Tag Archives: #WritingCommunity

#WriteTip: The Stubborn Elephant

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Writing a novel is a huge commitment. It takes time and consistency and perseverance from beginning to end.

Imagine, if you will, a rider on the back of a stubborn elephant. The rider is excited to head out on a new adventure, but the elephant wants no part of it. The rider tries everything to make the elephant move — coercion, threats, bribes, begging, and bargaining — but nothing works. The elephant refuses to budge. And rightfully so. They’re majestic animals, with thoughts and feelings and families who love them, not amusement rides.

The frustrated rider jumps off the elephant, tugs the reins, shoves him from behind. Nothing works. If a two-to-seven-ton animal doesn’t want to budge, good luck trying to change their mind.

What if I told you this same struggle continues to play out in a writer’s mind while drafting a novel?

It’s true. Our brains have two independently functioning systems responsible for completing tasks: the rational side and the emotional side.

The rider is rational.

The elephant is emotional.

When these two sides clash, the writer accomplishes nothing. They may work all day, but they’re spinning their wheels. It’s an awful feeling.

The rational rider is small and insignificant compared to the emotional elephant. We can lie to ourselves about fame and fortune or whatever the big dream is, but unless we’re emotionally invested in our goals, it’ll never happen. The field of broken dreams is littered with stubborn elephants.

Numerous scientists have studied productivity, and they all agree on one thing: Having fun makes us more productive.

Pro Tip: Don’t worry about your word count. If you keep checking to tally your words, you’ll add unnecessary stress. Enjoy the journey of crafting a storyline. Block out all distractions and have fun with your characters.

The closer the reward, the harder we work.

We live in a world of immediate gratification. It’s why we’re told to use a universal link for our books. No one wants to click twice.

The coffee drinker will buy more coffee when their loyalty card is about to run out. Why? To score a free coffee.

This behavior is known as the goal gradient hypothesis, first discovered in rats and other animals in 1932 by Clark Hull PhD. The same holds true for humans. The bigger the task (crafting a novel), the harder we must work to get the reward (a complete first draft) and the easier it is to give up.

Pro Tip: Break the WIP into small goals. “I will have one piece of chocolate when I finish this chapter.” By rewarding yourself for reaching smaller goals, it builds confidence and joy and momentum.

Making Visible Progress Improves Motivation

Researchers offered participants two types of loyalty cards: a ten-point card and a twelve-point card with the first two spots already stamped. Can you guess which one they chose?

Even though both cards required the participants to buy ten coffees, the twelve-point card was the clear favorite. Why? The two stamps created the illusion that the participants would receive a free coffee sooner. While the distance to the goal was the same, those stamps showed visible progress.

Visible progress boosts motivation.

Pro Tip: End every writing session mid-scene. Doesn’t matter if the words are flowing. Stop. The next morning, it’s much easier to finish a scene than stare at a blank page.

I play mind-games with myself all the time. Once I’ve written the final page of the manuscript, I mark it with *** and keep going. Everything after the asterisks becomes the hook for the next book. That way, I never start a new manuscript with a blank page.

Productivity Fluctuates Throughout the Day

Researchers found that memory, perception, and problem-solving skills fluctuate according to a person’s chronotype, the natural inclination for your body to sleep (i.e., early bird vs. night owl).

I’m most productive in the mornings and between 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. It’s strange, I know, but for some reason new ideas pop into my mind between those hours, so I write in Notes on my phone.

Consistency trains the brain.

Pro Tip: Take note of when you’re most productive during the day. If you can’t write at that time, train yourself to write at the second most productive time of day for you.

Surprising Facts Improve Learning and Memory

Moments of intellectual surprise can boost memory, curiosity, and make you a more effective learner. Also, those who are curious about the world — like writers — and learn on a regular basis (i.e., research) extend their longevity and lower their risk of brain-related diseases like Alzheimer’s or dementia.

A few fun facts that may surprise you:

  • Jays are not blue. There are no blue feathers in the Animal Kingdom. What we see is an optical illusion. Blue Jays are gray.
  • A Greenland shark born before Isaac Newton was still alive in 2020.
  • Polar Bears are not white. Though polar bear fur appears white, it’s actually transparent. Long hollow hair shafts reflect light much like ice does, making polar bears appear white or yellow. Beneath their thick coats, polar bears have black skin that absorbs the sun’s warmth. To a deer, polar bears look green.

Pro Tip: If you’re stuck, research other elements of the story. You might be surprised by what you find. Never stop learning.

All these actionable tips and tricks will help you move the elephant in the right direction.

Reader Friday-Distracted Writing

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You’ve heard of distracted driving, right? Cell phones, road signs, ankle-biters bug-tussling in the back seat, other distracted drivers distracting your driving—we’ve all experienced it—but hopefully not on the wrong side of a citation or accident.

Today, keeping in mind all of the above, consider the distractions that keep you from deep-diving into your current WIP, that germ of a story that grabbed your attention awhile back, but now is drowning in . . . life, real life.

What are the top five distractions affecting your writing productivity? Those pesky things that require your attention, but in the process of “attending”, dilute your enthusiasm for the project and cut into your in-the-zone time?

For me, at this time, it’s caring for my elderly father. It’s an honor for me, and I wouldn’t have it any other way, but it usually takes me awhile to shift from the Dad gear to the story gear.

How about you? How do you handle the “life stuff” that’s part of your story, but not part of the story you’re writing?

Are you good at setting it aside? Compartmentalizing? (Both of which I am seriously not good at . . .)

TKZers, jump right in with your tips and tricks!

 

Profluence in Writing

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Profluence (noun) –  a copious or smooth flowing

* * *

I was re-listening to a Great Courses lecture the other day entitled Writing Great Fiction taught by professor and author James Hynes. The particular episode I re-visited was on the fundamentals of plotting a novel, and Hynes mentioned the importance of profluence in story-telling.

“Profluence” must be a relatively new word because you may not find it in every dictionary. Dictionary.com only has the adjective form “profluent,” but the word has made its way into the online Merriam-Webster dictionary.

However, I couldn’t find the term “profluence” in any of my books on the craft of writing, so I was naturally intrigued.

Hynes credits John Gardner with defining profluence as the feeling you have when you’re reading a novel or short story that you’re getting somewhere. Even if the story isn’t told in chronological sequence, the reader needs to feel the forward momentum.

Specifically, in his work The Art of Fiction, Gardner wrote:

“By definition – and of aesthetic necessity – a story contains profluence, a requirement best satisfied by a sequence of causally related events, a sequence that can end in only one of two ways: in resolution … or in logical exhaustion.”

Along the same lines, in Aspects of the Novel, E.M. Forster defined the singular merit and fault of a story:

“… it can only have one merit: that of making the audience want to know what happens next. And conversely it can only have one fault: that of making the audience not want to know what happens next.”

Professor Hynes had his own take on this concept.

“A work of fiction can only have one merit: that of making the reader want to keep reading. And it can only have one fault: that of making the reader not want to keep reading.”

So we can think of a novel as one scene followed by another, each drawing the reader further into the plot. The goal is always to get the reader to turn the page. Even if the sequence of events is out of chronological order, the author’s job is to create the sense of forward momentum by leading the reader through the story, one scene at a time.

Forster makes one further distinction between story and plot. He defines a story as “a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence.” A plot, though, according to Forster is “also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality.” He goes on to use this illustration:

“The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief” is a  plot.

In the first example, readers will turn the page to find out what happens next. In the second, readers will want to know what happens next and why it happened. That sense of causality adds depth to the story and encourages the reader to keep turning pages.

* * *

As authors, we know we should create stories with interesting characters, a strong plot, and sentences that are well-constructed and grammatically correct. But the notion of profluence seems to move beyond the mechanics of writing and into the way those elements interact to produce the elusive flow that will keep the reader engaged.

In an article on the Writers Unite website, D. A. Ratliff provides several ideas on how to create and maintain that flow. Here are a few of those suggestions:

  • Create an intriguing hook at the beginning that will grab the reader’s attention
  • Don’t overly describe what’s going on. Let the reader wonder and anticipate learning more in a later chapter
  • Use clear language so you don’t confuse the reader
  • Use effective transitions. Cliffhanger scene endings will compel the reader to turn the page
  • Vary sentence types to create a musical flow

So there you have it. A novel is not just a series of scenes. At its best, it’s a continuous flow of story that’s impossible to put down.

* * *

So TKZers: Have you ever heard the term profluence before? How do you create the flow in your stories to keep readers turning pages? What would you add to the suggestions above?

* * *

 

 

KNIGHTS IN MANHATTAN

Reen & Joanie are always moving forward. Whether it’s in dark, secret passageways or running through some of the most famous landmarks in Manhattan, they’re relentless in their pursuit of the bad guys.

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Do FBI Profilers Mistake Writers for Serial Killers?

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You might be surprised by how many traits writers share with serial killers. FBI profilers have actually profiled a subject only to discover s/he’s not a killer. They’re a writer. Here’s why a profiler might mistake writers for serial killers.

We work alone.

Writers spend hours alone, plotting and planning the perfect demise. We let the fantasy build until we find an ideal murder method to fit our plot, and a spark ignites our creativity. We’re giddy with excitement and can’t wait to swan-dive into our story.

Serial killers also spend hours alone, plotting and planning the perfect demise. They let the fantasy build, evolve, until they find an ideal murder method, and a spark ignites them to act. They’re giddy with excitement and can’t wait for the inevitable kill.

In fact, this stage of serial killing is called the Aura Phase.

Joel Norris PhD is the founding member of the International Committee of Neuroscientists to Study Episodic Aggression. In his book SERIAL KILLERS, Norris explains the serial killer’s addiction to crime is also an addiction to specific patterns of violence that ultimately define their way of life.

A writer’s addiction passion for crime (romance, sci-fi, fantasy…) writing is also an addiction the pursuit of patterns of violence routine that ultimately defines our way of life.

Still not convinced a profiler might mistake writers for serial killers?

During the Aura Phase, the killer withdraws from reality and his/her senses heighten. Time stalls. Colors become more vibrant as though the killer’s literally viewing the world through rose-colored glasses. The killer distances themselves from society, but friends, family, and acquaintances may not detect the psychological change.

The same is true for writers.

Think about that shiny new story. What do we do? We withdraw from reality, into our writer’s cave, and our senses heighten. Time stalls as our fingers race over the keyboard. And our worlds spring to life. On the outside we may look “normal” to family and friends while obsessing—a psychological change—over details, lots of details, details about characters, plots, subplots, dialogue, and yes, murder.

Trolling

When a killer is on the hunt he’s trolling for a victim. Rather than state the obvious, I’ll pose a question: How much time have you spent deciding which character to kill?

via GIPHY

But they looked so normal.

How many times have we heard a reporter interview a serial killer’s friend or neighbor? And they all say the same thing. But they looked so normal. I had no idea.

Now, think about the first time a friend/relative/acquaintance read one of your gritty thrillers. Stunned, they close the cover. But they looked so normal. I had no idea this was going on inside their head. Or they’ll say to the writer’s significant other, “You must sleep with one eye open.”

Search History

Smart serial killers might research things like:

• How to commit the perfect murder.
• Will my fingerprints be in IAFIS if I’ve only been arrested for a misdemeanor? For non-writers, IAFIS stands for Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System. Why am I only addressing non-writers? Because writers know law enforcement acronyms, like CODIS (Combined DNA Index System), NDIS (National DNA Index System), BAU (Behavioral Analysis Unit), and SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).
• What’s the fastest way to dissolve a corpse?
• How long does it take to strangle someone to death?
• What’s involved in decapitation?
• Jurisdictional map of [insert state].
• How to pick a lock.
• Will a 3D-printed gun set off a metal detector?
• What’s left of a body after being hit by a train?
• Will black bears consume human remains?
• How many hours after death till rigor mortis sets in?
• Will Luminol detect bleach?
• How deep is a standard grave?

Writers, can you honestly say your search history doesn’t look similar?

An organized killer might brush up on forensics and/or law enforcement procedures to avoid detection.

via GIPHY

How many of you have pondered: Where should I dump the corpse?

via GIPHY

Let’s face facts, writers are a different breed. The only ones who truly understand us are other writers and writer spouses. If anyone deserves an award, it’s the writer’s family. I mean, c’mon, how many of you have dragged them to check out that out-of-the-way swamp to dump a fictional corpse? Or said, “Stop the car!” while passing a wood-chipper?

A writer’s “uniqueness” affects the whole family.

The other day “The Kid” called, his voice bursting with excitement. “I found the perfect place for a murder. No one around for miles. You could really do some damage there.”

Now, normal parents might be concerned by this conversation…but I’m a writer. So, I said, “Awesome! Shoot me the GPS.”

Y’know what? He did find the perfect place for a murder.

via GIPHY

Is it any wonder an FBI profiler might mistake writers for serial killers? 😀 

Reader Friday-Curiouser and Curiouser

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Authors are a curious species. By that, I mean we’re curious about the world around us, not that we’re weird! Ahem!

This is a link to a really cool site that will make you curiouser and curiouser. https://www.rd.com/list/weird-facts/

Image by LeeoMax from Pixabay

 

 

 

Did you know that Donald Duck’s legal name is Donald Fauntleroy Duck? True story. (From Wikipedia)

 

 

 

 

And Walt Disney was the first voice of Mickey Mouse? And Mickey was the first non-human Oscar winner.

Or, how about this—Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz was originally a blonde, but the powers that were thought it made her look not so much like a Kansas farm girl.

All true.

But, here’s the one I really like, because I’m one of those height-challenged folks.

People are taller in the morning than they are at night. Really!

Courtesy of https://ar.inspiredpencil.com

“When you wake up in the morning, you’re about one centimeter taller. That’s because at night when you’re lying down, the spine stretches and decompresses. But throughout the day, the soft cartilage between your bones gets squashed and compressed…”

 

So, at least in the mornings I can claim to be tall . . . cool!

TKZers . . . what weird, random fact can you share with us this morning? And how will you write it into the story you’re working on?

 

 

The False Ending

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“Pilots are a rare kind of human. They leave the ordinary surface of the world to purify their soul in the sky, and they come down to earth only after receiving the communion of the infinite.” – Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra

* * *

“Flying isn’t dangerous. Crashing is what’s dangerous.”

* * *

My husband and I have an audio recording of The Shepherd, a novella by Frederick Forsyth. It tells the story of a young R.A.F. pilot whose night flight in his DeHavilland single-seat Vampire jet fighter went terribly wrong.

The entire story is voiced in first person by the unnamed pilot, played on the audio by actor Robert Powell, who gives the character just the right combination of charm and mild aviator arrogance.

The book begins as the pilot explains it’s Christmas Eve, 1957, and he’s on his way from Germany to Great Britain to spend the holidays with his family. He communicates with the tower and takes off into the night sky.

Forsythe lures us into the routineness of the voyage by having the pilot relate some inflight parameters:  “… course 265 degrees, continue climbing to 27,000 feet… keep speed to 485 knots… Sixty-six minutes flying time with the descent and landing, and the Vampire had enough fuel for over eighty minutes in the air.”

He reaches his assigned altitude and continues his account of the uncomplicated journey: “Somewhere beneath me in the gloom the Dutch border would be slipping away, and I had been airborne for twenty-one minutes. No problem.”

The audio pauses for a few seconds, then this: “The problem started …”

Over the next chapters, various aircraft instruments fail because of an electrical fuse blow-out. By the time the pilot has identified all the problems, he can’t return to Germany because he doesn’t have enough fuel. He needs assistance to fly to his destination because his compass is not operational, but he can’t contact the airbase in Great Britain because the radio is out. On a disaster scale of one to ten, this about a nine-and-a-half, but he’s banking on his knowledge of the pattern of lights on the ground in Great Britain to lead him to his destination airfield.

He starts to descend to prepare for reaching the coast of Great Britain when the disaster scale hits ten. “At 15,000 feet and still diving, I began to realize that a fresh, and for me the last, enemy had entered the field.”

A low-lying fog has drifted in and blankets the earth under him. He cannot see the lights on the ground, and he can’t fly below the earth-hugging fog. He’s run out of options. He will have to keep his aircraft over the North Sea to avoid crashing into a populated area. When the plane runs out of fuel, he will bail out, knowing that will lead to certain death in the freezing waters below.

But there’s one last straw to grasp. His flight trainer had instructed the class that in a case of dire emergency (like this one), a pilot should fly a triangle pattern in hopes that a nearby air base would send up a shepherd plane to guide the wounded aircraft down. A shepherd that had radio and radar equipment which made it capable of guiding a disabled fellow pilot down to the runway even in poor weather conditions.

Our pilot flies the triangle pattern, but no shepherd appears. With his fuel gauge and his hope hovering just above empty, he spots a shadow on the fog bank. Another plane.

It’s a WWII propeller-driven fighter-bomber known as the DeHavilland Mosquito.

When the shepherd plane pulls up beside the fighter, its goggled and leather-helmeted pilot signals to fly in formation.

They descend through the fog layer while the Vampire pilot fears the worst. Gray cotton candy-like strands of cloud obscure everything except the aircraft off to his left. The fuel indicator is on zero. A cold sweat runs down his back. He is in a field of nothingness. This is the end. Then suddenly, he spots lights rushing by on each side of his aircraft. A runway! The plane settles down on the surface and rolls to a stop, out of fuel.

It seems like that should be the end of the tale. Our attractive main character faced the threat of death, fought the odds, gave up hope, but then encountered a shepherd airplane that brought him to safety beyond all odds. The reader is ready for the denouement.

But it isn’t the end. It’s only the beginning.

* * *

And to make an end is to make a beginning. —T.S. Eliot

The Shepherd is an example of a story with a false ending. The reader or listener is expecting the story to end, but instead, a new plot begins.

In an article in Writers Digest, Robert McCaw addresses the uses of the false ending.

“Another of my favorite techniques is the false or penultimate ending. In this case, the narrative comes to a neat close… There are no loose strings. The story is over, except it’s not. Instead, another chapter surprises the reader with a new and different take on the ending, often creating the opportunity to begin a new story…”

In the case of The Shepherd, the mystery begins as the Vampire pilot tries to discover who the pilot of the shepherd plane was and how he successfully guided him down. He makes one assumption after another, and each is proved wrong. The reader/listener is as confused as the young pilot.

I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s worth the read or listen to understand how to pull off this kind of effect.

* * *

We saw a movie years ago entitled Lives of Others that I think would qualify as a film with a false ending. It was a story about East Germany’s secret police, the Stasi, spying on East Berlin residents. As the movie approaches the climactic moment when the Berlin Wall comes down, one of the main characters, a Stasi agent, walks away from his job. At that point, I thought the movie had wrapped up all the loose ends and was over, but it continued to reveal secrets afterward. It was very effective.

There are other novels and movies that have false endings. Some that I read about (but haven’t read or seen the movie) are The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King, and Spider Man 3.

* * *

So TKZers: Have you encountered the false ending in any books or movies? Have you used a false ending in any of your works? What do you think about this technique?

* * *

Craft a Raptor Hero Not Villain

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Raptors are some of the most successful predators on the planet. From owls, eagles, and vultures to hawks, falcons, and other birds of prey, raptors are skilled hunters with incredible senses, like binocular vision, that help them detect prey at far distances.

The secretary bird even carries mouthfuls of water back to the nest for her young — one of the few avian species to quench a chicks’ thirst.

If a raptor was a character in a book, they seem like the perfect villain on the surface. After all, they kill and consume adorable critters like chipmunks, squirrels, mice, monkeys, birds, fish, and old or injured animals. As readers, we’d fear the moment their shadow darkened the soil.

What we may not consider right away is how tender raptors are with their young, or that they only take what they need to feed their family and keep the landscape free of disease from rotting meat and sick animals, or what majestic fliers they are. Raptors have many awe-inspiring abilities.

Take, for example, the Andean condor, the largest flying land bird in the western hemisphere. In the highest peaks of the majestic Andes, the largest raptor in the world hovers in the sky in search of its next meal — a carcass or old/injured animal to hunt. Andean condors have a wingspan of over ten feet. If one flew sideways through an average living room with eight-foot ceilings, the wings would drag on the floor!

How could we turn a massive predator like the Andean condor into a hero? It’s difficult to offset their hunting abilities and diet with the innocence of their prey, but not impossible.

A layered characterization holds the key. It doesn’t matter who your protagonist is or what they do. With proper characterization, a raptor or killer can play any role.

Go Deeper than the Three Dimensions of Character

1st dimension: The face they show to the world; a public persona
2nd dimension: The person they are at home and with close friends
3rd dimension: Their true character. If a fire broke out in a cinema, would they help others get out safely or elbow their way through the crowd?

A raptor-type character needs layers, each one peeled little by little over time to reveal the full picture of who they are and what they stand for. We also need to justify their actions so readers can root for them.

A perfect example is Dexter Morgan, vigilante serial killer and forensic blood spatter analyst for Miami Dade Police.

Why did the world fall in love with Dexter?

What makes Dexter so fascinatingly different is that he lives by a code when choosing his victims – they must, without a doubt, be murderers likely to strike again. But he didn’t always have this code. In the beginning, he killed to satisfy the sick impulses from his “dark passenger.” If it weren’t for Dexter’s adoptive father and police officer, Harry Morgan, who educated his son to control his need to kill and established tight guidelines for Dexter to follow (the code), he would have been the villain.

Readers accept his “dark passenger” because he’s ridding the world of other serial killers who could harm innocent people in the community. And that’s enough justification for us to root for him. We’re willing to overlook the fact that he revels in each kill and keeps trophies. We even join him in celebrating his murders — and never want him caught.

Jeff Lyndsay couldn’t have pulled this off if he showed all Dexter’s layers at the very beginning. It worked because he showed us pieces of Dexter Morgan over time.

The Characterization for Vigilante Killers Cannot be Rushed

When I created this type of character, he started as the villain for two and half novels while I dropped hints and pieces of truth like breadcrumbs. It wasn’t until halfway through book four that the full picture of who he really was and what motivated him became evident.

So, go ahead and craft a raptor as the protagonist of your story (as an antihero). When characters are richly detailed psychologically, readers connect to them. Perhaps a part of us wishes we could enact justice like they do.

If crafted with forethought and understanding, your raptor may become your most memorable character to date. Just go slow and really think about how much of their mind to reveal and when. Who knows? You may create a protagonist readers will analyze for years to come!

*Perhaps it’s unfair to draw a parallel between raptors and vigilante killers but the idea came to me while watching a nature documentary. Make no mistake, I adore raptors.

Have you ever crafted a raptor character aka antihero? Who’s your favorite antihero (movies or books)? And why?

 

Reader Friday-I Saw What You Did

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Tell us something cool about yourself that no one else knows…or, very few people know.

I’ll start.

My car wasn’t as cool as this one… 🙂

I once drove in a stock car race. It was fun! I got to go really, really fast around our local race track and I didn’t even crash. My three young kiddos watched from the bleachers with my parents. My drag-racing, desert truck-racing Dad was the instigator. In the blood, I guess.

 

Would I do it again? No sirree Bob! (Well, maybe…)

Your turn! Do tell, and have you written about it?

 

When Things Go Wrong

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You’ll never find a better sparring partner than adversity. —Golda Meir

* * *

It was 12:34 a.m. when Frank woke up. We know because he said later he looked at the digital clock on the night table and thought how interesting it was that the time was 1-2-3-4. That was just a second or two before a bone-rattling crash shook the house.

I had never heard a sound like that before. Coming out of a deep sleep, I found myself standing beside the bed before I was fully awake. At first, I thought lightning must have struck the house to cause such a deafening noise.

The burglar alarm was blaring, so we both rushed out into the front hall. I ran straight to the alarm keypad and shut it down. Then I looked toward the sunroom, and my bewilderment deepened.

Our sunroom was at the back of the house. It ran along the center portion of the house and was connected to the living and dining rooms by several glass-paned doors. Those doors had to be closed and deadlocked in order for the burglar alarm to be armed. All the doors were wide open. That’s when I got nervous. Maybe somebody had broken into the house after all.

Then my eyes adjusted to the darkness, and I could see debris hanging down from the ceiling in the sunroom, and there was a strong aroma of oak. None of it made sense.

Frank decided to take a flashlight and go outside to see if he could figure out what was going on. I thought that was a really bad idea, but I couldn’t think of anything better, so he left. In a little while he returned. “You’re not going to believe this,” he said. (That’s not good thing to hear at any time, but especially not in the middle of the night.)

A very old and very large oak tree (we figure it weighed approximately ten tons) that was just off the north end of the house had fallen directly along the length of the house and was lying like a beached behemoth on top of the sunroom, kept in place by the very large slot it had made in the roof on the north end of the house.

The tree had taken out part of the roof over the kitchen, the sunroom, and the second story as well as part of the second story wall. Fortunately, our bedroom was at the south end of the house.

The lights in the house were blinking, and we were afraid of wire damage that could cause a fire, so we called the fire department. When they arrived, they checked the house but couldn’t find evidence of fire. However, they suggested we turn off the master switch and go to a hotel to spend the night, which we did.

The next morning, we met our insurance agent at the house to assess the damage. When we walked around to the backyard to view the situation in the daylight, the sight was more awe-inspiring than the sound had been the night before.

The base of the tree was hanging off the north end (right side) of the house and the main part of the trunk lay on the sunroom roof. The top of the tree extended off the south end of the house and beyond the frame of this picture.

We arranged for a company to bring in a crane to remove the tree from the house. I held my breath as a very brave man climbed onto the tree and used a chain saw to cut the top piece off so the crane could lift it and set it down in the backyard. Then he moved to the next piece, and took the monster off the roof one very large piece at a time.

It would take months to deal with the aftereffects. During that time, we moved into an apartment, met with contractors, oversaw the repairs, and dealt with our insurance company (which was very supportive, thank goodness), all around our regular work schedules. Plans we had for those months were put on hold. Necessity is the mother of new scheduling.

All ended well. The contractors did a fabulous job of rebuilding the house, and our insurance company treated us with the utmost respect and care. The insurance covered almost everything, and in the end, the house was in as good or better shape than it had been before.

It took a while, and it wasn’t fun, but everything returned to normal eventually. (Well, almost everything. I used to view trees as my friends. Now I regard them as potential criminals. 😒)

* * *

We all know that life can take a wrong turn sometimes. Things happen. The best laid plans and all that.

So what does this have to do with writing? It’s obvious, right? We come to a stopping point in the WIP and realize things are a mess. We’re going to have to make major repairs to make the story structure solid. It’s time to rethink, reschedule, and do the hard work of rebuilding. But the end result will be better. All in service to the story.

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So TKZers: Have you ever had to stop and regroup when you were writing? How do you handle it when a giant problem lands right in the middle of your story?

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Reader Friday-Character for a Day

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Remember the old TV program called Queen For A Day? (I might have just dated myself…)

It ran from 1945-1964. From Wikipedia:  “Queen for a Day was an American radio and television game show that helped to usher in American listeners’ and viewers’ fascination with big-prize giveaway shows.” I remember watching it on the old B&W. Do you?

Let’s play that game, but with a writerly/readerly twist. Instead of Queen for a Day, let’s play…wait for it…Character for a Day. You game?

Here’s how it goes–but, alas, no big prize money in the offing–just some good, old-fashioned fun. And God knows we could use some fun.

Pick a character you would like to be, either from your own book, another author’s book, or from a movie. But not just any character, please! Pick one whose spirit speaks to yours.

Here’s my pick…Tauriel, Lord of the Rings…beautiful and lethal!

 

 

 

 

Okay, TKZers…your turn. Tell us what character you want to be for just 24 hours. And, tell us why…1, 2, 3, GO!