We attended a workshop with Michael Hague.   Here are Carolyne Aarsen and I with Michael Hague at the CARWA (Calgary Romance Writers of America) workshop.

He goes through the outer and inner journeys. Teaches us how to take our characters from identity to essence. This is a bookmark he gives out to attendees so we can practice what we learned.

I first studied MH’s methods via a set of CDs –The Hero’s Two Journeys. (Available on Amazon.) I listened to the CDs over and over and made notes. Being the world’s slowest learner, it took time to understand his method of breaking down a story…or is it a method of putting together a story? I’ve tried to implement his structure for years. Whether or not I’ve done it successfully is uncertain.

A couple of years ago, I attended a workshop he taught at ACFW. So this is my second workshop. I think I’m finally getting it. Well, at least good enough to recognize the story I recently started work on is not as clear in my mind as it needs to be. So I will work on that this coming week.

I am so thankful for all the teaching helps and instructors who understand story structure and are willing to share their knowledge. I can’t imagine where I’d be if not for the help I get from studying books, listening to lectures and taking courses.

For more about Michael Hague, check out his website.

http://www.storymastery.com/

I studied the sale flyers and this is what I picked.   Doesn’t it look nice.

This is what we got. Of course, I knew it would require some assembly. My son agreed to do the construction for me. 

So we unpacked it and sorted out all the pieces. That’s when we discovered a few pieces missing. Only a few, mind you. But you can’t make a swing set with pieces missing.

I couldn’t help but think it is a lot like my stories. I’ve been editing for months (or so it seems). And discovering  I can’t build a strong story with pieces missing. I have to have character and plot. I have to have conflict and attraction. I have to have tension and sweet scenes. I have to have character growth, and plot development. Not to mention romantic development and a spiritual arc. I have to have variety of sentences, strong verbs, colorful nouns and proper dialogue tags. If I short myself on any of these, the story doesn’t hold together. 

There are days when I feel a little frustrated. But I want the story to be strong so I edit, edit, edit until both I and the editor are happy.

Now if I can get the missing parts shipped and a strong swing set built.

These stories are set in the south west portion of Alberta known for ranching. There are a number of historic ranches still in the area. Doing research, I visited a number of them. The scenery itself is wonderful and the ranches great places to visit.  

The Bar U Ranch is designated as a national historic site and has a museum-like atmosphere. It began as the North-West Cattle Company and like other early ranches faced many set backs such as falling cattle prices, deadly winters

William Winder had come the North West in 1873 as a member of the North West Mounted Police, but after he retired he decided to take up ranching. With the help of his father-in-law, Charles Stimson, he convinced Sir Hugh Allan, a highly successful businessman and head of the Allan Steamship Line in Montreal, to set up the North-West Cattle Company in March 1882. Fred Stimson, Winder’s brother-in-law, was appointed manager, and went to Chicago in 1881 to look over and select appropriate bulls coming to market from western ranges. On the trip up to the Highwood River area, a snowstorm hit, but Stimson allowed the cattle to drift south to the Old Man River area, where they could graze. His decision saved the herd.

Another wise decision on the part of ranch owners was to invest in horse ranching. Soon the ranch was known everywhere for winning prizes and awards, as well as a reputation for breeding some of the finest horses in the world.

A number of famous and infamous people have been part of the Bar U. John Ware—a big black cowboy who impressed his rivals by riding horses no one else had. Ironically, he died when his horse stepped in a hole and fell on him.

An outlaw—The Sundance Kid, part of the Hole-in-the- Wall Gang in Montana-came to the Bar U to lay low. He worked and signed his real name, Henry Longbaugh.

The book, The Virginian, is modeled after a man called Everett, or Eb Johnson. The author, Owen Whistler, met him in Wyoming. After Eb left Wyoming, he headed for Canada and was hired as foreman of the Bar U.

From the 1880s to 1930s the cowboys got paid a dollar a day plus keep.

Another famous ranch I visited was the OH ranch. In 1876 Lafaytte French, a buffalo hunter and Indian trader from Pennsylvania, USA, met Orville Hawkins Smith, a mule skinner who drove teams between Salt Lake City and Montana, and the seeds of the OH Ranch were planted.

In 1878 the two frontiersmen established an Indian trading post at Blackfoot Crossing, only to have it closed by the North West Mounted Police a year later because of the usurious prices charged. Nonplussed by the event, the two men moved to what is now High River, Alberta and opened the soon-to-be town’s first legitimate business, a stopping house for settlers traveling to their new homesteads.

In 1881, the two raconteurs bought some cattle and began squatting at what is now the Main Headquarters of the OH Ranch. The two men decided to use Smithy’s initials to brand their cattle. The OH brand was the twenty-fifth cattle brand registered in what was then known as the North West Territories. Perhaps unknown to the two fledgling ranchers, the letters O and H are two of only seven characters which cannot be branded upside down or backwards.

It was interesting to visit these ranches and see some of the original buildings still intact. 

Research is such fun.  And not just for me. My client enjoys it as well

For instance, I love yellow.   But is this too much? Look closely. The rims, the bumper, even the door handle are all painted yellow. (On the back it reads: ’0-60 in 5 min. No problem.’  Ha ha.)

Snow can be beautiful.

But after months and months of it, it becomes a trial.

How much conflict is too much? Is it ever good a good thing? There is a quote, ‘If we both agree on everything, one of us is unnecessary.’ I guess that means a certain amount of conflict is not only inevitable, but necessary. But we know too much conflict is damaging and discouraging.

I’ve been thinking of conflict and tension in my stories. How much is too much? According to Donald Maass, most manuscripts he sees are not dramatic enough. It’s as if writers (me included) are peacemakers. This might be good in real life but it isn’t honest in a story. The reason we are peacemakers is because there IS conflict. Without conflict there is no reason for a story. Stories are about character growth and change, or at least about finding the murderer, solving the mystery…all of which involve conflict.

Some good articles on conflict:

http://www.musik-therapie.at/PederHill/Conflict.htm This article deals with various levels of conflict.

http://tinyurl.com/bs4843w The author says, ‘Conflict is what makes a story worth reading. Without a struggle, a moral choice, tension, and opposing forces, a story would be nothing but a boring discussion of facts.The struggle and change of your protagonist is what makes a story a story.’

http://www.aliciarasley.com/artexternal.htm Alicia Rasley talks about how to structure external conflict. Her sight has many valuable resources.

Now back to my manuscript. I must see if I can increase the conflict in it.

Much like this the pictures on this site. (I can only wish.) http://tinyurl.com/bv7y6cm I like to dream of roomy, book-filled rooms with a view of a beautiful garden, or interesting old buildings so these places really called to me.

These are photos by Eamonn McCabe from the site

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/series/writersrooms It’s worth looking at. There are over 100 writer’s rooms shown.

Or we think of struggling but happy authors in tiny garrets. Though as I recall, the authors are pretty tortured.

Personally, I like a view. A lake. A beach. A thick woods. A garden of flowers. I love Mother Nature’s inspiration.

However, there is dreaming and there is reality. My reality is a messy desk, in a cramped office. I do have a big window and a decent view. But the other part of reality is Life Happens. There are bills to pay, appointments to keep, meals to make.

Somewhere between the dream of a perfect world

and insanity

is my daily life.

I can’t wait for ideal in order to write or it would never happen.

Midnight in Paris.

What a delightful feast for the eyes. And a trip into the past to meet the likes of Ernest Hemmingway and Pablo Picasso. I loved the movie for that alone.

It made me long to go back to Paris. There is something about the city that stimulates the imagination. No wonder so many authors and artists have gone there to find their muse.

I’m not sure what it is. The cafes? There is certainly something about that atmosphere where people are content to sit and people watch , visit, or meditate.

Or maybe it’s the stroll along the Seine.

Along the river there is wonderful scenery,  other people but always the sense of invitation.

No doubt the architecture adds to the stimulation of the senses. Everywhere you look, a feast for the eyes.

And everywhere you look, others are displaying their creativity.

I long to return to Paris. I’d love to go as part of an authors’ group so if any of you are interested in making a trip to Paris as a writers retreat, send me a message.  Of course, I’m not opposed to going for any other reason either. 

Paris any time for any reason.

It got me thinking. Ideally I’d like to get away for a few days and really cool down. A beach, a forest hike, a soft bed, beautiful surroundings.   

But that requires a time commitment and time away from home, neither of which are possible at the moment. So how can I cool down? Here are some of my favorite ways.

A visit to a coffee shop to relax.

A walk in a garden though it’s hard to enjoy that while there is still snow on the ground. But as an unknown source said, It is memory that enable a person to gather roses in January.   

Go the a library and sit in one of those big cushiony chairs they now have, read and relax.

Sleep. Who can discount the refueling effects of a power nap? 

Or perhaps I’m a bit more like Benjamin Franklin who said, Plenty of time to rest in the grave?

COFFEE: Because sleep is for the weak.

I want to know how you cool down. Or do you?

It made me think of my sister who does complicated knitting designs like this airplane sweater. She can’t change anything in the design without changing the completed picture. If she does, she’ll have a mess.  The only way to do it is redesign the whole picture.

Which is basically what I had to do with my story. I had to redesign it so it followed a pattern.

I learned something else, both in my own story and in one I am struggling to read. It’s necessary to have an overall story problem/question but if it doesn’t filter down to each scene, each page, the result is boring. There has to be–as Donald Maass says–fire in the fiction, tension on every page. Thanks to The Donald’s workshop, I saw my mistake. Instead of confronting my characters with challenges, I had them going through their daily lives at a leisurely pace–no racing to get away from something or catch someone, no dodging bullets–literal or figurative, no sudden confrontations with an enemy, no surprises.

Yup. Boring.

I worked hard to unravel the story and knit it together again. I hope it looks as good as this sweater design.

For instance, last week we had a huge dump of snow. I think records were broken. We couldn’t get down the road for two days. It was beautiful and awe-inspiring.  We all took pictures and spent a lot of time looking out the window at the amount of snow.

In my mother’s photo album I find very similar pictures.

This is a record snowfall in 1951. Can’t you hear the people commenting and raving about it? Just like we did.

And snow brings out the play in childhood. Is there anything better than deep snow that is soft enough to roll into snowmen? Or banks of snow to climb, dig in and slide down?

Yes, the clothes are different, the cars and buildings obviously of another era but the smiles on the faces, the joy and amazement in the hearts is the same in the old and the new.

That’s why I can write historicals and not be deterred by the ‘reality’ of the setting or circumstances.