? Backward Write You Do

I walk through the door and my wife greets me with that look. The ensuing conversation starts with "I have edits due tomorrow and..." followed by something the cats have done, a list of phone solicitations received which broke all hope for concentration, and a pseudo emergency involving our house's plumbing.

Eventually I get the question: "What do you want to do for supper?"

This can't be answered just by checking with my gut to see what its craving. There are options to be considered. Eat out? Fast food? Run to the grocery store? Leftovers? How big of a plumbing problem do we have?

But since I look at things backward, I don't start with the obvious choices. Here's my thought process:

I have meetings early tomorrow so I'll have to get up sooner than normal.
To get enough sleep so I'm not a zombie at that meeting, I'll need to go to bed at least an hour early.
I really want to finish writing that scene I started last night so I need to allow at least ninety minutes in front of the computer.
This plumbing problem may require a quick trip to Lowes so that's about thirty minutes used up.
How much time does that leave for eating and how long will each option take?

Get the picture? I can't answer a simple question without working backward from the furthest known constant. I know my meeting in the morning is unbreakable so all preceding events must be arranged in a neat pattern.

That's also how I write. I find the ending, a constant idea of how a given situation should be resolved, then work backward.

How many characters do I need to gather at the end to finish the story?
Who do they need to be and what is there involvement?
How do I setup each character or group of characters to get to that ending?
What scenes need to be crafted to get characters to a place where their future actions will be believable?
What side stories and characters need to be developed to further the story?
How should each character be introduced so their involvement will point to the ultimate ending?
What threads need to be entwined through scenes and story lines so all pieces meet at the end?

I'm pooped just looking at that list but that's how I work. My current project is a three book arc following separate groups whose stories will (I promise) converge. The final chapter of the third book was written before the first half of the first book. The entire second book was written before I had a clue how the first book would start.

That's not to say I'm locked into a strict liner outline from which I can't diverge. I know the ending and the characters required, but how they get there is a mystery until it unravels on the screen. Large and small story lines evolve then get tossed in the trash bin but the overall constant remains.

My thought process sometimes irks my wife. Hopefully I don't have the same effect on readers. One thing is for sure, I don't want to write any more three book story arcs. This has been one extremely long lesson learned.

Well, I've piddled around long enough that it's too late for fast food or eating out. Guess it's leftovers for all.

Do You Write Backward? (I knew all along that's how I'd end this post.)

C.L. Blanton

Staring Down the Wishing Well

My Umbrella Update - So far Absolution's Curse has not garnered enough sales to purchase a nice sized umbrella but it did manage to fund a few packs of sugarfree gum.

I'm done with the first round of edits for my second novel, Always Remember Me. Hopefully all changes will be complete by the end of July or early August. I still have to get a cover made but at least I'm drifting in the right direction. In future posts I'll give information about the story but for now I'll just say it's the next chapter in the tale of Frank and his adventure.

The third, and final chapter swims somewhere between the keyboard and my subconscious with a few scraps already clinging to life in scattered Word documents. But fear not, the end was written long before I had any thought of publishing.

This project has affected me in ways I'm not sure I was prepared for. I've jumped all over the screen for this post, first keying a moody, brooding version where I questioned my true writing intentions before typing a happy, uplifting version, thanking the 669 entrants to my Goodreads Giveaway. Now I have this one which dances somewhere between insightful and bleak.

I have issues.

[Oh crap, there goes another version in the trash bin.]

Anyway, I titled this week's post "Staring Down the Wishing Well" because I really like that picture looking down a staircase (ha, I made an Impressionist funny) but also because I've been reflecting upon my commitment to writing.

What am I wishing for? What do I want out of this adventure?

In Absolution's Curse, Frank wants to change his life. It's time to move past the lawless, reckless days of youth. Age and a strange sense of responsibility bring a new perspective. He's no longer looking for the big hit, that one scam to break the bank. He wants a simple, quiet existence. To be left alone to live out his days in an undeserved peace.

I'm not a scam artist like Frank, but I feel his longing. I want writing to alter my own story in small way. My wish, when I peaked down that stairwell, was to have my quiet voice heard. I want my story to find a home in reader's hearts.

But, as Frank finds when his good intentions go badly awry, wishes don't always follow the same path as coins tossed in the well. Sometimes pain and neglect must be endured.

Frank's story is not pretty, nor should it be. There's no light without dark. No joy without pain.

Absolution's Curse is his dark, his pain. Mine too. I don't write to be pretty. I don't believe in happily ever after. But I do believe in the heart of man. I believe if we keep moving forward, we'll find the light and joy.

My wish for writing (besides a spiffy umbrella) is to experience that journey to the end. I hope to see you along the way.

C.L. Blanton

Field of Heroes

Today's post is a little off the normal topic but represents something very close to me.

Baseball

I don't watch baseball like I used to. All through the 80's I was glued to the TV every night watching my Atlanta Braves win for a few years then lose a hundred plus games season after season. If they weren't on TV then we'd have the radio blaring. Skip Caray, Pete Van Wieren, and Ernie Johnson gave us the play-by-play, becoming as much a part of our family during South Georgia summers as any blood relatives.

The legends of Murphy, Horner, and Chambliss eventually gave way to a new collection of beloved winners. Glavine, Smoltz, and Maddux took the hill. I looked up to those players. I fashioned my pitching style after Gene Garber, learned infield by watching Glenn Hubbard. Steve Avery was the first player in the Bigs younger than me.

I could go on, telling a personal story about more than half of the players in the past thirty years to wear a Braves uniform. The Catch. The Slide. The relief pitcher with a really long name who used to live a few houses down from my Uncle.

There were also the teams I hated. In the early 80's it was the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Philadelphia Phillies took that honor in the 90's.

Mitch ("Walk the bases loaded then strike out the side") Williams, John (my grandmother just called him "That Ugly Guy") Kruk, Lenny ("I can cram more crap in my cheek than you can") Dykstra, and Darren "Dutch" Daulton.

I couldn't stand those guys. Their dirty white uniforms with thin red stripes. Their ugly red hats with a deformed P. I wished every ill will possible on them.

It's funny how time offers perspective. Some childhood heroes are obvious. Those Braves I followed religiously while growing up qualify. Some you don't realize until later in life.

Those guys that gave my Braves the most trouble became players I begrudgingly respected, sometimes even admired. I would like to officially acknowledge Philadelphia Phillies longtime catcher, Darren Daulton's spot on that list.

It was announced earlier this month that Mr. Daulton would have surgery to remove brain tumors. Today, an article on cbssports.com stated he was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a "hightly malignant" form of brain cancer.

His tough style molded my baseball life, teaching me lessons which traveled beyond the chalked fields as much as any other glove wearing hero.

I send prayers and well wishers to Mr. Daulton and his family. He is and always has been a hero.

C.L. Blanton

Read, Write, and Review

I hope everyone out there celebrated their freedom today.

America celebrates its Independence every July 4th but the idea that all men (and women) are created equally does not end at our shores. Every night the news is full of peoples and nations fighting for their rights. The right to live in peace. The right to pursue their own life's goals.

Whichever part of this world you call home, may you have a safe and wonderful Fourth of July.


I wanted to use this week's post to give a few updates.

READ

I'm horribly slow at reading. Mountain chains rise from level ground faster than I finish books. But if I wish to follow the advice of successful writers, I must overcome this weakness.

One thing I've learned from the last few months of trying to reach out and promote myself is the incredibly large number of talented authors fighting for attention. So now, instead of reaching for King, Koontz, or Grisham when I browse Amazon, I've chosen Jenny Milchman (Cover of Snow), Luke Murphy (Dead Man's Hand), and Jason Crawford (Chains of Prophecy).

I'll keep reading King while learning to embrace those lesser known names who offer wonderful stories. I'll just do it very slowly.

WRITE

June started with much promise. The chaos of birthdays and family obligations that filled May came to a close. June would mark a return to writing. <Splat> That was the sound of my word count goals hitting the windshield of life.

July will be different. It has to be. In the past week I've taken a new approach. I'm spending more time on outlining, writing the chapters in more of a play like form, focusing on dialogue and stage directions. It's helped me get past some big walls while developing another tool in my writers tool shed.

Writing will have competition this month. I received edits for my second book yesterday. Editing my first book felt horrible, having all my writing limitations pointed out with squiggly lines until I realized it was maybe the best opportunity to learn I would ever have. This book doesn't have quite as many menacing marks, but I look forward to what I can learn.

REVIEW

I never knew how important this feedback was until ABSOLUTION'S CURSE became available. I don't like to review. Who am I to tell a writer if their words are right?

But that's now what reviews are about. When you receive a review, it's a measuring stick to let you know, good and bad, where you line up. When you give a review, it's a way to breakdown a literary work to find what you do and don't like about the story.

The ability to read objectively and self review your own words is invaluable.


Keep Reading. Keep Writing. Keep Reviewing.

Keep fighting for and celebrating freedom.

C.L. Blanton