Putting Things in Place: Finding the [right/interesting/perfect] Words for Your Story

by Ray Dean

Why do I always feel like I should start these posts with the disclaimer of: This might not be for you, but that’s okay, your process might not work for me either, but here we go anyway.

Having been a dancer and an actor before, I know a little bit about the creative process and skill building. While there are techniques that could and should be used by all, the nuances of each person’s talent and self expression are just that… personal. You learn techniques from other people, ‘stuff’ that work for them. Sometimes it works for you too. Or sometimes you find a variation that suits you better.

So here I am, explaining something I’ve come to use during my process. ‘Placemarking.’ In the past I’ve found myself stressed while I’m writing, worried over the perfect word choice or other stopping points during my first draft, I’d let frustration build and sometimes…

Okay, let’s be honest, a number of times, I’ve let it get the best of me and stop me cold. I might convince myself that I’ll just come back to it later… and then, it’ll be easy. Right. Are you giving me that polite ‘awwww’ smile? Tempted to pat me on the head and sigh? Yeah, I can see that.

But sometimes you have to adjust your plan. Change your technique. Find something that works better. Or in this case, something that works. And gets me working.

I’d like think of this technique as a conscious effort to write more, and beat myself up less.

Names

Names are important. Yes, I hear the grumbling. I’m not saying that you didn’t know that!

When you sit down to write, you won’t always find the perfect name right then and there. Maybe before you’ve started to write the story, you’ve done your research. You looked through name lists, name meaning sites, census lists… but nothing feels quite right. And yet you know there’s someone THERE. They need to talk, they need to move around the room, and gosh darn it, other characters actually have to interact with them!

So what do you do when you need a character name, but you need to get on with writing the story? I stick in a ‘placemarker’ to keep things moving.

Specifically, I use letters. It may be different for others, but I rarely use the letter “X” so if I have a character with no name that leaps out at me, they become XX.

XX sat up and looked up at me with an apologetic smile. “Hold on a second, sweets.” She ducked down again, her voice muffled a bit. “I thought I brought my breakfast with me, in my bag…. somewhere…”

If there’s another character that pops up (I don’t think I’ve had this happen more than once), ZZ works.  (I don’t just use ONE letter, it could be dangerous)

Later when the epiphany happens… you know, when the sun shines through the clouds, seraphim flutter down beside you and scream that name in your ear... You can do a search and replace and suddenly XX becomes Elspeth or Jane or Mary or something more exotic based on time period or location. But waiting around while I debate the ins and outs of Annie or Mary, kills the forward motion of progress. And as time and experience have shown me, I get that much closer to ‘giving up and going to do something else.’

You could always just put a ‘generic’ name in for the character and ‘search and replace’ that later, but I’ve found that if I use a name it might start to color that character for me, giving it whatever qualities I usually associate with the name. Don’t understand that? Maybe you’re a lucky one that hasn’t started to use a name for a character and then remembered all the people with the same name that have ticked you off in the past. But not me.

(Please check before you replace ALL, you might accidentally replace something you want to keep - that’s why it’s important to NOT use a single letter as a placeholder)

Words - Vocabulary

Sometimes when you’re writing a sentence you have that moment when a big _____ opens up. You know what you’re thinking about, but for some reason you can’t quite come up with ‘that word.’  It doesn’t even have to be a ‘hard’ word. The mind can get caught up on any number of simple ideas. The point is NOT to get upset about it.

Why beat yourself up over a moment of ____. When I was writing the ‘name’ section above, I got to this sentence:

...You looked through name lists, name meaning sites, ...

For the life of me I couldn’t come up with the word CENSUS. I knew what it was… a periodic accounting of the population… yada yada yada… but the word CENSUS was just… not there. For that one, where I’m looking for the ‘name’ of something, if I had access to the internet, I could type the keywords and search for the words.

But there will be times when that’s not necessarily an option.  Or when the word that I’m looking for isn’t just an A=B scenario. In this instance, I typed in [per pop survey]. And a few sentences later, I remembered. Dropped back and replace the [ ] with the word.

When you’re writing and you’re looking for a descriptive term for someone/something. Eye color, expression, tone, quality of movement. In the past this has been a crippling thing at times. The need to come up with the ‘perfect’ word right now.  That’s a pretty big demand. It’s not just a matter of a rote activity like stand, sit, bark, sorry, getting carried away. So if I’m writing about a character looking at another character, instead of my muse wagging a finger at me and chuckling for my lack of perfect word choice, I can say…

… it would have been so simple to ignore the look on her face. But it broke his heart to see her huddled in the corner so (sad/depressed/heartbroken)...    None of those words actually convey the meaning I might be looking for, but I know what I want to write next, so I don’t put the parking brake on and sit there with the engine running, wasting gas.

And I’m not saying you have to WAIT until the whole draft is done to go back to this one. But I am saying don’t just sit there and argue with yourself to find that perfect word right there in that moment. You may be starting the next paragraph when inspiration strikes you from on high. Or you might be three chapters further down the line and ‘wham’ it smacks you between the eyes.

Toss that word in if the inspiration strikes you, but don’t ruminate on it too much. This way you know what ballpark you’re playing in. And sometimes throwing down words that are ‘close’ will push that word from the tip of your tongue to the tips of your fingers.

And there’s nothing wrong with the scenario where you get through your first draft, you work out the character arc for that character and when you go back through on your first edit… and now you know a little bit more about that character and the word is ‘there.’

Editorial Stuff

Turning off that ‘Inner Editor’ (IE) - what a great idea. And sometimes it’s just not possible to relegate that pesky editor to the cold dark corner in the back of your mind. So why send them away. Make them work, but under ‘your’ instructions.

When I’m writing a draft and I feel the IE hovering over my shoulder biting one hand’s nails to the quick and using the other to reach forward like Dracula’s bony finger pointing at the line that I’m working on, I take that moment to let them talk. I write down their comments.

[awkward]
[check facts]
[more description]
[tone?]
[confusing]
[how does she know?]

… just a few words so that I know what to look for when I go back.

I make sure the IE knows “I’ve got this. Don’t worry, I’ll go back to this... Later.”

And then the inner editor takes a step back and I move on.

Could I stop and ‘fix’ things right then and there? Sure? But it’s a double edged sword. Putting the brakes on now might put a hitch in the flow of what you’re doing.  I find that ‘placemarking’ the changes you want to make later lets you focus on writing new words. 

I find that these methods of ‘placemarking’ have helped me produce my drafts faster, speeding the flow of my writing. But along with the methods, I’ve had to change my mind set. It was a conscious decision to do things this way. I had to make this an active effort, a policy of my process, because fighting yourself during the creative process is counterproductive.

Why frustrate yourself when the whole point is ‘getting a draft you can work with?’

Have you done something like this in the past? Do you do this now? How did it/does it work for you?

Ideas Like Bullets -- The Perilous Adventures of Anabelle Flagstaff

A few posts ago, I issued an IDEAS LIKE BULLETS challenge.  For those unfamiliar, I tend to have lots of ideas and I will share some of them on this column sometimes and encourage people to run with them. If you missed the first post about this one, THE PERILOUS ADVENTURES OF ANABELLE FLAGSTAFF, then look back through the archives for it. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Or click the handy link I provided.) It’s still one You can do!

Below find a tale from the first hardy individual to take on the challenge! And remember, though some ideas I share I will give away freely, this one is still mine, therefore all submissions are to be considered ‘works’ for hire.

Read on and enjoy Ray Dean’s take on….

The Perilous Adventures of Anabelle Flagstaff:

BENEATH THE SURFACE
by Ray Dean

Anabelle Flagstaff created by Tommy Hancock

Montgrove Manor had a rather illustrious past amongst the occult. Both the practitioners and the merely curious had heard of its curious history, but only the most adventurous and some of the most foolhardy ventured into the moors to seek out its rather inhospitable halls.

But for Anabelle Flagstaff, a weekend spent at the Manor had nothing to do with curiosity and everything to do with settling old scores.

The Earl had once been a robust man of steely nerves and a steady constitution. Inheriting the lands and possibly the malevolent specters of Montgrove Moors had nearly hollowed him, aging him far before his time. That was the fate of the man revealed to her upon her arrival, seated behind his desk, drawn and pale.

"Forgive me for not standing to greet you, my old friend."

Anabelle waved off his concern. "No need to stand on formalities, Edward. This isn't a friendly visit."

"True enough," he sighed and gestured to the file on the edge of his desk. "Everything I know is contained there is my-"

"That's not how I work, Edward." She gave him a soft nod, her red curls dancing along the alabaster column of her neck. "I walk in blind, for that is the only way to take true measure of what lies in the dark."

The Earl crossed himself, a gesture of habit more than hope, for the Earl seemed to be short of hope as of late. Given his weakened state, it must have been his dogged devotion to the stringent manners that he would have acquired growing up as a member of the peerage that aided him now. As Anabelle bid him a good evening she turned to leave the room and saw the sag of his shoulders reflected in a cabinet door.

*****

Cullen, the butler with his stern mien and tight lips, showed her about the house from eaves to the cellars. He had no kind words for her and she preferred it that way. Kindness was for the weak and Anabelle had backbone enough for three men. She cared little for the way that Cullen watched her as she moved through the house, his eyes narrowed, his hands clutched behind him as he led her from room to room as though he could not trust himself to leave them loose.
She felt no malice from him, only distrust and worry. Anabelle did not hold it against him, this house had known too little joy of late and she aimed to leave some peace in her own wake. She’d suffered worse than his dark looks.
    
Once she knew the floors and rooms by placement and feeling, she let him go back to his duties and he went with all speed, turning his back on her as if to forget she even existed. She preferred it that way. It was hard enough to look over her shoulder and keep herself out of harm's way. To have others at her side, or even nearby, was a danger for all concerned, for there was something inside of her that seemed to call to monsters, a beacon for darkness and pernicious entities. If she could find it within herself, she would, without a doubt, cut it free and dispose of it, for she longed to have some measure of peace in her own life.

*****

For days, there was nothing. No mysterious sounds. No screams in the night. No dire warnings from unseen frights. And yet, instead of calm and peace descending over the house and its occupants, it only brought dread. The servants whispered about their business, Edward’s wife took to her bed, and the Lord of Montgrove paced a weary rut into the rug in his study.

At supper, Anabelle was the only one seated at table, a single candle lit to illuminate her meal. She picked at the broiled piece of lamb and made her paces through the potato beside it. But when she took her final sip from her cup, what she felt wasn’t the warm infusion of wine into her blood; it was the cold frisson of fear that prickled along her skin.

She had waited for days to discover the origins of trouble at the moors, and tonight she knew was her best chance to get a good look at the mythical creature that had so many fearing its appearance.
Done with her meal, she retired to her quarters to await the first sign of danger.

*****

When a tremor rolled through the floorboards of the old keep, Anabelle had her boots on the floor a moment later.  She didn’t move. She waited for the odd sensation to tremble through her body one more time before she stood and deadened the elusive vibrations a bit. But like a bloodhound she had the scent and that was all she needed.

One step and then another led her from the door of her room and down the hall. The staircase, constructed of stone and part of an old tower, was a blank and dead space. Her boots, worn soft with hundreds of miles trod, made quick work to the floor below and there, she felt the tremor again.
She was closer. She could tell by the heavy twist of the muscles in her gut. It wasn’t easy for it to happen, but somehow beneath the thick duck cloth and metal stays, the tension she felt transformed her insides into a knot.

Turning one way in the hall, she felt the air cool as she moved through the space, the tension easing in her middle.

Anabelle turned back and moved down the opposite wing and stumbled, catching her balance with an outstretched hand pressed flat against the wall. Her skin burned hot, frosted over with a shiver.
She hung her head, taking in one breath after another, willing the sensations to slide beneath the surface and give her a chance to rein them in.

A soft hiss of sound to her right, something beyond the heavy wooden door, drew her away from the wall. Her hand fell to her side and she moved on, following her ears.

The study.

Pushing herself forward, she moved along the hall, grateful that she had been in this state before. It hurt like the dickens but at least she had the fortitude to put one foot in front of the other, because somewhere in the study there was at least a clue that would help to end this frightening mystery.
And maybe she’d be one step closer to finding the answer to her own mystery. To make the monsters the hunted, instead of herself.

The door wasn’t locked. None of the rooms were. It had nearly driven Cullen into fits when she’d made the request. Cullen wanted to refuse but with the Earl’s insistence, the butler had allowed the rooms to remain open.

Anabelle slipped inside the study and felt the bracing cold air buffet against her body, rocking her back on her heels. It wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling. She was used to unseen forces, and those that were seen, knocking her around. A wind was child’s play.

And the open window across the room, the obvious culprit.

Had this all been an open window? An errant maid distracted by the impending doom? Moving across the room, using only the ambient light of the slivered moon outside and the umber flicker of the fireplace, Anabelle was steps away from the window when the heavy wooden frame slammed closed.

There was a distinct noise somewhere beyond the tick-tick-tick of the grandfather clock behind her.  Somewhere above the hungry flicker of the fire eating up the logs behind the grate of the fireplace. And somewhere outside of the soft thump of her pulse in her ears.

There... There! She could hear it, but could it hear her?

Could it hear the quiver of her muscles from bone-deep exhaustion as she moved inch by inch about the room?

Could it hear the clicking of the lapel watch that had ridden up just under her ear?
Could it?

Ah, a scratch. Metal or bone against hard wood.

She smiled and heat flooded through her fingertips, bringing back the needle-like prick of feeling that the cold of fear had stolen away.

Another scratch and a huff of breath, a twist of sound that said 'it' had a head that turned away from her. What was it looking for?

The answer came to her in a rush that stole her own breath.

The door.

She didn't hear, so much as feel, the shift of weight in the room. It had moved... and stopped... between her and the door. She reached down into a pocket tied under her skirt and felt the slim handle of her dirk warm against her palm. By the sounds she could tell that the beastie wasn’t going to be very wee at all. She would need to put a great deal of effort in if she was going to subdue it enough to answer her questions.

But she doubted that it was going to be in the mood to be helpful. A floorboard creaked and she turned, the tip of her dirk slipping through the heavy fabric of her skirt, and nicked her long drawers and the skin beneath.

She heard the sudden intake of breath, the heated flare of nostrils, and knew that her prey had now become the hunter. It smelled her blood, and if the wet smack of sound was any indication, it was hungry.

Damn... Double damn.

She smiled.

Interesting.

Step By Step

For this week's writers roundtable, let's talk about step-by-step story creation when writing for a themed anthology.

For example, if I were your editor, and I asked you for a story about "insert topic or character here," what would be your process for coming up with a story? Would you begin with the character of the protagonist? Would you begin with a plot? Would you instead immerse yourself in research? What works for you, and why?

Gordon Dymowski: It depends on my familiarity with the topic/character - if it's one that I'm not as familiar with, I always try to immerse myself in research. (If it's a character, I try to read that character "in their natural habitat" - get a sense of *how* a story with that character works). As I'm researching, ideas usually begin floating, and once I begin getting them down on paper (real or virtual), a storyline begins to emerge....and then the *real* fun begins.

Marian Allen: Well, in all honesty, the first thing I would do is see if I already something written that would fit -- or could be made to fit -- the topic. If not, I would cast about and try the topic on my existing characters/worlds to see if any of them would like to do the work. If not (and also meanwhile), I would do what I do for one of those writing exercises where you take a word or phrase and use it to spark a story.

"If this, then that." If the topic is coffee, then what? Anything from the many places coffee is grown and all the landscape and politics and personal stories of the plantation workers, to all the many places coffee is and has been and will be consumed.

How much time do I have for research? Do I already have a couple of good books on the subject? Is the anthology literary, fantasy, mystery, of science fiction? What's the word count? The answers to all these questions will outline my possibilities and contain my musings.

Then comes the time of wandering around staring into space while I, consciously and subconsciously, poke bits around in the soup I call my brain to see what will stick to what else. Eventually, I'll get a notion of a character, a relationship, a conflict, a compelling setting, a story line, a tone, or SOME damn story element that will be the first solid beginning. That particular element might or might not survive the writing process, but, if it gets cut, it'll go in the bits box for possible future use.

Ray Dean: If it's Alt History, I usually like to start with history/technology research. Looking for some odd facts or historical notes. Sometimes it's just something mundane that sparks a 'what if' idea.  If the 'theme' is character centered, like a superhero, werewolf, etc. I start with the central character and build from there. If it is a genre, I look at the elements of the genre. What makes it tick? What elements are the heartbeat of the genre? Once you have the set or the tone of the piece it's time to start asking the 'what if' questions and see who is kicking around in that world. But you really never know what is going to spark an idea. And sometimes you start in with an idea and it fizzles before you've even finished a first draft. Sometimes you change direction with the idea, go back and take a different path in the plot. Starting over with another idea is necessary at times, but that's when it helps to be more of a plotter than a pantser. Outlining ahead of time to make sure you have a solid plan. With themed anthologies it can be a different process each time, a combination of ideas or brainstorming processes. It helps to be open to consider odd ideas or look to unusual sources of inspiration.

Andrew Salmon: For me, I get to know the characters/world I'm working in. Research is the key. Then I grow the plot from the characters.

First Publishing Experience

By Ray Dean

Short Story: Fire in the Sky
Anthology: Shanghai Steam with EDGE Publishing

I like it when a trip down memory lane brings me a smile instead of a wince or a sigh. Going back to remember my first publishing experience is one of those happy moments. I was fresh from my first rejection, and while the comments from the editor wasn’t exactly what I’d call encouraging, I knew that it wasn’t a matter of giving up. I was going to keep going because as I only half-joke, it’s crowded in my head. And to keep the noise down I have to write.

So a notice popped up on a Steampunk site that I was a part of, looking for stories that had Steampunk and Wuxia as a part of it. Wuxia. I had to look that term up, do my research on the genre. Wuxia is a genre that originated in Chinese literature. Translated into English, it means ‘Martial Hero’  and includes elements of the common man/underdog, martial arts, superhuman feats. I have also seen magic or wizardry used in explanations of the genre.

This idea really struck a chord in me, a tremor of excitement. As a girl I would stay up LATE. Not just past my bedtime late, but Holy Cow I should be sleeping because I have Saturday morning dance classes but I don’t care LATE. Because, Friday night on Channel 13 had Black Belt Kung Fu Theater. I already watched Channel 13 because it also played the Samurai films that I loved so much, but the amazing choreography of Kung Fu movies was so very different from the Samurai films/tv shows. Samurai films centered around the Bushido, the rules and lifestyle of a swordsman in Japan and Kung Fu films would use any number of weapons, or none at all. The stunning choreography was something that I really appreciated. 

The next step was to find a story/setting that I felt would fit the genre. My first instinct was to go ‘West.’ Not just in direction by setting. I wrote my story set in Tombstone, AZ. Having been a frequent visitor to the “Town Too Tough to Die,” I knew quite a bit about the Chinese immigrants in Hop Town and thought a story centered around the mining claims would be fun to write, including the action sequences that were an integral part of Wuxia.

With my heart in my throat I sent off that story.

The email that came back a little later was a surprise, but not an immediate cause of full-out celebration. They liked my story, thought it was good… but not quite right for the anthology.

Yes, I was still breathing. Barely. Okay, there was more to the email, so I continued reading.

Did I have anything else that might fit?

I hope I don’t sound too much like a newbie, but there was no way that I was going to say no to that question. But before I could do anything I asked them if they wouldn’t mind telling me how the first story didn’t fit. I did when I sent it in, otherwise I wouldn’t have submitted it in the first place.

When the reply came back they gave me a quick overview of what didn’t seem to match the anthology and I was able to brainstorm another story. I gave her a quick summary of my idea, she gave me a time frame and I was off… writing… not in my head.

The second story was based on an article that I read in my son’s World History textbook. A letter written to the Queen of England by a scholar in China asking England not to import opium into China. The letter discussed the many ills of the drug and asked that the country stop shipping the product into China in payment for trade goods instead of silver. The ‘twisted mind’ in my head said ‘okay, we won’t bring it into your ports, but airships don’t need the harbor…’ How would the people of town react to the heavy handed actions of the British and their ‘end run’ around the law. Who would stand up to them and how?

Once the second story was completed and officially accepted for the anthology I received a contract in my email and things went on from there. A few rounds of minor edits back and forth, starting with the editor that made that first contact with me. From there the other editors weighed in and there were a few moments when we had short discussions about elements in the story. Part of the fun of working on a story set in a historical… but not so historical era in speculative fiction, is discovering possibilities and then making sure the world lives and breathes. There is also a certain amount of discovery, capitalizing on the strengths of everyone involved.

Once the edits were done, we got down to the business of setting up promotion for the release of the anthology. A Facebook page, a blog tour, and more. I wasn’t able to participate in the ‘live readings’ as I was so very far away from Canada, but I was able to see the pictures and read the recaps of all the action! 

As another part of our ‘release’ activities, we had a group post here on “Bad Girls, Good Guys, and Two-Fisted Action." It took a bit of organization to get it all together, but I really enjoyed the different answers. It was a chance to get to know the other authors as well.

The anthology was later nominated for an award and mentioned in Orson Scott Card’s book “Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction: How to Create Out-of-This-World Novels and Short Stories.”

I learned so much about submissions and editing from the folks at EDGE. And I’d like to add a huge thanks to Sean Taylor for having me write about my first publishing experience.

www.raydean.net
https://www.facebook.com/RayDeanAuthor
http://www.amazon.com/Ray-Dean/e/B009ZZE8B8/

The Long and Short of It -- Tips for Writing to Word Counts

I periodically put out a call for topics for these roundtables. And this particular post is one of those come to fruition. One of the fans of the blog sent in a request for an article about writing to word counts. And never let it be said we don't listen to our readers.

Do approach a story differently based on the word count limit? In what ways?

Jim D. Gillentine: I never have done the 'shoot for a certain word count amount." I just let the story play itself out until I get to the last two words 'The End'. I feel like the story is a child that should be allowed to grow as long or short as it is meant to be.

I.A. Watson: If the story is size-limited I try to plan an appropriate number of beats/events for the size of the story. I aim to write something about 25% shorter than the target. That way I sometimes don't go over. Sometimes.

My Robin Hood trilogy started out intended to be one book. The trilogy now has four volumes. My 15k Byzantium novella became five 25k novellas. I may be the wrong person to ask about this.

Robert Krog: I do approach a word limit differently in some ways. I keep the language tighter. I think up a story with fewer complications and avoid introducing any character, plot element, etc that might detract from the point. I use fewer adjectives and adverbs. As I write, I do word count every few pages to see how much room I have.

Allan Gilbreath: If there is a fixed word count, I start backwards at the resolution then work backwards adding in the number of complications and characters needed to hit the target.

Bobby Nash: Of course. If I'm given a 15,000 word limit, that is probably not the project to try and write a big epic opus that spans countless generations. I've been doing this long enough now that I can tell what type of story I can tell based on the word count I'm given. The lower the word count, the fewer side trips away from the main plot, for example. with shorter prose I'm focused on telling the story first and adding extras only if there is room.

Percival Constantine: I now have a word count in mind for every story I write, whether it's long or short, for a publisher or for myself. And one way to help hit that word count is by outlining. If I look at an outline and I think, "this needs more to hit that goal," then I'll add more. Of course, it's not an exact science—there have been times when I've fallen short, times when I've overshot, but for the most part, I get the count hovering right around that target.

Gordon Dymowski: Since my tendency to write to word counts is more of editorial/publisher mandate rather than my own, I don't really worry about word counts. When it comes to limited word count, I tend to plan out a story with a much more limited time span (1 - 2 days) and in chunks of 1,000 - 2,000 words (thank you, Nanowrimo, for helping me learn how to pace out writing!). For me, stories with word count requirements are the equivalent of "bottle episodes" on television: limited in scope of time, setting, and character....but I can do a *lot* with these limitations.

Marian Allen: My life is very unscheduled and unpredictable right now -- more so than usual, I mean. I've learned that I do better at writing in these circumstances if I have some idea how the story is going to go before I begin. That way, if I'm interrupted, I have some chance of getting back on my train of thought. So, if I'm writing flash fiction, I'll write out a one-to-three sentence story arc. If it's going to be longer, I'll write out a five-to-seven point outline.

John Hartness: I outline way more intensely on longer works. For my Bubba novelettes, my outline is usually about three-four lines long. On a novel there's a lot more depth in my planning, because there's more room to get lost. When I run long I just charge more for the book. :)

Ray Dean: Of course... a 3k story vs a 10k story is very different. Same 10k to 100K. The amount of plot points that you can cover changes. The amount of 'lead up' to a plot point changes. It reminds me of when I make costumes for plays at my son's school. The important thing is to have all the costumes... ensembles that convey the character and their world, made to last through all the performances and complete the experience for the audience member... then, if you have time and money (more word count) you can add more details, a costume change for a scene that might help bring more of the character out... or bring more depth to the message of the show.

Walter Bosley: I never do anything on word count limit. I do it on page number limit and lately I use the same style approach for any length. I wrote mostly screenplays my first several years of writing, going with the general rule that a page equals a minute on screen and a feature film is between 90-120 pages. And since I started my publishing company, I work in number of pages, never word count. Thus, as a writer, I think in how many pages I want to write. When I published other authors, I never based a contract on word count per book/story. In fact, length was usually 200 pages but I never told an author their novel had to be limited specifically to that. For the magazine stories I would try to limit stories to around ten pages, expressed as such. As a writer, I keep my pulps novels to under 200 pages. I haven't worked in word count since I was in college writing reports and articles.

Mark Bousquet: I only ever seriously fret about word counts when I'm writing for someone other than me. In those instances, if I've been told the publisher wants X number of words, then I make sure to hit X number of words. Usually, this involves coming up with a tighter outline. For work that I'm going to produce, assessing the length is something I do after I have an idea of the characters/plots/ambitions of a book. At that point, I can say, "Ok, I think this story needs 15k or 50k to tell," but then I just tell the story and let it determine how long it's going to be. That initial guess on length is important, though, because the same story told in 15k is told much differently than one at 50k or 100k. If I totally pants the process, I'm going to end up with bloated texts. Case in point:

My latest novels are significantly shorter than my early novels. DREAMER'S SYNDROME and ADVENTURES OF THE FIVE: THE COMING OF FROST were something like 140,000 and 160,000 words, respectively, but my most recent works tend to be half that. Why? One, it's based on reader feedback, and two, what you learn real quick in the POD market is that longer books cost more. My first STUFFED ANIMALS FOR HIRE book is right around 35k words, I sold it for 10 bucks physical, $3 ebook, and not only has it been one of my big sellers, I make more money per copy sold on that book than I do on either DS or A5. Also, no one has complained about the price relative to the brevity of the material, though I did get a lot of complaints about the physical copies of DS and A5 being cost prohibitive at $20 physical, even though, bang for buck, it was a much greater value.

Now, I think I'm a better writer now than I was a decade ago, so perhaps this is just a sign that readers only care about the price/length if they don't enjoy the reading experience.

Lance Stahlberg: Yes and no. One of my biggest challenges is that I am really wordy. Not when it comes to descriptions or letting talking heads gab too long. I lean toward really dense plots. I don't think I'm even capable of writing a true "short story" word-count definition. I always feel like I need 5,000 more words.

So knowing that I have to get to a satisfying ending with at least one cool hook or twist within a certain word count, I need to outline the plot much more carefully before I can get started.

But even a full length novel has to end some time. You can't meander too much or the reader will get lost. Knowing that if I let myself, I'd keep going forever, I have to force myself to stop. So even then, I have a rough outline.Armand Rosamilia: For me, it has to do with the experience of writing so many different stories over the years, no matter if it is flash fiction or a novel. If I have an idea of basic word count, I automatically know how much character, plot, subplot, action, dialogue, etc. I need to shoot for. Each story has to be looked at differently depending on what length you are looking for. I usually come really, really close. Then it is a matter of adding or subtracting in edits to get even closer to the goal.

Ralph L Angelo Jr.: First, I usually set a minimum that I work to meet The minimum Is always the same, about 65,000 words on novels. (If it's a short story I work toward the number count.) Then once I reach the minimum I just keep going until I feel it's wrapped up properly. If I feel I'm falling short I add a side story, or adventure. Just another few chapters dealing with something else that gets in the heroes way that they have to deal with. Mostly I self publish so there is no overshooting for me. I just write until I'm happy with the ending. I had one story that I had to shorten for a publisher. I wrote it to about 108,000 words and I had to cut it to 68,000. That took a lot of cutting. That was an odd situation in that I wrote it first and then a publisher/friend asked to publish it, so I had to cut it down after the fact.

Ric Martens: I really don't pay to much attention to word count at first, just say what I feel needs to be said.

When you fall short on the word count a story, how do you fix it?


Walter Bosley: Since I don't work in word count, it's easier to fix as working in page numbers gives more margin. If I set out to do a 170-page pulp novel and find myself wrapping up at 185, it's no problem because my hard rule is 200-page maximum on my pulps so I'm still in range. However, I also have my rough draft formula that hasn't failed me yet when it comes to writing the final draft and keeping it paced just so and almost exact on my projected page count.

Ray Dean: The first thing i do is read it again to look for 'holes' in the story, or moments that could benefit from more explanation. Is there something that I summarized that could use more description? That doesn't mean to add things in willy-nilly, or have dialogue ramble on for no reason. You can make things better by adding words... or you could water down a tight scene instead of adding more meaning or more development in a story. Adding word count should never be something you throw in without paying attention to the story and the ramifications of the additions.

Lance Stahlberg: There is no danger of that ever happening with me.

Percival Constantine: I'm actually in this problem right now. The last novella I wrote was 29.5K, which is 500 words short of the target. Now it's not that big of a deal, but I really want to get it over that 30K mark. So when I edit it in a week or two, I'll go back and look for places where I was maybe writing a bit more sparsely and could be beefed up.

Gordon Dymowski: When I read others talk about overshooting, they'll take on a smug tone and declare that writers should "kill their darlings."

I take the opposite approach -- I get rid of anything that *doesn't* work in a story. (Because some writers who advise "killing your darlings" rarely take their own advice :))

Marian Allen: If I fall short on the word count, I look for scenes that I can "break open" to add excitement, poignancy, clarity, humor, or atmosphere. If I'm far short of the word count, I look for a way to plug in a subplot that enriches the main plot.

Robert Krog: I never fall short of a word count. I write a lot of short fiction, but the minimums are always so short that there's no worry about it. If ever I came up with too little, I think I could easily add a few adjectives, some extra description, some lengthened action to account for the lack. If I was way short, for some reason, I could add an extra plot element or character and explore that until I was in the correct range, all the while staying true to the original story arc.

Bobby Nash: Remember those extra bits I mentioned above? There you go. When you fall short, you've got an opportunity to do some character building of either your main character or perhaps some of the secondary characters, maybe even... the villain. There's always good stuff you can add, but don't just add for additions sake. You don't want to water down the story.

Ric Martens: I don't have the problem of being to short very often. When I do I just add a bit more description.

Jim D. Gillentine: After I write a story and I reread it, if there are places I can add things into it to flesh it out and make it better, then I do it. You can always catch places where you left out a minor detail to make the story much better or make more sense to the reader.

Allan Gilbreath: Add another complication if somewhat close to to the target. If way short, add another character and rewrite.

I.A. Watson: I recover from shock and look where scenes could be amplified, and check the structure to see if there are places where an additional cutaway scene or character moment might serve the tale.

Conversely, when you way overshoot the word count on a story, how do you fix it?

Robert Krog: One can always delete adverbs and frequently delete adjectives. That's a cheap and easy way if one is just a little over. No one ever misses words such as "just," "really," and "literally." It's best to avoid them anyway, most of the time. "Big" works just as well as "great big," and so does giant or enormous. If one has felt particularly inspired and waxed eloquently verbose, one might have to take more drastic action and start eliminating extraneous elements. In short fiction, that can be hard, because one has presumably only used the most necessary devices to tell the story anyway.

I have deleted minor characters, though, and even found ways to eliminate whole scenes that I thought were crucial until I really examined my story. I have sometimes tossed manuscripts and started over because I found the efforts to be too wordy.

I have also found that there are sometimes whole phrases that can be rolled up into one, little word.

It's work, and it's sometimes painful, but it is rewarding. I never send in a story that is too long. I never beg permission for an exception in my case. The editor asked for a certain length, and I either respectfully meet that requirement or do not submit. I have sometimes had ideas that I allowed to get out of hand, that I liked too much to shorten, in which case I set that idea aside and start over for the particular story call with something that does meet the requirements.

Jim D. Gillentine: I always let my wife, Elizabeth Donald, take a look at my work and let her put her editor's 'Red Pen of Death and Destruction' to work. She kills my darlings perfectly and helps me trim out all of the useless fluff out of my work. It sometimes hurts, and yes, I'll grumble about it. But ultimately, I know she knows the craft far better than I and that it will make my stories better and more enjoyable to read.

Allan Gilbreath: Do the reverse of what I mentioned before. A big overshoot is the removal of a character. If just a trim down is needed, remove a complication or two.

Marian Allen: I weep and murder some of my darlings. Some words, conversations, scenes, and subplots can be dispensed with. Some characters can be folded together. The good stuff that needs to be cut goes in a special folder, where I can fish for characters and ideas for other stories.

Ray Dean: Usually this is in the revision process, so redundant words are easy targets. The prepositional phrase that is 'nice' but not necessary. If larger cuts are needed I look for transitional scenes that might be summarized in other places instead of spelled out step by step on their own.

Then the story has to be gone over again to make sure that cuts didn't affect the continuity of the story. Like the movies I watch on DVDs with the director's cut that change plot points by omission.

I.A. Watson: I declare a trilogy. When the word count is an issue I set it aside and write something else to replace it  I'm REALLY NOT GOOD at cutting things down. Fortunately I have editors.

And then there's:
"Ian, this George and the Dragon manuscript weighs in at 230,00 words. This is a doorstop."
"You want me to cut it down?"
"I want you to sign this two-volume deal."

Lance Stahlberg: I am always streamlining action scenes and/or exposition, or even tearing out whole chunks of subplot when I realize I've gone too far over to make it to my end scene in under X-thousand words.

Sometimes you have to decide which characters are actually important to moving the plot forward, and which am you spending too much time on just because you like them. Or you may realize that a particular subplot is derailing your main plot too much to be worth it. Maybe that sidebar is better left for a sequel. 

Bobby Nash: First, kill all the adverbs! Cut the extraneous words and dialogue tags. That's a good start. Then, if you're still over, comes the hard part. You have to start killing your babies and look at what scenes can go away without hurting the story. There's usually one or two you can lose and not hurt the story.

Gordon Dymowski: Ironically, this just happened: a story I'm currently writing came up under count by over 2,000 words. However, in reading my second draft, I realized that there was a *huge* plot hole that needed to be addressed. So when I come under, I tend to look for opportunities to expand/clarify the story (and then, when I edit, look for opportunities to cut down). I'm not very concerned about meeting word counts exactly (so if I get 14,900 out of 15k words, that's OK), but I'm willing to flesh out a story that looks a little rickety.

It means taking advice Derrick Ferguson gave on the EXPLODING TYPEWRITER podcast and eliminating "was" and "had". It's finding opportunities to take out long, rambling passages and turn them into tight, concise sentences. It means rethinking exposition (showing rather than telling) and reframing action (initially, a "lost child" subplot drove the bulk of "Crossing McCausland" on TALL PULP; in order to lessen the word count, I simply cut the bulk of that exposition and led with the outcome). It also means focusing on the *story* -- anything that moves the story forward stays in; anything that messes up the gears or feels wrong gets eliminated.

Percival Constantine: I've overshot a few times, and it usually depends on whether or not the book is for a publisher and whether or not it's part of a series. My Vanguard serial is in installments of 15K episodes and the final episode ended up being 20K. I decided not to cut out that extra 5K because I felt it would be a disservice to the story, and also because it was the final episode of that season, so a longer story did feel justified. My novel SoulQuest had an initial target of 50-60K, but ended up being 90K when I finished. But since that novel was self-published and not part of a series, I saw no need to cut out that extra 30-40K.

Ric Martens: I always overshoot the word count. I fix it by going through and cutting out unneeded adverbs and the like.

Walter Bosley: Never happens because my rough draft method ensures I never exceed a specific number of pages. Ever. Of course, I have the luxury of being my own publisher (and having publisher friends and associates, I prefer it that way, lol).

Getting Carried Away with (and by) Ray Dean

Ray Dean's newest book, Carried Away, is hot off the presses (well, digitally speaking), and it seemed like a perfect time to interview this wonderful author.

Tell us a bit about your latest work.

Inspired by the Suffrajitsu (http://suffrajitsu.com) trilogy, Carried Away features several principal characters from the graphic novels, including Persephone Wright and Flossie Le Mar, as well as introducing a new protagonist, Tressa Boniface. Tressa's journey from timid maid to confident suffragette is marked by sometimes violent class and gender conflicts, new friendships and cases of mistaken identity, weaving in and out of the world of haute couture fashion circa 1913.

I am extremely proud to be a part of our group, adding stories into the this 'world.' We're not only continuing the stories of the characters from the graphic novels, but adding in some of our own as well. There are so many interesting events in the history of suffrage, the possibilities are endless.

What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?

I like to think about what goes 'wrong' and how things change because of those challenges. If one avenue is blocked, what happens to the characters because of it? What choices do they have to make? If something goes wrong, can the character overcome the problem?

Otherwise, I think I cover a little bit of everything across the board. Either I have a muse with multiple personalities, or I have a crazy little group of them in my head. I'm not sure which idea is more appealing... or frightening.

What would be your dream project?

Anything and everything? I love a challenge... I'd like to work with some of my friends on different projects. The collaboration of ideas and good friends would be my idea of a lot of fun.

If you have any former project to do over to make it better, which one would it be, and what would you do?

Throughout most of my college years I was working on a series of novels in the Fantasy genre. I had paper after paper of handwritten notes. I had some files in my Brother Word Processor (yes, I had one of those things with only two lines visible on the screen). And when I shared a desktop with my husband, I typed all of the notes into a file on that computer. And then he reformatted it while I was at work one day. I hadn't backed it up to anything and I didn't have the paper notes anymore. All that work... gone. So if I could 'do it better' it would mean that I'd actually have those pages back.

What inspires you to write?

To get the voices in my head to shush enough to let me sleep. Not joking. It's a pain sometimes, but what would be worse is silence. So, I'll suffer through it and hope the voice's will take a number and wait their turn.

What writers have influenced your style and technique?

Always a tough question. I know so many wonderful authors that influence me in many ways. Some challenge me to be better by questioning excuses I may come up with. Some influence my creativity by helping me to brainstorm. But, if I go back into my memories. I'd say that Laura Ingalls Wilder had aninfluence on me. I felt like the words in her books were like a conversation with a friend. The kind of conversation that friends have curled up on a sofa at a sleep over. I felt 'home' in her stories. Just like Louisa May Alcott. Little Women was the first book I stayed up all night to read. I could not say goodbye to them until the last page was read. While more modern authors have taught me lessons, I believe that those early experiences had the biggest influences on me.

Where would you rank writing on the "Is it an art or it is a science continuum?" Why?

More art than science for me. Art is subjective. Go into an art museum or see an art installation and asking a group what they 'see' what they 'feel.' You'll get a bunch of different answers. Science is driven by measurable results. You're not going to get that in writing. You can put in the same effort into two stories... cover the same 'topics,' map out the plot the same way... but you cannot guarantee a result or reaction. And I think that's part of the fun! And part of the anxiety and fear of it as well.

Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug?

I have several stories coming up in various anthologies.

“The Sound of Her Fury” will appear in a Steampunk Anthology, ‘Gears, Gadgets, and Steam: Tinkered Tales Vol 1′ with Harren Press “Jerry Rigg: In Need of a Fix” will appear in Capes & Clockwork II with Dark Oak Press. “Washed Pure, Washed Clean” will appear in Book One of The City Anthology with MV Media. “By Its Cover” will appear in the Romance Anthology for Witty Bard Publishing.

And, I'm working on my next story for the world of "Suffrajitsu."

Looking for more of Ray Dean on the 'net?
http://www.raydean.net
https://www.facebook.com/RayDeanAuthor
http://www.amazon.com/Foreworld-Saga-Carried-Novella-Suffrajitsu-ebook/dp/B00UB7VQNM/  

Finding and Working with Beta Readers

Beta readers. That illustrious feedback group of superhero readers who lets you know if your story works or not. We've all heard the glory tales of great beta readers. We've also all heard the horror stories of (let's just say) bad beta readers. How does a writer find and keep an effective group and what does one look for?

What do you look for in a beta reader? How do you find readers who fit your needs?

Lee Houston Jr.: Someone friendly who understands the material, yet realizes that they are only reading the first draft, or that even the later draft(s) may not be completely ready to go when they read them, compared to the final version of the story that is eventually published.

At the very least, it would have to be somebody I know and trust to go over my writing, because I would not want to take the risk of either having details of my forthcoming works blabbed all over the place before they're published or get ripped off by someone I thought I could trust.
Both instances have happened to me before, so it was literally years between my current reader and my last one.

As far as how do I find readers, I seriously lucked out with my current one, for my friend and writing buddy go over each other's material as time permits in our respective schedules.

Ray Dean: First, be VERY clear about what you want in a beta. Some people say they want one, but their idea of what it is may be very different from what the other person thinks. You must say what you want to know about your writing and the other person needs to agree to it. Not setting the parameters ahead of time can be VERY frustrating. It doesn't help the writer and wastes the time of the Beta. I have always found my betas from my friends that are writers. We tend to value the same things in writing and are willing to take the time to help each other.

Stephanie Osborn: I need someone who knows science and has good grammar, AND will not gossip or even remark publicly on what s/he has read. There’s no point in putting out the book if someone has already told the plot to the whole world.

Generally finding beta readers is not hard. I have beta readers among my friends – some established, who get every book, and others that I call on just for specific books, when I’m looking for a certain kind of feedback. About the only time anyone turns me down is when s/he just doesn’t have time at the moment.

Have you ever had to let a beta reader go? What was it he or she did or didn't do that caused you to have to take that step?

Lee Houston Jr.: Believe it or not, writing is hard work, and every author does their best to create something unique in every story.
To have details of your story revealed before it is published, or to have your work plagiarized by another are unforgivable sins to a writer.

Ray Dean: Actually someone stopped using me. They asked me to 'beta' read and I went through and picked out the grammar errors, the jumped heads, the problems in logistics... thankfully I was doing the edit in Google Docs... after I'd made it through half of the document they sent me an 'Instant Message' and said... "Wait... wait! I didn't want you to look at THAT stuff... just tell me if you like it." So we agreed that I wasn't the 'beta' for her.

Stephanie Osborn: Not so far. I’d have to let one go if s/he violated my trust and publicly posted details from the book, I think.

What is the benefit of using beta readers for you?

Lee Houston Jr.: A fresh pair of eyes to go over your material, looking for possible mistakes that you might have missed, as well as giving you an honest opinion of how the story is, and what might be done to make it better.

Ray Dean: They catch the little things that your own mind 'glosses' over... one extra letter here, a missed word there... the stuff that your own mind 'adds' in as you read it, because 'it' knows what you meant. Those invisible add ins are easily caught by someone that hasn't read the thing over and over and over.

Stephanie Osborn: Oh! That’s easy. I get another set of eyes on the book before it goes to the publisher. It gives me a chance to polish it, to find out if there is a plot hole, or if I have gotten enamored of a particular word and overused it, or if I have some grammatical errors, or (in the case of my science beta readers) if the science needs tweaking to be realistic. I can get a LOT of VERY useful information from only one or two well-chosen beta readers.

My current principal beta reader is an old friend – we go back to grad school together. He’s a PhD particle physicist with a lot of experience in several different science fields, and he does a bit of essay writing himself, and is knowledgeable/skillful in grammar. He’s VERY trustworthy, and I get a lot of good info from him.

What are some of the drawbacks of having a group of beta readers?

Lee Houston Jr.: The obvious one is disagreement. What happens when you get different opinions on the same material? Do you go with the majority opinion? Or do you listen to the "lone voice in the wilderness" who disagrees with the others instead? That is why I only have the one.
I often refer to Nancy Hansen as my "friendly neighborhood beta/proofreader". As friends and writing buddies, we go over each other's material to help each other out whenever possible.

Ray Dean: The most I've ever had was two at one time. One caught more of the 'big picture' stuff, the other the smaller points. I had no complaints.

Stephanie Osborn: The more beta readers you have, the more apt your project is to be publicly discussed. Also not all of them may understand what you’re trying to do, or the direction you want to take. It can be quite annoying when this happens to a strongly opinionated beta reader, who then won’t let go telling you how you need to “fix” your story. And then, of course, there’s the simple, “Beta A said 0 degrees, but Beta B said 180 degrees.” So you can get very contradictory feedback, which can be hard to reconcile.

Don't Suck. Okay, Well Can You Be More Specific?

As I mentioned here not so long ago, some awesome advice I got from a friend way back when was this: "Don't suck." That's all well and good, because I knew what Frank was saying to me when he said that.

But what does that advice mean to you? 

If a writing mentor were to tell you "don't suck," what would you understand that to mean?

Ralph L Angelo Jr: I'd have to think that means make sure you write something engaging and interesting. Something that presses all the right buttons with your audience, but also is true to yourself and not just a cookie cutter book or project. In other words, don't just go through the motions, but actually write something you would want to read and of course something you are proud to put your name on at the end.

Mark Koch: While producing something you are proud of, ensure that you consider how it will appear to the reader. Write only for yourself, and you will likely be the only one who appreciates your writing.

Mark Bousquet: To me, this means, "Don't be lazy." We all have those moments in a story when you know you need to do something you don't want to do because it's time consuming - maybe it's trying to find out the right handgun a Norwegian soldier should be using in World War 2, or going back through your story to provide infrastructure for a new subplot you introduced at the end of a draft. If you know something needs to be done, do it. Now or later is fine, but before publication.

Peter Welmerink: I believe if a writing mentor told me to DON'T SUCK, he'd be saying to make sure, when I am all done with letting my writing SUCK on that FIRST DRAFT, by simply writing without abandon or caring about if sentence structure, grammar, the rest, was all good and just GETTING THAT FIRST DRAFT DONE, by telling me to DON'T SUCK, he/she would be saying to go through that SECOND DRAFT with care and conscience and polish it to perfection.

Van Allen Plexico: Do your best work. Don't settle for less. Don't put something out for public consumption that reflects badly on you. Drink from the glass or cup; don't use a straw. You're a grown up.

Marian Allen: Be technically competent and respect your readers.

Violet Patterson: Tell an unforgettable story.


Ray Dean: In one of my writing communities a member complained that one of the first reviews she had on a self-published novel stated that she needed some editing for basic grammar and sentence structure. She lamented that she didn't have the money to pay someone to edit. We offered her ideas on how to get some help with editing or resources for her to help and edit her own work. Later that day she replied to the thread saying... "That's okay, I like my novel... my MOM likes my novel... haters gonna hate!" I'm not saying that her mother isn't able to identify good work when she sees it, but discounting that review as merely a hater probably isn't the best thing to do. We can always get better... learn more about plotting, grammar, characterization, etc. We can always improve and we should... to me "Don't Suck" means if you can make something better... do it. Don't get lazy.

Selah Janel: Don't write to a formula or what you think you should be writing about. Do what hasn't been done or try a different take on things. Don't write with the mindset to try to advance plan what the next new thing or big bestselling idea will be. Write what you know and be true to the writer you are. Definitely edit and pay attention to spelling, grammar, and formatting. If you're writing to a specific call or magazine, then write what the guidelines ask for. Stretch your wings and be original, but the editors definitely are asking for certain things for a reason. Keep going, keep reading, keep writing, keep pushing yourself to get better.

Lee Houston Jr.: "Don't Suck" to me means I make sure that everything I submit for publication is the best I can humanly create. The reader deserves no less.

Shelby Vick: It boils down to:  Don't cheat the reader. That applies to Western, SciFi, mysteries, etc.

Rebekah McAuliffe: Don't be afraid to bend the rules. Technique and methods should be important, but don't let them overshadow the actual writing of the story.

Tony Acree: Make sure you run spelling and grammar check at least once. Hmm. Twice. And never, ever, start your story with "It was a dark and stormy night."

Terri Smiles: Work at it, revise, revise revise, until it becomes what I intended. For me it was advice to blow deadlines if I needed to in order to create a product I was proud to have my name on.

H. David Blalock: Know your limitations, then push harder. Get outside your comfort zone and take the reader with you. Readers get bored with the same storyline over and over again. Show them something they, and you, have never seen before. Most importantly, don't leave them hanging.

TammyJo Eckhart: Don't be afraid to push the edges of what a genre should include or should be about. While you'll have a harder time selling your work, you'll be more satisfied with it and those readers and publishers who find you will appreciate that you aren't mundane.

Hot Lead and Dead Steel? What about Westerns?

We're talking Westerns today, folks. So mosey on up to the table and let's find out why they're out of vogue and what keeps creators working on them anyway. 

What is it about the Western genre that drew you to it as a creative person?

Erwin K. Roberts: When you are, like me, an early U.S. baby boomer, you grew up immersed in westerns. They came at you on the radio, followed by TV as soon as your family bought that first set. "B" westerns were on the way out in Hollywood, but "A" westerns would sill be common for quite some time. Western comics came from just about every surviving comics publisher. Most of the last surviving pulps were westerns. (Ranch Romances ended in 1971.) Mixed in were Easterns featuring folks like DC Comics' Tomahawk. Plus, for over fifty years, Northerns like Challenge of the Yukon (SGT Preston) and Zane Grey's King of the Royal Mounted were very popular.

Nowadays, westerns are more popular in places like Australia, than the United States. And, to an extent, I miss them. That's just one of the reasons I jumped on to Airship 27's Masked Rider wagon train. I had a (pun intended) blast writing "Thunder at Devil's Tower." The research about that area fascinated me. I got to play with any number of western stereotypes. I turned one or two on their ears.

These days the western often gets mashed up with other genre. Cowboys & Aliens did not even come close to inventing that concept. About 1953 Shadow author Walter B. Gibson created and wrote six issues of Space Western for Charlton Comics a year or two before Dell launched Turok, Son of Stone. The hybrid possibilities are endless.

Ray Dean: Everything... wide open spaces... raw conflict, survival, high emotion, and the paradox that so many went to the 'West' for a new start.. and then they get there and the same old prejudices are in place or if your 'past' comes back to haunt you... you're done. There so much to love/hate/revel in about the "Old West.'

Bill Craig: It was a simpler time, heroes and villains were very black and white in the distinctions.

Derrick Ferguson: My love and appreciation of the Western came from my parents, especially my father. He would watch any and all Westerns that came on TV no matter who was in. And back then we only had one TV so if I didn't watch what my parents did, I just didn't watch TV. He didn't have a favorite Western star. He just loved all Westerns. He and I would watch Have Gun Will Travel, The Wild Wild West and Wanted: Dead Or Alive together and my very first grown up movie was The Wild Bunch, which I saw at the tender age of 10 and changed the course of my life forever.

What draws me to the Western as a creative person? My gut says it's because you can make a Western as simple or as complicated as you want and nobody will give you any shit about it. The Western is American mythology which is why it'll never go away. Myths just don't go away. They get changed, sure. In the 60's/70's/80's many of the tropes of the Western were adopted by police/crime thrillers and science fiction movies. But we always come back to the Western because there's a purity there, a stripping away of the bullshit that infects our society today and brings us back to basic, core beliefs, traditions and codes of behavior that we've lost but still long for.

Lee Houston Jr.: Westerns represent a more simpler time in both literature and history. Where you could tell the heroes from the villains, and not just by what colored hats they wore. It was a period where hard work and honesty were their own rewards for most folks.

Aaron Smith: I’ve never really considered myself a fan of the Western genre. Yes, I watched Bonanza and Gunsmoke reruns as a kid, but I never sought out Westerns on purpose. If I made a list of my 20 or so favorite movies, the only western on it would be The Searchers. The only reason I’ve written a western story and had it published was because I was once asked to write one for an anthology. I like some Westerns, but have never consciously wanted to write them. I like good stories and if I happen to have an idea for a story that works best as a Western, I’ll write it, but that particular genre is not something I’m specifically drawn to.

What are the key elements of an effective Western story?

Erwin K. Roberts: They are pretty much the same as any good adventure story. Look at it this way: The Seven Samurai became a very successful western as The Magnificent Seven. Then, in the aftermath of Star Wars, the plot got recycled yet again in outer space with George Peppard, John Boy, and Robert Vaughn reprising his The Magnificent 7 role. (Battle Beyond the Stars).

Derrick Ferguson: Being set in the West helps. I think the untamed frontier is just as much a character in a Western as any of the humans. Sergio Leone understood this and used it to great advantage as his American West is as much of a fantastic realm as Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age. Cowboys. Indians. Schoolma'arms. Gunslingers. Gamblers. Hookers with a heart of gold. Greedy land-grabbing cattle barons. Rustlers. Showdowns at high noon in the middle of Main Street. Sheriffs. Owlhoots. Barroom brawls. Cattle stampedes. And I think that there’s a certain heroic element that has to be in play. The good ol’ fashioned “A Man’s Gotta Do What A Man’s Gotta Do”

The last I really think is important because the Western is a genre where we can still read about heroes being heroes simply because you have rugged men and nurturing women doing The Right Thing simply because it is the The Right Thing and bringing. Law and Order to a ferociously savage and chaotic land.

Aaron Smith: The key elements of an effective western are the time period, setting, and archetypes specific to the genre, which are obvious, but a good story that’s a western needs the same key elements as any good story whether it’s science fiction, or a Victorian period piece or a Game of Thrones type fantasy epic: good characters, believable motivations, suspense, drama, etc.

Ray Dean: CONFLICT, CONFLICT, CONFLICT. One person rubbin' up against another and causin' friction... ranchers against farmers, cattlemen against sheep farmers, soiled doves against proper womenfolk. There's a wealth of conflict in a world where people are trying to make a living and get what they want. Sounds like any other genre? I don't know really.. Maybe it's just how I see it in my head... the dust, the boarded walkways and false fronts... lone men on horseback riding into a town full of people that might want him dead... It all works for me.

Bill Craig: Keys elements are cowboys, horses and guns, and a pretty gal in distress.

Lee Houston Jr.: There are no 'shades of grey' in a western and justice was always triumphant in the end.

Is there really any hope at making the Western story popular again, or has the world moved on?

Derrick Ferguson: I think that in print The Western is still as popular as it ever was. There’s a British publisher of Westerns, BLACK HORSE WESTERNS that started in the 1960’s and is still going strong to this day Here’s a link if anybody reading this is interested in submitting to them or just reading their books: http://website.lineone.net/~adam_and_lynne/index.html.

As for movies and TV: I think we’ve just got to accept that The Western has had it’s heyday on TV and that’s that. We may get the occasional mini-series like Lonesome Dove or Broken Trail but that’s it. As for theatrical films, it’s all about superheroes now so I’m not holding my breath there.

Aaron Smith: I don’t think the Western will ever be as popular as it was from the 30s to the 60s when TV, film, books, and comics were full of westerns, but I think the western will always have a place, however small, in fiction because the old west is just as valid a setting for a good story as space or the jungle or Holmes’ London or modern San Francisco or whatever.

Erwin K. Roberts: The western has become sort of a cottage industry. Tom Selleck, Sam Elliott and more recently Kevin Sorbo make westerns from time to time. Westerns seem to be a bit more regularly published in the UK and Down Under than in the U.S. of A. Perhaps something, somewhere, will catch fire again, like the 1960's Spaghetti Westerns. But if all the general public sees for westerns are things like the Lone Ranger film, there is not much hope.

Lee Houston Jr.: The basic tenets of a good western, as listed in my two previous answers, are evident in a lot of stories today. As for a revival, there is still an active, but small, western genre with authors like William Johnstone and Robert Knott, who is carrying on Robert B. Parker's Cole and Hitch westerns. However, the typical western deals with a specific time period, so the best bet for a revival will probably be with licensed material from the days of The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke; Have Gun, Will Travel; The Wild, Wild, West; Bonanza; etc. Hopefully the next attempt will be handled better and be more successful than past efforts.

Ray Dean: I don't think it has... Open Range, Crossfire Trail, the Love Comes Softly Series, Purgatory, Appaloosa... a number of well-received Western miniseries and movies have been made... Tombstone was another great one... I think the long sweeping visuals of open land, cacti, tumbleweeds.. those images are part of our american heritage... and I think some part of our culture will be attached to the 'Western.'

Look at Firefly, with its space cowboys... the show Defiance with some Western elements... shows like Supernatural have western settings, backstories, and episodes. Perhaps it just comes down to what 'new stories' can be set and written and produced in that genre to help keep it alive for generations to come. Don't forget to introduce the 'next generations' to the genre! My son (17) loves watching the 'old' Western films with me (El Dorado, Rio Bravo...)

Bill Craig: Westerns are gaining in popularity again because people are so fed up with the inhumanity they see around them on a daily basis. I enjoy reading them, and I enjoy writing them.

The Butt End of the Book -- Ending a Story

Everybody always talks about story openings, but what about the opposite end of the work -- what about story endings? What makes those work? Let's talk about it.

Let's start with an easy one. Tell me your favorite story ending and why it works for you, why you find it memorable.

H. David Blalock: My favorite story ending? I don't think I have a single favorite. Endings do several things for a story. Tell a moral, provoke an emotion, teach a lesson, pull things together in the way most satisfying to the writer but not necessarily for the reader.

Herika Raymer: Choosing a favorite story ending is difficult. Though the one that came to mind when I read this was the ending of Travellor In Black by John Brunner. I always enjoy it when there is an unexpected twist. Not one out of the blue, but one suspected but cannot be proven/disproven until the end. There have been a lot of predictable endings, and those are naturally appropriate but sometimes a little "where did that come from" or "I knew it!" is refreshing.

James Layne: In "Once Upon A Time" tales the guy gets the girl and slays the dragon. In action stories the hero lives to fight another day, I assume bodice rippers end with something climactic, but the endings that I like best are those that either leave you wanting  for more, or when you read the last line and realize that the entire 268 previous pages were nothing but setup for a marvelous one liner such as in Zalazney's A Night In the Lonesome October - Jack and Jill ran down the hill  and Grey and I came after...

Ray Dean: How about I go opposite... the WORST ending ever... Stephen R Donaldson's Mirror of Her Dreams. 654 pages to find out that ... continued in part 2. Over a year and a half later when the second part came out I had to reread part 1 to get up to speed... it just wasn't the same. Where I had been on the edge of my seat to find out what's next... I was now... sigh.

Jason Henderson: When I thought about this question, several answers came to mind but a favorite would be the end of To Kill a Mockingbird. After all the excitement we get a short chapter that shows a gentle scene of the family - Jem, Scout and Atticus, as Atticus reads them a story and puts the children to bed. We get a lot right at the end -- a story-within-a-story with a moral that echoes the story of the whole novel, a gentle moment, and for the reader, a return to the world of our own - the characters literally go to sleep. I'm left entranced and feeling privileged to have spent time with the characters.

Lee Houston Jr.: My favorite story ending (to date) unfortunately has yet to be released, so I'm not sure I can talk about it in great detail right now. I will say that the short story is scheduled to be published by Airship 27, and that the twist ending has a very big surprise for even the most casual pulp (or movie) fan.

Cam Crowder: It's kind of a tossup to be honest. But, if I had to pick, I think I'd go with Caliban's Hour by Tad Williams. It was the first time as a kid that I read a book that left me actively guessing after the book was closed.

The whole premise of the book was Caliban finding the woman who betrayed him years prior and making her pay. But, after he tells her his story, the woman's daughter storms in and offers to leave with Caliban in order to spare her mother. Caliban says that he'll take care of the girl, but also openly says that he could be lying if he's truly the monster he's been called all these years. The most fascinating part about the ending was the way he leaves everything in the hands of the woman he'd been intending to kill for the whole book, telling her that, if she believes him, she'll wait until the candle in the room goes out before calling the guards.

It's an ending that still gives me chills to this day when I read the book.

I.A. Watson: There are three kinds of endings I find effective. The first is the "they all return home changed" end. Think of the last couple of chapters of Lord of the Rings, where four kick-ass Hobbits get back to the Shire, Frodo stomps Saruman, and we see how the adventure is going to shape everyone's lives thereafter.

Then there's the big-last-clash type of ending, which ties together everything that's come before. There are revelations, betrayals, major moral choices, possibly a countdown, probably things exploding. I try for these in my pulp fiction writing, especially at the close of my Robin Hood trilogy and in Blackthorn: Dynasty of Mars.

Lastly there's the sense-of-destiny ending. King Arthur takes his place at the Round Table - or heads away in a boat for Avalon, to await the day of his return. It's the moment when the protagonist we've watched struggle for 500 pages comes into his own. This ending sometimes but not always involves a romance, and sometimes but not always sets up a sequel.

What is the purpose of a good and effective story ending? How does that purpose differ from the opening of a story? Which, if either, if more important to the work?

H. David Blalock: A good ending should at least finish the story in a way that lets the reader see there is nothing left to tell. Unless you have the prestige of a Hitchcock or a very forgiving readership, all plotlines should be resolved. All questions should be answered. All conflicts should be resolved. One way or the other.

Herika Raymer: An effective story ending resolves all threads laid out in the story. Even if the thread is not tied up the way the reader would prefer, at least it is addressed. To me that is an effective ending - what threads were put out there and how can they be resolved?

James Layne: An over simplified answer would be that one is just as important as the other for the same reason, gaining enough of the reader's trust to get them to buy the next book... But from a story telling standpoint to me at least, the beginning is about kicking the door in and exposing what is on the other side. Endings, well not every story has a happy ending and life even in fiction isn't always neat and tidy. For me the ending is resolution of a problem and not about packaging it neatly for the evening news. I seem to do better with the endings to novels than with my short stories. I have trouble because endings require setup and sometimes its a challenge for me in shorter word counts... Boiled down, "The beginning sells this book, the ending sells the next one."

Ray Dean: An opening is supposed to set you down in the middle of the action, sweep you up in the story. The ending should be satisfying. Something that makes you feel the journey was worth it. And hopefully, it also instills excitement in you for the world you've just explored. Hope that you'll have other adventures in the same universe. Both are important... bookends.

Lee Houston Jr.: The opening should draw the reader into your tale and make them want to find out what happens next. The ending should at least have the reader satisfied, if not excited, that they did spend the time to read your story. Both are equally vital to the overall work.

Cam Crowder: The opening is more important for drawing the reader in, but the ending is what they're going to remember.

That said, I've seen a million-and-three different types of endings in my lifetime, and only a few of them stood out as wrong. I know people sometimes hate it when a book's last chapters move at light speed and the story ends leaving them with more questions than they had when they started. Personally, I like that, but it's not for everyone.

I also think that a good opening is more universal than a good ending. Most people like for their books to open with a hook to draw them in, whereas endings are very diverse, depending on the audience you're trying to reach.

Jason Henderson: The opening of a story performs the critical function of getting you, the reader, to read the whole first page and then turn that page. The rest is optional. The closing of a story performs the critical function of making you glad you read all the way to the end - a tougher job and one that books often fail. To me the opening is important for a very narrow purpose: getting you to decide in a split second whether to keep reading. (That's why I try to begin my adventure novels in media res, with the main character, say, falling out of an airplane. But even if you don't start with action, even if it's a dialogue scene in someone's drawing room, the opening has one job: keep you from putting the book back down.

An ending, on the other hand, has to make you feel like you were not wrong to keep reading -- to satisfy you and with any luck leave you with a visceral thrill, hairs standing on your arms. The opening can be a carnival barker and promise anything at all; the closing must sell you on the value of what you've read, and be right about it.

Shane Moore: I prefer the emotional ending to the big reveal. I want the reader moved insomuch they have a real emotional reaction. In order to achieve this, it forces me to write and develop a story the reader is fully invested in.

I.A. Watson: A good opening lays out the themes for the book, piques reader interest, sucks readers in. it;s most basic job is to get someone to turn to page 2, but it can and should do a lot more than that. A good ending affirms the whole experience, making the reader glad he or she purchased the work. The opening might determine whether the book gets read; the ending determines whether it gets read again, and loaned out, and recommended to friends, and given five-star reviews.

An ending needs to tie up plots, themes, personal character arcs, and any outstanding business. There's a slightly different answer for endings on ongoing series, which may carry over some elements, but in both cases there had to be a sense of closure. Think how many fan-favourite TV series have dropped from grace through poor endings (hello, Lost, Twin Peaks, even How I Met Your Mother). Books, which are usually longer-term commitments to experience and require a deeper cognitive function, demand even more rigorous levels of sense-of-completion.

Endings are more important in terms of literary quality. A book's reputation might survive a bad start. It won't survive a bad end.

What are the key elements of an effective ending paragraph or line? What makes them effective?

H. David Blalock: The ending is the most important part of the story, as just about any writer can tell you. It's easy to create conflict, to build characters, to populate plots. It's only the best writers who can bring everything together, meld it into a unified whole, and present it in an entertaining and acceptable way when the final paragraph passes under the reader's eye. Editors look at the opening to see if they should further consider a work for publication, but even if you pass the first hurdle, if you can't write an ending that tells the editor you know not only how to tell a story, but how to satisfy the reader.

Herika Raymer: Depending on how the paragraph or line is being used, how it is phrased. If you are using it to lead into the next sentence or chapter, be sure it leaves a sense of what is to come. If it is meant as a closure, have a feeling of finality to it.

James Layne: Resolution of a problem. Recovery of the McGuffin. Rescue of the damsel in distress. These are the purposes of the ending. If there is not an adequate and justified reason for the release of dramatic tension then give me something I can sink my teeth into. IF you can't do that then you better hit me with one heckuva good joke. The ending is the money shot, it is where your reader feels the value proposition... The most effective endings give you resolution, but  they also tease you with things that happen just outside the field of vision or earshot. Your reader has lived and died with your characters, they require justice for those with whom they've bled and cried. A happy ending is nice in the given circumstance, but the right ending is everything.

Ray Dean: Hmm.. perhaps an ending should be like a sleeve - (keep in mind I sew) - where a sleeve should end with an appropriate edge, line, or decoration. Something that complements the sleeve that led up to it. Some sleeves have a frilly edge, or a clean line of pin-tucks with a decorative button, or a light and airy froth. but if it contradicts the rest of the sleeve or the garment that it is worth with, it ruins the whole thing. Yeah, that may not work in everyone's mind, but that's how it is in mine.

Lee Houston Jr.: Somehow, those last words should summarize and impart the overall essence of the story, at least from the point of view of whoever says them, without revealing the outcome of the tale in case a copy should be looked over by the browser who glances at the last page of the print copy first.

Cam Crowder: For me personally, I like for the last line to keep me asking questions. I want to continue living in that world long after the last page is turned. Any book that can give me that, I consider effective.

But, again, the effectiveness of any ending line depends on the reader entirely. Some people don't care what it is as long as they get closure, others (like me) want some more things to think about.

And it's important to remember that your ending, whatever it might be, will define the story you're trying to tell. So it's best to make sure it's a definition you can live with. You want it to be as memorable as possible.

Jason Henderson: The ending paragraph or line doesn't have to be a clever line or joke; doesn't have to be the best line in the book. It just has to make you satisfied that you read it. So some final lines are not memorable per se - To Kill a Mockingbird's is: "He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning."

And you can't match the angry cool at the end of Casino Royale: "Yes, dammit, I said 'was.' The bitch is dead now."

Nor the chillingly taciturn final line from 1984: "I love Big Brother."

The final line of Frankenstein is: "He was soon borne away by the waves and lost in darkness and distance." I like that one; it's another pure close, the monster drifting "into the distance, like someone waving from the back of a train. Plus it's alliterative. Well done, Mary.

And the final line of Wuthering Heights is so good that it makes me cry even years after I remember the scene that ends it very well at all: "I lingered round them, under that benign sky: watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells, listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth."

So there it is: openings have to drag you in. The ending has to send you away feeling you were right to be dragged.

I.A. Watson: I've written a whole chapter on this for my forthcoming essay book Where Stories Dwell so I won't spoil that here - it's the last chapter in there, naturally. I'll briefly comment on some of my favourite tricks for closing lines:

1.    Final paragraph revelation: Rosebud was his sled!
2.    Underlining a theme or moral: "Next time, kids, maybe don't hold your frat party in the abandoned asylum, huh?"
3.    The hero gets his reward. "Sure, you're very clever. Now shut up about the case, get over here, and kiss me." "A point well made."
4.    Hook right back to the opening lines and offer some circularity or progression.