Sample Saturday - New Project

I have so many ideas running around in my head that sometimes I am compelled to write parts of the bones of one idea or another down. Yesterday, May 3, 2017, marked the beginning of the writing for a piece of fiction (short story, novella, novel?) featuring a younger son of the Owen Family, Clayton, or Clay for short.

In truth, it's not the first I've thought of what to do with the idea of having one of the Owens go to California to start a horse ranch. Two or three years ago, I wrote a short story in which just such a place is mentioned. That piece was publishing in--of all places--an anthology of boxing stories. I plan to publish it as a stand-alone story later this year.

As I mulled over how to place some Owen family members on the ranch, at first I thought it would be a continuation of James's story. We all know how much he loves working with horses. Then, since Rulon's son, Roddy, popped up in the final moments of the aforementioned short story, with the ranch on his lips, I thought it would be Rulon who moved to California.

But no.

It is someone else's turn.

I have figured out the timeline and know a few things that must happen to establish that ranch. And how Roddy gets there. Now the story must stand in line for its turn to be written. I have two or three other pieces of fiction that must be completed first.

But I will share some of what I wrote yesterday. Behold! An Adventure with Clay Owen (and that most certainly is not the title!).

--Copyright Marsha Ward--

Clayton Owen paced the floor of the rustic cabin. One yellow pine board squeaked under his feet each time he trod upon it. Pa needed to get another nail in that one. He drew up, facing the small window with the prairie view and leaned heavily on the sill. The sun had slipped behind the mountain to his back, but the light persisted still.

He turned. Pa sat rigidly in his chair, white knuckles gripping the wooden arms. Ma knitted in her chair, the click of her needles as she fashioned the blue wool into a garment now the only sound above Clay's harsh breathing. Her eyes were on her work. She would not intervene.

"I want to learn the skill. It's only two years."

"You're able enough at the forge. You don't need to apprentice to the blacksmith."

"Horseshoes! I can make horseshoes. I need to know more, Pa."

"How can I spare you for two years? Rulon and Carl are all I've got to help me."

Clay approached his father and knelt before the chair. He laid his hands on the backs of his father's. "You have Bertie. You have Henry and the rest of the hands. You can get by without me for two years."

--Copyright Marsha Ward--

I hope you enjoyed this little Sample. Stay tuned for further bits and pieces as I get back to writing fiction.

Advice for Writers: Write the Book

By Marsha Ward @MarshaWard

The first step to getting a book published is to write it. Here's an encouraging excerpt about that from my new book for writers, The Checklist: Indie Publishing My Way.

The essential step in publishing a book is writing it. Yeah. That. This step will take however long it does, but the sooner you develop habits that help you move forward—without an internal editor on your shoulder to make you write, rewrite, polish, and re-polish Chapter 1—the better. It doesn't matter whether or not you own the most popular writer's software out there, or if you write your 1st draft using Word, Open Office, Pages, or Notepad. The point is to push through and finish the draft, because you can't publish a book that isn't finished.

On my checklist, I allow two to three months for writing. Sometimes I hit it, and sometimes I don't, Because Life. Happens. Did I mention that I have a condition known as ADHD? That's Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. A great many creative people—or Creatives, for short—suffer from this malady in its various forms. The condition is difficult to deal with, but all challenges can be overcome (or so I keep telling myself).

Here's a Truth that you must remember: every writer writes differently. In other words, there is no One True Way to write. Don't let anyone fool you into thinking that their method for writing is the only method of writing.

The corollary to the Truth is that every writer may write each book differently. Okay, I don't want to scare you or introduce unneeded stress into your life, so I won't say much more about that. Just realize that you may need to write a second book using a different method. No stressing about it, okay? Just get this book finished.

Writers write using methods that string along a spectrum that ranges from Plotter at one end to Pantser at the other. Where you may fall on this spectrum (and it probably will shift from time to time and book to book) depends on how your brain is wired. Plotters feel a compulsion to know everything that will happen in a book, so they plot it out, using outlines of varying degrees of exactitude and comprehensiveness. Pantsers (the name comes from the term "writing-by-the-seat-of-your-pants") are also called organic or discovery writers. They want to write the story and discover what happens as their fingers work on the keyboard. You'd be surprised how many top authors are Pantsers. Really surprised.

Pantsers often are stymied by complete outlines. For example, if I write so little as a synopsis of a book, my brain says, "Well, look there, you've written the story. You don't need me anymore," and it shuts down and refuses to cooperate with me in writing a first draft.

There is so much danger in this state of affairs that I cannot plot out a book. I can only figure out who the main character is, a vague estimate of where the book could end, and maybe a couple or three things I hope will happen along the way. I usually know when and where the story will be set, and maybe what the "inciting incident" or "change in the character's life" is. Beyond that, I have to let my mind direct my fingers when I write.

The process is really kind of cool.

That doesn't mean it's your process. It's mine. And it can change. Slightly.

Different books I've written have called for different degrees of foreknowledge, so I have ranged a bit from the Pantser end toward the Plotter end, but never so much that my brain turned off.

Go with what works for you in writing your book, but do go forward.

The Checklist: Indie Publishing My Way is now available for only $4.99 on the sites of all major ebook vendors:

Kindle | NOOK | Kobo | Apple iBooks | Smashwords 

Coming soon in Print!

Sample Saturday is Back

I've been dealing with winter storms and power outages and 18-20 inches of snow piled up around my place, so I am treating myself to a bit of diversion by bringing back Saturday Sample today.

Here's a tidbit from a piece I'm working on that I hope to publish later this year.

Julia Helm wiped the streaming tears off her cheeks, then climbed up onto the wooden spring seat of the farm wagon weathered almost white. Jonathan's firm hand on her elbow steadied her some, but the overwhelming sadness that had brought the tears remained. She looked at the stone house, the wooden barn with its wide doors, the early spring fields smelling of molding corn stalks. Why this sadness? I'll see it all again in two months.
She pulled her brown wool cloak more tightly around herself and wrenched her gaze from the house. Couldn't she just tell Jonathan she had changed her mind? Tell her brother to unhitch the team of gray horses while she ran back inside the house and into her small, cozy room to curl up in the comfort of Papa's upholstered chair? Cousin Camilla didn't need her help to prepare for her wedding. Virginia was so far away. The trip would take two weeks! Two weeks of travel behind the rumps of the horses, being jostled and jolted until her young bones couldn't stand another yard, let alone another mile. And all for what? Camilla's gratitude? The chance to see Aunt Susannah again?

The wagon groaned and creaked as Jonathan climbed into the wagon seat on the other side, pausing before he lifted the leather lines to lean over and tuck a brown woolen blanket under her far knee. "Mind you tell me if you get cold," he said, and grinned at her like a crazy man, his breath clouding around his ruddy face underneath his knitted cap.
~~~

What do you think? Does it engage your interest? Tell me if you know who the characters are.

Until the next time, stay warm and healthy!

Behind the Scenes: Special Project Coming

Last month, I spent a lot of time thinking about my published work and all the future stories I have to tell. I wanted to organize the work into easily identifiable categories. That's when I decided that The Owen Family Saga was complete.

Yes, I have many more stories to write about members of the Owen Family, but as I said back on August 9, there is going to be a gap of several years in the chronology before another story begins.

So I called a halt, capping the series at the five existing novels, and then went a giant step farther and changed the suggested reading order. Since I made those decisions, I've been working on a special project. I'll tell you more on Monday, when I do a Cover Reveal. See you then!

Slow Blogging

by Marsha Ward @MarshaWard

Oh. That's not a Sample Saturday headline.

You're correct. I'm experiencing Blogging Slowdown. That's a state where I feel guilty if the Sample for Saturday doesn't get written and posted every week, but I'm in over my head and about to drown.

I don't like that heap of guilt, and neither does my body. I have a sneaking suspicion that some of the guilt and stress I've been feeling lately is at least partially responsible for the vertigo I'm battling. Of necessity, I have to slow down. Literally! I'm using a cane much of the time (which I hate, because it makes me feel old), but the alternative is pitching over and hitting the floor...or a wall...or a pile of stuff. That's not an especially pleasant thought, so I'm resigned to using the dumb thing as often as is necessary to keep myself upright while walking.

There are a lot of ideas for future works in my brain (except I've now written most of those ideas down, which is a very good thing, because it means I can let them drain out of my head). But if I focus on blogging every week instead of writing those stories, they might not get told before my expiration date. That frightens me more than not putting up a blog post every week.

Therefore, I'm going to become an adherent of Anne R. Allen's Slow Blogging philosophy, and will blog here occasionally--without guilt--probably two or three times a month. That means I can no longer promise a regular Sample Saturday--although I adore the concept.

Simply subscribe to my blog over there on the side, and you'll get some sort of alert that I've posted something again, preferably something worth your time to come check out.

I'll also try to post an advisory that I've blogged on my Facebook Author Page, or on my Profile. I'm sorry I'm so vague-sounding. I continue with the condition of ADHD. It's amazing that I get anything at all accomplished each day!

So, for the foreseeable future, that's the Plan. Thank you for being a loyal blog reader. Now go read a book!