Tuesdays with Story

March 31, 2011
Writer’s Mail
by Carol Hornung

Quote of the Day. . .

“Writing well means never having to say, ‘I guess you had to be there.’” – Jef Mallett, creator of the comic strip Frazz, 07-29-07

Fifth Tuesday . . .
And the winner is Andrea Kirchman for her writing challenge story, “The Interview”.

Said judge and Madison College creative writing instructor John Galligan, Andrea’s story was the best of the best because of the dramatic tension she built into it, that she had done it in the fewest words. “We readers are looking for tension and conflict all the time,” he said. “In this one, both characters have a dramatic need. And what a great first line: The first thing I saw, when Katie Tinder took the bag off my head, was her smile.”

Fourteen writers submitted pieces. The stories John selected for runner-up honors are “Bears in Space: Interview with Roz”, Greg Spry; “The Match of the Century: Knightmare vs The Author”, Aaron Boehm; “Meet You on the Mountain”, John Schneller; “Interview with a Monster”, Clayton Gill; and “The Interview”, Cathy Riddle.

For Andrea’s win, she will receive a critique of the first 50 pages of her novel from John and dinner on the town for four with John. Her challenge is printed below. To read all of the writing challenges, click here: https://tuesdayswithstory.com/writing-contest-3292011/

Plan now to be a part of our next Fifth Tuesday! It’s May 31. Second-and-fourth group hosts.

Andrea Kirchman’s winning Writing Challenge:

The interview
Andrea Kirchman, second-and-fourth

The first thing I saw, when Katie Tinder took the bag off my head, was her smile.
“You wanted to interview me?” she asked.
She dropped the bag on the floor and took a seat across the table. I looked down and saw an elaborate duct tape spider web cris-crossing my chest and biceps. I glared at her. She laughed and leaned her chair back against the wall. Propping her dirty cowboy boots on the edge of the table, she swept her right hand towards me. “Please, begin.”
My mind was racing. I was furious with how she had tricked me, but I also knew that any interview was going to be on her terms.
“Do you hit everyone on the head who wants to talk to you or is that just an honor reserved especially for me?” I asked.
Her blue eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms. “Well, you’re the first one that’s lived. Why don’t we wait and see?”
I studied her, sitting there. Short-cropped russet curls made a reddish halo shine around her head. The devil’s angel. “Why are you after Elias Tichnor? What did he do to you?”
Her eyes widened, and she lowered her feet and stood up. She walked over to me, and spat in my face.
“Never! Never say his name to me or I will slit your throat and let the rats chew out your eyeballs!” She turned and slammed her fists against the table before stalking away and standing with her back to me, staring out the window.
I rubbed my wet cheek against my shoulder and decided to push in a different direction. “Where is Michael Gaetan?”
Her shoulders drooped as she leaned her forehead against the windowpane.
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “I can’t find him.”
She turned and looked at me. Standing there in her brown leather jacket and blue jeans, she appeared much younger than her purported thirty-five years. Her fingers reached up to fondle the slender gold chain around her neck.
“It’s my turn to ask you a question,” she said, “I need to know what you know about the old Walking Iron Munitions plant.”
I wasn’t expecting that. She had connected Tichnor to the munitions factory.
I admitted that I didn’t know much and told her the little I did know. How it was a sprawling industrial munitions factory until the 1970s and how now its 400 acres of empty buildings sat decaying while the government decided who was going to be responsible for its cleanup.
“Why?” I asked. “Do you think they’re holding Michael there?”
She didn’t answer, but pulled a knife from her boot and laid it on the table. Leaning in, she whispered into my ear, “Interview’s over.”

Who’s up next . . .
April 5: Pat Edwards (poems), Leah Wilbur (chapter 2, Narnia Noir), Clayton Gill (chapter 17, Fishing Derby), Randy Haselow (chapter, Hona and the Dragon), Millie Mader (chapter 25, Life on Hold), and Greg Spry (chapter 5, Beyond Cloud Nine).

April 12: Terry Hoffman (chapter, The Tome), Jack Freiburger (chapter, Path to Bray’s Head), Carol Hornung (scene, Sapphire Lodge), Holly Bonnicksen-Jones (chapter, Coming Up for Air), Leah Wilbur (chapter, Fog-gotten), and Kim Simmons, (chapter, City of Winter).

April 19: Pat Edwards (poems), Kime Heller-Neal (???), Judith McNeil (???), John Schneller (chapter, Final Stronghold), Kim Simmons (chapter 62, City of Summer), and Jerry Peterson (chapter 11, Thou Shalt Not Murder).

April 26: Randy Haselow (chapter, Hona and the Dragon).

Editors Wanted!!!
Think about what Tuesdays With Story has given to you – feedback, experience, camaraderie. The more you contribute, the more you get out of it.

Now’s your chance to give back! Be the Writer’s Mail newsletter editor. It’s just four weeks at a time, lots of folks supply information and articles for you to use, and all you have to do is put it all together!

Let’s try to fill out the year! Here’s the schedule right now:

April – Jen
May – Kim
June – ?
July – ?
August – Clayton
Sept – ?
October – ?
November – ?
December – Clayton

Since Jen will be taking the helm in April, let her know which month you can take on the role of editor.

From one of our fellow writers . . . Spike Pedersen:
Spike Pedersen: “I will be attending the writers conference [Writers Institute] April 8-10 that the UW is putting on. Anyone else going? I have finished the final draft of my novel, and am working up query letters and test driving smoking pipes and tweed vests.”

Finding balance . . .
Blogger Nathan Bransford used to be a literary agent. He was driven and it was destroying his life: There’s a joke at every college that you can study, sleep, and have a social life, but only two out of three. And when you’re out in the real world and trying to build a career at whatever you’re doing, that may as well be two out of three of work, sleep, and a social life. And yet we writers with day jobs are trying to cram a hugely time-consuming fourth task in there: writing. There’s never enough time.

These past few years I was on a treadmill that I know many writers can relate to. If it wasn’t working, writing, blogging, or watching the occasional TV show or basketball game at the end of the night, chances are I wasn’t doing it. I lived for the vacations I took every six months or so – those were my breaks.

The time I took for doing purely fun things slipped away, and the day when I was going to slow down kept receding in the distance. It was a bit of an unsustainable course. Now, I didn’t go Britney Spears and shave my head or anything like that, but something had to give, which is partly why I craved a fresh start and a new challenge in a new career. I knew I had to find a different balance.

This all came to a head the past few months. I was starting a new job as I was trying to finish up WONDERBAR #2 (which I’m now editing), starting WONDERBAR #3, spending time with family around the holidays, dealing with a sick dog who wasn’t sleeping through the night (he’s fine now), and other assorted massively time consuming travails.

Read the whole post at http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2011/03/how-to-find-balance.html

How to Stay Motivated With Your Writing
by Lee Masterson

No matter what job you do, everyone has moments where motivation dries up. Writing is exactly the same. While your story is new, it’s fresh and exciting and you’re fired up ready to tackle the plot twists and character creations.

About a third of the way into your book, the story isn’t new any more and the writing has become just another chore to get through. It’s at this point that many writers give up and go off in search of that fresh, exciting feel of a different story to write.

What many of these writers forget is that writing is a job, just like any other. Admittedly it’s a fun, challenging, rewarding job – but never make the mistake of thinking that it’s too far removed from what you do during your day job.

Professional writers and novelists know this. They treat their love of writing as a viable business and they plan ways to keep the creative juices flowing even on days where inspiration might be running low.

So how do you keep your motivation levels high?

Read More

So many writers feel as though they can’t read books by other writers while they’re creating their own masterpiece. They don’t want the distraction creeping in to prey on their confidence levels.

The point of reading a lot of different books by various writers is that you’ll learn to understand how to spot a lemon at 20 paces. You’ll begin to notice dialogue that doesn’t sound like real speech and you’ll spot plot-holes large enough to drive a car through.

By reading more, you’re teaching your mind valuable writing skills. Gaining an understanding of what moved you or made you laugh goes a long way into improving your own skills. You’ll also keep your mind fresh as you learn to look at your own work with a different level of objectivity.

Change Genres

If you’re working on a novel-length work then your mind may decide it wants to take a break. Nothing you do seems to get the motivation flowing. Forcing yourself to continue working on a section of your novel when your mind is on strike simply won’t work.

Take a little time out from your main project and work on a short story in a completely different genre. Give your mind a way to relax and have a little fun. This break away from the pressure of writing a longer piece can often be a great way to bring back the motivation for your bigger project.

Mix It Up

Where is it written that you must write your novel from beginning to end in order? If you’re struggling with one section, skip ahead and write something else that interests you instead. You can always come back to the part you missed later.

Walk It Through

When you feel as though your motivation has deserted you, take time out and go for a walk. It doesn’t need to be a power-walk or a fitness related thing. Simply go outside away from your computer and walk around.

Let your mind roam and think about your story. Picture your characters getting through the plot and overcoming the obstacles you put before them.

Love What You’re Writing

There’s no bigger motivation killer than trying to write something that doesn’t inspire you. There are so many stories from writers all over the world who sat down to write a romance novel when they have no interest in romance because they thought they’d have a better chance of getting it published.

What those writers learned is that if you’re not enjoying what you’re doing you’ll either burn out or you’ll grow bored. Even worse, your lack of enjoyment will show through in your writing style and editors will notice that your novel isn’t as fresh or alive as it should be.

Last Words. . .
“There are three rules for writing. Unfortunately, no one can agree what they are.” – Somerset Maugham