Author: Jackie Houchin

First, I am a believer in Jesus Christ, so my views and opinions are filtered through what God's Word says and I believe. I'm a wife, a mom, a grandma and now a great grandma. I write articles and reviews, and I dabble in short fiction. I enjoy living near the ocean, doing gardening (for beauty and food) and traveling - in other countries, if possible. My heart is for Christian missions, and I'm compiling a collections of Missionary Kids' stories to publish. (I also like kittens and cats and reading mysteries.)

What to Write When You Don’t Know What to Write.

by Jackie Houchin

  • Prompts help.
  • Other people’s ideas help.
  • Daydreaming out the window helps.
  • Deadlines help.
  • Contests help.
  • Tragedies or celebrations MAY help.
  • Anger MAY help if directed.
  • Copywork MAY help.
  • Unfinished manuscripts MAY help.
  • Praying (if so inclined) MAY help.

But what WORKS?  What can get your thoughts sparking and your fingers flying. What can set you on a course from A to B (with subpoints) or from Inciting incident to Denouement?  

Threats? Muses? Overdue bills?  Screaming? Pulling out hair? Ai? 

Wait….Ai?

Okay, I’m going to ask a ChatGPT assistant that question. I easily signed up, familiarized myself with a couple short questions, and then posed my dilemma.

(Oh, and I thought I needed to name my Assistant if I was going to use it. How about Charlie?) 

Meet Charlie.  

He’s not the sharpest pencil in the holder. He basically told me most of the things I’ve written above in a slightly different way. 

Here’s “Charlie’s” list of “helps”.

1. Free Writing:

  • Set a timer for 10-15 minutes and write continuously without worrying about grammar or structure. Let your thoughts flow freely; often, this can spark ideas you weren’t consciously considering.

2. Prompts and Ideas:

  • Use writing prompts to kickstart your creativity. For example, websites and books offer daily writing prompts, or you might start with “What if…?” scenarios that encourage imaginative thinking.

3. Mind Mapping:

  • Create a mind map around a central theme or topic that interests you. Branch out with related ideas, characters, or themes that come to mind. This visual representation can help organize your thoughts.

4. Write About Your Passion:

  • Reflect on topics or hobbies you’re passionate about. A blog can focus on your expertise, a hobby, or experiences you want to share. Writing about what you love can inspire authentic content.

5. Read Widely:

  • Read articles, books, and blogs in various genres. Exposure to different styles and topics can ignite new ideas or give you insight into what resonates with you.

6. Explore Personal Experiences:

  • Consider your own life experiences, emotions, or challenges you’ve faced. Personal stories often resonate with others and can be a rich source for blog posts, articles, or fiction.

7. Observe Your Surroundings:

  • Take time to observe the world around you—people, places, situations. Noticing everyday life can inspire ideas for fictional characters, settings, or events.

8. Set Goals:

  • Define what you want to achieve with your writing. If it’s a blog post, think about the message you want to convey. If it’s a short story, consider the theme or moral you want to explore.

9. Experiment with Different Genres:

  • If you’re unsure, try writing different genres or formats—a poem, a letter, or even dialogue. Experimenting can help you find your voice and lead to ideas for longer pieces.

10. Join Writing Groups or Workshops:

  • Engage with other writers in workshops, online forums, or book clubs. Sharing ideas and feedback can help stimulate creativity and lead to collaboration.

11. Create an Outline:

  • If you have a vague idea or concept, outline the main points or plot. This structure can act as a guide and make it easier to expand on your thoughts.

12. Give Yourself Permission to Write Badly:

  • Allow yourself to write poorly without judgment. The first draft doesn’t have to be perfect. Just get your ideas down; you can refine them later.

By using these strategies, you can overcome writer’s block and find inspiration for your blog, articles, stories, or any other writing project. Don’t forget to enjoy the process—exploration and creativity are key to finding your unique voice!

…

Well, not very creative.  I asked Charlie for MORE suggestions.  Here’s what he gave me this time.

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“If you’re looking for ways to ignite your creativity and really get your writing flowing, here are some more active and engaging techniques to help you spark ideas and motivation:

1. Change Your Environment:

  • Sometimes a change of scenery can help. Try writing in a different location – a café, park, library, or even a different room in your home. New surroundings can stimulate fresh thoughts.

2. Engage in a Creative Activity:

  • Participate in activities that aren’t directly related to writing, such as drawing, painting, or crafting. This can help free your mind and lead to unexpected inspiration.

3. Use Music or Soundscapes:

  • Create a playlist that suits the tone of what you’re writing or listen to soundscapes that inspire a mood (like rain, ocean waves, or bustling city sounds). Music can enhance creativity and help set the scene for your writing.

4. Set a Writing Challenge:

  • Challenge yourself with quick writing exercises, such as composing a short story in 10 minutes or writing a poem from a random word generator. Short time constraints can boost creativity.

5. Visual Inspiration:

  • Browse through images on platforms like Pinterest or Unsplash. Find a picture that resonates with you and write a scene or story inspired by it.

6. Interactive Writing Prompts:

  • Find interactive storytelling games or writing prompts that require you to make quick decisions or choose paths (like “Choose Your Own Adventure” games). This can stimulate your imaginative side.

7. Use Creative Apps or Tools:

  • Explore writing tools or apps designed to prompt creativity, such as “The Most Dangerous Writing App,” which encourages you to keep typing without stopping.

8. Engage Your Senses:

  • Take a moment to close your eyes and focus on each of your senses. What do you hear, smell, feel, or taste? Write a descriptive paragraph based on your sensory exploration.

9. Flash Fiction:

  • Write a complete story in 100 words or less. This constraint can force you to focus and be intentional with your word choices, leading to new ideas.

10. Interview Your Characters:

  • If you’re working on fiction, write down interview questions for your characters and answer them in their voice. This can deepen your understanding and lead to new plot ideas.

11. Use ‘What If?’ Exercises:

  • Take a mundane situation and apply a ‘What If?’ scenario. For example, “What if someone found a hidden letter in their attic?” This can help you explore unexpected plot twists or themes.

12. Journaling:

  • Keep a dedicated writing journal where you jot down random thoughts, dreams, or observations daily. This habit can lead you to uncover hidden ideas over time.

13. Connect with Other Writers:

  • Have a brainstorming session with a writing buddy. Discuss ideas, trade prompts, or even start a writing sprint together, encouraging each other in real-time.

14. Limit Distractions:

  • Turn off notifications and clear your workspace of distractions. Sometimes a focused environment can help ideas flow more freely.

Finding your flow might take some experimentation with different methods until you find what resonates with you. Don’t be afraid to try out various techniques and see what gets your creativity sparking and fingers flying across the keyboard!

..
 
 
Again….. 
 
Not quite the help I wanted. (They tell me the better ways I ASK for help, the better RESPONSES I’ll get, so I guess I need practice there.) 
 
 
 
Readers, how do YOU decide what to write?   (Please share your secrets!)
 
Have YOU ever tried Ai?  (If so, how? And are you happy with the experience?)
 
 

How Do Writers Choose the Titles for Their Books & Stories?

This week the Writers In Residence members answered a “group question.” 

How do you choose the titles for your books or stories?

1.  Rosemary Lord:   For me, titles flow as part of whatever I am writing at the time. Sometimes, the title comes first, maybe snatched from a song title or a poem. But the titles have to fit the setting, period, and essence. The title has to match the “inside” and be intriguing or evocative because it is the first thing that catches the reader’s attention. 

Once, I thought a writer friend’s book titles were heavy and pretentious, a bit “off-putting.” I felt bad for her as I thought her big publisher chose them. I was going to make a “diplomatic” suggestion.  Then she said SHE had come up with all her titles!  Oops!

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2. Maggie King:  There are so many ways to choose a title. It’s not my strong suit, so I often collaborate with others. For Murder at the Book Group, my agent helped. When I re-released MABG as Death Turns the Page, my songwriter husband helped. I don’t recall how the title for Laughing Can Kill You came about, but I think “I” thought of it.  For Murder at the Moonshine Inn, I brainstormed with a friend and her son. The son suggested the title based on his many visits to redneck bars (much to his mom’s surprise).

I had an easier time coming up with the titles for my short stories on my own. Maybe being “short” made the titles more apparent.

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3.  Madeline Gornell:  I’m not being flippant, but they seem to come to me out of the blue. Maybe from dreams?  Or TV?   I say, don’t worry about it, they just come.”  Hmmm.

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4.  Miko Johnston:  For me, a good title hints at the theme and tone of the piece before it’s read and summarizes it afterward. Some titles came easily, like calling my short story, featuring a nameless protagonist who creates “art” By Anonymous. Others took a while to find the right title – years in the case of my series A Petal in the Wind – a perfect metaphor for my character.

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5.  Linda O. Johnston:  I generally consider titles for any new series and the book I’ll next be working on as I’m starting to plot them.  I jot them down, often on the computer, and modify them as new ideas come to me. And, of course, I anticipate that my editors will most likely modify them again once I submit them, although I do get to approve any new ones.

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6.  G. B. Pool:  This is a fun question. When I’m pondering a new book or short story, the title almost always comes right as I’m coming up with the plot. I couldn’t tell you which came first. This is when I’m actually writing the story, not just tossing around ideas.

I have had a title before I had a plot. I mention this fact in the book of short stories I’m working on right now, called  Bits and Pieces. This book is the result of several folders I keep of story ideas I’ve written down, newspaper articles I have saved, or ones a friend like Jackie Houchin has sent me over many years. These “bits and pieces” of ideas just might prompt a story. These are all fragments of an idea, and most have no title listed.

I have changed the title of a story once or twice, but that comes about only if I totally redirect the plot into something entirely different and the title just doesn’t work anymore.

One title I came across in a folder that I haven’t used yet is: “Just Shoot the Archbishop and Pass the Brandy.” All I have is the title. No story. A story may never come of it, but I mention it in this upcoming short story collection just to show how writers work. But I do think the title has to fit the story, the two coming as Siamese twins seems to work.  

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7.  Jackie Houchin:   It’s never been published, but a “woman’s fiction” book I wrote had the title of Sister Secrets. It’s about three women who have the same mother but different fathers. They each have a long-standing “secret” that has returned to haunt them. As the story unfolds, each sister’s strengths and talents help unravel and resolve the secret that is keeping another sister captive.

In my children’s short stories set in Africa I tried to make the titles be “teasers” for stories that middle-grade kids would enjoy.   Dead Mice,   The Eyes in the Well,  and  Deek’s Wild Ride were a few.

All my titles come to mind in the process of writing the story. They just fit.

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READERS:  If you enjoy these “Group Questions” and have one YOU would like to ask us, please mention it in a comment below or forward it to me at Photojaq@aol.com 

Remember, if you comment, first click above on the TITLE of this post. (How do writers….)

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Mystery Books to TV Series

by Jackie Houchin

After reading Maggie King’s intriguing post last week about writers and an old movie, I realized that many of the mysteries we watch on cable (Acorn and others) are based on books by mystery writers.

We have watched many of The Murdoch Mysteries, set in late 1800s Toronto. The original writer of the books is British Canadian author Maureen Jennings. Her most recent book (2019) is HEAT WAVE, which introduces Murdoch’s son as a police detective in 1936. It has not been made into a TV show (as yet.) She is 86.

We enjoy most of the episodes, and although they have evolved into semi-comedic, some are absolutely silly. We stopped watching them for a while! 

How much can an author control content once the series is bought? (Probably none.)

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We have also enjoyed many, many episodes of The Midsomer Murders. Caroline Graham is the British author of the Inspector Barnaby mysteries. Her first five Barnaby books formed the basis of the Midsomer episodes.

The plots are complex and sometimes dark but have a touch of comedy, primarily as Barnaby interacts with his wife, dog, and sergeant. As of Oct. 2024, Graham was still alive at age 93.

Can an author still write books after her books are bought for television?  Would they automatically be a part of the filmed series? Hmm.

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P.D. James is the author of the darker Adam Dalgleish mystery series, which has 14 books and a few TV episodes we have just begun watching. She (Phyllis Dorothy James) was an English Baroness. She wrote 14 books about the Poet/Detective and was planning a 15th when she died at age 94.

If you have watched them, have you ever noticed how they frame his face with a peculiar expression for the last few seconds of the episode?  I like it.

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Of course, Dorothy L. Sayers wrote the clever and popular Lord Peter Whimsey novels adapted into a TV series. Along with mystery, there was the added pleasure of a romance. (Such a handsome and wealthy sleuth!) Sayers lived 64 years.

My absolute favorite Lord Peter Whimsy book was THE NINE TAILORS. I wonder if it was ever made into a TV episode or film?

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Very recently on PBS, we watched the 4-season adaptation of Frank Tallis’ book, Death in Vienna, the diary of Dr. Max Liebermann (based on Sigmund Freud), a fictional Viennese crime solver, with his pal Detective Oskar Rheinhardt, in the series Vienna Blood.

They were well-written, had strong plots and vivid characters, and were very cinematic. The setting (Vienna and Istanbul) was gorgeous.

They say there will not be another season because the story in Tallis’s book is finished.  Hey, that didn’t stop Midsummer Murders…. 

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Two more present-day shows follow.

Dark Winds is a new series on Acorn (4 episodes so far) based on Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn and Chee novels.

It is on my list to begin watching. I’ve read many of Hillerman’s mysteries, so I hope these are good.

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And lastly, we have also tried the new series on Acorn, Case Histories, based on Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie private investigator books, also set in England.

The first one was pretty good. Brodie investigated and unraveled several cases, either distinct or entwined with each other. There was a sex scene, however, which I didn’t enjoy watching.

We will try another and decide.

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Of course, we have watched many old and newer adaptations of Agatha Christie’s and Arthur Conan Doyle’s  Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and Sherlock Holmes novels.

And I know YOU can name many more shows that you watch.

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My first question is, which do you enjoy more, books or screen adaptations?  And what is the “why?” for your choice?

I enjoy the books, but I must admit that my decreasing vision makes reading fine print daunting these days. I get more involved in watching the actors (especially the settings) in the series’ episodes.  

My second question for authors is, other than the monetary reward, why would you like (or dislike) to have your books made into a TV series?

Copy Work: What is it? Why do it?

by Jackie Houchin

If you are an avid reader, you know that the best writers pull you into their worlds. Their words become images in your imagination as soon as you read them. The writing itself becomes invisible. (Or at least it should.)

That is a problem when reading to learn how the author did it. Instead of paying attention to the sentence structure, you are immersed in the story.

That is where copy work comes in.

What is Copy Work?

It is the practice of exactly copying another writer’s words, omitting no punctuation mark or capitalization, usually done with a pen.

Who even does this?

Jack London trained himself to be a better writer by copying out (in longhand) passages from Rudyard Kipling’s work.

Other writers have used Ernest Hemingway’s writings or copied out “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. (A short novel)

Morgan O’Hara copied the U. S. Constitution by hand, word by word.

Greg Digneo, on SmartBlogger, tells the story of salesman Dan Kennedy, who copied a two-foot stack of sales letters by hand. Twice!  He wanted to become the best in this field.  Today, you would have to pay him $100,000 to write a sales letter for you. And he would get a commission on every sale you make.

What is the goal of copy work for writers?

The goal is to understand how authors write and express their ideas. What makes their writing work and flow? How do they structure their paragraphs and sentences? How do they create compelling characters?

Copy work helps you identify bad writing habits, like passive voice, stale metaphors, repeated words, etc.  It will help you with good punctuation and grammar, spelling and vocabulary, pacing, scene description, and using dialog tags.  It will help you write more precisely, with fresher, more original words.

Seriously!

Artists copy the Masters to improve their skills. If you want to be a better writer, copy great writers. 

How do you make the most of your copy work?

  1. Choose a writer you love, the book(s) you could not put down.
  2. Set aside time to do your copy work daily (20-30 minutes for handwriting, 10-15 for typing). Use a timer.
  3. Select a moderate-sized chunk of text. (Not War & Peace, but also not a Haiku)
  4. When you finish copying one story, pick another one to work on. Keep going for at least 90 days. (The magic of copy work happens through repetition.)
  5. Don’t stick to a single author. The goal is to learn writing techniques, not imitate one author.
  6. Mix genres: nonfiction to fiction, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, poetry, film scripts. (They all teach different writing methods, scene structures, dialogue, setup, etc.)
  7. Practice daily, if you can
  8. At the end of each session, review the passage you copied and add notes. Reflect on what you liked and what you learned.
  9. Follow copy work by moving into your regular writing. You are all primed to go.

By doing copy work every day, you will be writing every day. It will train your brain to see writing as a no-stress, no-pressure practice. It will make it easier to turn to your own writing.  If you are having writer’s block or just can’t come up with a new idea for a project, story, or book, you can still do your copy work to keep that daily writing habit going. You know, seat of your pants in a chair…. etc.

What do you NOT do with your copy work?

You will not publish your copied text or try to pass it off as your own. Copy work is for your eyes only. It’s a writing exercise. It is not plagiarism.

Need some suggestions? Try copying out these.

Have YOU ever tried COPY WORK?  Did it help you?  How?  If not, will you give it a try?  If you can’t comment below, drop me an email at Photojaq@aol.com. 

CONFESSION: Years ago, I read that I could become a great writer if I could copy a book I admired in its entirety. Yes, the WHOLE book.  I thought that sounded too good to be true. But, as I admired Rosamunde Pilcher and loved THE SHELL SEEKERS, I thought I’d try that book.  (The paperback edition is 656 pages!)  I think I got to page 35. I wasn’t becoming a great writer. I was getting bored, and my hand was cramping.  I quit. 

But now, after this research (short sessions, consistency, review and take notes), I’m willing to try again. I may not become great, but I think I’ll improve my writing skills.  I have another book in mind to copy. 

Perhaps in my next rotation post, I’ll tell you what I learned from the experience.

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  • And thanks to the following for their insights on this “cool” topic. 
  • RADEK, founder of Writing Analytics
  • ELIOT CHAN – Eliotchan.com, April 14, 2020 
  • MATTHEW ENCINA – thefutur.com, July 13, 2020
  • JULIA HESS – craftyourcontent.com, May 17, 2018
  • LORRAINE THOMPSON – marketcopywriterblog.com, March 14, 2012
  • ANN KROEKER – Annkroeker.com, June 27, 2017

Group Post #1 – How do you handle TECHNOLOGY?

Occasionally, we have an open spot on our blog schedule. One of our members suggested we all (or those able) could jump in for a group blog question.  Our first was suggested by Miko Johnston.

How do you incorporate ever-changing technology in your writing, especially in a series that covers years?

Jackie Houchin — In my short stories, I use the technologies needed in the story’s time and place. I used GPS settings to find a long-buried stash in one mystery set in modern New York. In that story, the dates were firmly set by newspaper clippings. In my missionary kids’ series set in modern but rural Africa, cell service is spotty (indeed, you can’t even be sure of electricity), so I use these technologies but don’t depend on them.  Actually, “no cell service” adds to the suspense of the moment when an emergency happens.

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Gayle Bartos-Pool — If you write stories set in the Roaring Twenties, you might want to include a bunch of things to define that era, like telephone operators connecting you to whomever you are calling or a radio program providing music and some news. There were no televisions or cell phones back then. The automobile was new with the Ford Model T, and assembly lines were just gearing up. 

Every era has its newfangled gadgets, but do they have to do more than set the stage in the story? Sometimes, too much detail distracts from the narrative unless there is one particular thing that plays a key role in your story, like the old typewriter with the damaged key and the ransom note with that same twisted letter. That’s been done before in several old movies, but it worked. 

But if you are writing a contemporary tale, do you have to rely on the main character’s cell phone on every page? After a while, it gets old to have the characters pull out his or her phones rather than use their eyes and ears to see the problem at hand.

I do like gadgets, but I don’t depend on them totally in my books. My characters will use a computer, but they use their brains more.

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Miko Johnston — Back in the 1990s, before I started my series of historical novels, I attempted to write a (then) present-day mystery thriller that centered around a secret high-tech device. The problem was that I knew nothing about the subject and figured what I’d made up would ring false with knowledgeable readers, so I put the manuscript aside. Twenty years later, I revisited the story and realized I knew enough about what had been developed back then to finish the story with authenticity. 

I do incorporate technology in my modern work as it’s such an integral part of life now. For example, my short story, Senior High, comically follows three older women who travel to Washington, one of the first states to decriminalize marijuana. Although they haven’t “partied” since the seventies, they decide to get high one more time but can’t figure out how until Siri comes to their aid.

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Research Can Be Dangerous: A Cautionary Tale

By Maggie King

The Confederate statues on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia came tumbling down. For this author, that meant a scene rewrite and a research trip. I didn’t expect the trip to end in the ER.

In my recently released story, Laughing Can Kill You, Hazel Rose investigates the murder of an obnoxious writer given to laughing at others’ expense. In one scene, Hazel and her cousin Lucy attend the victim’s memorial service, hoping to ferret out who killed the man. The service is held in one of the stately homes on Richmond’s Monument Avenue.

Here’s my thumbnail description of the area:

Statues memorializing notable players in the Confederacy punctuated Richmond’s Monument Avenue. The statue paying homage to African-American tennis star Arthur Ashe lent an incongruous note to the lineup of Civil War monuments. Various groups clamored for the removal of the monuments that they considered reminders of slavery and racism; other groups believed removing them was tantamount to erasing history. A grassy mall divided the wide avenue, lined with trees and architecturally-significant houses.

If you’ve kept up with events of recent years, you know that the statues (except for the Arthur Ashe one) were taken down in 2020 and 2021, amid a flurry of protests, acts of vandalism, and government orders. But Laughing Can Kill You is set in 2018, when the statues were still in place. So I was okay? Right?

Maybe not. Would my readers be aware it was 2018? While it was clear to me, it may not be to them. Plus, the statues were still a hot-button topic, regardless of one’s position. I’m not looking to get readers riled, I simply want to give them an enjoyable story.

Monument Avenue was not important to the plot, but I could hardly feature it in a scene without mentioning the famous statues that give it its name. Talk about the proverbial elephant in the room. Street, rather. So I needed a different, but similar, location. It didn’t take long to come up with a Plan B: Richmond’s Northside, just ten minutes from Monument Avenue.

Here’s the description that replaced the Monument Avenue one:

The Hermitage Road Historic District on Richmond’s Northside started life as a streetcar suburb in the late 19th century. Developing the area north of the city to solve the housing problems caused by a rapidly growing city population became possible with the invention of the electric streetcar. The trolley line ran down the middle of Hermitage Road. At some point, a wide, grassy median replaced the line.

As I drove along the historic stretch lined with trees and architecturally significant houses …

It was a beautiful Saturday in May of 2021 when I drove to the Northside to scope out the area for sights, sounds, traffic patterns, etc. to add authentic detail to my story. I had a house in mind, a Colonial Revival I’d visited on a long-ago walking tour of the area. It was similar to the Monument Avenue house and I could use the same interior details.

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I walked down Hermitage Road and what did I see in front of the house? A “For Sale” sign!

I started to cross the street, thinking I’d get a better picture of the place from a distance. I hesitate to take pictures of people’s houses, feeling I’m invading their privacy. If challenged, I could say I knew a prospective buyer. Or I could offer a copy of Laughing Can Kill You when it came out. That should certainly appease them.

I looked around at the other houses, at the trees, flowers, taking in the scene, framing photo shots.

No photos were taken. With all my looking around, I didn’t look where I was walking. In an instant, I fell off the curb, landing splat on my shoulder.

When I picked myself up, my arm felt fairly useless. Thinking, hoping, that I’d only suffered a bruise, I decided to go home and ice my arm. But some persistent voice buzzing in my ear said “Go to the ER.” My guardian angel? Where had she been a moment before? Why hadn’t she grabbed me by the hair and pulled me back from that nasty asphalt? Oh well, God and angels work in mysterious ways.

At St. Mary’s Hospital (incidentally, it’s on Monument Avenue), I learned that I had a fractured shoulder. I went home with a spiffy sling that accessorized my wardrobe for six weeks. Luckily, it was my right shoulder and I’m left-handed.

Back to my rudely interrupted research trip. As the Colonial Revival was on the market, there were plenty of pictures of it online. The owners were asking a cool million. I bet you know what I’m going to say next—-that I purchased the place! Um, no, but I did find lots of beautiful interior and exterior pictures.

Shortly before this unfortunate incident, I’d written a scene where Hazel trips over a crack in a sidewalk and uses balance skills she didn’t know she had, avoiding a spill. Hazel is like me in some ways (except I don’t investigate murders) but apparently I’ve given her better balance and coordination skills.

My original plan was to end the research trip with a latte at Crossroads, a fun and funky coffeehouse on Richmond’s Southside. Hazel and Lucy got to enjoy that treat after the memorial service (although I named the place The Beanery in the story). They needed to compare notes on what was becoming an intriguing investigation.

By the end of a summer spent in PT, my shoulder was declared healed.

Laughing Can Kill You was published just after Thanksgiving of 2021.

There you have it: my cautionary tale on the perils of research.

Originally published in Kings River Life Magazine, January 5, 2022

Seven Story Plots

By Jackie Houchin

I recently talked to a young man involved in theatre at his university. He longs to write a play or musical and has all kinds of ideas about special effects, music, and costumes. He has even imagined a few characters. But he has no story. No plot, only a few imaginative scenes.

I told him there are just a few basic plots in the world from which all books and plays originate.  I told him there were five, but on researching them, I found it is seven. (Christopher Booker’s 2004 book The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories.)

Here they are.

  1. Overcoming The Monster.

Christopher Booker suggests Dracula by Bram Stoker, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (the White Witch), or The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  In the “monster” story, you need a chilling threat (human or not) and a brutal contest that will probably require a significant sacrifice.

  1. Voyage and Return.

The Odyssey in Greek myth and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien are examples. Your protagonist will need a dangerous journey or impossible quest with an uncertain outcome. He needs opportunities to turn back but to show heroism, he will continue and return with new strength.

  1. Rags to Riches.

Cinderella, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden are all examples. Your protagonist should grow in character, strength, and understanding, helping them to be empowered. This sometimes involves romance.

  1. The Quest.

The protagonist sets out to find someone or some object, like buried treasure. At each step the stakes need to be raised, making it harder and harder to achieve. The hero emerges stronger or more mature.  J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows are examples.

  1. The Comedy

The idea of Comedy is to create many misunderstandings for the protagonist to get involved in. The plot continues to muddle events, feelings, and perceptions until the end when all will be “miraculously transformed.” The action moves from dark to light. The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse and Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding are examples.

  1. The Tragedy

Tragedy is the opposite of Comedy and goes from light to dark. The protagonist has a deep flaw or makes a horrible mistake, causing his undoing and failure. Think of all the “if onlys” that could have happened. Give him ways “out,” which he won’t take, then close off any exit options. Classic examples are Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth by Shakespeare, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.

  1. The Rebirth

Rebirth is like a tragedy but with a hopeful outcome. The protagonist’s journey has a redemptive arc and sometimes includes romance. The “happy ending” should depend on that arc. Fairy tales are good examples, as are The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Emma by Jane Austen, and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

Of course, you can combine multiple plots and add subplots, too. These seven plots are a guide to building your story.  You can elaborate as your fancy suits you.

Now, give it a go!

A New & Short Mystery!

by Guest Writer Alice Zogg

Hello friends, readers, and fellow authors,

I penned another stand-alone mystery.   A DOOMED REUNION is fresh off the press and available in hardcover, paperback, and e-book editions.

This one is short (170 pages).  Either I have learned to get my point across with fewer words or have become lazy. (haha)

As to the location, I invented a fictional town called Seabreeze and placed it along the California coastline between Del Mar and La Jolla.

People with old school ties attend a 30th high school reunion and are shocked to hear one of the attendees say he knows who murdered a classmate years earlier. That knowledge gets him killed.

Can Detective Scharfkopf with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department piece together what happened back then to catch the person who has lived with this secret all these years… before another body is added to the list?

Happy reading,

www.alicezogg.com

A Doomed Reunion on Amazon

Alice Zogg was born and raised in Switzerland. She met her husband, a fellow Swiss, in New York City, and the two made their home in the United States. The family relocated to Southern California in 1967, where they have resided. She is an avid traveler and plays racquetball and golf. She has written over 20 books. 

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BOOK REVIEW – I read Alice Zogg’s new book. Yes, it is short, but the crime, plotting, and investigation are complete.  You don’t feel cheated at all.  The murder happens after a high school class reunion when one person blatantly claims to know the murderer of an unpopular student 30 years previously.  Does he?  Someone believes him and, in unusual circumstances “offs” the guy.  The detective is charged with solving not one but two murders.  The questioning, deduction, and final moments of revelation are well-plotted and written. I enjoyed reading it!  ~~~ Jackie Houchin