In Between the Lines

The thing is, all memory is fiction. You have to remember that.   

And, then, he went to his gun rack and took one of them down- it was a good day for hunting, he said.

As he sat there yelling at Mother Ogre to make him something else to eat, and barking at one girlee or another to get him this or get him that, our poor old dog,  Poser, walked by, and out of pure meanest, Ferrell Johnson,  kicked that unfortunate dog right in the side of his stomach. 

Poser howled and this girlee snapped.

The Ogre was sitting, cleaning his gun on the old grey davenport, and laughed at the pain of ole Poser.  And as he did, I walked into the kitchen – the domain of the Mother Ogre.  She was busy stirring up another batch of eggs to placate the Ogre. 

Quickly, I moved toward the knife center, where an assortment of knives lay in slits built for size.  I drew out the largest one I could lay my hands on- and moved towards the old grey davenport, knowing no one could see me.  Knowing that no one was looking anyway.

Something, finally, that was wholly and mysteriously wonderful.

Day 9--- What Have You Done with My Voice?

Day 9: Turn on your TV. Write down the first line that you hear and write a story based on it. As you know, I am in the process of finding my own writing voice,with the help of Brian Klems of Writers Digest and his 12 Writing Exercises.

I am getting to it, but have been so busy writing with my business voice lately,that my fairy tales, bonus exercise and now TV storyline are lagging behind. The weekend is coming - and I will be jumping on the train then to get caught up--stay with me!

Bonus Exercise - A Flash of Inspiration Before I Write About Fairy Tales

I was just surfing Facebook and my sister, Trudy, who loves art, placed this artistic rendition by Gustav Klimt on her wall. I think it would be an interesting writing exercise to write a short story ( 700 to 1000 words) with this artistic piece in mind. First, the title... Here is the piece:

And, I'll Huff and I'll Puff, and I'll Blow Your House Down!

Here is Brian's (Writers Digest 12 day Writing Exercise Plan. This is Day 8- wow it is getting weirder and weirder. Here is the assignment for today. Rewrite a fairy tale from the bad guy’s point of view.

Big BAD Wolf," This is going to be good"!

As I write these assignments and pass them around online, I often get comments.  Most of them are nice, but some are mean.  That doesn’t bother me- some people are just mean and they know they will never see me in person.

Because if they did see me in person, they might just end up with a broken toenail or two!  

One day, I sent one of the stories, (I think it was the one about Van Winchester) to one of the LinkedIn sites.  I don’t know what it is, but some of the people LinkedIn have definite snooty issues.  Anyway, this' woman' (I think- who knows who anyone is online?) asked me if I wanted a critique of the passage about ole Van.  I never answered her because if I had wanted a critique I probably would have asked for one, yes?

About two days later, this ‘woman’ wrote a short paragraph stating that  if I had wanted a critique she would have to point out that she had never seen ‘generous eyes’ in her life and just thought that expression was needless. 

Yeah, it was Van Winchester all right!  You know, the one with the ‘generous eyes’!?

What this woman (let’s call her Red just for the hell of it) didn’t know was who I was.
 

So, now I am going to let her know!

I am the Big Bad Wolf- and if I do ever run into her, I am going to huff and puff and blow her ludicrous house down!

Day 7- A Letter to Self

Well, this is my Day 7 assignment and I am grateful to Brian Klems Writers Digest for all of these exercises. You might wonder what happened to the assignment for Day 6. I did write it, but I felt it needed a lot more work, and besides it was very personal. There were two main characters in the story- The Ogre and the Mother Ogre. Both of these are characters from my past life and I will show them after all of these assignments are done. Here is the Day 7 assignment: Day 7: Write a letter to yourself telling you what you need to improve in the coming 6 months

Dear Self, In the next six months I would like to improve my exercise regimen. At the time of this writing, I have no exercise regimen, except for shoveling snow, which will someday melt away. It is difficult to get into an exercise regimen when there are no sidewalks to walk on. And, I also have no intention of taking a walk with Betty, my black lab- because I am certain she will make me fall down. I would also like to improve my eating habits. I have made a start with that by eating a low carb diet at present. I have not been to a fast food joint in over three weeks. Life has become a bore! If this letter is supposed to be about writing and how I can improve that- well, I really don’t understand how to do that. Web writing is for morons. The only concern of the editors is loading a certain number of keywords, and placing links to other sites in just the right place. I do not see that as creative writing, but as engineered marketing. If we are talking about publishing a fictional piece, anyone can do that now. There are all kinds of ways to self-publish. The only way to get published the old fashioned way is to either know someone in the business, or be a ghostwriter for James Patterson. Perhaps, I could improve my attitude, but that is beyond redemption and besides my attitude fits my personal beliefs. None of which are any of your damn business! Oh, I forgot- I am writing this to myself and I know my business. What a scream! Yours truly, April

Day 6--- Getting Closer to the Ogre

Here is the Day 6 exercise from Brian Klems 12 Day Plan of Writing Exercises This has been quite a stretch for me. After awhile, a business writer, especially one that writes primarily for the web begins to get a little dry. Web writing is informative and aimed at a specific audience. The business writer is supposed to engage the audience of the person they are creating content for, not 'find their own voice". Day 6 Exercise: Day 6: Select a book on your shelf and pick two chapters at random. Take the first line of one chapter and the last line of the other chapter and write a short story (no more than 1000 words) using those as bookends to your story. Here are the sentences I pulled from a book that was sitting on my dresser. The thing is, all memory is fiction. You have to remember that. ( this was the first sentence from one chapter) Something, finally, that was wholly and mysteriously wonderful. ( this was the last line of the other chapter) What came between the two? I might share it, and then again.....

Day 5 -Still Trying to Find My Own Voice!

Now,this next one was really not my style, but I understand the method behind the madness! I have never been a poet and I have always known it! HA! Maybe I am a poet. Anyway, the Day 5 exercise by Brian A. Klems Writer's Digest is as follows.

Day 5: Write a 20-line poem about a memorable moment in your life. Birth By April Brewster Smythe Being Young Is foolish By Definition Being Pregnant in the Seventies- Married And Twenty Years of Age Was predictable So I was expecting, a boy, a girl- we had no way of knowing then One crisp day in November, 1976' Sharp, slicing pains surrounded my body Agonies so far in the past That the troubles, stings, and twinges are not memorable now Midnight came quickly Doctors, nurses, and the large hospital framework called my name I cursed them all, the doctors, nurses, the hospital… My husband Became a target of grand abuse, Lying on a high-speed moving gurney Legs high in the air- and then Birth Never so alive, First sensing the presence of God!

Even Though I am Trying to Find My Voice..... I am Still an Expert Business Writer- Take a LOOK

Even though I am trying to find my own voice as a writer- I still am a business writer for profit. When I say profit, I don't just mean for me- I mean for you, too! Occasionally, I answer questions on All Experts! This is a volunteer platform where those who are experts in their fields give time to answer questions from anyone who has a question in relation to their personal, business, or any other facet of their life. I am a Business Communications Experts and below is some of the feedback I have received during the time I have volunteered for All Experts.

NOTE: Don't worry, I have finally come up with Day 4- I guess it is my own voice ( kinda sad) You know it is really hard to blow your own horn, but with my years of experience as a writer, the words come easily! I began writing as a young kid. But, my professional career began in the mid-eighties when I walked into the local newspapers office and asked to be considered to be a ‘neighborhood correspondent’. In those days this meant getting assignments via snail mail, hunting down the person I would interview (new small business owners) get them to round up a photo, and writing the piece. It was a nice side income. As the years went by, and the Internet became a part of my everyday life, I jumped into the World Wide Web and began writing my own blog and then submitting articles to what was then Associated Content. I wrote and wrote and wrote, mostly non-fiction because that is what sold. Today, I am the author of thousands of articles that float in cyberspace, mostly as a ghostwriter. Ghostwriting can be lucrative, if you can capture the voice of another person, or entity. I have also published five eBooks. My clients are happy, for the most part. I have found you can’t make everyone happy- it is a useless venture. I make my deadlines, am dependable, and do lots of research. I even, occasionally still go to the library. These days I am venturing back into writing fiction- and I have found a lot of fun in expressing myself in my own voice, or in one I make up for another. Well, it appears this isn’t really a letter, as the assignment asked, so apparently, I am not good at following directions. This has turned out to be a VERY short biography of my writing life. Too Bad. Comments 2014-02-06 Jerry P Online business profiles 10 10 10 No Excellent thoughtful comments.. 2013-05-26 David Advice 10 10 10 No 2013-05-14 Bob Generating event publicity 10 10 10 Yes Information was well thought out and very helpful. 2012-07-07 Helga Publishing business plan online? 10 10 10 No 2012-05-29 Jenny Entrepreneurs B2B Platform 10 10 10 No Thanks April, I figured it must be something of this sort... and Linkedin IS a great tool - It's amazing there's no professional platform of this this kind, maybe someone should think of one. Thank you again for your help :) 2011-10-18 Huda Business Forms 10 10 10 Yes Hi April, Thank you for your swift reply. You gave me an idea. Thanks again. 2011-09-12 Aurel Grammar correction 10 10 10 Yes Thank you April! Thank you a lot!

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Day 4 - A Letter to an Agent

As you know I am borrowing these suggestions from Brian A. Klems at Writer's Digest. I found this exercise kind of goofy, but I went ahead anyway- I am a business writer, so sometimes I have to do work rather than have fun with my writing. Before I tell you the next exercise from Brian, I want to share a little comment I received from one of the members of a group from LinkedIn. I really don't know what it is about some of the people in these groups. When I started out in the business world during the dinosaur age, we were taught to be kind, courteous and respectful. Flying off the handle was not allowed. But, of course, T-Rex wouldn't have responded well to wild shows of emotion. Anyway, I shared one of my posts with a group of business writers. I hope I have made it clear that this blog is about creative writing. In the beginning I said that I am a business writer who was always trying to find the voice of my employers and now I wanted to keep my own voice as a writer. One of the LinkedIn members flew into a rage when I asked, " How do you find your own voice"? He said, " I AM NOT TRYING TO FIND MY OWN VOICE, I AM REPRESENTING THE VOICE OF MY EMPLOYER"!! He seemed very angry. I thought it was comical- Anyway- here is Day 4

Day 4: Write a letter to an agent telling her how wonderful you are.

An Excerpt from the Kill Green Chronicles- a Joe Betty Speech

A month ago he had received a call from the Fort Playne Chamber of Commerce to speak about his ideas on green living. This morning, he had dressed in a black suit, with an organic cotton shirt and black tie. As always, he was clean-shaven. His shoes were black and in polished military style. When he arrived at the Chamber, everyone shook his hand and once everyone was seated he was introduced by the President of the Chamber, Harry I. Baals, IV. “Good Morning, everyone! I am happy to have you here. Today, we are going to have the great pleasure of a first time introduction on green living, by one of our long time citizens and new president and owner of Gleason and Sons, LLC, Joe Betty. Before we bring Joe to the podium, however, I would like us all to take one moment of silence for the past owner of Gleason and Sons, LLC, Lou Gleason. The room went still. Joe Betty looked down into his glass of water, with a glint in his eye. Harry I. Baals, IV tapped his glass with his spoon after an appropriate amount of time, and said, “Please welcome, Joe Betty”! There was a smattering of applause and someone in the back yelled, “Welcome”! Joe Betty walked slowly to the podium and began. Joe Betty’s Speech on Going Green

“Good Morning, everyone”! My adult life has been dedicated to green concepts. Although, when I began this was more a back to nature way of living. I have been involved in the Fort Playne community garden for over fifteen years, use all energy efficient appliances in my home, feed my cat organic foods, and only buy products from Fair Trade companies. (At this juncture someone in the audience yelled, “BOO”!) It has been a mystery to me why so many individuals and businesses resist the idea of going green. In this discussion I will attempt to point out the reasons I believe there is such resistance to green living, especially in Indiana, a state that ranks 49th in green practices and is known as the least green state in the nation. (Another set of boos ran through the audience). Here are the reasons I believe ‘going green’ is a tough road to hoe (no pun intended) in Fort Playne and Indiana. First of all, I believe that most people are creatures of habit. Here in Fort Playne we are used to driving everywhere we go, most families have two cars in their driveway. Most people eat out two or three times a week- probably one of the reasons Fort Playne is known as the City of Restaurants. Basically, Fort Playne residents are a lazy bunch who is driven by inertia. If someone is asked to walk to the store, it is made to seem to be a major production. The city of Fort Playne is filled with lazy consumers. I am happy to say I am not one of them. I take the bus, or walk wherever I go. (At this point a loud BOO whistled throughout the large room of businessmen and women). Secondly, we have become very comfortable with this lifestyle. It is hard to change when you are lazy. (At this point a very fat, red nosed man in the front row who was sitting in a motorized scooter revved up the machine and motored out of the room). We here in Fort Playne love our creature comforts. We do not like to do without air conditioning or warm mornings. We do not like to wear sweaters or open our windows. We are a people who still believe that the day will come when gas will one day be 25 cents a gallon. I am here to tell you that next Monday; I am implementing “Walk to Work Day” at Gleason and Sons, LLC. My employees will have to walk to work at least once a week in order to work at Gleason and Sons, LLC! Because, guess what, Fort Playne, those comfortable days are over! (Now the audience went into overdrive with Boos and other derogatory comments). Joe Betty held up his hands to silence them and went on. Basically, the people and businesses in Fort Playne are afraid of change! We do not want to make the effort to clean up our polluted rivers, we like large electric bills stuffed in paper envelopes, we enjoy calling anyone with different ideas ‘weird’ and ‘unconventional’. The conservative element in Fort Playne is filled with propaganda from those who persist in stating that there is no such thing as climate change. This propaganda has been put in place by those who profit mightily from a fossil based world and have no concern for the generations that will follow us. (By this time half of the audience had gotten up and left the chamber room). Most of them were in the hallway angrily discussing Joe Betty and his ‘stupid notions’ as one Fort Playne businessman put it.) I want to thank the Fort Playne Chamber of Commerce for asking me to come and discuss my ideas on green living. I hope all of you that are left in this room will think about the concept of green living and incorporate some of the ideas into your everyday life, both at home and at your businesses. Thank you! The room erupted in loud catcalls and phrases such as, “Thank God, that’s over” and “What an idiot”! blasted throughout the room. Joe Betty smiled, nodded his head and walked proudly to his chair. Harry Baals, IV appeared at the podium, looked sideways at Betty with a puzzled expression and used his gavel to restore order. “I wish to thank Mr. Betty for his appearance today, and now please welcome the Gay Men’s Choir who will be singing “Have a Holly Jolly, Christmas” to bring in the holiday season. I bid you all a fond farewell. Go do business! (Go do business is the motto of the Fort Playne Chamber of Commerce). As the meeting dispersed, Betty walked proudly out the door and headed towards the bus station, whistling softly under his breath, and quickly dodging an old boiled egg, thrown by one of the non-appreciative members of the audience. As the last egg was thrown Betty could still hear the end of the rousing rendition Check out the first installment of the Kill Green Chronicles: Killing in Ordinary Time

of the “it’s the best time of the year”!

An Off the Wall Prompt for Writers

I am following my 12 day Writing Excercises for Writers, but I got a little distracted and found this Creative Writing Prompts - There are hundreds of prompts and you just punch up a number and out falls a prompt. Here is number 29

Write a 500 word piece on the following, " If I had the power to change something, I would change..

Let's go....

Most Beautiful Scene

There are over 101 lakes in Steuben County, Indiana. I grew up in summers on Big Long Lake. In the beginning of my life, my great-grandfather owned a home on the lakefront and we would visit frequently. After he died, my father built a home next door to that house with land he had gotten through inheritance. And, so my summers were filled with trips to the lake. This frequent acquaintance with lake living set the stage for the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Summers on Big Long were actually pretty boring. Dad would go fishing, while mom cooked, and cleaned, just like she did in the city. She did not like the lake and did not like to go there, and made us all painfully aware of this fact each weekend. But, she did cook great fish that Dad caught in the fresh water. One night I had just taken a walk from the road to the house. That was a much longer walk than one might have thought. The night was filled with the sounds of a lake. Loud screeches of owls, and other birds, fish flopping in the water, and a soft, slippery breeze from the Indiana humidity kept me company on the walk. I had just gotten to the house when I heard the yelling and fighting. I decided to keep going and not enter the house. What would be the point? Mom and Dad were at it again, and I knew if I entered their brawl, I would become the scapegoat they always looked to. Eventually, I found myself out by one of the high trees and I looked off into the black night, and the glittering deep water. A star was glistening on the water and even though I am not filled with a metaphysical outlook, I have to say that this stunning star spoke to me- lovely against the backdrop of lake and sky- and the awful struggle inside.

Day 3- Finding My Voice- This is FUN!

Day 3: Write a setting based on the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen. As you know I am borrowing these suggestions from Brian A. Klems at Writer's Digest. As I am writing each one of these exercises, I find it interesting that a pattern seems to be emerging in my work. Do you find that for yourself if you are writing too?

Van Winchester

Van Winchester was not really a large man, but there were times when it appeared that he was bigger than life. He shone with generosity, but had the eyes of a beaver. Those eyes often scared people off. The intensity of them was a real turn off. As he grew older he began to suffer from high blood pressure and once a vein snapped in one of his eyeballs. He had a bloodshot look for weeks, but since no one liked to look at him anyway, it didn’t change his lifestyle much. He was a forgiving man, and very generous, often scared to be alone. So scared, in fact, that he had stayed with his wife of almost forty years even though she was abusive and mean- and drunk most of the time. She had even physically kicked him out of bed once. As he grew older, he was balding, getting fat, and had acquired a limp after a fall one day in his front yard. His wife had been in the house, two sheets to the wind on Jack Daniels and didn’t even notice he was gone. It was a sad life for him, but he still believed in God.

Finding Your Voice - Day 2

I have found a 12 day plan to find your voice. They are 12 days of writing exercises- not to be confused with prompts. I believe that a writer has to flex their writing muscles so exercise is an appropriate term. Now, if I could only get myself to exercise my other body parts! Oh, well, I am hidden here in Northeast Indiana where we have had non-stop snow and horrible sub zero temps since the beginning of 2014 and I am getting a little stir crazy. Here is Day 2 from Writers Digest Brian A. Klems. Day 2: Create a character with personality traits of someone you love, but the physical characteristics of someone you don’t care for.

Titles

1) The Last Cold Night 2) Blood in the Snow 3) The Darkest Smile 4) The Best Relationship I Ever Had 5) The Old Neighborhood 6) The Sixties in the Midwest 7) The Second Child 8) A Dying Declaration 9) Bones in the Backyard 10) Who is Sister Michael 11) The Three Murders 12) The Clothesline

How to Find Your Voice

As a business writer, I find myself working hard to capture the voice and mission of others. That is what I am paid to do. However, I find myself, as a creative writer, missing my own voice. Recently, I was asked to write about my journey with lung cancer. I had written a blog for over a year ( Cancer Dammitt! and that had been a catharsis of sorts, helping me keep sane during all the trials and tribulations of trying to find treatment, chemotherapy, insomnia, and all the rest of the the stuff that goes with a cancer diagnosis ( a lot!). However, when I was asked to write my story of this embattled year, I found I had lost my own authentic voice. The editor asked me to begin doing writing exercises;"What does your writing mean to you"? was one of them. I never did it, but I did find other cool prompts at Writer's Digest by Brian Klems. They are fun and precise. I am a writer, but in the midst of making money writing, I lost my voice. Now, I am going to find it again. It is fun and I'd like to share this with you, so pick up your pen and explore the article by Brian. Here is the first assignment I completed.

The 12-Day Plan of Simple Writing Exercises Day 1: Write 10 potential book titles of books you’d like to write.