So What's New?

I'm pretty sure you've noticed, as I have, that one is constantly either having to get something in a row:

OR...

Something in gear:

Sometimes one has to do both. That would be the case here at the moment. Why, you may wonder? Because I've been offered a contract for two books, historicals this time around.

So how am I doing? Okay, I think. The ducks are behaving as well as ducks are able and the gears are on the high side of rusty but turning. I think we're getting there. I'm at least in the "emotional zones" of the characters, which means they've gotten the cobwebs out of their hair, the dust beaten out of their costumes, and they are up and around and breathing. Now comes the hard part: What am I going to do to them? HOW am I going to run them up a tree and then throw rocks at them? (To quote a writer whose face and kind mentoring I remember well but whose name, regretfully, I do not.) It's very helpful advice if you want to be a genre writer. The problem, of course, is that it's hard. I know this comes as a surprise to many, but it is, especially if you want to use the writing style I use: Logical, Linear, Lean -- and still put the reader firmly into a "And then what happened?" mindset . No, really. It's hard. Hard, hard, HARD. I know this because I wouldn't stagger around the house looking like Munch's "The Scream" if it wasn't.

So. I'll give you progress reports, and here's the first:

I'm a couple of pages into Chapter Two of Not Yet Titled Book Number One.

Until next time...

THE PRISONER -- and Visual Writing

I'm a visual writer, that is, it helps me to actually see the place I want to write about, whether it's literally or through photographs or drawings. What I have learned is that if it's real to me, it's going to be real on the page -- and "seeing" makes it real.

One of the more enjoyable aspects of the writing process -- my writing process -- is going on a quest for settings. If I can, I go to the actual place and take photographs myself. If not, I use other sources. VICTORIA magazine in its heyday was a wonderful source for "mood" photographs of houses, interiors and gardens. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC is, too. Basically, I look for an image that will convey whatever it is I need to "feel" about the story I want to tell, and I keep that image where I can see it throughout the writing of the book. I never really know what that unnamed "something" is going to be, but I always know it when I see it.

I used a particular Salisbury historical landmark, known locally as the Hall House, in my first book (my first book, not my first published book -- it took a while to get THE PRISONER on the shelves). In it, the house is always referred to as "the Doctor's house." General George Stoneman and his officers really did billet there when he and his cavalry raided the town in April of 1865. My fictional "Amanda" stayed there, too -- but only inside my head.


The following photographs I took over a decade ago -- maybe even longer than that.

Here's the actual Hall House:




This was taken during an annual October Tour of Salisbury's historic homes, but it's open to the public all during the year.


I think of this next shot of the house as my "ghost" photograph. It's strangely eerie-looking -- as if the house were melting away, but the trees look fine. It had nothing to do with camera settings. I took all of these with a 35mm Canon Snappy. There was nothing to set. Also, there were a many, many people around, but somehow I only managed to get one in the frame.






Here is one of the interior shots -- the bedroom where I imagined "John Howe" was taken after he was wounded:



And this is the dining room. It had a more important role in the second half of THE PRISONER. Only the first half of the book was published. The original manuscript continued the story of "Amanda Douglas" and Captain "John Howe" until he was in his forties, but that part didn't make the cut. I still get reader email about the book -- halved or not.






During this particular October Tour, there was an Civil War reenactment group on hand. I'm going to show you photographs of them, too.


In this one, the Yankee invaders come pouring in...


And they were very scary. I can't begin to imagine the number of hours these men (and women) put into "getting it right" and making history live again.

The thing I liked about this particular group was that they stayed in character between events. If you encountered one of them on the way to his car to get something, he still spoke to you as if he were a 19th century entity, or if you happened to come near to a pair of them in conversation, they wouldn't be talking about the Dallas Cowboys. Like as not, it would be about rumors of when the war would end or where the fighting was at that moment.





Part of the reenactment took place in the National Cemetery, which was the location of the Confederate prison during the Civil War and where a large number of unknown Union soldiers who died there are buried. The stone monument behind these two ladies is a memorial erected by the state of Pennsylvania to honor their dead. A coworker of mine, who was a nurse during the Vietnam War, is buried directly across from it. My late father and two great uncles are also buried here, as are a number of World War II nurses I knew and worked alongside when I was a "probie."

Which brings us to the drummer boy. I asked him if I could take his photograph. He very shyly, very politely gave his permission. I think he's very much like "Tobin" from THE PRISONER, except "Tobin" was a bugler.




And this is a photo of the "enemy camp." (That would be "Them," not "Us.")




One of the reasons I wanted to show you these is that Salisbury is having a big "tourism" push. If you're ever in the area, I thought this blog post might entice you to come see history -- and several of my book settings. The NC Transportation Museum is also nearby -- in case you need some kind of authentic transportation for your next movie. (This is where, it just so happens, George Clooney got his railroad car for LEATHERHEADS.) The museum is a nice place to come and look at vintage trains and automobiles. Some days you can take a short train ride around the yard with former railroad men volunteers, who help keep their particular corner of history alive.

So go to the Visitor's Center and tell them Cheryl sent you. At which point they will frown, look at you blankly and say, "WHO?" (These people, bless their hearts, are very difficult to impress.)

Comfort Food (As In, I Need Some)

Why, you may ask? I would tell you specifically, but I have resolved not to whine. Okay, maybe I'll whine a little bit. Let's just say I've been at war with technology and some companies that use it.

Double billings from one of them. Talk about unsettling.

And private and personal information for thirteen people (THIRTEEN!) sent to me by mistake from another. You have no idea how difficult it was to return these to a haywire computer, one that can be blamed, but not held accountable for this bad, bad thing, especially when you can't reach a human being no matter which number you punch. There is no automated choice for this kind of situation. There are only time-consuming, ringing telephone extensions that go unanswered.

Which, speaking of phones, brings us to the new cell phone I'm apparently going to have to make into a necklace or some kind of lawn art because my area code has no telephone numbers left. Who knew? Did I ever realize this could be a problem? No. I did not. I don't even like cell phones -- or I didn't until I found out I couldn't get one.

And my nephew is out of the country until Christmas. And sick. Again. He is many time zones away and about to have a birthday. Bless his heart, he probably needs some comfort food, too. His old war horse nurse aunt thinks he really, really should stop eating things that are -- as he puts it -- "questionable."

On the plus side, I did finish a book proposal today, i.e., graphics, character sketches, synopsis and the first thirty pages. This one has been a long time aborning. Murky, it was. In the middle. The beginning was strong. The end was strong. But oh, that vast wasteland in between. I rather like the finished product, though, if I do say so myself, despite knowing it's probably not going to "fit" anywhere. Everything about it feels "real" to me. The people. The places. The emotions. Now, all I have to do is bite the bullet and mail the thing to my agent. Then I wait. And wait. And wait some more.

As I said. I need some comfort food...

The Last "L" (Logical, Linear, Lean)

This is how to be "lean."

1. Don't use two words when one will do.

2. Make certain that word is the word.

The Second "L" (Logical, Linear, Lean)

Being "linear" means telling the story without getting sidetracked. One of the most difficult things to master is not using something simply because it occurs to you. Not only do such "occurences" have to be pertinent to the plot, they also have to be pertinent at that particular time. An especially brilliant turn of phrase can be just that -- an especially brilliant turn of phrase -- and still not necessary to the story at all. This goes for characters, as well. A character -- any character -- needs to be there for a reason.

Being "linear" also means taking care not to pull the reader out of a hopefully compelling plot with overly creative sentence structures -- like modifying a verb by sticking the adverb where the reader wouldn't normally expect it to be. Strictly speaking, it's not wrong, but it "clanks." By the same token, unusual imagery may also "clank." Yes, one should avoid clichés like the plague, but creating a mental picture that stops a reader short isn't always a good thing. Your job as a writer of readable fiction, is to tell the story, not provoke the reader into constantly saying "Now, wait a minute -- it's a what done how?"

Basically, the idea is that anything that causes readers to stumble and breaks their train of thought, whether it's deliberate or not, is not a good idea. And if you do it enough times, you may lose them.

Which brings us to the bottom line.

Ultimately, being "linear" -- for me -- is respecting the reader enough not to make their enjoyment any more difficult than I have to. I can actually remember the first time I recognized that a writer wanted my reader self to be able to follow the story he was telling. I was reading a complex family saga with many, many characters, and the writer, when he switched to ones who hadn't been on stage for a time, would refresh the reader's memory with a few subtle words that made each one immediately identifiable. I appreciated that courtesy so much, almost as much I admired the skill with which it was done. For me, it was something to aspire to.

I'm also careful of dialogue. I pay attention to the structure of the paragraphs so the reader will know who is speaking. I want them to know and not have to backtrack to figure it out. I don't like backtracking when I read, and I assume nobody else does, either.

So that's it for my idea of being "linear." Unless I think of something else.

The First "L" (Logical, Linear, and Lean)

For me as a writer, being "logical" is being "believable." No "rabbit out of the hat" solutions to a conflict. No "head fakes" or "Gotcha, Stupid Reader!" endings without first laying the necessary and hopefully subtle ground work. And no meandering character motivations.

Simply speaking, a character driven plot consists of what the character wants, why he or she wants it, and why he or she can't have it. A writer who knows each character from the inside out -- the way they look and dress, their failures and triumphs, their personal tastes and aversions regarding clothes, jewelry, food, people and life in general -- will know the likely, the most "logical" response to whatever conflict arises in the plot, and as a result, the character and the story itself are more believable and real.

The best way to keep the plot "true" is to know the characters in detail before plotting. Many writers like to use a "character chart" to create a fictional personality, including both the statistical information and the individual preferences and life experiences. Actually writing the information down makes it more concrete. It also serves as a reference, one that should be reviewed from time to time in order to stay on track.

Some writers who have a working knowledge of astrology like to assign each character an astrological sign. Some use birth order or enneagrams or some other psychological assessment tool. Some do imaginary "interviews" and let the characters themselves reveal what their mindsets and experiences are. Of late, I've found "mind mapping" helpful. The point is, it needs to be done, and whatever works for you is the "right" way to do it.

In order to be "logical," the writer must also pay attention.

Pay attention to the character chart/astrological sign/birth order/enneagram/"interview"/etc.

I can't tell you how many synopses I've read wherein a character is said to be a specific type, but in the first chapter, he or she isn't that at all. If, for example, you decide the protagonist is a workaholic, don't go to all the trouble to force him or her to take a vacation and then have him or her respond to an urgent call from the office by going ballistic because somebody dared to interrupt the vacation he or she didn't want to take in the first place. A workaholic isn't going to mind. Really. Don't inject drama for drama's sake. Pay. Attention.

And while you're at it, pay attention what is happening in the scene being written. Whose head are you in? And what's happening to them? For example, don't stop to catalog the surroundings when the protagonist is being chased by a bear -- unless said surroundings are somehow pertinent to bear escape. It's fine to wax descriptive when a character lands in a strange and unfamiliar place -- but not if there's a serious bear problem or the character is half dead from typhoid fever. If you are in his or her head, you are experiencing what he or she experiencing. Write accordingly. See?


And that's all I have to say about the First "L" at this time.

Happy writing...

Getting Words On The Page

I don't ever want to "teach writing." Why, you may ask? Because -- as I am fond of saying -- writing is a lot like cooking. It's the finished product that counts, not how you got there. And writers, like cooks, have their own methods, ones usually honed by much trial and error. What works for one writer, may not work at all for another. For example, I find that I can't force myself to write when there's nothing in my brain, despite the very logical assertion that one cannot fix a blank page.

For me, it's more "trash in the brain, trash on the screen." And I'm not talking about the "first draft" efforts when you have at least some idea of what you want to do. I'm talking about having nothing in the pantry and trying to whip up a banquet. In keeping with the cooking analogy, it's like stirring an empty pot with a big metal spoon. Nothing happens -- except perhaps a headache from the noise.

What often works for me is briefly doing SOMETHING ELSE. (Please note that I said "briefly." Let's not get crazy.)

Once, when I was completely stuck regarding an epilogue I needed to have finished and mailed days earlier, my friend Jo dragged me kicking and screaming to a lecture on Robert E. Lee. Aside from the writing block, I still had the exhausting day job, and I wasn't well physically. But I went -- because I like Jo -- she always makes me feel better about things -- and because I didn't know much of anything about the general -- and because I'm seriously cursed with the need to assimilate information "just in case." (Read: I might need it for a book.)

The lecture was SRO -- not good for somebody already puny. It was also fascinating -- very good for somebody whose creativity had stalled. I came home physically exhausted and emotionally elated -- because I suddenly knew exactly what to do to that pesky blank-page epilogue.

So. I have said that I don't want to teach writing -- but I don't mind sharing my "recipes" at all. From time to time I'm going to tell you how I "cook." Things I've found useful or helpful or a waste of time. I'm going to start with Cheryl's Ultimate Goal. I always go into a project knowing that I want it to be these three things:

Logical
Linear
Lean

Whether I accomplish that goal sometimes remains to be seen. In any event, rest assured that I'm always trying.

But I'll have to go into more detail later. Right now there's a thunderstorm coming and the household computers must be turned off. If you have any questions about what I've said here so far, feel free to click "comments" and ask.