense, conflict, etc. kick in. This is also true of individual scenes within the story. You don't have to describe your characters entering a room together and sitting down before they begin conversing. Bring us into their conversation as the first really important issue is raised or the first critical question asked. Bring us into the action the moment before something happens.

If you want the reader's heart to race, write the moment your character's heart begins to race. Whether it's the start of a book or a chapter or a scene, you want to get off to the most engaging start you can.

Thanks for stopping by! There’s only one more segment to Maya’s series, so please stop by later this week to check it out. After that, I’ll be starting a series on applying business principles to your writing to increase your chances of success! Sign up for the RSS feed so you don’t miss it!

Black Box Scenes - On Being a Professional Amateur

2008-05-31T11:37:00.000-07:00

Balance. Under explanation. Over explanation. Somewhere in the middle the perfect set of words exists. That rule holds true for dialogue, description, history…and scene settings. This week, Maya discusses ways of ensuring our writing doesn’t tip the scales.

Black Box Scenes
By Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

I recently edited a manuscript in which two characters were described as being in a theater. A dialogue ensued and I visualized the duo sitting in the empty hall chatting. I was surprised when the writer mentioned someone nearby coughing. Suddenly, the hall was populated and I had to revise the picture in my head. A page later, I was informed that this pair was waiting in the wings to go onstage, that the cough had come from their stage manager who had the flu and that there were a lot of other folks coming and going backstage.

Every piece of new information was like a tiny electrical shock that forced me to reorient myself. As a result I lost the sense of where I was, both in the characters' world and in their conversation.

But aren't we supposed to avoid lumps of exposition aimed at setting scenery? Generally speaking, yes, and there is a delicate balance between giving the reader enough information and giving her too much. The key is in carefully choosing what information you give. Ask yourself: what cues will set this scene most effectively?

For example:

"Did you see Susan today?"

"Today? No, why?" Tony peered across the stage to where a knot of actors assembled in the stage-left wings. He checked, again, to make sure the stunt pistol he needed for the upcoming scene was in his suit pocket.

"She's dyed her hair pink," Eric said. "She says because it's your least favorite color."

The reader knows immediately that the characters he's eavesdropping on are actors waiting to go onstage in a play. Just the glance across the stage may be enough to allow the reader to visualize the place, and a quick mention of the other actors populates the scene. The reader may also suspect, based on the dialogue, that Susan and Tony were a couple who split acrimoniously.

Yes, you could also just front the dialogue with a lump of exposition, but what would be the challenge in that?

If you’re new to Constructing Stories or you just missed the last few posts in Maya’s series, you can see all her other posts here. Thanks for stopping by!

Character Acrobatics - On Being a Professional Amateur

2008-05-24T10:26:00.000-07:00

Sloppiness, language abuse, mixed metaphors… what’s next? Character acrobatics. Maya gives us another element of craft to watch out for. Unlike the previous entries, though, this one isn’t about sentence and paragraph structure, but about visualizing and tracking our characters…

Character Acrobatics
By Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

Do you know where your characters are?

No, seriously. In any given scene, do you know where your characters are and what they're doing? Does your reader?

In one manuscript I edited recently, our hero was walking, then he was on horseback, then he was walking again. First he had a rifle, then there was no rifle, then there was... (No, wait. Isn't that a song by Donovan?)

Will-o-the-wisp characters indicate the scene is not written vividly enough to fix such an important detail as where the characters are in the writer's mind. If you can't picture where your characters are, your reader won't be able to either.

How does it happen? Sometimes the writer induces errors in logistics during the editing process, unintentionally deleting a line and leaving the heroine sitting in a chair by the window when he meant her to stand and cross the room to confront the villain. It's a shock to the reader when she suddenly slaps the villain across the face. You can just imagine how the villain feels.

Sometimes the writer simply loses track of where the character is, either because he wasn't paying attention when he wrote the scene or because he wrote the scene over a period of time.
In any event, the problem is careless editing. The writer never goes back and carefully rereads the scene. I know a number of writers who hate rereading and editing so much that they will do almost anything to avoid it (even paying me to do it for them). Why? I don't know. Personally I find editing as much or more enjoyable than writing. It's where I get to mold the details of my story. It's where the characters develop nuance of personality and mannerism. It's where the plot takes on new subtlety.

The antidote to this is careful editing, visualizing the scene as you read it, rather than allowing the image in your head to set the scene. Remember, your reader can't read your mind—only the words you put on the page.

I better go back over the last short story I wrote… In the meantime, stay tuned for the next segment of Maya’s series (on properly setting the stage for a scene). Thanks for stopping by!

Mixed Metaphors - On Being a Professional Amateur

2008-05-18T18:28:00.000-07:00

If you’ve read Maya’s books or even her interview here on Constructing Stories, you know she excels at crafting powerful metaphors. Today, she helps us figure out how to do the same. And, if you haven’t already, check out her posts about sloppiness and language abuse.

Mixed Metaphors
By Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

Sample sentence: This seemed a long way from the moment in which Gregor clearly saw through me as a fish out of water, acting out an unnatural scene.

How many metaphors did you count? I got three:

He saw through me (meaning, I was transparent to him).
He saw me as a fish out of water (meaning, he saw that I was out of place).
He saw me as an actor in an "unnatural" scene.

Mashing these three ideas together results in what's called a "mixed metaphor." Our hero is a window, a fish, and an actor all in one sentence.

When this happens, the reader is at a loss to know which metaphor to go with. While in this case he may not literally envision each of these, the use of three metaphors blurs the emotional "image" of the relationship between these two characters.

What's a good metaphor? One that gives you more than one tangible image to hang your observations on. For example, let's say you go with the initial image of the window. You might say: "This was a long way from the moment in which Gregor clearly saw through me, stripping away any pretense of curtain or color."

In selecting a metaphor, think about what the images that go with it mean—how they look, sound, taste. Chose one that sends a single message to the reader's mind, such that each image you add enhances or focuses it. In the sentence above, Gregor sees through our hero as if he were a window without curtain (concealment) or color (disguise).

Check out Maya’s previous posts in this series, “On Being a Professional Amateur," and don’t forget to sign up for the RSS feed so that you won’t miss the next one!

Language Abuse - On Being a Professional Amateur

2008-05-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

In Maya’s second post, she writes about some of the ways writers abuse language. How have you seen other writers abuse language? Leave a comment and let us know! And, if you haven’t already, check out Maya’s first post of the series on “sloppiness.”

Language Abuse
By Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

Sample sentence: To attempt any consideration of Gaudi's life, he must be placed in his time and located in his place. To accomplish this, an overstanding of how he came to be is indispensable.

These two sentences have several problems:

Bloat
Word misuse
Redundancy

Sentence #1 begins: "To attempt any consideration of..." When you see a phrase like this in your prose, deconstruct it. Try simpler synonyms for the words you've chosen. A bare bones rendering of this phrase is "To try to think about."

But that's not all. This is action once-removed. We are not going to think about Gaudi's life, we're only going to try to think about it.

The sentence continues: "he must be placed in his time and located in his place." This is a passive and bloated way of saying, "we must know when and where he lived."

Sentence #2 tells us what we must do to accomplish "this." "This" what? To accomplish trying to think about Gaudi's life, or to accomplish placing him? Oh, and don't bother to look up "overstanding" in the dictionary—it's not a word. The writer meant "understanding," but wanted something that sounded bigger and less ordinary.

Ultimately, he meant to say: "To understand Gaudi's life, we must understand the context in which he lived it." And: "To understand Gaudi, we must understand the forces that shaped him."

If you're thinking that the second sentence is virtually a repeat of the first, you're right. The writer used two sentences to convey what he might have done more clearly in one. In the end, he failed to convey the idea because he was overreaching. He was trying to sound eloquent by reaching for words and phrasings he wasn't at home with.

What to do? When you write, write simply. Get down the bones of your story. Use words that come naturally to you—words you don't have to look up. Go back later with your editor hat on and maybe look for nicer, more eloquent words and phrasings. But make sure you know your tools—words—before you use them. And don't repeat yourself—say it once; say it best.

This post reminds me of the old KISS philosophy: Keep It Simple, Stupid. It's true, though. There's no reason to say more than you need to. You're just wasting good words. What are your thoughts?

Sloppiness - On Being a Professional Amateur

2008-05-08T14:44:00.000-07:00

Constructing Stories presents the first installment of Maya’s series, “On Being a Professional Amateur.” Please let me know what you think!

Sloppiness
By Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

Sample sentence: Pausing for a moment to look over at the commander he noted the slight of approval who said, “besides, to obtain Washington approval could take months and we can’t have civilians interfering in our politics.”

What’s wrong here? Lots. In the first clause there’s a comma missing after “commander,” a word missing after “slight” (“nod”, I’m assuming), and a misuse of the word “who.” The phrase as written says that the Slight (Nod) of Approval is “who” uttered the rest of the sentence.

In the dialogue that follows, “besides” is not capitalized and should be, “Washington” should be possessive (Washington’s) but isn’t, and the sentence is run-on.

A run-on sentence is one in which there are two independent clauses that aren't separated by a semi-colon. In simple terms it means that there are two separate things happening here—the acting character (He who is not named) looks at the commander, the commander nods (we think) and one of the two men delivers the line (though we don't know which one).

How did this happen? The writer has not bothered to craft his sentences. He has thrown them down and just left them where they lie. It is, to use a cooking metaphor, a bad job of plating. This sloppiness fails to communicate clearly 1) who’s pausing, 2) who's nodding, and 3) who’s talking.

If a reader is patient enough and determined enough, she might realize that the soldier paused to look over at the commander, who nodded and uttered the dialogue. But it’s our job as writers to write clearly enough that that level of patience and determination isn’t necessary.

The moral of the tale? Your reader should not have to use a pickaxe to dig gems of communication out of your prose. Reading should be less like mining and more like picking shells off a beach. Reading your prose over carefully aloud can help find problem areas.

Do you agree? Let Maya and I know what type of “sloppiness” bothers you. What do you struggle with personally? Share your thoughts!

Introduction - On Being a Professional Amateur

2008-05-04T15:03:00.000-07:00

When Constructing Stories started, I envisioned it being a place where writers could discuss how best to tell stories. Part of that vision was fulfilled when Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff became the first writer to be interviewed on this blog. Now, a little over a month later, she’s also the first to write an entire series of posts for Constructing Stories. It’s another way to bring different viewpoints to the table, and I’m thrilled to have Maya as a guest writer.

Having written six novels (with more on the way), Maya is uniquely gifted and full of valuable insights. Her series, “On Being a Professional Amateur,” starts today and will continue for the next 5-7 weeks. Tell all the writers you know to stop by and share their opinion, and be sure to sign up for the RSS feed so that you don’t miss a post! Enjoy!

On Being a Professional Amateur
by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

Defining “Amateur”

To be an amateur in the original sense of the word simply means to do something for love, though our culture has added the rider, "not for pay." An amateur writer, then, is generally taken to mean one who’s not paid for her efforts.

“Amateur” has also come to mean someone who lacks polish, skill and craft. Synonyms for “amateurish” include: unprofessional, sloppy, inept, slipshod, clumsy, crude. That doesn’t sound good.

To me, truly being an amateur writer—a lover of writing—means you love your craft enough to have a professional attitude toward it, a desire to do it with the highest level of skill you can. So, how do you make your craft reflect true amateurism and not the other kind? By weeding out the signs of amateurism and cultivating craft.

In this series of short articles, I'd like to offer some ideas on how to spot the "weeds" of amateurism in your writing.

What do you think of Maya's definition? Leave a comment and let us know! Maya's next post (coming next week) will tackle the issue of "sloppiness" and how not to let it creep into your writing. Don't miss it! Sign up for the RSS feed before you leave!

Summer Preview

2008-04-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

I hope you enjoyed the series on structure. It was a concise overview, but hopefully it added some value for you. Please let me know what you think.

There’s a lot going on here at Constructing Stories! Here’s a preview of what the summer is going to look like:

Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff’s series of posts on “Becoming a Professional Amateur” writing (beginning the first week of May and continuing for seven weeks).
Writer Interview: Lori Z. Scott.
Writer Interview: Karina Fabian.
Series of posts about “adding value” with your writing.
Writer Interview (still pending): Dr. Joseph Bentz.
Writer Interview (still pending): Dr. David Esselstrom.

That’s just what's planned so far. What are you dealing with? What would you like to discuss with other writers? Let me know and I’ll address that topic so that we can facilitate some learning around it. And, if you’re a writer who has something important to say, send an e-mail to palidod@yahoo.com so we can talk about how you can post a series on Constructing Stories.

Thanks for reading! If you like what you see and you’re intrigued by what’s coming up, please take a minute to sign up for the RSS feed. There’s a lot happening over the summer, and I don’t think you’ll want to miss it!

The Beginning of the End

2008-04-25T19:10:00.000-07:00

Act I set up the story. Act II fleshed out the critical elements. Act III should be easy, right?

Answering Questions

If you’re using a framework (I’ve been using Syd Field’s screenwriting paradigm), then you’ve actually been looking at the end of your story from the very beginning. You might not know specifics, but you probably have a pretty good idea how to answer the following questions:

Characters: How have they changed? What have they experienced that has helped them change? What critical actions need to take place in Act III that prove that the character has changed?
Plot: What are the outstanding plot elements? What needs to be answered for the reader to be satisfied? What “loose ends” need to be wrapped up in order to call the story “finished?”

Even if you’re not using a framework, these are still pertinent questions that must be answered for the reader to feel fulfilled. Now you’ve got a starting point.

More Questions?

That’s what you need to answer, but there’s also the how. Act III is your opportunity to showcase your character’s growth. Often times, characters are reacting to situations that arise throughout the story. The antagonist(s) is acting and the protagonist is reacting.

In Act III the tables change. It's the protagonist’s duty to act. Why is this so important? Well, for one, the protagonist’s actions should prove that she has changed. Two, it ends the story with a climactic event. This is where the protagonist resolves the problem! Up until now she has been fighting to get to this very place.

To sum up Act III: this is where you resolve all the reader’s questions, showcase how the main character has grown (through her actions), and resolve all the story’s loose ends. When you put it that way it sounds so easy, right?

Act II is...Long?

2008-04-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

You made it through the first act. You focused on the main character, you setup the story, and you engaged the reader. Excellent.

Now what?

Act II is the most difficult act to write. It’s twice as long as Act I, which means it’s twice as hard to keep it on track. It is divided right down the middle by the midpoint of the story, so that helps, but it’s still easy to lose focus.

Conflict and Growth

Syd Field’s paradigm uses the midpoint to divide Act II into separate parts. That allows the writer to re-focus her efforts in story segments. Each segment of Act II should propel the story forward. And therein lies the key to writing a successful second act: concentrated conflict and growth.

In Act II, the writer must move the story forward. Do you know where your story begins? Do you know where it ends? What’s the critical path for getting from point A to point B? That’s Act II.

Think of it as a road trip. You start in Los Angeles, end in Orlando. You’ve got a beginning (the setup), and an end (the result of trip and how it changed your characters). The journey between the two cities is Act II.

The Road Trip

The analogy works for two reasons. One, Act II must keep moving. You’re not going to get to Orlando (or the end of your story) unless the car is going somewhere. Two, the story isn’t going to be interesting without conflict and growth. Something has to be happening that moves the story forward. Characters struggle, learn, overcome, and eventually change.

Here’s where Act II becomes painful.

What were the most critical stops on your road trip? What events on the journey made the most impact? When you reached Orlando and looked back, what really contributed to your learning and growth? Anything that may have been cool, but didn’t amount to much by the time you reached Orlando has to go.

Act II is about concentrated conflict and growth. The story becomes the focus. It’s intentional, and demanding.

Act I - Goals

2008-04-05T10:13:00.000-07:00

Last post, I mentioned that when the writer works within a framework or structure, he or she has the ability to knowingly or intentionally break the rules. If, as a writer, you don’t have a set of rules or guidelines to play with, then you won’t know when you’re breaking the rules.

How, then, do you figure it out?

Press on…

Take Act I and focus in on what needs to be accomplished before we hit Plot Point I and dive into Act II. What are your goals for Act I? What do you want the reader to experience? When Act I is over, what is it you want the reader to think, feel, and understand?

Here are some possibilities:

Goal #1 - The Main Character: the reader understands and begins to associate with the main character (including the key obstacles that he or she needs to overcome).
Goal #2 – The Foundation: the story’s premise and plot are developed.
Goal #3 – Engagement: The reader is fully engaged in the story and can’t put it down.

These goals give us focus and hold us accountable. We now know what we want to accomplish in Act I. We can measure it. Take your goals and infuse them into your structure. Can you break some of the structural rules and still accomplish your goals? Try it. See if it works. Measure it.

Goals are important. They define how we will interact with the fictional world around us. The next time you sit down in front of the keyboard or notepad, write out your goals and intentions for Act I. Try it!

Did I miss any critical goals for Act I? Do you have a different set of goals when you begin to put words on a page? Let me know!

Jump Right In - Act I

2008-04-03T13:20:00.000-07:00

Act I is one of the more enjoyable acts to write. Why? Because we start writing! We explore, test out our characters, and determine the setting and tone for the rest of the story. Act I is critical. If we want our audience to keep reading (or watching), we must engage them!

Ready…Set…

You’ve got an idea of what your story is. You’ve got a path for your characters to follow. How do you get this plane off the ground? Let’s keep examining the paradigm I use that was created by Syd Field:

Divide Act I into three distinct, evenly spaced sections. If Act I is 25 pages, then each section is 8 pages long. According to Mr. Field and his paradigm, here’s what those sections should look like:

Pg. 1-8: Present the main character and showcase her problem.
Pg. 9-16: Focus on main character and demonstrate how this problem is affecting her life.
Pg. 17-24: Identify exactly what the problem is (culminating with Plot Point I).

Dial into your main character. The character must grow throughout the story. Determine where the character is and how she’s currently interacting with the world around her in Act I. Build tension. Set the tone. Allow the reader (or viewer) to become entrenched in the fictional world around them.

Writing a Novel vs. Screenwriting

I break the rules in Act I. Screenwriting requires extreme brevity. The focus must be on the main character throughout Act I. Writing a novel, however, allows for increased complexity. While I still focus most of my attention on the main character, I also add elements (usually from other major characters) that will appear later in the book.

And that’s why paradigms are so effective. You can intentionally break the rules and get away with it.

What’s your initial reaction to Act I? What do you do differently? What do you do that similar?

Referenced in this post: The Screenwriter's Workbook by Syd Field.

Exploring the Storytelling Paradigm

2008-03-30T20:20:00.000-07:00

I’ve been promoting Syd Field’s storytelling paradigm, and yet I haven’t explained any of the details behind the technique. Let’s examine the components, and please share your thoughts.

The Structure

I wrote previously that Mr. Field’s plot structure revolves around four distinct segments of a story. Take a story, divide it into four evenly spaced sections, and you’ve got the basic structure of the paradigm. For a simplified example, let’s say the story is one hundred pages long. Here’s what the paradigm would look like:

Act 1: pg. 1 – 24 (culminating with Plot Point #1)
Act 2a: pg. 25 – 49 (culminating with the Midpoint)
Act 2b: pg. 50 – 74 (culminating with Plot Point #2)
Act 3: pg. 75 – 100

Outline…Paradigm…What’s the difference?

Each of these segments (along with its corresponding plot points) has a specific purpose. This is critical because it sets the stage for the story and supplies the writer with intentional guidelines in order to move the story along at the right pace.

An outline allows you to be more creative, but it lacks direction. Syd Field has examined exceptional storytelling in an effort to give writers tools that build interesting stories that engage readers.

Next post, I’ll get into more specifics surrounding each act. Do you have any initial responses to the technique? Have you used it? What do you use? I’d love to hear from all the writers out there.

Referenced in this post: The Screenwriter’s Workbook by Syd Field.

Take Syd Field’s Advice

2008-03-27T10:24:00.000-07:00

Why do I use Syd Field’s storytelling paradigm? Several reasons:

Modern storytelling is done through visual means.

Television, film, and the Internet have become primary entertainment venues. Audiences gravitate toward these mediums and are accustomed to this form of storytelling. Syd Field’s framework is perfect for the modern day audience, even when applied to prose.

It’s where the action is.

Action/adventure stories must move quickly. Engage readers from the first letter, keep them turning pages, throw in a few twists and turns, and then wrap everything up before the reader catches his or her breath. I write a lot of adventure stories, so keeping up the pace is critical. Mr. Field’s framework fits my style.

Outlines and blueprints don’t go far enough.

An outline, or a blueprint (as a recent article in Writer’s Digest) isn’t enough for me. There aren’t enough boundaries. Syd Field’s paradigm requires storytellers to think strategically so that the reader (or viewer) doesn’t get bored.

Yes, Mr. Field’s framework is prescriptive, very much so, but to me it gives appropriate guidelines that allow me to stretch and mold the story into something more exciting for the reader. The paradigm actually facilitates my creativity. It makes the writing tighter and forces the writer to think ahead.

I would highly recommend Syd’s approach, even if it is primarily for screenwriters. But what is his exact approach? That’s another blog post…

Constructing a Story

2008-03-21T11:20:00.000-07:00

Storytelling is about choices, and there are plenty of them. I just started a novel, and now I’m sitting in the ever-present ambiguity that is “creativity.” Every writer approaches these decisions differently, but the general question becomes: Are you a planner? Or do you just jump in?

For every writer that scrawling out extensive diagrams, there’s another that just grabs some paper and a pen before going to town. I fall somewhere in the middle. A framework helps me remember where I’m going and what the reader will find interesting.

In college, I read a book by Syd Field called The Screenwriter’s Workbook. It has been one of the most influential books in my collection. Every time I sit down to write a story, I go through the process Mr. Field discusses in this book. Yes, it is a screenwriting approach, but it supplies the principles of good storytelling, no matter the medium.

The basic element in this framework involves evenly dividing your story into four distinct pieces. Then, you interrupt those segments with three critical Plot Points. Each of the four segments develops a piece of the story, and the Plot Point reveals something that keeps the reader intrigued and interested.

It’s a pretty cool framework, and it works really well. Every now and again I revisit the book just to remind myself of how stories can be told effectively. I’ll discuss the concept more throughout the month, but in the meantime, how do you set yourself up to write? What methods do you use?

Review of Maya's Interview

2008-03-16T16:20:00.000-07:00

As you can see, Maya is an experienced and accomplished writer. Let me summarize a few of her insights and share my reactions (I'd love to hear your's as well).

1. The writer’s skill set rests in the way they use the tools available to them.

Maya loves to interact with words. That’s her passion. Before plot, characters, setting, and dialogue (all of which she also mentioned), she talked about tinkering with words and language. All are important, and she excels at each, but the answer to that question is very telling, because it reveals so much about a writer’s style. Imagine Dan Brown answering the question... “The plot comes first.” Jane Austin? “Characters bring the story to life.” And maybe Jack London? “The setting must be realistic and believable.”

Each would answer the question differently and yet in the same breath tell you that the entire toolbox is critical to the overall story. But, when you read an artist's work, notice the details of how he or she manipulates each component, utilizing their unique skill set.

2. Creativity comes from everywhere.

Maya's first vision for The Meri came to her in a dream. Other writers eaves drop on conversations and watch people interact. Some tell about their own experience. Nothing defines creativity.

3. There’s a science to good metaphors?

I loved Maya’s advice on metaphors. How many of us sit in front of the computer wracking our brains for a metaphor? Now, sit back and follow Maya’s advice. Find parallels. Keep the parallels consistent (i.e. don't mix your metaphors). Be cautious with clichés. Don’t go overboard.

4. You mean...he didn't write that?

The Writer recently ran an article about ghostwriting. Does it hurt a writer’s brand? Help it? How does a reader feel when they learn that a book was ghostwritten? I feel like I would be reluctant ghostwrite or allow someone to ghostwrite for me. I would plant myself firmly within the “J Sherer” brand and stay there, but as Maya's experience has suggested, it can be a valuable process for both writers.

5. “Two heads are almost always better than one.”

After looking at the first point again (listed above under 1. The writer's skill set...) regarding style, it's easy to see why collaborating makes sense. Let’s say one writer’s skill is in crafting exciting, "can’t stop reading" plots. A second writer’s skill is in developing characters and defining the setting. Put those two together and you’ve got quite a combo. It's something that would allow the writers to encourage, strengthen, and learn from one another, but I think Maya's advice is well thought out: someone has to be the decision-maker.

I thoroughly enjoyed Maya’s interview, and I’ve got two more writers lined up for interviews, so stay tuned for more thoughts and discussion points. In the meantime, how do the points above hit you?

The Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff Interview, Part 6

2008-03-14T09:05:00.000-07:00

Well, we've reached the final segment of Maya's interview. It's been great to hear her perspective, so I'm glad she had a chance to drop by Constructing Stories. If you haven't yet, please check out the previous segments of the interview (one, two, three, four, and five). And, if you're a writer and would like to be interviewed on Constructing Stories, please send e-mail to me at palidod@yahoo.com.

Today, Maya talks about what she's working on and the present state of the publishing industry.

JS: So, after all we've talked about, what’s next for Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff? What projects are you working on and where will we see your name next?

MKB: Well, immediately will be Books Two and Three of the Mer Cycle (Taminy and The Crystal Rose). Beyond that, I have a novelette in the eZine, Helix and I'll have one coming up in Analog Magazine in the future, as well. I'm afraid the next novel I get in print will not have my name on it. It may be a Star Wars novel or an epic fantasy or ... who knows?

Most of my writing these days is freelance ghostwriting or editing so while I'm usually juggling several novels, a memoir or two, and some editing jobs, they're mostly other people's projects.

My husband and I will also be music guests of honor for Duckon SF convention in Chicago in June. We have three CDs out and available through CDBaby and iTunes, and at science fiction conventions everywhere.

The CDs are Retro Rocket Science, Manhattan Sleeps, and Aliens Ate My Homework.

JS: Are there any questions that you wish an interviewer would ask, even though they never do? If so, what is it, and what might your answer to it be?

MKB: Wow, that's a toughie. Well, they could ask "Tell me, Maya, what do you wish publishers knew?"

I wish publishers knew that they can't "only sell bestsellers" (as one publishing executive was quoted as saying) because there's no formula for a bestseller. Bestsellers can't be predicted. Just look at Harry Potter. And I don’t think they can reverse engineer success by looking at sales figures. For one thing, there are two sets of figures involved: How much did they put into the book, compared to how much they got out of it? Instead of looking at numbers, they need to talk to readers and find out why they bought a particular book, and if it was a good read and if so, why did they think so?

What causes a person to pick up a book (cover art, cover copy, blurbs, word of mouth) varies. And what happens after they buy the book also varies. I've bought any number of books by popular authors that I found barely readable. I bought them, but ended up not reading them, or reading them but not enjoying them much. Yet I continue to see them on bookshelves. Conversely, I've found amazing books by authors who seem to have disappeared from sight, despite the fact that their books are critically acclaimed and have even won awards. The last time I went to a bookstore I searched high and low to find even one of five books by different authors that had been nominated for awards, or whose other work I had enjoyed. Not one could I find. Yet I saw multiple copies of books in my Bought It Never Read it box. I get ads for those BINR books in my email, even.

If I can't find the book I want, I'll buy what's available. I'll fall for the idea that if there are twenty copies of author X's book on the shelf it must be a decent book. That doesn't mean it is a decent book. It just means it was available and my first choices weren't but by golly, I was going to come home with a new mystery to read!

I also wish publishers knew that they don't need to spend millions advertising Dean Koontz's next novel, or JK Rowling's or .... All they need to do is have Amazon drop us an email saying the book is available, and put a display in the major bookstores. The authors who need the advertising bucks are the ones who aren't getting them right now. The authors who may have just written a bestseller that will never even go into its second printing because there was no budget for promoting it.

Okay, I'll step down off my soapbox now...

JS: I think we all know a lot of writers that feel that way. Where can readers discover more about you and what you’re working on?

MKB: They can go to my website www.mysticfig.com or, if they'd like to read some of my short fiction, they can go to my page at Author's Den. All of my books can be purchased on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Powell’s online, or special ordered from a bookstore. I also have a story (A Cruel and Unusual Punishment) in the science fiction anthology Infinite Space, Infinite God and another short story in the Best of Jim Baen’s Universe, 2006. Those are also available from all the usual suspects.

It has been a pleasure having Maya drop by and take the time to give us her perspective. I love the insights housed in this interview, and I hope you've found it beneficial as well. As a writer and a reader, I highly recommend Maya's work, so please support her writing by purchasing one of her novels or support us both by checking out Infinite Space, Infinite God!

The Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff Interview, Part 5

2008-03-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

With parts one, two, three, and four already posted, there are only two posts left to go. In today's segment of Maya's interview, she talks about what it takes to collaborate with another author successfully, where she finds inspiration, and whether or not she intends to move into screenwriting.

JS: What was it like to collaborate with another author? How does that change the way you approach writing, both before and after you slap the words down on the page?

MKB: I love collaboration. Two heads are almost always better than one. I find it exhilarating to sit down with another person and brainstorm a plot arc. That's the biggest difference—that exchange of ideas, someone to bounce ideas off of, someone to give you a reality check.

Of course there are relationship issues to work out. One writer needs to be the "senior" partner in the mix—the one who makes final decisions if disagreements come up, the one who polishes the manuscript and deals with the editor. Although Michael (Reaves) and I have also made use of our editor at Del Rey to help us resolve issues when we're really not sure which direction to take, for example.

Those issues—who decides what, etc—need to be worked out before you start writing. When I write with Michael he's the Jedi Master and I'm the Padawan. I've worked with other people in which I was the Jedi.

Often, each writer will have some area in which they're expert. So you have to work out how you want to harness that expertise. In Batman: Fear Itself, I wrote some scenes knowing that Michael, with his more expert knowledge of martial arts and Batman's weaponry, would go in and make specific references to these things where I had drafted generic terms. That worked for us. Another team might simply have had the expert writer write those scenes or had the junior writer check each factoid with the senior one as they came up.

You have to have a thick skin, be flexible and detached to be successful in a collaboration and you have to be realistic about your level of craft. If you've got all that going you can handle it when your partner points out a weakness in your plot line or a boo-boo you made in a scene. In fact, it's one of the things I love about collaborating—immediate constructive feedback. I don't have to wait until I've finished the book to find out that a plot element isn't working—my partner will catch it when he goes in to polish a chapter.

I think the single biggest concession I make to collaboration is that I let my writing be freer and "messier" in some ways. I don't sweat the details until my collaborator and I have reviewed the material and decided "it is good." Then I sweat the details.

JS: Where do you find inspiration?

MKB: Everywhere. I've written a number of stories based on dreams I've had, I've written stories because of overheard conversations, articles in trade journals or science papers, history texts, song lyrics, or just because I wanted to explore a particular idea that intrigued me, angered me, frightened me.

I read a lot in history, psychology, religion and science and have often had the experience of reading along and suddenly hitting a passage that seemed to leap off the page and proclaim: "Story here!"

Inspiration is so ever-present that I have to sometimes purposefully not "see" things because I've already got so many ideas rattling around in my head I don't know what to do with all of them. I have notebooks with ideas jotted down in them everywhere.

JS: I know you’ve written a number of articles and short stories in addition to the novels that you’ve published. Do you have any desire to pursue screenwriting?

MKB: I've actually written about half-dozen screenplays for an independent film producer in LA. Sci-fi and horror mostly. And I've committed a couple of my short stories to screenplay format just for hoots. I'd love to write a screenplay or teleplay set in the MAGIC TIME world that teleplay writer Marc Scott Zicree created. I wrote the second book in the MAGIC TIME trilogy, but the project was originally conceived as a TV series. It was Marc who first looked at my prose and said, "You should be writing screenplays. You're a natural."

To my knowledge I've only ever had one of my pieces produced, but not as a movie, but as a radio play.

There's only one more post to complete Maya's interview! Make sure you stop by tomorrow to check out the final piece. After that, I'll summarize some of the things we've learned from Maya. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

The Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff Interview, Part 4

2008-03-11T20:40:00.000-07:00

Maya's had a lot of experience, even collaborating with Emmy-winning writer, Michael Reaves. But, how does that affect the writer's work? What changes? What's more difficult? And how is it to write about Batman? Find out in the continuation of Maya's interview. And, if you haven't yet, there's still parts one, two, and three!

JS: The Meri and Batman: Fear Itself are easily contrasted and very different. Which story did you find more challenging to tell?

MKB: The Meri was my first novel, so it was a big challenge. I'd written other novel-length works, but they weren't ready for prime time, so this was the first one I'd written after I'd had some success with short fiction and half knew what I was doing.

The challenge for me was that I hadn't read that much fantasy (just Tolkien, really) and I was only writing the story because I'd dreamed it. I intentionally didn't go out and read a bunch of fantasy because I really didn't want to even be tempted to model on someone else's work. As I said, I had to make up the world, so it was tremendously challenging. I had never built an alternate world civilization from the ground up and I wanted it to be complete and realistic. In books Two and Three in the series I used the bulk of that research in the real world; in The Meri the challenge was building the magical system and religion. I've studied religion and religious history avidly, but magic wasn't something I'd dealt with before.

In Batman: Fear Itself, the challenge was in telling the story we wanted to tell without violating the publisher's sensibilities about the character. There were a number of "thou shalt nots" that I had to keep in mind as I worked. And I had to research the Batman universe. I think the best training for meeting that challenge is being an avid reader. If you can immerse yourself in someone else's universe then turn around and write in it as if it were your own, media tie-ins and shared worlds can be lots of fun.

JS: How did you prepare to write Batman: Fear Itself? Was there a lot of pressure on you to write a compelling story featuring such a famous protagonist?

MKB: Fortunately with Batman, my collaborator, Michael (Reaves), had a good first draft of an outline and has written so much in the Batman Universe (he has an Emmy for the animated series) that he's an expert. He also had written a prologue and some material for a first chapter. So my job was to learn the "language" of Batman, familiarize myself with the characters and "the story so far", and to absorb Michael's writing style.

The last one was a piece of cake—I'd already done one collaboration with him—but I did notice that there was a different ambience to the writing and I knew I'd have to adjust my style to fit it. I read a wonderful book on the forensics techniques used in Batman stories, which was of immense help, and did some additional science research on things like mass spectrometers and ballistics and neurotoxins. The next step was to nail down the outline. We brainstormed it and I committed it to paper, and then parsed the outline to get an idea of how the chapters would lay out and where key plot developments would occur.

I felt less pressure than I would have if I hadn't tried this before, but I had the benefit of having written a Riddick novel that will never see the light of day since the Chronicles of Riddick tanked. I learned a lot about working with an iconic character and discovered sneaky ways to develop new facets to a character that seemed to be set in stone.

JS: Fans have become very familiar with Batman. They’ve seen him in movies, on TV, and in the original comic books. Does that change the way you approach the writing?

MKB: Of course. As I said, you have to respect that. BUT—here's the cool thing—most people are familiar with Batman from a visual media. This means they're looking at him from the outside. Also cartoons and comics and movies are "short hand." That means I can flesh out what's behind the façade and in between the frames of cartoon or movie. I can write what the audience can't see—the thoughts inside Batman's head. So, I'll make sure he still looks the same on the outside, but inside his head I have some latitude. The fans seem to accept a certain amount of diversity of view and I think to some extent they realize that Batman and Bruce Wayne can't be on the inside what they present to the world. That would be boring. It's a challenge: How do you develop a character without seeming to change him?

There are just a couple more posts focused on Maya's interview. In the next few we'll see what inspires her, what she's working on, and where you can find her current works (and just in case you want to go buy them right now, they're on Amazon!). Don't forget to add the RSS feed for this blog!

The Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff Interview, Part 3

2008-03-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

In part three of our interview, Maya talks about her craft, something she's very passionate about. I love her advice on metaphors. If you haven't yet, please check out parts one and two!

JS: You’ve mentioned that you’re quite a “craft monkey.” When reading The Meri, I immediately noticed your exceptional choice and use of metaphor. Many writers (including myself) struggle with appropriate use of metaphor. How did you develop a talent for it?

MKB: I have no idea. The little suckers just roll off the tip of my pen. But it may have something to do with the fact that I also write poetry and lyrics, which are metaphor intensive. And my favorite writers are Ray Bradbury and WP Kinsella, who can sling metaphors like nobody's business. I do try to observe some guidelines (rules, whatever) for metaphors:

First, I choose a metaphor that has more than one element that works with my subject. Let's say I want to create a metaphor for an orator's speaking style. It's bombastic. He roars out his words and pounds the podium, growing red in the face. The obvious choice for voice is "roar." But now I get to the pounding the podium part and no leonine images come to mind. Okay, no roaring then. But what if I realize the guy is a windbag? What if I say "He was a storm in full gale—hurricane voice howling above the erratic thunder of his fist striking the podium again, again, again, his sharp, icy words falling like hailstones over the crowd." That's going overboard, but the point is a good metaphor is one that gives you all the parallels you need. What doesn't work is if you grab "roar" and, lacking animal metaphors that work, change partners in mid-dance. Or, to use a mixed metaphor, change partners in mid-stream. Then "He was a lion—voice roaring above the hammer of his fist striking the podium like an anvil, while he sprayed the crowd with word-bullets." Conjures images of a lion packing heat and wearing a combo-holster tool-belt.

Second, I try not to succumb to the temptation to go for something that's different but not apt in an attempt to avoid clichés. If a cliché is best, do something to make it fresh or just don't use a metaphor.

Third, I ration my metaphors and similes. Rather than use one in every descriptive sentence or paragraph, I try to use them when I especially want to create a strong image with emotional overtones—a moment for the characters and reader to inhabit. A lot of "young" writers just load them up—sentence after sentence. Metaphors are like perfume—a little can create a lovely ambience; a lot can overwhelm.

JS: What other elements of the writing craft do you enjoy? What do you struggle with?

MKB: I love writing dialogue. Writing good dialogue is like riding a roller coaster (which I also love). When I'm doing it I feel exhilarated, tuned in, in synch with the universe. That's true of writing in general, but dialogue is especially exciting to me because it's where the characters come to life, where they reveal themselves.

I'm told I write very good action sequences, but that didn't come naturally to me. That was a struggle to learn. I had to think about it. I also struggle with holding a whole novel in my head while I'm trying to work out plot developments. Mostly this is because with my freelance work and all, I'm trying to hold four or five plot lines in my head all at once. I've only got so much room for information in my user-friendly warmware (brain) so I keep lots of notes.

JS: What writers have influenced you? What writers do you respect and enjoy reading? What are you reading now?

MKB: I have probably been most influenced by Ray Bradbury (especially Something Wicked This Way Comes) and WP Kinsella (Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa, which became the movie Field of Dreams) and Tim Powers (Declare and a raft of other amazing books). These are writers who do amazing things with words and who have, shall we say, unique ways of looking at things.

I enjoy reading Lois McMaster Bujold—especially her fantasy—Laurie R. King, Elizabeth Peters, and Mary Stewart. I'm a sucker for mysteries and detective novels and really wish that Mary Willis Walker would write something—anything. I also read a lot of non-fiction of all kinds. Mostly history and religion and the history of religions. Science is fun to read about, too.

Right now I'm reading Star Wars novels in preparation for maybe writing one. My last "joy read" was Son of a Witch by Gregory MaGuire. My non-fic reading currently is Jews, God and History by Max Dimont, Hidden Gospels: How the Search for Jesus Lost Its Way by Philip Jenkins and The Secret of Divine Civilization by Abdu'l-Bahá Abbas.

Tomorrow, the interview with Maya continues. I asked her a little bit more about Batman: Fear Itself and what writing a novel about such a famous detective was like. Drop back by tomorrow!

The Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff Interview, Part 2

2008-03-10T12:08:00.000-07:00

In part two of Maya's interview we delve a little further into her specific works. If you haven't yet, please read part one, and then jump back into this post!

Interview continued...

JS: In the Mer Cycle trilogy, you created your own fictional world, but for Batman: Fear Itself you wrote in the preconceived environment of Gotham City. How is the writing experience different? How is it more enjoyable? How is it less enjoyable?

MKB: It's very different. I chose what "facts" to put into the Mer Cycle books. I had to keep track of them, keep them consistent and work out every tiny detail from language to magic to religion to monetary units, and I had free rein to do this. The characters, likewise, were mine to move and shape as I wanted (insofar as they allowed it). That's the upside of an original fantasy work—and the downside. You're out there on your own, flying by the seat of your pants and you have to make it all up. You devise the rules of the world and you have to abide by them. There's more, broader research required for a fantasy novel than for just about any other genre.

Did I say that was the downside? Not if you love research as much as I do.

With a media tie-in or any "share-cropping" book, the world and the back story are written in stone. Batman is Batman and there are some things you cannot make Batman do, not because he won't let you, but because the story canon won't. That's the downside ... and yes, it's the upside too. You've got guidelines! You've got material. Your characters are half-built and the rules of the world are in place. But of course, you have to learn them all, and your research is less the fun "ooh, what's this!" kind and more the "What would Batman use to dig a hole" variety. In other words, targeted.

What I love about making it up is the freedom and the sense of accomplishment when the Rube Goldberg machine I'm tinkering with suddenly starts to purr like a well-oiled machine and the characters make me want to kiss them or kill them. What I hate about making it up is the second-guessing: Did I do that right? Should the character be this or that? And having no one to ask if you're doing it right. (Help me, Ray Bradbury!)

What I love about share-cropping is the sheer challenge of working with someone else's tools. It's like that TV show that was all the rage a while ago—Junkyard Wars. You get to be MacGyver. Hm. I have a piece of chewed pink bubble gum and a TV remote control—what can I do with that? Start the clock, I'll think up something...

JS: The Meri (the first book in the Mer Cycle trilogy) is a book about self-discovery, character development, and change. Where did the idea for The Meri come from?

MKB: Literally a dream and a line from a Robert Silverberg novel. I dreamed a vivid, movie-like dream and knew as I was dreaming that I wanted to write it into a story. I wanted to wake up and write it, but when I managed to get one eye open (we'd gigged the night before and I was exhausted) I saw that it was 6 AM and I couldn't make myself reach for the note pad in my head board. I was afraid I'd forget the dream, so in my dream, I magicked myself up a yellow note pad and a nubby little pencil and wrote down what the characters did in a pivotal scene (it has to do with amulets). I made my dream characters perform the same scene over and over until I finally woke up and could wrap my fingers around a real pencil.

The dream sat on its notepad for months before the final two pieces of the puzzle turned up. I knew the main character was a young teen on a quest, but I didn't know what the quest really was. I had two epiphanies. One came as I was rereading my notes and realized the character that had been a boy in my dream needed to be a girl. That gave me the central conflict. I cloned the boy in my dream—he became the main character Mereddyd and her close friend Leal. I started pushing ideas around, but the final piece fell into place as I was reading one of Bob Silverberg's Gilgamesh stories and came across a phrase that made chills race up and down my spine: He was as a man on dry land and as a selkie in the sea. I knew as I read it that this was the final piece. It gave me the nature of the quest and one further plot element that I needed.

I sat down and started to write. I wrote the whole novel longhand in pencil in a series of college theme notebooks and copied the pages on the Xerox at work (with my boss' blessing) every day just in case.

JS: Mereddyd, the protagonist in The Meri, begins the story as a headstrong, often impatient, and sometimes doubtful young woman, but she develops (quite drastically) throughout the story. Do you plan for a character’s development before you begin, or does it work itself into the story as you move along?

MKB: Both. I plan how I want my character to change overall and I plan pivotal points in the story where those changes will either be catalyzed or will be put to use. But then I let the character "find" the pace of change. I try to let the changes grow out of their environment, the things that befall them, and their personalities and beliefs.

A basic element of change for a character is the type of person they are and how they regard change. Mereddyd, for example, is a person who knows she needs to change and knows she should welcome change. She's just not sure what form those changes should take or if she'll have the ability to make them—and thereby hangs the tale. Contrast her to the old Osraed, Ealad-hach, a man so afraid of change that he'll do incredible mental contortions to avoid it. People like Mereddyd bend and adapt; people like Ealad-hach don't bend, they remain staunchly rigid until they break.

JS: Mereddyd changes significantly throughout the story. Batman, on the other hand, doesn’t change much at all (he rarely does even in the comic books). How does that effect the way you approach the storytelling?

MKB: Well, therein lies one of the downsides to episodic writing. The character really can't change. It's a challenge, because in a way it goes against nature. I wrote some obvious growth into Bruce Wayne in my first draft of Batman: Fear Itself and the "powers that be" said "uh-uh". It was mildly frustrating and it caused me not to go as deeply into the character as I might have liked. I couldn't have the character forge deep relationships with other characters—especially the ones Michael [Reaves] and I created—and I had to be careful about what I revealed about him. This can be exacerbated if you're in a situation where the "owners" of the world are saying they'd like the character to grow but aren't sure how much. Also, the character's life exists on a continuum—at first, Lucius Fox doesn't know Bruce is Batman, then he suspects he is, then he knows he is. Where are we in the continuum and are the comic book people happy with the revelations in the most recent movie? The cool thing about Batman in particular though is that you're really writing two characters: Batman and Bruce Wayne. It's the points at which they come together that are tricky.

It boils down to not writing outside of what's considered canon and it does cause me to write more carefully and with less abandon. My one-time agent told me that I wrote my best when I "use the Force." Which for me means that I close my ears and eyes to anything but the internal muse and, knowing my characters as a creator knows her creation, I immerse myself in the world and write. That's not possible to any great degree with a media tie-in. But I still enjoy writing them—as I said, it's a challenge.

That concludes part two of Maya's interview. Please stop by tomorrow for the next section, and if you haven't yet, please check out part one. Thanks!

The Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff Interview, Part 1

2008-03-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned yesterday, today's post launches an exciting new segment for Constructing Stories. I'm very pleased to present my writer interview with Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff. I've had the pleasure of reading three of her novels, and I highly recommend each. She's talented, she has worked very hard, and it all shows. Here's part one of her interview. I'll be posting the rest of it throughout the week. Enjoy!

JS: A writer strives to engage readers and stimulate them with setting, characters, and plot. You’ve created fantasy and science fiction worlds and worked with existing comic book worlds. As a writer, what tools do you use to make these worlds come alive to the reader?

MKB: Ooh, a multifaceted question! The most basic tools are the words a writer has in her palette. I love words. I love playing with them, molding them, shaping them into sentences and paragraphs and scenes, and watching stories emerge. Writing is a lot like sculpting in that way—you have these raw materials, words, and you work them until a coherent shape emerges, then add detail upon detail until you have a complete story. It’s very tactile for me and I love the feel of words and the sound of them read aloud.

Naturally, it's important to know the tools as well as you can. A good writer can make worlds come alive by choosing the right words and arranging them so that they paint pictures, evoke emotions, excite, terrify, impassion, soothe...all that. That's where the craft comes in: knowing how to get words to evoke sadness the way the color blue or a D-minor chord evokes sadness, or spark anger or get the blood pounding with a good action sequence.

There's more to it than that, of course. One mainstream writer, whose name I've mercifully forgotten, said that there was nothing at all mystical about writing. He was one of those types that hate writing but love having written. It was just like forging horseshoes, he said. Just the iron of words and the brute strength of craft. Period. I thought about that metaphor for about two seconds before I realized he'd missed one of the most important factors: fire. If you don't have fire—inspiration, passion—AND strength, the inert material will just lie there. So, I think the tools are inspiration, passion, craft, and words. And by inspiration I mean whatever sparks you to write—a cool idea or research you've done about pre-Columbian burial mounds or a neat turn of phrase, a divine epiphany or a dream.

Now, I'm going to turn around and answer the question in a completely different way. In another sense, the tools you have are character, plot, setting, dialogue, action and writing style. These things put together combine to create stories readers want to read. But of course, underneath it all is ... words.

JS: That passion and intentionality is very apparent in your writing. Do the tools you use change based on the type of story or the type of environment with which you’re working?

MKB: Yes and no. I mean, whether I'm writing a crime novel or a fantasy novel, I still need to absorb facts, create characters, put words together in ways that are harmonious (or not) and vivid. But the type of facts I need and where I acquire them differ.

I wrote a crime novel that my agent is currently shopping for which I needed facts gleaned from the real world. I needed to understand how guns worked and what was the right weapon for a 5 foot tall, 98 pound PI. I needed to know a lot about pot hunters (archaeological looters) and Latin American ruins. I needed to know about the magic of the Russian Orthodox Church. For my MERI series, I needed a different set of fact-tools and I had to create a significant number of those tools myself. The magic, the religion, the government, the history all had to be invented.

So, as I'm working in the environment, I look at my toolkit and say, "Well, for this story I need to create a language and know how the priestly hierarchy works. And for that one, I need to know some Russian and how a police department is structured."

Obviously, the words and how I use them will also be different. I use different words trying evoke a sense of placeless wonder for a fantasy novel than I will to depict a gritty urban landscape. The type of characters I'm writing about will also cause me to handle words differently. A shy, village lass and a smart-ass Asian-American detective don't think, speak, or behave the same way. The tools change to adapt.

Having said that, there are constants. Action scenes in any genre require words to be used in a particular way. Dialogue in any genre, likewise, needs to communicate, and descriptive passages need to bring the reader into your world.

That concludes part one, but part two will be posted tomorrow. Be sure and drop back by!

Shared Passion: Writer Interviews

2008-03-08T11:52:00.000-08:00

Let’s take a short break from the character discussion and transition into a new segment of Constructing Stories: writer interviews.

Throughout the week I’ll be posting segments of my interview with a fellow Infinite Space, Infinite God author, Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff (A Cruel and Unusual Punishment). Author of six novels under her own byline, several ghostwrites, numerous short stories, and even a few articles about her craft, Maya has achieved a level of success that many authors crave (including me). From her fantasy novels (The Mer Cycle trilogy) to her collaborations with Michael Reaves (Batman: Fear Itself and Mr. Twilight), Maya has developed amazing environments for her readers to explore.

I’m really excited to kick off this new segment, and I want to make sure that you get a chance to discover how Maya approaches her craft. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to utilize an RSS feed to keep up with the posts over the coming week. I’m privileged share some of Maya’s insights with you, and I hope you’ll drop by to read more.

I’ll be posting the first segment of Maya’s interview tomorrow, March 9, 2008. Tell your friends, tell your family, and don’t forget to stop by!

And if you're a writer and would like to be considered for an interview, please submit your request to palidod@yahoo.com. Thanks!

Characters – Part 4: Where to Start?

2008-03-05T21:31:00.000-08:00

I’m starting a novel. It’s going to be action-adventure focused, and it’s going to require extremely unique characters. In addition to determining the traits these characters possess, I also have to imbue them with special attributes (i.e. powers). Imagine the TV show Heroes or movies (and comic books) like X-Men and you’ll get what I’m aiming for.

Following my own advice from previous posts, I’m thinking back over other characters I’ve enjoyed. What traits does my lead character possess? Do I know anyone who shares one or two of those traits so that I can dial into the characters appropriate responses? This is the hero, so he has to be relatable. People have to respond to him favorably, root for him, and even sympathize with him when he fails. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

Stubborn. Head strong. Unafraid, even when he should be. Works hard, real hard, even pushing past his own personal limits when he shouldn’t. Good heart. Really wants to serve others and serve them well. If you’re on his team, his loyalty is undying, but if you’re not, you may encounter his bad temper. When his loyalties are split he struggles. He strives to do his best, but his own striving is sometimes what holds him back.

Okay. That’s a start. Now, I could use your help. Do you know any other characters like this? Do you feel that you could root for this guy? Would you enjoy reading about him and seeing what his path is?

Characters like him: Jack (from Lost), but younger.

Characters - Part 3: What Makes a Good One?

2008-03-04T13:12:00.000-08:00

Writers, readers, and viewers love (and love to hate) characters. We interact with the story’s players as they confront the world around them, and we evaluate the players based on our own experience.

As writers, readers, and viewers, what can we take away from this knowledge?

Characters should be like Kobe Bryant (see previous post)—never one-dimensional. Some things about them are good. Some aren’t. Sure, heroes should be heavily weighted towards being a “good person,” but they should also have a fatal flaw. Sometimes strengths are weaknesses in big doses (strong convictions become stubbornness). Sometimes strengths and flaws clash (like fighting addiction). Whatever the case, characters (heroes and villains) possess multiple qualities, good and bad.
Strong characters = characters that we relate to. We want to be more like them. We see their traits mirrored in those around us. The things we like about our friends and family, things we disdain in our enemies (and co-workers, as the case may be).

Characters are fictional people, but they are people, so they have traits, behaviors, strengths, and weaknesses.

Writers, when creating a character, look around and make notes—they're all around you. Readers and viewers, identify what it is you like or dislike about a character. Chances are, you’ve encountered it in your own life.

What else would you include in this list? What else makes a great character?

Characters - Part 2: The Kobe Bryant Syndrome

2008-03-03T21:06:00.000-08:00

Everyone has his or her own definition of a great character, and I’m willing to bet that the things we love or hate in fictional people aren’t a whole lot different from the things we love and hate about our friends, co-workers, and associates. Not everyone is going to appreciate the same character.

This represents what I call “The Kobe Bryant Syndrome.” Let me first apologize to all of those who don’t like basketball (or sports in general). Bear with me just for one minute. Ask someone who’s passionate about basketball what they think of Kobe Bryant, and with a few exceptions you’re going to hear one of two responses:

“Best player in basketball, maybe the best ever. Great work effort, fierce competitor, he’s the guy I want on my team. Championship caliber.”

“Selfish. Not team player. Arrogant. Sure, he can score a billion points, but scoring a billion points doesn’t win championships. I wouldn’t want him on my team. I’ll take a team player, like LeBron.”

We all have things we appreciate about characters and things that we don’t. I don’t know why, but I’m sure it has something to do with Freud and our self-esteem and whatever else. Ultimately, at the end of the day, we weigh the good and bad and make our decision. Like? Love? Hate? Indifferent?

What traits do you like in a character? What traits or behaviors make you cringe? What examples from the stories you write, read, or watch could you share with us?

Characters - Part 1: Telling a Story with Fake People

2008-03-03T12:40:00.000-08:00

Character Discussion

This week’s blog kicks off a discussion about characters. For the next few weeks we’ll study characters and determine what we like and dislike about them. Then, I’ll talk a little bit about the characters in the novel I’m writing. I’d love to hear your thoughts and get your input.

Fictional Heroes and Villains

Think of your favorite TV show, novel, or movie. Got it? Now, think of your favorite character from that story. Take a second to think of ways that your selected character interacts with the world around her or him. How would he or she order coffee? Handle a breakup? Treat an authority figure?

If you’ve got those things in your head, then take the next step. Think of someone you know—friend, co-worker, family member, acquaintance, enemy, etc.—that behaves like the character you chose earlier.

Did you find a match? At least in a general sense (certain traits, mannerisms) I’m guessing you did. Most great characters relate to our lives. What character did you choose? Were you able to find someone you know with similar traits? What were those traits?

The New Blog!

2008-03-01T21:03:00.000-08:00

New Name, New Face

I’d been thinking a lot about my other blog (Selling Words on a Page), it’s function in the overall world, and what I wanted it to accomplish. I struggled to find ways of making it interesting, enjoyable, and something that people want to read. It’s not just about me, it’s about creating a community of people that want to speak into things, discuss topics, and help each other learn.

So, I’m hear to announce that I'm transitioning out of Selling Words on a Page and into...Constructing Stories. It's a new, slightly more focused blog, and I think you'll enjoy it.

A Brave New World

Constructing Stories will be more focused on things writers and readers care about and enjoy discussing. As I write new material, including an upcoming novel, I’m going to blog about it, invite discussion, and absorb all of your feedback to make my works better. In the process, I’ll be interviewing other authors, sharing interesting articles, and pointing to key areas where strategy plays a huge role in what you read on a page.

That doesn’t mean I won’t be writing reviews of movies like I did on Selling Words, but I’ll be much more intentional about it. I want to focus in on the stories and how we all interact with them.

Upcoming Posts

Here are some upcoming posts that you may enjoy:

The Messenger Chronicles (tentatively titled) – Exploratory Ideas: I’ll be talking about a novel I intend to start writing soon.
The Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff Interview: In the next couple months I’ll talking to fellow Infinite Space, Infinite God alum and successful writer (she's even listed in Wikipedia!).
The Messenger Chronicles – Characters: Help me develop exciting, Heroes-like characters for my new novel.
Ending TimeSlingers.com, The Shadow Phase: It’s coming to a close, and it’d be great to talk about.

I've also taken some time to populate Constructing Stories with some of the old posts from Selling Words. I hope you enjoy and appreciate the new direction. I look forward to hearing from you!

Thanks!

The Writer's Identity

2008-03-01T21:02:00.002-08:00

Live It Up, Brother

A couple weeks back I wrote about "writing strategy" and talked about brand identity. It sparked a good discussion about writers and the identities that they portray both in the public and in their works of art. It's an interesting thing to me because of the implications it has, not only for the purposes of selling the work, but also for the impact that it has on the writer's legacy and the reader's perception of the writer!

Jessica commented a couple weeks ago about Edgar Alan Poe and how he wrote seemingly morbid stories while dealing with fairly morbid things in his own life. That got me thinking.

Jack London. Mark Twain. Ernest Hemingway. Toni Morrison.

The writers we remember, and often times the writers that make the biggest impact on the world (not necessarily in monetary ways, but drastic social change or commentary) often live extreme lives that in almost all cases are vomited onto the page in the form of stories.

They wrote what they knew, wrapping words around personal experience coupled with a lively imagination. It just so happens that what they knew was extreme. These people didn't just sit in their living rooms putting pen to paper. They were out in the world taking in the experience.

What's my point? I don't have one. I just admire my fellow artists and consider them inspirational. And I'm not knocking the people who don't strap up a sled and have dogs pull them across the frozen Yukon (I've never done it, and it doesn't sound all that fun to me), but it is fun to see what a writer's experience can lead to.

It can build them a brand identity, and it can create a legacy. See you on the other side of the page.

Marketing and Writing

2008-03-01T21:02:00.001-08:00

Marketing + Writing = ?

A lot of you know that I make my cash as a marketer, but that I also do this thing on the side called writing. Both have a little bit of art to them, both have a little bit of science. Let's, for the sake of this post, think a little more on the scientific end of things for a bit. Most of the writers out there are going to start cringing, but just give me a few minutes of your time...

"It's called a voice..."

Differentiation is at the core of business strategy, or said more appropriately, "Business strategy is defined by differentiation." What does differentiation mean? It's a big word that writers may understand at its root level, but how does it pertain to writing?

Well, let me propose this to you. As writers, we create what the business world would call a "brand identity." Yes, unfortunately, you are creating one...each and every one of you writers. "But I only write for art!" Good for you! You're still creating a brand identity, though. Even a brand experience. And why? Well, if you are trying to sell your work, it will come down to needing brand awareness! (If you're not, you're just creating a brand experience that you alone can enjoy with your closest friends).

How are you going to stand out in a market completely saturated with excellent, marginal, and terrible writers? (all of whom have been published). There it is. You're going to create a brand identity.

"But, you don't understand, my work is from my own writer's voice! That's what sets me apart!" True. However, that's only a piece of a much bigger pie. Understand that when you create a work of art, you're making choices. Those choices will differentiate your work. They will differentiate your life.

They will build you a brand identity.

Next time, I'll go further down this path to explain how this may affect you, the writer (and you readers as well). Stay tuned...

Why We Write

2008-03-01T21:00:00.000-08:00

Selling Words on a Page

It occurs to me that the title of my blog has many meanings. The first is literal-exchanging thoughts typed or written onto a page for money. That's an ideal that many writers dream of. Even successful writers have limited monetary success. Published authors who write excellent books making no more than $30,000 a year (without benefits!) or less. Of course, for every billion writers in the world there's a Michael Crichton, a Dan Brown, a Stephen King, a Jeph Loeb, a J.K. Rowling, a Robert Ludlum. They sell a million books, they make movies, and they make bank.

The second meaning of my blog title is still fairly literal and relates directly to the marketing side of things. Without a strong push for people to actually read the material, it doesn't get read. And trust me, there's no lack of trying on behalf of these writers.

There's another meaning that's not so literal. It refers to getting an audience to buy into a work of art. The art of selling the words to the reader. Creating a believable world, a compelling storyline, interesting and dynamic characters, and strong emotional connections. It's putting what's in your head onto the page and eliciting a positive response from your audience.

My Writing

I write because God gave me the desire. It's that simple. When I was a kid I used to pretend I was part of movie trailers. Give me a wiffleball bat and I became a knight fighting off hordes of ogres. Eventually, I started putting the thoughts onto a blank page of paper. And I didn't always just write. Sometimes I illustrated pictures. It didn't matter as long as I had the opportunity to express what was going on inside my head.

And then a couple things happened. I started reading more. I started writing more. I studied the art of it (I still do!). All of the sudden I was a writer. I even intended to major in Creative Writing in college (fortunately, I learned just before registration that writers don't make money). I've even tried to stop over the years, but I keep coming back to it.

I've published several stories, been interviewed by a local paper, and I started TimeSlingers.com with my friend, Nathan Scheck. I'm very fortunate. I consider it a gift from God, and I'm grateful that He's given it to me.

Part of what I've always hoped to do is to use writing as a means for ministry. I'm not a great evangelist, probably never will be, but I can write. So, it's with great pleasure that I am able to say that when stories like The Arena (published several years back in Dragons, Knights, and Angels Magazine) and Understanding (on sale now at Amazon.com as a part of the Infinite Space, Infinite God anthology) have been released to a larger audience.

It's not just about money. It's about the art itself, it's about ministry, and it's just fun. So, thanks to everybody out there who has read the anthology, and to those who have taken the time to check out TimeSlingers.com. I appreciate it, and I hope God continues to give me the ability to write, because I really enjoy it.

With that, I leave you with a little self-promotion (it's titled "Selling Words on a Page," okay?). Here are some reviews of Infinite Space, Infinite God (I happen to like the first one best):

http://cfrblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/infinite-space-infinite-god-day-7.html

http://snoringscholar.blogspot.com/2007/08/review-of-infinite-space-infinite-god.html

http://isigsf.tripod.com/id19.html

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=213660556

http://www.catholicfiction.net/2007/08/06/interview-with-karina-and-robert-fabian/

http://thewritingjungle.blogspot.com/2006/12/infinite-space-infinite-god-virtual.html

http://elysabethsstories.blogspot.com/2007_08_01_archive.html

Until next time...God Bless!

Science Fiction...The Future Looks Bleak

2008-03-01T20:58:00.000-08:00

Don't look ahead.

If science fiction stories have taught us anything, it's not to travel to the future. Time travel can be a good thing, granted we go back in time, but we can't go forward. Bad things happen in the future. We can put money on the fact that the future won't look good. Take these stories, for example:

Terminator 2
When we get a glimpse at the future, it's definitely not going well for us. Robots (as always) have taken over us idiot human beings. Not only that, but as it turns out, our only hope is a baby that will eventually become some great leader.

Lesson: Don't build robots that have the capability of becoming smarter than us. Matrix? iRobot? Seriously, we don't stand a good chance. Robots should be dumb and just vacuum the carpet.

Back to the Future, Part II
In the past, Biff was a thug with a funny haircut. In the future, Biff is a billionaire that ruins your entire life. The future is not a good place to be for a McFly.

Lesson: Don't leave your time machine unattended. Your worst enemy will steal it and use it to ruin your life.

Heroes
In five years the world is still recovering from a catastrophe. Peter Petrelli now has a massive scar and is dating a stripper, and the president is the most evil person on the planet. Not to mention Hiro has gone from a nice guy to a character from the Matrix.

Lesson: If you can draw the future...don't. If you can travel there, grow a soul patch and carry a sword.

Time Travel with Care

So, if you're thinking about visiting the future, please reconsider. Nothing seems to go right. Instead, visit the past. Every time someone goes back in time they introduce something amazing, like a cigarette lighter, and are suddenly nominated for regional king. Generally, kingship requires that you fight off an entire army, but let's face it, you've got a lighter!

If you're considering time travel, I would advise checking out www.timeslingers.com. It's a fun little adventure that Nathan Scheck and I have put together, and the best part is...it's free! And, there's no future travel! We wouldn't want something bad to happen to our characters! (not yet, anyway)

Any other future mishaps come to mind? Let me know!

It's Crowded in Here

2008-03-01T20:56:00.001-08:00

The Market

I write science fiction stories…just like the other billion people on the planet. As science fiction writers (and sci-fi fans, too), we live in a saturated market. Look around. Books and stories pile up around us like Starbucks bistros in Seattle. They’re everywhere. Everyone seems to be interested in science fiction. It’s become such a huge market that we’ve started categorizing it. Here are just a few:

The Scientists

Favorite phrase: “The science better be quantifiably accurate in this manuscript or my head will rotate like Jupiter’s second moon!”

Character profile: The Professor from Gilligan’s Island.

This audience group likes to ponder, likes things to make complete sense (or at least function in a way that’s probable), and they like to make the rest of us look stupid (which is probably true). These guys and gals start talking and we just keep nodding our heads. Some of them even build the things they read about in their hard core science fiction books.

The Adventurers

Favorite phrase: “What did that scientist guy just say?”

Character profile: Flash Gordon.

These guys are like the Indiana Jones’ of writers and fans. They moonlight as professors, but they never teach from the textbooks. If you ask them who Asimov is they’ll give you a confused look until you remind them that he was the bad guy from Star Wars.

The Imitators

Favorite phrase: “May the force be with you.”

Character profile: Dr. Spock.

Dressing up like their favorite characters, they attend massive conventions with other people that dress up like their favorite characters. Unlike the “scientists,” they have no idea how real science relates to their universe, but they can easily rattle off the reason why a light saber never draws blood (except in the Mos Eisley Cantina scene).

The Cool People

Favorite phrase: “Mulder’s and Scully would be like, sooo good together.”

Character profile: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The first ones to make fun of “The Imitators,” this group leeches onto popular TV shows and movies without realizing they really are science fiction geeks like the rest of us. They call us losers, but deep down, they really wish they too could build a flux capacitor, dress like a Wookie, or at least jump on the latest comic book craze.

Each one of these audience groups writes science fiction, too. The Scientists write things that the rest of us don’t understand. The Adventurers start a lot of things, but never seem to finish. Fan Fiction? You guessed it, The Imitators. And The Cool People? Well, they mostly just stick to text messages.

So, as a writer, I think about all you guys in each of the groups listed here. I try to differentiate, to tweak things and make them unique. It doesn’t always work, but it pays to try. Sometimes you hit 3 out of the 4 groups and everybody is onboard. Sometimes you hit just one.

What group do I fall under? I’m one of The Adventurers who wishes he could talk to The Cool People, but really wants to hang out with The Imitators.

Which group are you a part of?