I\u2019d like to introduce Kathleen Ewing, freelance and fiction writer, Prescott Valley, AZ<\/p>\n
The novel bug bit hard when the first chapter of my novel Hang the Moon<\/em> won the 2008 CNW\/FFWA Writing Competition, Fiction\u2014Novel Chapter. I admitted to some self-doubt. One entry, one win could be a fluke. Four more submissions, four more awards. Apparently the novel about a rodeo cowboy on the brink of retirement possessed a broader appeal than I suspected. I dug the manuscript out of the garage to rewrite it. <\/p>\n Kathleen\u2019s Technique<\/strong> At this point, out comes a large poster board from my closet. With a sticky notepad and a red marker, I begin writing down titles for scenes where this character might find himself in his quest to fulfill that want. No details. Just three or four words per note. I try to have twenty-five or thirty of these scene notes stuck on the board before I proceed to the next step.<\/p>\n The test I use to determine if I have a viable scene? Either it moves my character toward his goal or throws a barrier in his way. If it does neither, I trash it or set it aside for revamping. Now I begin arranging the notes in what feels like a logical order, subject to future change, of course. <\/p>\n Once I\u2019m comfortable with where those scenes take the story, I transpose them to my novel\u2019s workbook, a large loose-leaf binder. With one page per scene, I make brief notes on what I expect the scene to accomplish, which characters are present to interact and a snippet of action or dialog to serve as a springboard when I write the scene. For each scene page, there is a pocket page where I can capture notes, photos and bits of research that pertain to that scene. <\/p>\n Working backward from page one, I add a timeline to the workbook so I can keep track of critical milestones in the backstory. I know how my cowboy looks, how he thinks and what he drinks. By now he\u2019s an old family friend. But I need to keep track of years he won championships, when he missed the PRCA Finals due to serious injuries, what he scored on his best ride, the name of the horse and where that ride occurred. Rodeo cowboys remember these things. I can’t.<\/p>\n Now that I know where my cowboy\u2019s been, where he\u2019s going and why, I add one crucial element. How is he going to change through the course of the novel? <\/p>\n Finally. I am prepared to narrate the story of rodeo legend Gib McCasland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019d like to introduce Kathleen Ewing, freelance and fiction writer, Prescott Valley, AZ The novel bug bit hard when the first chapter of my novel Hang the Moon won the 2008 CNW\/FFWA Writing Competition, Fiction\u2014Novel Chapter. I admitted to some self-doubt. One entry, one win could be a fluke. Four more submissions, four more awards. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[25,21,9],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\nWhile outlines and detailed character sketches appeal to the manufacturing engineer I was, they suffocate the writer in me. So I start simply, with an interesting character doing something striking\u2014in this case, a world champion saddlebronc rider getting bucked off onto his head. I visualize my character vividly. Shoot, I live in his hip pocket. I decide where the character is headed, what he wants most and what he\u2019s prepared to do to get it. And what or who threatens to stop him. <\/p>\n