Since I am a writer, and I am deep in the middle of my second book, Dark Prairies—and particularly since I feel like it is really starting to get some legs—I figured it was time to blog about it. To myself (this blog is so new, or so bad, that I still have only myself with whom to consort). S’okay. These things take time.
Like writing a book.
Wow, does writing a book take time. For me, anyway. I don’t know about other authors, but I’ve tried and tried to subscribe to the “just write” theory of getting words on the paper. Don’t misunderstand; I totally get it. I look at a book (or any writing project) like a sculpture:
It’s most difficult when you are staring at a big lump of clay. Or a completely white page.
Or 300 completely blank pages!
Once you’ve got something to work on—once the beautiful thing begins to show through—then, for me at least, the real fun begins. I don’t mind editing my work. What I do mind is editing my work while I am writing it. And that’s me. I can barely look at a sentence without wanting to rewrite it.
Okay, not every sentence. But I write slowly. I read slowly, too. I’ve always thought that is because I enjoy savoring the words, not just the story arc. (That’s one of the reasons Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is my favorite book. Honestly, I could not care less about the story—Conrad’s eloquence with the written language is unparalleled, to me anyway. The word I ascribe to this kind of writing is “lyrical”.)
But I digress. What I really want to do is introduce you (me) to my next book. I consider this particular book my opus. This is the story that has lived inside me since a child, begging, scratching, pleading to be let out. When we moved to Wyoming in 1978, the man from whom my parents bought our land (I’ll call him Beebe) had just been acquitted of a crime—literally the week before we arrive in town (my parents only found out later). The charges?
Murder.
Of his own father.
The short version is there was a longstanding family feud. At one of the ranches, Beebe’s father and brother showed up—cantankerous and ready for a fight—and Bebee ostensibly fired a warning shot to scare them off. The bullet ricocheted, hit his father and killing him instantly.
That story stayed with me. I got to know Beebe fairly well. He built a house on the parcel next to ours. He was our neighbor. He and his family helped us move in. They visited for dinner. Everything I knew about him told me he was a good man, and that was good enough based on how I was raised. I believe with all me heart that Beebe—a huge bear of a man—lived with a burden of guilt and repentance that could literally be seen in his countenance. It weighed down the shoulders of this mountainous man.
It’s also relevant to say that in Wyoming this past decade or so, there have been many land disputes. Some between families. There is an unsurpassed gas boom that has been going on for years. There is also a caveat to the opportunity to make good money from owned land with minerals beneath the surface:
You must own mineral rights. If you own, instead, surface rights, you get nothing but perhaps some conciliatory fees for road access (with said roads being so ruined that it might take all of the funds to repair them).
An idea formed. A mechanism by which I could tell the story that has been boiling inside me all these years.
Dark Prairies.
Where a sheriff’s wife is killed by family violence intended from brother to father. One man torn with the guilt of not having protected the love of his life, faced with shepherding her killer to justice. Another—a mean, scurrilous cowpoke accused of murdering his own sister in cold blood—holds the key to even darker secrets.
Sheriff James Pruett and Ty McIntyre face off in a Mystery/Legal thriller that will expose the black heart of a small town in God’s country, and will leave the reader wondering if anyone is totally immune to the siren calls of lust and greed.
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The blank page is dead…long live the blank page.
Good post man, that blank page is scary, i have been working together getting it going but i am only in the outlining stage. I find just writing without any map, idea of start, end and middle or without any major plots is just like spitting into the wind. I can spit but I don’t want to spend too much time wiping my face
It has taken my years to just get an outline down and partly what has been helping me do that has been approaching it from a script writing approach. Mainly because I tend to see things visually, like a movie.. maybe that is what I am more drawn too than a novel
I would rather watch a movie than read a book, so that gives me an indication that probably my writing would be best suited for script writing and then if I can actually get a full script done, then take that 100 pages and turn it into a 250 or 300 book by filling in with lots of descriptive stuff, inner thoughts etc..
I tried a while back to just do the ” write anything ” and that got me about 13 pages in and then I doubted it all and well im only using 1 line of the entire 13 pages.
Ahhh the road of a writer is a slippery one 🙂
I get paid to write doing copywriting but that is a whole different kettle of fish, and I think back to when I first started in that trade and it was similiar… i felt like a fish out of water, i had a rough idea of what to start and include but no much of an idea of how to put meat on the skelton. Over time its not as hard but the blank page still stares me down and freaks me out
Hopefully I will get from this outline to an actual book 😉
Oh, I get it…for quite a few years I would MUCH rather watch a movie than read a book. I mean, I liked reading, but it was a chore. Know what changed all that for me (to an extent, anyway)? My Kindle. Reading print books always put me to sleep. I don’t mean tired or even bored…I could love the book but still, a few minutes in, BAM. The Kindle changed all that. I don’t know if it is the e-ink or the font size or what, but I can read for hours! I still love movies—even took a screenwriting class or two. If I had it to do over, I think I would go to film school. Ah, we make our choices, right? Thanks for the comment!
Hi Rob
Just jumping on here to say that I like your writing style, which is why I am here! Looking forward to seeing more. Your book sounds interesting.
Have a great day!
Thanks so much, Kellianne! I really appreciate the visit…and the kind words! ツ
My first shot at a novel is proving to be more harder than I anticipated. Set in the prairies too (an amazing story setting) as I lived in Alberta Canada for two years and loved the experience. What I am struggling with is the flow. I am writing different chapters and hoping that when I have written enough they will all fit and link together. I was wondering if this is a style some writers work like or am I just different ( crazy maybe). I have written the beginning, the end and a couple of parts in the middle.I just seem to flow for a while then come to a brick wall this is when other parts, further along in the story come to me. Any tips or would be greatly appreciated.I don’t want it to become a bad habit having bits and bobs all over the place and not knowing how to link them.
Thanks
Tina
Hi, Tina. First, great luck to you with the first novel! Funny thing is, I am more of a “pantser” (write by the seat of my pants). Often I know where a chapter or section is ultimatelygoing, but I allow myself to get there any way my writing sees fit. I am a HUGE fan of the Christoper Guest movies (“Best in Show”, “A Mighty Wind”, “Waiting for Guffman”, etc.), with their ensemble cast—my understanding is they give the actors the basics of the scene and then allow them to improvise to make it happen. They are some of the most entertaining, hilarious, original movies I’ve ever seen. So I think it can work! Cheers, and thanks for reading/commenting!