Month: August 2016

History doesn’t write itself, but it can be an excellent base for your story. I visited the Pea Ridge National Military Park in northwest Arkansas yesterday and learned some interesting facts about the Civil War. It is a great park and if you are ever in the area, check it out. It doesn’t get the attention of Gettysburg, Bull Run, and Sherman’s March, however, it tells a great story. I don’t want to spoil it all by telling you who won the battle, but I want to talk about how little-known historical events can make your story.

Romeo and Juliet has been adapted many times in many ways. They’re all roses by different names. You don’t have to have a completely new idea for your story, although it helps tremendously. Research the Battle of Pea Ridge. You get all the characters, their movements and the outcome. You can easily adapt it to your two armies fighting story. All you have to do is change the names, change the location, add something that could have happened, but didn’t, even change the outcome if you like, and you have a new story. A story based on historical facts. You can use history to write your story. Just remember, history doesn’t write itself.

The world is full of historical events. If you are struggling with your story idea, see if it fits into a historical event, or two or three. Pull from here, pull from there and pretty soon, you’ll have an original story. Be creative, you’re a writer, after all, not a marketing strategist.

* * *

What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what I’m reading. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read. I’m continuing to read Karol Wojtyla’s Love and Responsibility. The book lays the groundwork for his Theology of the Body. I encourage you to read a variety of topics.

Living is getting in the way of my writing. I have a desk job and work four ten-hour days. I don’t see it as a high-stress job, but the pace is maddening. The mental fatigue drains my physical energy. I worked nearly six hours of overtime on Friday, which prevented me from working on my manuscript as normal. I continue to work on it, but spending almost fourteen hours in front of a computer screen can really wear you out. At least it does me. It is a great job for me, and I do enjoy the work I do. My boss is supportive and is working diligently at getting more help. I just have to preserve until that help arrives. Any good thoughts you can spare, I would appreciate them.

I want to return to research in this blog post. My story takes place, primarily at a brothel in the swamps of Louisiana. It’s been over two years since I visited Pierre Part, and that’s probably the closest I’ve come to experiencing a swamp. My critique group says I describe the swamp just fine. The point I want to make is this: just because my story takes place in the Louisiana swamp, I can go to another swamp and get almost the same experience needed for my story. A swamp is a swamp is a swamp. If your story takes place in a forest in Maine and you live in Oregon, you don’t necessarily have to travel to Maine to get the full effect of the forest. Wind blowing through trees, sounds of leaves crumpling under your foot sound pretty much the same in any forest. Go to a forest in Oregon, get the sights, sounds and smells that you need and write on.

The only drawback I see to this type of research is if there is something that you can only experience in one location, and you’re trying to replicate the uniqueness elsewhere. That won’t work. Maybe a good example would be trying to do research in the man-made caves under Louisville, Kentucky and passing it off as what happens in Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. That won’t work.

I hope you see the point I’m trying to make. If your story takes place in Sherwood Forest in jolly ole England, but you can’t afford the trip, go to a nearby forest to get the sounds and feel necessary to describe the woods in your story. Be creative with your research, but above all be accurate. There is always an economical way to get the information you need. You just have to be creative sometimes. You’re a writer, after all, it’s what you do. And remember, history doesn’t write itself.

* * *

What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what I’m reading. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read. I’m continuing to read Karol Wojtyla’s Love and Responsibility. The book lays the groundwork for his Theology of the Body. I encourage you to read a variety of topics.

I’ve been working on revising my manuscript since late March of this year. I have twelve chapters left. I’ve given myself a goal of revising those twelve chapters by the end of the month. I do believe I can do this. The last chapter involves quite a bit of re-writing as my critique group didn’t like my original ending. Writing a book in your spare time takes quite a while. I hope my hard work is rewarded later with a publishing contract.

I do have an idea to boost my social media presence. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to implement it until after I attend the Ozark Creative Writer’s Conference in Eureka Springs, Arkansas in early October. I submitted part of the back story of one of my characters for one of their contests. Their rules state that all submissions cannot be published at the time of the conference. After the conference, I’ll share the back story with you. Thank you for your patience.

There’s probably a lot more to say, but I’m drawing a blank. It’s been a long week. I’ll sign off here and go root for team USA in the Olympics. I may get inspired. After all, history doesn’t write itself.

* * *

What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what I’m reading. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read. Karol Wojtyla’s Love and Responsibility arrived on Wednesday of this week. I’ll be reading this book for several weeks. The subject material is dense and takes a while to understand what the future pope is saying. I encourage you to read a variety of topics.

Last weekend, I checked the authors.me website to see how the submission process was going at Pandamoon Publishing. I sent the first draft of my story to them at the end of May. I saw they declined to publish my story on July 25. I wasn’t distraught about this, but I do want to share my feelings.

Below is part of the email stating the decision to decline publishing my story. The publisher at Pandamoon Publishing wrote the email.

After lengthy consideration by myself and our team, we must pass on the opportunity to publish your story.

I read this as more than just a slush pile intern read my manuscript. Several people at Pandamoon read my story. They liked the premise of my story. Things that I believe contributed to the declination include:

• The mistakes that inevitably filled the first draft that I sent them
• The amount of adult language I use
• The sex scenes in my manuscript

There may be other reasons, but I’m comfortable with these reasons. The biggest joy for me was that several people read my story and considered publishing it. My plan for August is to finish the revisions and prepare the manuscript to be sent out again in September and October.

So, I may not get published this year, but 2017 has 365 days it. Surely I can hit one of those days.

* * *

What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what I’m reading. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read. I finished Humanae Vitae: Of Human Life by Pope Paul VI. It’s only eleven pages but contains the building blocks that form the basis for St. Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. I also read K. K. Allen’s short story Soaring. My review is on Good Reads. I’m waiting for Karol Wojtyla’s Love and Responsibility to be delivered. I encourage you to read a variety of topics.