All Things Bright & Shiny Tell a Story

The Very, Very Basics of Writing Anything*

There are three fundamental elements of every piece of written work—including film, non-fiction and grocery lists.

These three elements must be present or there is no point in proceeding.

In non-fiction, the three elements forming the basics of a book are:

1. Idea – the Topic
2. Reason – Information or Add Information
3. Goal – to Educate or Refute Previous Thinking

Before my publisher, Honno, agreed to consider Parachutes & Petticoats, which I edited with the renown feminist historian, Deirdre Beddoe, we had to convince the board of directors that 1) the Topic, Welsh women’s experiences during World War II, was worth the effort; 2) we could find enough material to make a full volume of women’s autobiographical memoirs; 3) the information we gathered, written by the women themselves, was of sufficient interest and relevance to warrant the expenditure, effort, and examination required to bring a collection of essays by unknown women to fruition.

The resulting request for autobiographical essays brought in hundreds of submissions from women in Wales whose experiences had never been heard. The book was published in 1992, reprinted in 1994 and 2003, with a fourth reprint in a smaller format with minor editorial additions appeared in 2010. The essays that we couldn’t include in the volume were submitted to the National Library of Wales (Llyfrgell Genedleithol Cymru) to become a part of the national archive. Next year, 2017, will mark Parachutes & Petticoats’ 25^th anniversary. Though neither edition is still in print, the book is still available at bookstores and online book retailers.

For fiction (of any kind, in any genre, in any medium) they are:

1. Protagonist – the Hero
2. Antagonist – the Villain
3. Purpose – the Goal

For example, in my most recent published novel, Nights Before: The Novel (originally published as a novel in six installments), the above structure works like this:

1. Protagonist – Jocelyn Tavers
2. Antagonist – Jason, her ex-boyfriend
3. Jocelyn’s Goal – to find a replacement boyfriend before the end of the year

Those three elements will not, in themselves, make a full sized story, let alone a full length novel but without them, there’s no beginning, middle or end. Jason also needs a goal to combat Jocelyn’s efforts to reach her goal. And Jocelyn needs a lot more than a boyfriend to make the essentially girl-meets-boy, girl-loses-boy, girl-finds-new-boy story something more than just that.

Though Nights Before is a romantic comedy, there had to be some depth to the story and that called for a secondary goal. This is usually something hidden, even from the protagonist—a long buried pain that has left a wound that will not heal without more pain. Enter an absent parent or two, conflicting potential new boyfriends, torn stockings and a lobster feast, a demanding employer, a car accident and abandonment issues.

With my upcoming American historical novel, Pavane for Miss Marcher, the three elements are shared between the Hero and Heroine, both of whom have Goals and Antagonists out to get them:

1. Protagonists: Cathryn Marcher / Rupert Smith
2. Antagonists: Susan Miller / Jericho Colson
3. Goals/Conflicts: Staying in Maine / Moving to Wyoming

Both Cathryn and Rupert have Deuteragonist supporters who get in the way for the best reasons and enemies who get in the way for the worst reasons.

The story is set in Maine five years after the end of the American Civil War and I am currently researching and reading on both sides of this terrible conflict in our history. Keeping faith with our nation’s past has complicated the process, especially with such an emotive background that plays an enormous part in our lives 151 years after the conflict came to an end.

With family members from the southern states and a strong New England heritage complicates the story on a personal level as well but I believe a writer’s duty is to write the story that comes from their own heart, regardless of possible consequences. As my mother always said, "Be true to yourself."

Pavane for Miss Marcher is scheduled for publication in 2017. 

*These insights were first presented on Everwriting.WordPress.com

"Where do you get your ideas?"

As we open the new year, every writer I know is making resolutions about the work for the coming season and every would-be writer is dreaming and hoping, wondering how to make the dream happen. Here's one way to get from "I wish" to "I will."

One of the common questions asked in any author interview is "Where do you get your ideas?" Most writers I know have trouble answering this one since, for us, the ideas are everywhere. Life is a constant Niagara Falls flow of ideas. For those of us who think this way, it's odd to hear people ask the question. Often we want to answer, "Don't you get ideas too?"

This makes me think of Son #5. He is a gifted musician, and by "gifted," I mean he truly got music as a gift. It was born in him--which makes Hubby and me wonder what throwback ancestor left that gene lying around. Son 5 learned to play guitar when he was barely a teen. By the time he was old enough for after-school employment, he worked in a music store where he could pick up and play any stringed instrument they had. Just. Like. That. He has since taught himself piano.

When we remarked on his marvelous ability, he usually shined us on with, "It's easy. Anyone can do it." It has taken him time to realize that no, not everyone can do it. Authors are the same way with ideas:  Coming up with ideas is so natural to us that it feels like anyone can do it.

In fact, with a little training, almost anyone can do it. It requires the exercise of imagination, but it's not that hard. If you feel imagination-challenged, just ask, "What if?" Here's how it works for me:

• On a TV program, I heard the story of 17-year-old Julianne Koepcke who, in 1971, was the only survivor of a plane crash in the Venezuelan rain forest. After a two-mile fall, she hiked out alone. Her story percolated in the back of my mind until one day I asked, "What if a modern teen survived a similar accident, but in the Bolivian part of the rain forest where I've been? And what if she was not alone, but had a companion who required her care?" This idea was the genesis for my newest manuscript, an adventure called RESCUE.
• A friend chatted about a woman who claims to see ghosts. I thought, "What if a teen who pretended to psychic abilities was actually visited by the spirit of a murdered girl?" That grew into my first mystery story, MAGGIE RISING: Adventures of a Part-Time Psychic.
• After hearing friends talk about high school reunions, I wondered, "What if a young woman returned to the town where she attended high school only to find that her buddy had grown into a very attractive, interesting man?" It was hardly a new thought, but as the bits and details began filling in, it grew into the first of nine romances set in Rainbow Rock, Arizona. Each of the eight that followed began when I picked a secondary character from a previous book and wondered who would be attractive to that person and how they might meet.
• While watching a movie remake of Shakespeare's "Hamlet," I suddenly identified with his mother and wondered, "What if she told her own story? Would it sound different?" The result was my one-woman play, GERTRUDE.

Other authors I know have written stories after hearing of a racially-motivated murder and wondering, "What if it happened to my child?" or watching a documentary about Adolf Eichmann and thinking, "What if he lived among us today?" A friend watched a teenaged couple telling their families about the future they planned and imagined what might happen in a similar couple if one of them was diagnosed with a disfiguring illness. The same process, with variations, has led to the creation of just about every fictional story we've ever heard, seen, or read.

If one of your New Year's Resolutions is to improve creativity, here's one possibility. To let your own imagination work as most fiction writers do, just observe what's happening around you and ask, "What if?" Now imagine Dr. Seuss saying, "Oh, the places you'll go!" May we all enjoy the journey.

Susan Aylworth is the author of 14 novels, all available as e-books and a 15th which is now in production. She loves her northern California home which she shares with her husband of 46 years and the two spoiled cats they serve. When she can't be with her seven children, seven great kids-in-law, and 25 grandbabies, she loves hanging with her fictional offspring, the children of her mind. She also loves hearing from readers. Visit her website at www.susanaylworth.com or find her @SusanAylworth, at .facebook.com/Susan.Aylworth.Author, or on Pinterest.

Getting To Know Us With Kay Finch

Yes, we all have bios on this website, but there is so much MORE to know about our Classic and Cozy bloggers. So the 2nd Friday of each month is dedicated to getting to know us better. This month I'd like to introduce you to Kay Finch.

Okay, inquiring minds want to know…why a writer? Certainly not for the fame and fortune…or maybe it is?
KAY:  No…laughing…it’s not for the fame and fortune.  Writers like me enjoy sitting in a room alone with a computer and are not chasing fame or fortune.  I would accept fortune gladly, but that’s not likely to happen.  I don’t remember making a conscious decision to be a writer – I just am.

When did you first put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) to create your classic and cozy characters?
KAY:  I started writing as a little girl sitting in my room in a Pennsylvania farmhouse. I always wrote mysteries, but I kept them to myself. My mom didn’t even know I’d written back then until my first book was published in 2003 and she read about it in an interview.

Do you have a set writing schedule?
KAY:  No, I have to write whenever I find myself with a bit of free time.  Due to my full-time law firm job, I have to limit writing to evenings, weekends, and my lunch hour.

Is there a certain routine, food/drink, or location that summons forth the muses for you?
KAY:  I drink a LOT of coffee when I’m writing.  I don’t know whether that drink “summons forth the muses” but it keeps me alert enough to keep the story moving forward.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
KAY:  I enjoy inviting the grandkids to come and spend the night with us. The only problem with that is now that the older ones have learned to read they have homed in on my bookshelves.  They ask “Grandma Kay, why do all of your books have “kill” and “murder” in the title?”  Talk about uncomfortable.

I imagine you’ve been reading all of your life (all great writers have.)  What was your favorite book as a child?
KAY:  All of the Nancy Drew books.  I can’t single one out.  From the beginning, I loved mysteries.

Do you re-read books?  If so, which one have you re-read the most?
KAY:  I don’t usually reread books – not because there aren’t books I’d love to reread but simply because there are too many books out there that I want to read. I do remember rereading The Poet and The Concrete Blonde, both by Michael Connelly.  Now that you mention this, I’d love to reread his book, Void Moon, too. 

But there’s more to life than reading, writing (and arithmetic)…what is your most memorable adventure in your life?
KAY: I’m only the adventurous sort in the pages of my fiction, but going way back to high school I have one memory that felt adventurous.  We had a class trip to Bermuda that began and ended in one day. A bus took us from our high school in rural Pennsylvania to Philadelphia in the wee hours of the morning to board our chartered flight. We flew to Bermuda, ate, shopped, and swam on the beach. Then we loaded back up and flew home the same day.  Is that crazy or what? I’m not sure what the school was thinking other than they didn’t want boys and girls going anywhere together overnight.

If you were on American Idol, what song would you sing to WOW! the judges? 
KAY:  Assuming that I could sing well, which I can’t, I would absolutely love to sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Or maybe Wind Beneath My Wings.  I’m indecisive, so it would take me forever to make such a big decision. 

What book(s) do you have coming out or what are you working on?

KAY:  My newest book, BLACK CAT CROSSING, first in the Bad Luck Cat series, came out on September 1.  I’m finishing up book two of the series, THE BLACK CAT KNOCKS ON WOOD, set to come out in June 2016.

Last question…movie rights…who’ll play your current main characters when Hollywood comes knocking on your door? 
KAY:  I’d have to find out if Karen Fairchild from the band Little Big Town can act as well as she sings, because she’s the person I picture as my protagonist, Sabrina Tate.  Sabrina’s love interest, the local game warden, could be played by Charles Esten from the TV show Nashville.

For a complete list of Kay Finch’s books click on over to her website www.kayfinch.com. You can also find her at Kay Finch Author on Facebook or Kfinchmysteries on Twitter.

7 Remarkable Sites to Find Writing Prompts

by Victoria M. Johnson

As writers of short stories, poems, journals, and novels, we can all use a boost getting started every once a while.  I've scoured the web to bring you websites with fresh prompts updated regularly.

1.  DIY MFA Writer Igniter

http://diymfa.com/writer-igniter

Click the shuffle button to get your randomly generated prompt, which includes a character, the situation, a prop, and an image for the setting.  Don't like what you get?  Just hit the "shuffle" button again.

2.  Prompt Inspiration

http://www.promptinspiration.com/

Several prompts each day in a variety of genres.  Each prompt starts with a cool factoid or literary birthday.

3.  createwritenow

http://www.createwritenow.com/journal-writing-prompts

Journal writing prompts.

4.  Poets & Writers Magazine

http://www.pw.org/writing-prompts-exercises

Three categories of prompts, including creative writing, poetry, and fiction prompts.

5.  writing prompts

http://writingprompts.tumblr.com/

Great images, quotes or scenarios, and a related prompt.

6.  Writing Forward

http://www.writingforward.com/category/writing-prompts/creative-writing-prompts

Five categories of writing prompts such as fiction prompts and poetry prompts.  Once you select a category, keep scrolling down to see all the posts.

7.  The Writer Magazine

http://www.writermag.com/writing-prompts/

Prompts from the editors of The Writer Magazine.

And here's a bonus:

http://www.pinterest.com/byvictoriaj/inspiration/

Visit my Pinterest "Inspiration" board. It includes fascinating images to spark your literary imagination.

Once you find the inspiration, all you have to do is start writing!  Do you know of any other sites with great writing prompts?  Let us know in the comments below. 

Victoria M. Johnson knew by the time she was ten that she wanted to be a writer.  She loves telling stories and she's happiest when creating new characters and new plots.  Avalon Books and Montlake Romance published Victoria's fiction debut, The Doctor’s Dilemma, (A 2012 Bookseller’s Best double finalist).  Her other fiction book is a collection of romance short stories titled, The Substitute Bride and a novella, Hot Hawaiian Christmas. She is also the writer and director of four short films and two micro documentaries.   Visit Victoria's website at http://VictoriaMJohnson.com for inspiration and tips and find her Amazon author page or connect with her on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.