When a Character Refuses to Speak

Sometimes a week sails on without so much as a whisper from a particular character. I don't look at this lack of communication as writer's block. It feels more like swimming in a pond of murky imagination. I depend on my characters to come alive and dictate their wants, needs, and feelings. Last week no dictation happened.


The personality of the particular character in question took shape during the writing of Charade. I didn't like her then, and I don't like her now. If you've read Charade, you might have guessed I'm writing about Carrie Storm. There's something blocking me from walking in her shoes.


What would her childhood have been like traveling with her mother, Dusky as she performed for a Wild West Extravaganza in the mid-1900s? Something in Carrie's formative years turned her into the reclusive, secretive woman she became. As a teen she lived through the Great Depression. Those lean years must have taken a mighty toll on a kid without a permanent place to call home.


Carrie lived in a Gypsy wagon perched on a railroad flat car, constantly being transported from venue to venue. Did she see the hungry looks on the faces of young men riding the rails trying to find work during the Dust Bowl years? Was she afraid of becoming like them, footloose and desperate? Who are you, Carrie? What makes you tick? Talk to me.

Today's Lesson: 

When sticky words flow like honey on a cold day, write them anyway!

Cheryl

 

International Women's Day

Today, I'm remembering two questions, and more clearly the one answer to them: Why would anyone choose to get a BA in women's studies? What are you going to do with it? The answer to those questions harkens back to the early 70s when I was a young, stay-at-home mom with three little ones.

Don't get me wrong. I adore my children, and today I adore my six grandchildren very much. Back in the 70s I was longing for something more, but I didn't know what. I was also heading for a break-up that would thrust me out of the house into a world I was ill-prepared to face. Finishing my bachelor's degree in women's studies in the year 2000 was a direct result of feeling duped by the American culture of the 50s.

After choosing English as a major in the late 60s, I wanted to study women when I returned to college, so I could write about them. Women have struggled, even before the days of the old west where many of my stories are set, to free themselves from the constraints of whatever society they have been born into. I write about strong women characters because I want women to be aware of the potential within themselves to excel wherever their passions lead.

I was passionate about my growing family, and I'm just as passionate about my skills as a writer of fiction. On this International Women's Day I'm pausing to think about the lives of the women who paved the way. I'm choosing to pursue my passion for writing, and especially today I'm remembering the countless women who sacrificed to open my eyes so I could discover that potential.

One answer to many questions: I often turn to this much quoted phrase written in 1927 by American writer Max Ehrmann:  "You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here."

Write On!
Cheryl

Pining Away in Pearl, Arizona

I'm writing chapter six of The Storm Women and finding myself drawn into the melancholy of Gabe Rafferty. He's such a love-sick guy, longing for a woman whose sights are set on the allure of the professional stage. This man continues to be so infatuated with Almanza that he's blinded to the love that's right in front of him. He's willing to wait forever if it means he can be with her for just a few weeks at a time between tours.


If you've read Charade, you already know about the ghost town of Pearl where Gabe Rafferty presided as sheriff back in the 1870s and 80s. Digging up his past and Almanza Storm's has been Star Lance's most recent occupation while she runs her antique store in Mineral City. Star, the protagonist of the Arrowstar series sells the historical fiction she writes as she attempts to make ends meet in this out-of-the way corner of Arizona.


I'm exploring as an actor might, the mind of the character, Star Lance. Looking at writing The Storm Women though Star's eyes is an exercise in fiction-writing times two! How would she construct dialogue, describe characters, and follow the threads of her research into the 19th Century? Since The Storm Women will be published under Star's authorship, I need to be true to her character.


I'm highly intrigued by what life might have been like for these women of the Storm family and others who peopled the western towns of Pearl, Tucson, Mineral City, Prescott, and the like during the late 19th Century. These women were more than brave, they must have had iron backbones to survive the times.


The west coast, of course, was settled first as pioneers came round by ship, but the interior was slow to civilization. Yet, there were actresses who managed theatrical touring companies, traveling on the back roads of Arizona through wild country rife with life-threatening dangers. What drove these amazing women? I hope you're anticipating the publication of The Storm Women so you can find out.


Today's pearl: I'm learning to "write on" even when I'm uncertain of the outcome. Words written when I'm wandering often surprise me at being just the right ones after all.


Write On!
Cheryl

Finding Out What You Never Guessed You Wanted to Know Circa 1879

Outlining The Storm Women from beginning to end has eliminated the "now what" question each time I complete a segment of the story. However, I've been tripped up when the places I've chosen for my traveling troupe of players to travel, in the outline, aren't even on the 1879 map! I gobbled up one whole writing day last week blundering around on the Internet trying to locate a town just a bit bigger than "two tents and a trading post!"


The following day, I stumbled upon Charleston, Arizona, with, among many other establishments, its fine hotel, four restaurants, a bakery, a post office, a lawyer's and a doctor's office, plus not one, but two livery stables. In 2014, Charleston and Millville, the town on the opposite bank of the San Pedro River, exist as ghost towns accessible only by shank's ponies. Things, and as I'm finding out, places do change mightily over the years, especially when the phrases "strike it rich" and "all played out" dictate the head count of a particular locale.


I may have spent time "blundering around" on the Internet, but in that process I discovered some treasure. The Arizona Citizen newspaper in Tucson, Arizona, from 1879 reports, on its front page, local stories of murder and mayhem, matters working their way through the territorial legislature, theater openings, and adverts for hotels, restaurants, and stores selling everything a miner needs to go prospecting right down to boots, shirts, pants and underwear.


Tucson evidently flourished toward the end of the 19th century, and the news stories of the day provide some rare candor and lively reading entertainment. It's worth joining www.newspapers.com just for the fun and fascination of reading some really, really old news!


I.O.U.: What if Apaches, highway robbers, deeply rutted roads and rattlers had kept our Old West ancestors from digging up fortunes in gold, silver, and copper?


Write On! Read On! Enchantment Awaits!
Cheryl

Stranded on the Informaton Highway

Back in the 19th century, it took eight days to travel by the Butterfield Overland Stage at 4.5 mph from San Francisco to Tucson, Arizona. Fascinating! The real "fun" of the trip came from sharing your coach with up to eight other passengers, knees interlaced, facing each other for lack of space. Couple this reality with traveling 24 hours a day, every day of the trip with only brief stops to change horses and get a drink of water or a bite of food.  Also, consider the reality of your stage traveling though a remote landscape inhabited by hostile natives and dangerous highwaymen (and at least one woman stage robber I read about).


Yes, I'm stuck researching facts about the old West, while writing The Storm Women. The good news being, I'm dogged about finding out what I need to know to make the story come alive. The bad news obviously comes down to enjoying the research so much it slows down the writing process. I offer you no cure for this phenomenon, but if you're a writer, you'll want to consider getting over, around or through this road block when creating your next novel. Please let me know if you've discovered a clever way to avoid this little writing-process mud bog.


That said, I've got to take a few words to say how much Internet research means to writers of the "great American novel." It's like finding gold under the walkway from your front door to the driveway. No more driving to the library and digging though piles of books, while making notes on little blue-lined white cards. No more shuffling through those unorganized slips of paper to find the exact quote you remembered writing down, but can't seem to sort out from all the rest. In my opinion, the Internet is better than chocolate pudding for breakfast!


Today's wisdom: Internet investigation feels like free-styling on the "information sidewalk" and grabbing some air over the road blocks.


Write On!
Cheryl

An Ending with a Twist

Saturday turned out to be an especially productive day for The Storm Women. When I wrote Honor Bound back in the 1990s, I had in mind the story I wanted to write and a hazy idea of some specific scenes I intended to include. Writing proved to be a struggle while working full-time and going home in the evenings to three teenaged children. However, I did have the support of two good friends at work, who were enormously helpful as I put the book together.


When I began Arrrowstar, I had no idea where the story might lead, and I discovered it took on a life of its own as I wrote. Often I wrote passages that sounded great, but took off in directions I hadn't thought I would find myself going! Then it came time to write Charade, and I understood how much an outline would greatly streamline the work. However, I got about half way though the outlining process when I just couldn't seem to go any further. So, I began to write. When I arrived at the last item in the outline, the going got really tough.


Now I'm pleased and excited to tell you, I finished an outline of 25 chapters for The Storm Women on Saturday. I'm thrilled I was able to put together an outline for the entire book, and an added bonus came when I thought up an ending with a twist!


I had thought these companion novels would be novellas, but this outline makes The Storm Women look like a full-length novel. I'm so glad to have all of you along for the creative process. Blogging seems to help me keep my priorities clear cut and my intentions in perspective.


Today's nugget: Inspiration seems to dawn when I least expect it.


Write On!
Cheryl

Ready, Set, Write!

If you've read Arrowstar, you should get an email from Amazon with instructions about how to update your copy of the e-book. I've made some changes and added some important items such as the copyright notice and dedication in the front matter of the book. The table of contents is now at the beginning of the book where it belongs. 


If you bought Arrowstar very early on, you'll see new cover art as well as the other changes. Several readers felt the flow of events were sometimes hard to follow, especially in the early chapters. I've added dates and chapter headings in response to this helpful feedback. Keep it coming! Let me know what you think when you get a chance.


Now that the second edition of Arrowstar and the first edition of Charade appear to be in good order in the Kindle books section of Amazon.com, I'm feeling settled enough to begin writing The Storm Women. I'll be the ghost writer for Star Lance as she gives voices to the women of Mineral City's Storm family, who, until I dig them up, reside in the cemetery up on the hill, behind the church at the end of Main Street.


What if we find out these pioneer women kept secrets even darker and more sinister than those revealed in Charade? What if a murderer lies buried among them? What if the murder victim rests nearby her killer? What if the murder remains unsolved among the cold cases on Rafferty's desk? What if, what if, what if . . . I like to ask those kinds of questions to awaken the muse and set the story in motion.


I've decided this companion book to Charade might do well as a novella (15,000 to 30,000 words in length). However, intentions often change when the characters begin to come alive and start insisting on their own way. I hope you decide to come along for the ride and check on progress as I dig up dirt and sift through years of living, lies, loves, and lore.


Are the Storm women as pure as the driven snow or black-hearted and sinister? Are some of them saints while others are sinners? As you can see, I'm already kicking around the tone of the book and musing about the design of their lives.  I'm thrilled when I hear from readers, so let me know how you feel about the Storm women. I always listen to the "what ifs!"


*Monday's wisdom: "Persistence and determination are omnipotent . . ."


*President Calvin Coolidge


Thank you for standing by. . .


Write On!
Cheryl