SUNDAY SNIPPETS by Ginger Simpson #sundaysnips 07/19/15

Another offering from Odessa.  Week before last...before the re-run, the wagon Odessa and her father traveled in overturned, pinning her father beneath the wheel.


The dirt unfurled like a brown ribbon between the expanse of cactus and sagebrush. Odessa, refusing to let her father see her hopelessness, blinked back tears.

Anger heated her blood. This was all her fault. First her mother died giving birth, and now her father was dying because of her. He wanted her to have a woman’s influence in her life—have more opportunities. Their trip had gone smoothly until Papa whipped the horses to a faster pace to combat the heat—stir a breeze where none existed. The same wheel that spun now had been the one that slipped into a ragged rut and tipped the wagon over. She’d jumped clear, but her father remained pinned beneath the sideboard from the waist down. The accident snapped the harness rigging, and the animals ran off. What she wouldn’t give for one to wander back right now.

She rushed to the other side and pulled with all her might on the front wheel. Praying for strength, she gritted her teeth and tugged until splinters from the prickly-wooded spoke tore into her flesh. There was nothing she could do. The wagon wouldn’t shift.

Something stung above her left eye and she swiped her knuckles across the spot. Blood mixed with the dirt on her hand and created rust-colored mud. She wiped the stain on her sleeve and scanned the area for something to use for leverage. Her father had often lifted things by using a piece of wood or a log from a fallen tree. She hitched up her skirt and traipsed through sparse knee-high growth, praying to find something—anything. 

 “Stay with me, Papa, I’m looking.” She cast another hopeful glance at the trail. Still no one in sight. Why had they decided to make this wretched trip to Phoenix?  Just because Aunt Susan lived there? Odessa’s stomach churned with fear and her mind spun in a hundred directions. What if she couldn’t get Papa out? 

She spied nothing but rocks, boulders and a broken saguaro limb too rotten to use. Her shoulders sagged as she returned empty handed to the wagon. Her father’s face appeared even more ashen and his breathing ragged. A scarlet pool colored the dirt beneath him. She hunkered beside him and took his hand. Why had God let this happen?


Now...hop on over to my pals and see what they're sharing:

http://authorjamiehill.blogspot.com/  (Jamie Hill)

http://triciamg.blogspot.com (Tricia McGill)

http://medievalnovels.blogspot.com (Vijaya Schartz)

http://connievines.blogspot.com (Connie Vines)

WRITE IN THREE DIMENSION BY RITA KARNOPP

How do you create your story in three dimension?  Three simple things:

• ·         dialog
• ·         narrative
• ·         action

Yep – it’s as easy as that.  When you write your scenes you must incorporate dialog, narrative, and action. 

Check the flow of your scenes and think; where is there too much narrative, or dialog, or even action.  I’m one of those who weigh heavy on dialog, but if it’s too heavy-handed your reader will lose track of what the characters are doing and where they are.  So you see it’s very important to have a balance.

You can speed up a scene by cutting back on the narrative and using dialog.  But, you can also slow down a scene by stopping the dialog and using narrative to drive it. 

Don’t forget that if you want to move that external plot along you need to focus on the action. 

Always remember, your novel should always be a combination of dialog, narrative, and action.  

STAY FOCUSED TO REACH YOUR DREAMS

     If you want to change your life…don’t settle for a life of mediocrity. Dare to dream! You get out of life---what you put into it. I learned this from my mentor and friend, Doran Andry.

     So get a journal and have a daily chat with yourself. If you’re willing to learn and be teachable, it will assure your success. Evaluate your writing career –ask yourself; “Am I where I want to be? How can I change and get better?” Write down what your ‘self-talk’ is telling you. Find your passion and dare to dream where your writing career will take you.

     The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is usually a half a dozen things done consistently. The reason why people fail vs succeed is they usually do a half a dozen things wrong consistently. And most people never know what those things are.
     Doran Andry, in Gateway to Greatness, stated there are six steps to becoming great. They are the guidelines for my writing career. Since I adopted them I have successfully sold fourteen books; eleven are written and I’m starting a trilogy in two months.
     1. Make a real decision to choose success and take action. Most people hope for it, they’re open to it, they say they want it, and they’ll even say they’ll do whatever it takes, but, when things get difficult they default to ‘option B’—which is quitting and going back to their comfort zone. The net result is they stop doing what it takes to reach their goal of becoming a successful writer.
     2. Be teachable. Embrace the value that successful writers might know something about writing and the business. Be open-minded and willing to learn. Listen during critiques and remove the ‘personal’ from it. Be professional and apply comments in your mind; would it make my story better? If the answer is yes, you know what to do about it.
      3. Inconsistency in your daily writing commitment. Many people write for hours one day, then take a few days off or write barely an hour the next. If we did this in our ‘day’ jobs, we’d get fired. What’s ironic; people show up for their ‘regular jobs’ even though they don’t feel like it! It’s more or less creating a habit and sticking to it, or if you will; creating guidelines/rules for your writing career.

     4. Take advantage of the world of information about writing and keys on being successful and reaching your goals (which I call the mentors & the mentoring process). The beginning is the most difficult and most people hit the wall of skepticism, doubt and fear. These people fall back on their weakness and undeveloped skills, instead of going directly to their goals or writing network who have been to that same wall and conquered it. You need to develop the roadmap, tools and support that will assure you success.

'Giant Cedars in Libby, Montana'