Looking for the Deus ex machina in my story

Beginning a realistic writing process, that is above my knowledge base has become a challenging task.  With that said my writing has gone to the back burner, because I am stuck. It is not a block  I have hundreds of ideas, just not the structure I want.

My narration, plot, and character description, has gotten a bit better, however, not  set in stone, and it makes me wonder what other writers experience as they begin their own writing process, of their first major piece of work? And, or is this a conflict of interest in every piece of work all the time? I ask myself these questions determined to go onward with such a wonderful story, but how?

Another road block is my genre who will publish me? and who will represent me as an agent? knowing that I am part of the western fiction genre, a genre said to be “dieing out” so to speak…

So where to turn from here, and also my cross with past tense and present tense, due to the fact part of the novel speaks about the characters present, but also very descriptive in times about their past. where they came from, the history in my bandits, etc.

So it draws me to crossroads, and which path do I take?  Do I take the one less traveled by, and make all the difference, this time I am not sure, I need to brush up on story structure, which is a huge part of this, well structure just is the issue that  I am having.  I have put together 15000 words of a story, and the structure is leaning towards the watering hole, that the horses are drinking out of.  I want it to be so much more, and possibly with any dream, have a shiny gold sticker on each copy that sells, wink wink.

Where can I possibly go from here to find my deus ex machina, or my inextricable problem in which is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.

Can I turn this thing around, and make it to the spur award? the breakout author? an agent to love it from the first five words? and a publisher that is sure that it will be the next NY bestseller? I know deep down that I think I can, just at this point, I am not sure how.

I get great feedback, although it is very spaced out, and wish I could catch the eye, of more readers that are also writers  here in my blog, just for more feedback to combine it all. what I get is awesome, however, I feel that I could use some extra insight this time around, and assist me into a journey of constructing a structure.

Do You Write What You Know?

Do you write what you know?

For me, the answer to this rhetorical question is, No.

I am a follower to wordplay, a great blog by K. M. Weiland, and this was a question she recently covered, and I myself, would like to express my opinion on this too.

Why?

Because it is very explosive for me to expand my writing, and research my writing.

My writing for me as a western genre writer, and a cowboy,makes me saddle up, and ride my 15 hands high chestnut bay back to 139 years ago. The 1800′s. The old west is my escape from what I know, so I have chosen to write about a generation of, pistol packin’ mamas, ruthless gamblin killers, a Lever action .44 caliber rimfire breech loading Henry Rifle, and a shootout at Dodge city town line, against the Marshal Wyatt Earp himself.

I feel we should “Want to explore people we have never met, places we have never seen, and situations we have never experienced.” -K.M.Weiland

We write fiction ladies, and Gentlemen, we are not writing our auto-biographies. We are telling a story with fictional characters, in fictional situations, and it is time to drop out of your perfect world, and coast back in time, or into the future or into the garden, etc. and begin with your imagination, then let it happen. Really I mean, we should express what we want to be, where we want to go, and then try to draw our reader into the same world, and story that you/we have created.

In my up and coming novel”Laramie’s Thunder. Laramie Taylor turns, on a silver Texas star encased in a circle, to avenge his fathers death, and finds friends that join him in the crusade. I must drop everything from my time, and my mind, and then become Laramie. If I am going to think like him, and make you the reader, want to know his story.

To do that, I have to make you ask why he chose to turn on the law to chase down a ruthless bunch of outlaws, and a law breaking governor. I want to leave you hanging to prepare you for the three books that follow, with this saga, and to also prepare you for the following two book saga about Laramie’s Brother and his life on the reservation as a military officer.

So if I was to write about what I know, then I would leave this story and never finish what I believe is a very edgy, and on your seat old west story, that will compel you, to want to be in the old west or on a train headed there, and not in your lounge chair just flipping a page.

For more info on my novel click the picture link below and read an excerpt of Chapter one.

Also feel free to check out my other two self-published books. “Pages Full of Memories” and “Rodeo Dayz”

What began my writing process(What truly made me want to write)

Many questions arise when people of my past realize what kind of person I have become, a writer, Why, and how, and truly what for?

I really began writing in 1993, during a troubling time in my life, I used my emotion in writing Poetry and Songs, and the feeling had always been there to explore many other things, at that point in my life, I just didn’t know how.

As the years have past I have picked up my journal, and written about good times, bad times, and where I have been and gone, and then I put it back down, to sit another year or so.

This all changed for me in 2009 when I lost my job to the economy this last time, I sat for many nights in front of my computer wondering where do I go from here. I had a journal with my poetry and songs collected over the years, and a half written chapter to a novel, that came to mind at one time or another, and a few short stories about rodeo life, this is about all I had left of the last 12 years, except for my wonderful wife and daughter.

So I began to research, how to publish a book, and I remembered a place that I submitted a poem to once, and received an award, they published books, but how?
For the most part the rest is history, and I am deep into my third book already, however, I still here the questions, what made you want to write?

It is simple for me, it is the story, the action and adventure all written in words to bring my reader to the edge of their seat and keep them lingering there, and grasping onto the page as if they were living the actual story, and I think if I can do that, then I have fulfilled what I sought out to accomplish thirteen months ago just sitting in my office with the sound of a piano echoing Lane’s Theme from the 8 seconds Soundtrack, and sipping on a hot cup of coffee freshly brewed at 2:30 in the AM.

Now I have your attention. I want you to sit back and enjoy, as I begin to tell you the journey I have taken over the last thirteen months.
At first it was only LULU.com, and I was sort of restricted. I wasn’t sure where else to look, however one night as I was in the midst of attempting to publish the first edition of my poetry book, I stumbled upon a writers digest community and some other forums in which people just like me were trying to become authors or already were self-published authors, and they knew the game I was about to play. Working night and day to do the best I could on what I had I needed to cry out for “HELP”, and the answer came back within just a few days, I met several people that were established in the writing world. I used their advice to my fullest extent, and It was just two months later, that the second edition of my book was available at Createspace. I was off and running, with a good book in front of me,which I had published, written and marketed all on my own. Now my sales still are not that great and mostly I gave away more copies than I sold, but I am an Author now, and I was very happy with what I had accomplished.
I just had to keep going, and I started to have fun with my rodeo stories. I realized i didn’t have enough for my own book, so I thought, if I get my friends in on this, and put a small book of what a rodeo cowboy, or cowgirl goes through, or what their emotions are when they compete, then we would have a masterpiece, and we have done just that, at least I think so. We ran into a few minor glitches, but things are beginning to run smoothly and possibly the book will be available just after the holidays. I call it Merry Christmas 2. Laugh Out Loud.

Now underneath all of this was that half chapter of a western novel just sitting around, and at this point I am already doing it, it being an author, why not continue, so I have embarked on a journey back in time in the late 1800′s and well once I get back in the saddle in the next week or so, will probably be living in a ghost town outside of Garret Texas, living and breathing the desert sand, and living the life of Texas Ranger Laramie Taylor. Many times I have been stuck, my writing dwindled for a bit due to a six month treatment I had to have, but it is coming to and end, and i am just beginning to pick up a pen or my keyboard and begin again, the year is 1877.

If you were a Texas lawman, in this era, what would you do when a ruthless bunch of outlaws guns down your father, would you cross the line, or will you stay the coarse hoping that justice is someday done, the question that I have to answer in about 65,000 words, and doing so with an 1860 colt .44-caliber revolver, nickel-plated, with ivory handles, and CAPT John Taylor engraved on the side. Guts or glory Laramie will seek Vengeance I have felt it since the beginning. I hope you all agree. Thanks. Ritchie White

To view a portion of this novel visit my web page

http://theofficialfanpageofritchiewhite.webs.com

I hope I answered the question why do I write, and if I haven’t in the above statements, well it is simple, I love stories, and the old west, and my child like imagination is still alive inside, and if I put history, the old west, words, wisdom, and imagination together, I can tell you a story, that will have you on the edge of your seat, and gripping the pages from the beginning of chapter 1 to the very end.

Rodeo Dayz Available in Three Weeks.

http://www.prlog.org/11074904-rodeo-dayz-hits-the-bookshelf-in-three-weeks.html?embed

Painting a picture of your Character

As a writer you only have one way to build your character. You’re not a filmographer, or a camera man, so you can’t give us a picture first hand.
What you must do is paint a picture for us in words. so how do we do this, description, and words. The only way that we can see your character, is if you dress him, and tell us in a very drawing way what he/she looks like. It must completely captivate us, and make us want to read more, so we can learn your development of your character/characters.
Many ways of describing your character, is the use of color, and a very key element. We must know the color of his skin, and his eyes, as well as the color of his hair/facial hair, etc.
Then we move onto features. We must describe and release the Character this way, by explaining his face, his nose, and then his ears.
We must explain body build. Does he slouch? or Is a a firm man or woman that stands erect?

After we describe our character, and paint a picture of what our character looks like, we must then move to the cause and effect, plot, etc. Put our painted character in a situation/situations, to build a story.

When we have the situations that our characters are going into, we then will move forward to create a painting of the room, or the outdoors. What is your character in.doing? Colors also are very key in this description as well.

Is the sun golden and resting on the mountain side? and is the room darkened by the shades blocking the window?

How ever your, people, places, and things coincide with each other, you have to paint a picture with only words, and not a paint brush. However you are the Picasso in your story. Paint away.

Braveheart (A Knight Without Armor)

From my Book “Pages Full of Memories.”

You are kind, and you are brave.
You smile, just because you are here.
But in battle you are a warrior.
The toughest of them all they say.
They fight for food, and clothes.
You, you fight for honor, pride, dignity,
and freedom. Freedom from sickness.
You battle with courage and heart,
You love with your soul, and of the mind. You
wear only clothes, and nothing to protect yourself,
from the cancer.

You are a Knight Without Armor.

For Rocky
My Father-in-law

Soaked Tulips

This morning we decided to go to the tulip festival, fun right? well the rain was to commence throughout the day, and wonderfully we were still dry. How? I do not know really.

The day started out terrible as soon as we got there,, my little girl 2 yrs old, decided to touch my mother-in-laws camp heater,which ended in a slight burning effect. She is OK,  but it seemed that we were going to have to leave at that instant.

I carry a med bag in the blazer so I was able to treat it and we spoke to some medics that helped out by wrapping it a little better with the correct bandages. it took some time but through the day she began to feel better, her little heart broken of such pain, she still managed to hit the slide for a while which made me feel good to see her have a good time.

The day progressed and we saw some nice things. I wanted so bad to take some good photos of the tulips, but between the rain and the trauma i didn’t get many. the few I have are only the beginning of a new hobby besides my writing. I only hope that tomorrow is a much better day for book sales and I get the chance too get some more good photos of the event.

I just hope tomorrow is not another soaked tulip, after all it makes for a depressing photo opportunity.