Saturday, April 28, 2012

Sweet Saturday Samples: Another Bit from Spinster's Folly

Welcome back to Sweet Saturday Samples! Let's take a look at the male main character of Spinster's Folly, Bill Henry.
~~~

He's gone and done it, Bill Henry thought as he saddled his horse the next morning. Defied his pa and gone off. He's got more gumption than I thought he did.

Bill swung into the saddle, gathered the reins, and clucked to his mount, a frisky dun mustang, one of the horses Rod Owen had bought in Texas. The animal frog-jumped and bucked for a few minutes, but Bill stuck tight and waited out the horse's temper tantrum. The dun would settle down soon and carry him through the morning without further complaint.

Yes, James Owen had sand*, he had to give him that. Who else around here was willing to go toe-to-toe and have it out with Rod Owen? Nobody he knew, including himself right now. Not that Bill thought himself a coward. No, he simply didn't want to leave Colorado Territory and return to Texas just yet. He'd given his word that he'd teach the Owens all the tricks to handling longhorn cattle and the business of selling them. He'd agreed to light here at least that long. Even though he was without kin in this place, it suited him fine to be in the employ of the older man, there being no work just now at home.

Besides which, if I head back now, I'll never see Miss Marie again.

There it was, finally, the hitherto unspoken reason for staying, even though the Owen boys were catching on to every cattle-handling trick he'd taught them faster than he'd supposed it would happen. I don't want to leave here without her.

Bill let out a gusty breath. Now the big bear was flushed into the open, so to speak, and he had to face it or turn tail and run.
~~~

Thank you for visiting. Come back every Saturday for more samples. Now, use this list to go to other blogs for more Sweet Saturday Samples. I know the authors enjoy comments as much as I do, so don't be shy.

*The word sand was used in past years as part of the expression "sand in his craw" or "sand in his gizzard," referring to the small stones that birds swallow to help grind their food. It is used in the same sense as "grit," meaning a person who has strength of character, pluck, stamina, resolve, courage, and toughness.  That, in turn, refers to the toughness of grit or gritstone, the material used to make the stones of a corn mill. Bill's usage is authentic, showing his respect for James Owen in standing up to his father.

Friday, April 27, 2012

I wrote a new scene today

No, I'm not going to post this one or I'll lose my flow. I just wanted to let y'all know I'm writing and not sluffing off.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Yes, I'm back at work on the Novel!

This post over at Author Jennifer Griffith's website got me back to working on my novel, Spinster's Folly, this week. Thank you so much, Jen!

What I've been doing is printing out each scene description on a small slip of paper. Wait. I have to explain that.

My fabulous writing software, yWriter5 (be sure to explore the entire software inventory when you go over there), lets me print out the descriptions of each scene on "Scene Cards" of a size I specify.

I could have used colored card stock during the printing, but since I'm using more than one card color for my project, that is, one colored card per character who has the viewpoint in the scene, I just printed the information on plain white sheets of paper. Then I cut the "scenes cards" into oblongs and affixed them to colored index cards: pink for Marie, orange for Bill, white for C.G., yellow for Rod, and green for Julia.

Now that I've accomplished that, you're probably asking "Why?"

I am a very visual person. I also need to get off the computer once in a while and "see" the larger picture laid out on my wall or floor, as the case may be.

There are gaps in my narrative flow, and I need to fill them in. Having one card for each scene helps me see what information or event I've covered. Since the visual cue of the colored index card tells me whose viewpoint is "seeing" the scene, I can also check for character balance.

The first five chapters show a preponderance of Marie's viewpoint.
Yes, it's Marie Owen's story, but there IS a supporting cast of characters, and I need them to do their job effectively; sometimes, out of Marie's sight. If I'm seeing an overabundance of pink cards laid out on my floor in any one chapter or section of the novel, I know there are other scenes to be written. Maybe. That depends on if material seen only from the viewpoint of that other character is missing. I won't necessarily add a scene for another character just because his or her viewpoint is missing from a chapter. The job of each scene is to advance the story.

So, that's what I've been doing yesterday and today, checking my scene structure visually. This step is an important one, even for a mostly pantser-writing-style novelist.

In other news, I've changed a character's name. The man formerly called C. G. Alderson or C. G. Atherton, is now named C. G. Thorne. And that's final.

I think.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

No Sweet Saturday Sample today

I thought January and February would be the busiest months of the year for me. I was wrong. April has been excessively busy. Well, there's taxes to figure out and file, plus I've been training folks to take my place in some things I've been doing for the last twenty years, and that has taken time. Therefore, I didn't sign up this week to put up a sample (which I did last week, thinking I would get a new sample posted, but didn't).

My apologies all around. I anticipate that life will eventually return to its normal rhythm. Someday soon! I sincerely hope so.

Saturday, April 07, 2012

Sweet Saturday Samples: More from Spinster's Folly

Welcome back to Sweet Saturday Samples! Let's take a look at an exchange between Rod Owen and a neighbor, Chester Bates.
~~~

Although Chester Bates was obviously surprised to see a dozen cows being driven into his door yard several weeks before he'd planned for them to arrive, Marie thought he masked it well when he greeted Rod Owen the next day.

"They look hale and hearty," Mr. Bates said, gesturing to the beeves.

"The pick of the lot," Rod answered.

"You're early," said Mr. Bates, holding the headpiece of Rod's horse as he looked up at him.

"I needed to see Ed Morgan right away. No sense makin' two trips when one will do."

Mr. Bates nodded slowly. "You may as well 'light, then. Rest your bones. Let your boys drive the beeves into the pen." He counted the crew members with a glance, his eyes widening when he saw Marie. "You brought the girl?"

"I have business that concerns her." Rod dismounted.

Mr. Bates's brow creased. "Are you brokering another marriage?"

Marie thought she would die as her father nodded. She hoped he would not begin to talk about her while she was still in earshot. She slipped off Bess and led her toward a tie post.
~~~

Thank you for visiting. Come back every Saturday for more samples. Now, use this list to go to other blogs for more Sweet Saturday Samples. I know the authors enjoy comments as much as I do, so don't be shy.
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