Coffee Thursday – 3/15/17

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

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COFFEE STEAMING - SEPIACoffee: It’s the elixir of love.  I know there are those who believe that title belongs to various other concoctions, but not so. It’s coffee. I’m sure of it.  In fact, as I was preparing to do this week’s “Coffee” post, I started thinking about how I’ve used coffee as the primary beverage between the romantic couples in all my novels. So I thought I’d throw together three excerpts from those stories for today’s take on the subject.

From Cameron’s Rib, page 119.

Thursday morning Suzanne sat across from Cameron at his desk and placed her tape recorder between them as she prepared to begin their interviews. The room was fragrant with the chocolate, hazelnut coffee they were enjoying, and as Cameron looked across at Suzanne, he felt a sense of deep contentment, sharing this time with her. …

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From Jonah’s Song, pp. 95,96.

That decision being made, they decided to play a game of Scrabble and have more coffee, and before they knew it, the evening had grown late, and all four of them were ready to turn in.  At the door to his room, Jonah turned to Vallie, who was just opening her own door.  …  “Why don’t we plan on setting down around 9:00 tomorrow morning,” he said. “And see what we can come up with.  That way we’ll have time to run through the music a couple of times before tomorrow night.”

Vallie nodded her head.  “That sounds fine.”

“Good,” he said, smiling his signature smile at her now.  “And thank you, Valentina … for agreeing to be my partner in this venture.”

Vallie smiled back, genuine happiness in her face.  “I’m happy to do it, Jonah.  Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, my dear,” he said, and turned to open his door.

As Vallie prepared for bed, she kept thinking about how he had called her “my dear” several times recently.  Every time he had said those words, Vallie had felt a tingling all through her.  She told herself he hadn’t meant anything special by the term, but still, the endearment lodged in her heart, to be taken out again later and treasured. …

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From Slate, pp.3-6.

Slate sat in a back booth at Katy’s Koffee Korner,  his eyes slowly scanning the room. They came to rest on a woman sitting alone in a booth across from his. She was sitting with her head bent forward and was massaging her temples.. Headache, he surmised, and glanced back at the waitress, winking at her as she set his coffee on the table and promised to be back with his breakfast in a couple minutes.

While he ate,  Slate glanced occasionally at the woman across from him. She had raised her head now and was sipping her coffee, her eyes closed. Her hair was a warm light brown shade, with just a tinge of highlights from the sun here and there. It barely skimmed her shoulders in soft waves. Her features weren’t classically beautiful, but she was really pleasant to look at. Her complexion was unblemished, and her eyes and eyebrows seemed to be etched in at exactly the right angles to highlight her whole face. Her mouth was rather wide, and her lips looked as if an artist had sculptured them. Yes, all in all, the sight was something he took pleasure in this morning.

He’d evidently taken just a little too much pleasure, because he’d been staring. Suddenly, she looked up and right at him, a question in her large, brown eyes. Almost exactly the color of a copper penny, Slate thought to himself as his attention focused on those eyes. He was caught off guard by the vulnerable look on her face, and instinctively he smiled his most genuine smile at her and then went back to concentrating on his food. A minute later, he heard her conversation with the waitress who had come back to bring her a fresh carafe of coffee.

“Can you give me exact directions from here to the Sandstone Motel?” she asked.

“Sure, Hon. It isn’t hard. I’ll write it down for you and be right back.”

“Thank you,” she answered, smiling and lighting up her face for just a moment, but when the waitress left, she went back to rubbing her temples and then her eyes. She finally leaned her head back against the high divider of her booth and closed her eyes, but Slate, glancing sideways at her, noticed a couple of tears trickling down her cheeks. After a minute more, she took a deep breath and opened her eyes, wiping the tears from her face with her hands, and by that time the waitress was back with her directions.

“Thank you so much,” she said and handed the waitress some bills. “This is for you.”

“Thanks, and you come and see us again, Okay?”

“If I have time,” she said smiling slightly at the retreating waitress, and then she slid out of her seat and stood up. Before she could take a step, she swayed and reached for the back of the booth to regain her balance. She was sitting in the last booth across from him, and no one else had noticed the unusual action. She sat back down on the edge of the booth, holding her head. Slate had learned better than to interfere in someone else’s business, but something about her just seemed so vulnerable that he couldn’t keep from getting up and walking over to her booth.

“Are you all right, Miss?” he asked, resting one hand on the table and leaning towards her. She looked up at him then, her eyes registering her pain.

“Yes,” she answered in almost a whisper. Then she cleared her throat and tried to speak louder. “It’s just this stupid migraine headache. They often make me woozy. Eating should help, but I guess the food just hasn’t had time to get into my system yet. I’ll just sit here another minute. Thanks,” she added, smiling wanly.

Slate sat down in the other side of the booth. “How about another cup of coffee?”

She turned back into the normal sitting position in the booth and nodded her head as he picked up the carafe and poured some into her cup. She began drinking it immediately, and Slate stepped over to his own booth and retrieved his cup, bringing it back with him. He poured fresh coffee for himself and topped hers off again. She smiled at him, her eyes seeming to show a little relief now. …

If you’d like to join in the fun for “Coffee Thursday,” just post your own picture, story, article, or poem on the subject and hop over here to leave us the link in a “Comment” window below. I look forward to seeing your take on coffee this week.

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‘Releasing the Creative Writer in You: Lesson 4

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

To access other lessons in this series, simply click on “Creative Writing Class” in the navigation bar, and scroll through to find the lessons you need.

releasing-the-creative-writer-icover-editedLESSON # 4: PLOTTING YOUR STORY

First, let’s look again at the main parts of the plot of a story:

Most authors and writing teachers agree that all stories should have an arc of somewhere between five and eight steps. That arc takes the reader from a state of rest (before the story opens) into action, then through the process of one action causing another and another, until those actions reach a climax and finally ebb into the resolution of the story. A normal arc generally includes all of the following:

A. The presentation of the conflict

B. The hero’s attempts to resolve that conflict

C. His deliberate choices to fight or give up – use force or peaceful measures – take the legal way or the illegal way, etc.

D. His ultimate success or failure (the climax of the story)

E. The resolution into a changed situation, due to the outcome of the climax.

Each writing course will label these steps a little differently, but, in the end, they represent the same 5 simple parts of a plot that we’ve mentioned here. In the chapter coming up, “Developing Characters,” you will see a similar list of steps through which every hero and heroine move as they progress from beginning to end of the story. It is not particularly important that the writer label each individual step based on one writing course or another. What is important is that the writer understand that the natural progression of action or character development is most successful if it follows the pattern we see in real life, which generally does include an arc similar to the one we’ve just described.

SWORDS
CONFLICT

Conflict is always based in the very broad primary concept of Good vs. Evil. However, that “good” and “evil” can wear many faces.

Conflict can be rooted in the relationship and/or rivalry of two individual characters, two families, two nations, two worlds. It can also be rooted in one individual character’s battle with an ideology or a system (for example, a battle to avoid or annihilate a totalitarian government). Some stories create conflict between a character and some force of nature or some element or power outside of the human realm – such as a killer storm, a deserted island, a sorcerer’s curse, etc.

However, conflict can be totally internal as well – within one character himself – possibly between the character’s realization that he needs to overcome some aspect of his nature or personality and the desire on his part to avoid working at overcoming it or letting it go. Conflict can also be internal in the sense that the character is battling an enemy coming against his own mind or body (for example, a deadly disease).

Any or all of these kinds of conflict make for great stories, but you want to be sure that the type of conflict you choose is the best carrier of the story you’re telling so that the story accomplishes exactly what you want it to accomplish.

Also bear in mind that most good stories have more than one conflict going on. The major conflict will decide the resolution of the story, but while it is played out, many of your characters can be experiencing their own minor conflicts that affect how they act and react to the major conflict and how they fit into the climax of the story.

For example, you may have a story in which the main conflict is between law enforcement officers and a huge crime syndicate in their city, which they are trying to bring down. While much of your conversation and action will involve the actual fight between these two elements, some of your individual characters may be battling a sickness, or a divorce, or some kind of character flaw that they can’t seem to overcome. Each of those individual conflicts will have some effect on the job these characters do in resolving the main conflict. Of course, the longer the story, the more possible conflicts you can include.

WHERE TO START

In all fiction, the first three pages of any novel (and the first few paragraphs of any short story) are the author’s only chance to grab the reader’s attention. Once he has that attention, the action or characters must develop quickly enough and realistically enough to hold that attention and keep the pages turning.

Make sure you have your reader securely in your grasp by the end of chapter one. If he isn’t in a hurry to turn the page to chapter two, there’s a moderate chance that he will do so anyway, but most of the time, at that point, he’s usually made his decision about whether or not he’ll finish the book. (A few readers out there force themselves to finish every book they start, whether they like it or not, but you cannot count on that handful of people picking up your book.) And for the short story writer, it’s safe to say that after the first 500 words, the reader has decided whether the story is worth his time.

So how do we capture that reader and hang onto him? Science has the answer. Does that surprise you? Well, believe it or not, two of the world’s greatest physicists have provided the basic truths that generations of writers have used as foundational principles for telling stories. Albert Einstein, after years of scientific work and research came to the conclusion that “nothing happens until something moves.” And another great physicist and mathematician, Isaac Newton, is credited with giving us the basic understanding of the laws of motion. He proved that an object at rest stays at rest unless it receives pressure from an outside force. Then he further proved that an object in motion will remain in motion, going in the same direction, unless acted upon by an outside force.

SOCCAR PLAYER KICKING BALLSo what does that have to do with writing fiction? A LOT: Good plotting puts things into motion quickly and then makes sure they stay in motion, or change direction, or come to a complete stop in such a way that those actions carry the reader along at a satisfying pace. And the gifted story plotter makes sure that every one of those actions and reactions – every motion and counter-motion – has realistic motivation and cause. (And remember: ‘motion,’ as we refer to it here, can be physical, mental, or emotional. However, be careful to avoid getting  your reader bogged down in thoughts or emotions with no physical action to relieve them.)

When the writer begins his story, he needs to have some kind of action taking place in those first few pages – even if his story is mainly character driven. The reader wants to get to know the characters the way he gets to know real-life people – through talking with them, seeing them interacting with other people, and seeing what they do and how they do it. A couple centuries ago, authors got away with giving lengthy descriptions of characters early in their books, and readers put up with it. But in the 21st century, we can’t find those kinds of readers.

All rules have exceptions, of course, and if you are writing a totally character-driven story that requires your reader to be thoroughly acquainted with the thought processes of the main character, you just might be able to begin your story with a monologue of that character’s own thoughts. However, the point we made earlier bears repeating here: keep in mind that too many pages of thoughts with no accompanying actions does get boring for most people.

That being the case, even if you’re focusing on your reader getting to know and understand your main character in the first chapter (or the first page of your short story), you’ll want to let the character say and do some things that will make his nature and personality clear.

So when your reader sees the words “Chapter One,” he will generally expect to see a situation that was at rest before the story started now beginning to move in a specific direction because a character does something or a specific event takes place that starts the ball rolling. Some people like to line up long rows of dominoes and then knock them all down with just the touch of a finger on the first domino in line. Until the outside force – with a motive – does something to the first domino, they all just keep standing there, silent and boring. However, as soon as the outside force causes domino number one to fall against number two – at just the right angle – there’s no stopping the chain reaction. That’s the process of good story telling.

Now, the guy who pushes down that first domino has a motive. He wants to enjoy watching all the other dominoes fall down. In the same way, your first movement in your story –whether it’s by a character, a force of nature, or even a big machine – will have to have a motive. You may not want to disclose that motive in the first chapter, but you, as the writer, have to know what that motive is, and you have to build your story so that when the reader finally does discover the motive later on down the line, the whole story makes sense.

Directly below this article, I have included a sample Plotting Questionnaire that writers can use to help them lay out the important points of their storyline and get a good picture of whether they  have all the bases covered before they start.

It’s interesting to note that in the past few decades, the literary world has seen a slight shift in what readers want when they pick up action (plot-driven) novels. Even these readers now seem to want at least a lead character that they can relate to and develop feelings for. They want to know what makes that guy tick – what’s important to him and why – and what it is that he wants to accomplish. Because, ultimately, it’s what that main character wants to do – save a city – a country – the world – and all the battles he has to fight in order to do it – that makes the story.

So one of the most important things a good story teller can do — even in plot-driven stories —  is develop three-dimensional, true-to-life characters that his readers can relate to. And if the story is intended to be character-driven, then all of the characters need to be carefully developed so that the reader feels so attuned to them that he really cares whether they manage to get what they want by the end of the story. And if the reader really cares, he isn’t going to put that book down until he reads the words “The End.”

In the next lesson, we will discuss in depth the best ways to develop well-rounded characters.

* Releasing the Creative Writer in You, © 2013 by Sandra Pavloff Conner

PLOTTING QUESTIONNAIRE SAMPLE: USE THESE QUESTIONS TO BEGIN PLOTTING YOUR STORY.

PLOT QUESTIONNAIRE

Opening Sentence OR Opening Scene: Write this out to get started. Keep it down to about 1 to 3 sentences. You can always edit or augment it later.

Then write out the answers to the questions below. No need to use complete sentences unless you just want to do so.

Question 1: Does the reader need to know how or why the main character got to the place/position he is in when the story opens? If so, how did he get there?

Question 2: What is the main character’s primary goal or aim in this story? What will he be working toward that will make the reader want to see him succeed?

Question 3: What problems or conflicts will arise to hinder the main character’s carrying out his wishes/goals/plans?

Question 4: Is the main character going to solve the problem(s) and carry out his plans?

Question 5: Will he try some solutions that do not succeed before he finds the right solution? What will he try, and how will they fail.

Question 6: What final solution does he use that is successful?

Question 7: If he is NOT going to solve the problem(s), what will he try to do, and how will he fail?

Question 8: How does the story end?

Question 9: Have I put all necessary characters into place in the answers to the questions above?

Once you have these answers, you’re ready to lay out your outline of scenes in order, from beginning to end. It’s not necessary to use complete sentences or write in paragraph form in that outline. It’s  just for your own personal use: a picture of where you are going and how you plan to get there. The picture and the plan will sometimes change a little — or a lot — as you work through the story, but that’s okay. Ideas grow out of each other, and you may find that your story has a lot more to it than you originally imagined. Just keep double-checking to make sure that what your characters are doing and saying makes sense. Are their actions and reactions connected in a logical, realistic manner?

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Daily Post Prompt: Abstract Art According to Hillbillies

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

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Two Hillbillies in an Art Museum:

“What is it?”

“It’s an abstract.”

“A what?”

“An abstract. You know – that’s where somebody who thinks he’s an artist takes a canvas and slops a bunch of paint onto it in weird patterns. Then somebody else who thinks he’s an art expert comes along and says it represents that artist’s feelin’s when he was rejected by his lover or it represents man’s inhumanity to man, or somethin’ like that.

“Where’d you learn that?”

“We got Internet up on our mountain now. I been readin’ about all kinds a stuff. I come to this one place on there with all these god-awful weird pictures, so I stopped to find out what they was all about.”

“And it told all about these here abstracts?”

“Right. And purty dern boring stuff if you ask me.”

“Hmmmm. Ain’t there any abstracts that say somethin’ positive?”

“Oh, yeah, there’s a few that are supposed to represent man’s great intelligence or his overpowerin’ love for the world or that kind of thing. But, according to this here report I read, the real value of an abstract is supposed to be that each separate person who sees it will give it his own — a — interpretation I think they called it — based on his own personality and life experiences.”

“Hmmmmmmm. So what do you think this one represents?”

“I have to go to the outhouse, and I’d better get there quick.”

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To participate in Daily Post Prompt, follow the link.

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Coffee Thursday 3/9/17

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

`COFFEE MAN - RED,YELLOW

My, there’s just nothing that quite equals the soothing, uplifting aroma of fresh-brewed coffee. And I’m tired of hearing all the uninformed critics out there who try to make coffee drinkers feel guilty because there is an element of caffeine in coffee. I have always maintained that, since the Lord told us in Genesis that He made the seed-bearing trees and plants for us to eat, then we should be able to partake of coffee with a clear conscience and a happy heart. And let’s not forget that God made the coffee bean with the caffeine in it. We human beings did not add the caffeine the way we add so many artificial ingredients into our food. That caffeine must have some good qualities in it, or the Lord would not have put it into the bean in the first place.

Furthermore, there have been numerous medical and scientific experiments done over the past half dozen years that prove coffee has many beneficial qualities for the human body — everything from quickening our brain function to eliminating headaches as quickly as aspirin to protecting the body against several kinds of cancer and heart problems.

Naturally, nothing is good for our bodies if we partake of way too much of it, to the exclusion of other important elements. But in moderation, coffee is a great blessing. And considering the fact that, in my family, a good cup of coffee has always been associated with family togetherness, wonderful fellowship, and comforting relaxation, coffee is, for sure, a substantial ingredient in the recipe for living the good life.

If you’d like to participate in “Coffee Thursday,” simply post your own article, picture, story, or poem about Coffee, and hop over here to leave the link in a Comment Window below. I’m looking forward to your posts.

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Breaking the Mold

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

BOOKS - darker with symbolSome of the happiest hours of my life have been spent reading great inspirational fiction. But during the past couple of decades, I’ve noticed a trend in that genre that troubles me deeply – not to mention that it takes the fun out of reading inspirational romance and mystery novels. What I’ve been seeing is that nearly every major publishing house now has a mold into which they force every Christian novel – with characters that are carbon copies of scores of characters before them, and with a plot that requires characters to meet within a certain number of pages and to carry out specific types of actions within a certain number of chapters – and worst of all – with themes that carry the reader into the erroneous doctrines of man’s traditions rather than the pure Word of God.

I’ve failed to find one inspirational novel in the past several years that does not promote the erroneous belief that God is behind every single thing that happens in our lives and, therefore, is behind all of the trouble, afflictions, sickness, hurt, and heartache that we undergo. The doctrine that says God deliberately allows (sanctions) those things in our lives in order to teach us something or bring us into a more Christlike character is rampant throughout the Christian bookstore shelves. Now, let’s not beat around the bush: If God deliberately allows those evils when He has the power and the know-how to restrain them it is exactly the same thing as His putting those things in our lives Himself. That teaching goes against everything Jesus Christ taught and lived.

I don’t intend this biographical vignette to be a major Bible lesson, but I will say here that the Word of God is extremely clear for the New Covenant believer that God says He is not in control of all things, and in fact He does not get His own way about a lot of things. He wants all men to be saved, but they will not be. Jesus taught us by His own personal example that God wants all the sick to be healed as well, because He never refused one sick person who came to Him for healing. Moreover, He sent out His disciples to visit the surrounding towns and to heal every sick person in those towns – announcing to them as they did so that they were experiencing the Kingdom of God in that deliverance and healing. He wanted the people in His own hometown to be healed as well, but His Word tell us clearly that He “could not” do any mighty miracles because of their unbelief.

God does not want us to suffer from sickness, deadly storms, earthquakes, accidents, or any number of other horrible destructive forces. But we experience them simply because we live in a cursed world where sin has opened the door to those things, and most of us do not yet have enough of a handle on God’s Word to be living every aspect of our lives according to it. But none of that is God’s plan for us. If it were, He wasted His breath when He breathed out Psalm 91 to the Psalmist and had it included in the canon of the Holy Bible.

So the Christian novels that promote the teaching that it is actually part of God’s will and plan for us to suffer the kinds of things Jesus delivered people from is simply another attempt by man to cop out of our personal responsibility to study and learn God’s Word for ourselves and then to believe it for ourselves. If we can blame God for all the problems we’re facing, we don’t have to take any responsibility for their cause or their cure either one. It’s convenient for the lazy believer, but it is a pack of lies about our God.

His Word also tells us clearly that He has given us His Word, His promises, and His Holy Spirit that will impart to us “all things pertaining to life and godliness” and will create into us the Divine nature of God. The teaching that problems, hardships, and heartaches create the Divine nature of Jesus Christ in us is a direct contradiction of God’s personal Word on the subject. Yet hundreds of inspirational novels that have lined the bookstore shelves for years now keep preaching that demonically inspired theme again and again.

So when the Lord called me to write inspirational novels, He called me to write stories that were true to His Word and that presented Him in the light of what Jesus showed us daily in His time with us on the earth. Jesus said He spoke only what the Father wanted Him to speak and He did only the works that the Father wanted Him to do. So I make every effort in my inspirational novels to show God doing exactly what Jesus did and said. And because He’s still the same “yesterday, today, and forever,” I show Him doing and saying the same things in the everyday lives of ordinary believers in the 21st century.

It’s past time for us to have some inspirational novels that don’t fit the molds. It’s time for stories that show us what it’s really like to live in the 21st century with a God who is just like Jesus Christ.

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A Novel in Progress – New on ‘Debut Writers Journal’

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

As most of you know, I am the editor of the Debut Writers Journal – an online magazine that showcases the work of students in my creative writing classes at John A. Logan College in Southern Illinois, USA. This term, I will be adding work by at least two or three new writers, and today begins those additions.

train-track-through-field-area-w-titleI’m excited to announce our publication of this first chapter of a brand new novel in progress. Joe Corso is one of the few creative writing students who is working on a  project of this magnitude, and he’s offering us the opportunity to publish several of his first few chapters. It’s a great way for Joe to keep himself challenged, and for readers of the Journal to see the growth and progress of a new novelist in real time.

The Summer of ’32 takes readers on a journey into a time and place in American culture that is gone, but certainly well remembered by many people even in this modern age. Joe enjoys relating the feel of that time in history, but he is also seriously focused on his characters, and their depth and development are what give the story its impact.

Click on this link to read “Chapter One: Death of a Friend”, and if you find yourself caught up in the story and wanting more, be sure and leave a comment for Joe and let him know. Or if you have anything else encouraging to share, please use the “Comment” window and tell us.

Thanks to all of you who take the time to read the work of these new writers and encourage them.

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Buttermilk

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

I just want to say that I LOVE Farm Fresh Buttermilk.  It’s the only brand that I enjoy, but some days I suddenly  find myself desiring a glass of its rich, cold goodness. Yesterday was one of those days, so I indulged myself.

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Take part in the challenge by visiting Daily Post.

 

 

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COFFEE THURSDAY! – a new invitational

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

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Hi. Today I’m embarking on a brand new INVITATIONAL post. It works like a blogging challenge, but I don’t consider it to be a “challenge.”  Instead it’s an invitation to all other bloggers out there to share a post on the same subject.

And what is that subject you may ask?  COFFEE.

Yes, you read correctly. As most of my readers know, I am a lover of the brew, so I thought it would be fun to devote one day a week to focusing on a post dedicated to that aromatic, refreshing, comforting, and (yes) healthy beverage.

So if any of you readers would like to share you photos, graphics, poems, or prose on the subject of coffee, please join me on Thursdays. I’ll try to post very early in the day, and then you will have that whole week (until the next Thursday) to post your own response and hop over to my post for that week to leave your link in a comment window. And, of course, if you miss a week, we’ll be posting on the same subject again the following Thursday.

So let’s get started. My inaugural post is below. I’m eager to see some of yours. And while you’re working on that, have a cup of coffee on me.

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Photo for the month of March on my Dayspring calendar. You’ll find more of their products here.

 

 

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Share Your World February 27, 2017 – by Guest Blogger Mariah Jacoby

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

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Disclaimer: The following is a blatant advertisement:

everythings-jake-amazon-cover-2-for-e-bookI decided I’d do something different this week: Instead of answering Cee’s questions as myself, I’m giving a guest blogger the opportunity to answer. Cee keeps telling us to just have fun with this challenge and even let our alter ego answer if we like. So meet Mariah Jacoby, the heroine in my inspirational romance Everything’s Jake. Here’s Mariah’s take on this week’s Share Your World.

Question # 1: Ever ran out of gas in your vehicle?

Are you kidding?  Really?  Never!  But, of course, you may not realize that I’m an auto mechanic. I didn’t start out to be. But after two college degrees in journalism and education — and a host of jobs that I just couldn’t fit into — I finally admitted to myself that I’m just a grease-monkey at heart. I love cars, trucks, vans, and busses. Anything with an engine that purrs when it’s happy makes me happy. And, in reference to the question at hand, why, I’d never forget to put gas in a car anymore than I’d forget to eat. So  — I guess the short answer to that question is — No.

Question # 2: Which are better: black or green olives?

Now, that’s a hard one. I love both. I enjoy the smooth, sweetness in the black olives, but sometimes I crave something salty, and you can’t beat the green olives for that, especially since they add just the tiniest bitter bite along with the brine. I  especially love olives on pizza. Neil Warner and I have been having pizza together every Friday night for the past month — when we work on the books for his auto repair business. It’s sort of like a non-date, which I hope will eventually get us to a date date — if you know what I mean. But that’s all in the book.

Question # 3: If you were a great explorer, what would you explore?

Chrysler Manufacturing plant, General Motors manufacturing plant, Toyota manufacturing plant, and Neil.  Oooops, I guess that didn’t come out exactly right. What I mean is that I’d like to get to know Neil even better — learn what all makes him happy and sad, what his dreams are, what I can do to be number one in his life. He’s probably someone you’d consider just an ordinary guy: late thirties, slightly overweight, kind eyes, a mega-watt smile — and he looks sexy in his green coveralls with a dab of grease on his chin. (sigh). I think I fell half in love with him the first day I met him because he was so kind to me, giving me a chance to prove myself even when he knew he was taking a chance where his business reputation was concerned. Yep, I think I’d like exploring that man more than anything else.

Question # 4: Quotes List: At least three of your favorite quotes?

I’m going to share just one quote: It’s my favorite of all time:

“To thine own self be true.” (William Shakespeare as the character Polonius in Hamlet)

I’ve finally followed that advice. One day, after a horrible relationship failure, I got up from my bed where I had lain for an hour bawling, looked into my bathroom mirror, and got real with myself. I said, “All right, so maybe you’re not a femme fatale who can bring men to their knees. But you’re a gentle, kind, loving, hard-working woman of God. And, dang it, girl! You’re also the best darn mechanic that this town has ever laid eyes on!” (Everything’s Jake, p. 89).

That’s when I really started enjoying my life completely, and that’s also when I opened the door to the love relationship I’d wanted my whole life.

Bonus Question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful I discovered the truth about Carter Sanford and what he wanted from his relationship with me. And in the weeks to come, I’m looking forward to becoming the one woman Neil Warner can’t live without.

If you’d like to find out how successful I am in that endeavor, be sure to read my story. You can find it in paperback or digital at Amazon.

 

 

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‘Releasing the Creative Writer in You’ – Lesson 3

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

releasing-the-creative-writer-icover-editedTo access other lessons in this series, click on “Creative Writing Class” in the navigation bar and scroll through to find the lessons you need.

LESSON # 3: WRITING FICTION

Fiction covers a wide range of genres, including short stories, novels, novellas, novelettes, scripts, screenplays, young adult literature, and children’s literature. Having a knack for writing well in one of those genres does not guarantee that a writer has an equal knack for the others. However, most of the time writers find that, with experience and practice, they can write successfully in several different genres at the same time. While all good writing requires some of the same characteristics, each of the different genres of fiction has certain elements that are peculiar to it alone.

SHORT STORIES

There are no hard and fast rules followed by all writers and publishers concerning what constitutes the length of different genres of literature. Each literary guide has its own specifications, but the information given in this text offers an average that takes into consideration the high and low ends of various guides. In general, short stories are considered any stories between 100 words (generally referred to as “flash fiction”) and 20,000 words. Often the stories that run between 100 and 3,000 words are referred to as “short-short” stories. Length does not matter, except for the purpose of meeting the requirements of a particular assignment. (Ex. Writing for a magazine that has a word limit, etc.)

What matters is whether you have all the elements required to satisfy the readers of the stories, and if you have developed the characters, setting, and plot thoroughly – without letting any areas of the work drag or become unnecessarily verbose. The writer must tell a complete story: an attention-grabbing beginning, the development of a problem or conflict, attempts to resolve that conflict, the climax, and a resolution/conclusion.)

In short stories, word choices are even more pressing than in longer fiction. Character development is trickier, due to less time. There are also fewer words for describing setting and characters, as well as for developing plot.

NOVELS

Novels require a larger tale – so a larger scope. You have more time to develop setting and characters, as well conflict and climax. Generally readers expect a little more than one simple conflict in a story of any significant length – simply because real life is that way.

Word choices are still extremely important because nothing drags as badly as a novel that is too wordy.

Novel length is generally considered anything between 50,000 and 300,000 words. But most publishers have a policy concerning length of each genre they publish, and authors will need to consult each individual publisher’s guidelines when considering submissions.

Novellas: When you have a story that really needs more than a short story format, but hasn’t enough plot for a full novel, novellas offer a good alternative. If you find yourself working on a short story, but realize you are up to 30,000 words, you need to consider expanding the story a little more and making it a novella. (Generally 40,000-50,000 words on average).

Novelettes: This category offers one more level in alternatives to short stories and novels. Novelettes also give the reader a story that is more involved than a short story, but that does not have enough plot to carry it the length of a full novel. Any work running between 10,000 and 30,000 words can be considered novelette length.

SCRIPTS AND SCREENPLAYS

For scripts and screenplays, dialogue will generally rule, and action must be 100% do-able. Words are at their highest premium in a story that must be acted out. The author must also consider and write in all the stage directions as well.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

In children’s literature, writers deal with all the elements common to adult short stories and novels, but children’s works require special attention to the level of language and frames of reference so that they fit exactly the age group for which the pieces are written. The ONLY way to do that successfully is to SPEND A LOT OF TIME WITH CHILDREN. Children’s literature is also generally much more successful with pictures and illustrations. Therefore, the author needs to be able to provide these elements or develop a good relationship with an artist/photographer who can.

ELEMENTS REQUIRED BY ALL FICTION GENRES

So what are the elements of a good story?

1. Characters

Get to know your characters personally. Your reader may never need to know how your main character did in school, whether he played baseball or worked cross-word puzzles, whether or not he took vacations with his family, etc. But you need to know him well enough to know those things. That doesn’t mean you have to list every event in his life before he steps onto the stage of your book, but you do need to sit and think about him from every direction. What are his strengths, his weaknesses, his fears, his goals, etc. It’s a good idea to sit down and write out a few of those traits and qualities for each character before you build your story around those people.

Chances are most of your characters will come from a real person you have had experience with, or – more likely – a composite of a number of real people. That is why keeping a journal and making character sketches is so important. You may be surprised how often an unusual trait you jotted down in a journal as you watched a man on the bus will come in very handy in making a person in your book seem more real.  Also, think about the fact that your characters had lives before they came into your book, and you need to know what those lives were like so that each character will seem REAL and not just an automation you have invented to walk through the pages and say certain words.

Sometimes the characters will be there to carry out the plot (Plot-driven story)

Other times, the characters will be the main story, and their inner struggles, changes, and growth (or deterioration) are what constitutes the story. (Character-driven story).

2. Setting

You know yourself best, and you must decide if you are a person who enjoys detailed descriptions of settings or not. If you enjoy them, chances are you will write them well enough that your readers will also enjoy them. However, if you do not enjoy them, then you must work at giving your story a setting that needs a minimum of description and that has no real importance to the story itself.

The purpose of your story will also determine a lot about the degree of attention paid to the setting. If you write a story focused solely on a romance, making the characters and their personal, emotional interaction the meat of your story, you can get by with simply letting the reader know the characters live in a large American city, or a village in the English countryside, etc., with very little detail. But if you write a story set on another planet, you need to be prepared with loads of details so that your reader will not feel out of sync with the characters they want to identify with.

(You will find more details concerning setting in the upcoming chapter on that particular element.)

3. Plot (Action – either physical or mental)

The plot of a story includes the following  5 basics:

A. Introduction.

Occasionally, a story may open with ordinary action shortly before the important action begins, but this method is tricky because of the need to engage your reader from page one. It’s generally better to open in the middle of some important action or conversation that will be explained in subsequent pages. Or you may use a prologue if you have to lay some groundwork that is not part of the main story. However, you need to use prologues and epilogues very sparingly. Some readers skip them altogether. This course discusses good opening ideas in a subsequent lesson.

B. Development of a Problem or Conflict

This problem/conflict can be physical, mental, emotional, or all three. (More details are available in the chapter on conflict, which will be included in a later lesson.)

C. Attempts to fix the problem, which generally do not resolve the main issue.

D. Climax – Problem comes to a head and meets the solution head-on

E. Resolution/Conclusion/The End

For more details concerning plot, see the chapter entitled “Plotting Your Story,” coming in a future lesson.

4. Theme: The central, recurring, unifying idea of a piece of literature.

What is the Purpose of Specific Action or Dialogue in Your Story?

Your theme can generally be found in the answer to the questions of why something happened or what effect it is meant to have. As your story develops, you (and your reader) will generally find that virtually all of the action and dialogue is happening – ultimately — for the same purpose: to bring about specific outcomes – all of which work together to affect the reader the way you want him affected.

5. Body Language and Dialogue

As you develop your plot, remember to use as much dialogue and body language as possible to help the reader see and hear the words and actions. Simply narrating them is much less effective. Quote your characters directly, and let the reader hear a sigh or see the character lean against a door frame. Describe a smile or the sound of the laughter. Allow your character to lean forward or backward, rest his head against the back of a chair, or fold his arms across his chest. No real person carries on a conversation without body movement as well, and you need that kind of description to keep your reader’s attention and make your characters “real.”

(More discussion on this aspect of writing stories is covered in the material on Developing Characters and in the chapter on Dialogue and Body Language. These segments will be included in upcoming lessons.)

cartoon-writer-pink-spikey-hair-2Do you need an outline before beginning?

The short answer is ‘No.’ Sometimes stories just jump out at us when we are doing a simple writing exercise or sitting quietly and meditating. It’s fine to just sit down to the keyboard and start writing out what is flowing through our minds.

However, do not expect to write excellent stories on a regular basis without having a strong idea of what you want the story to do – how you want it to play out – and who the characters are. You will need some kind of guidelines to help you stay focused and to make sure you have a thoroughly developed plot.

If you find that a story begins coming to life in your mind, go ahead and start writing it. Write until you know you are finished with what was pressing to get onto paper. However, once that is done, you do need to try to determine where you are going – what is going to happen to your characters – what do you want the ending to be – are you wanting the story to stir up particular emotions or teach any particular lesson or moral?

Then lay out a “loose” outline. You will, no doubt, change this outline a number of times, but having something to look at now will at least help you stay with your story instead of writing two or three different stories because of running off on tangents as you write.

You can use the old tried-and-true classic outline format to do your planning, or you can simply write out a few notes or a paragraph for each scene you plan to include in your story. Many authors plan out their entire novels in such paragraphs. And some writers plan out each individual scene as well as the effects of each scene on the people who were involved in it.

One plan includes writing each scene on a note card, followed by a second card explaining the effects of that scene. The writer can then lay out the cards in front of him as he begins each new chapter and write out what he sees in his notes. Naturally, there may be a number of additions or subtractions – or some moving scenes around – putting them into a different chapter – but that’s what creative writing is all about.

(NOTE: If, while you are writing one story, you do get an idea for a totally different story, stop long enough to jot down the main idea that came to you – along with any notes about a character that you know will be a part of that story. Then put those notes away until you are finished with the story in progress. EXCEPTION: The exception to this rule is that if you find yourself pulled back to the new story again and again – or the ideas for it are coming much easier than the ideas for the first story, then, by all means, put #1 away in a drawer, and write # 2. This may be your masterpiece!)

Most of the time, characters and plot tend to take on a life of their own as you write. Do not be alarmed if you find a character wanting to do some things or say some things that you had not intended. If you are brave, let it happen. Then go back to the piece a day later and see how you feel about it. The same is true with plot. You will very likely have new ideas that come along as you write, and your story may turn in a direction you hadn’t even considered in the beginning. You may end up with an entirely different ending than you planned.

Now, there is a thin line between letting your imagination and creativity have this freedom and in being confused about what you are writing. That is one reason to have an initial loose outline. Each time you find a character changing his or her nature, you can stop and ask yourself, is this helping the story or hurting it? The same is true with plot. Often, you will have to wait a day or two and go back to the story to make that decision, but most of the time, you will not be on a strict deadline.

* Releasing the Creative Writer in You, © 2013 by Sandra Pavloff Conner

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Do The Job You’ve Been Assigned

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

Thursday some of my daffodils were showing off their bright yellow bonnets and waving in the breeze. Friday, a heavy, merciless rain drenched them and beat them to the ground. That event was followed by cold temperatures again, after two weeks of spring-like weather.

But this scenario is not new — for me or my daffodils. In fact, almost every year, within a very few days of their blooming, the weather becomes mean and cold again and beats up on those innocent little flowers. But also every year, once the rain is passed, the brave little plants turn their heads back toward the sun and start straightening themselves out. Today, Saturday, almost all of them are standing tall and strong once again.

I wrote about that annual event a few years ago, and then shared the article on YouTube in a video. So today, since I’m celebrating the resurrection of my little daffodils again this year, I decided to give that little devotional video a second airing here on my website. I hope it’s a blessing to you.

 

 

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