Turning the Story Faucet On

Appalachian setting 

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” — Louis L’Amour

And Louis L’Armour knew how to turn that faucet on. This is a record of his work.

L’Amour eventually wrote 100 novels, over 250 short stories, and (as of 2010) sold more than 320 million copies of his work. By the 1970s his writings were translated into over ten languages. Every one of his works is still in print.  (Source NY Times via Wikipedia)

I’ve started down a new story road. I’m still close enough to the starting point that everything feels up in the air and subject to change. That is, everything but the setting. I’m heading back to Sourwood Mountain for another story, but it will be a while before I make the trek all the way from the first chapter to the last.

“The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.” —Agatha Christie

I think I’ve shared Agatha Christie’s quote here in the past. A writer does do plenty of story planning when she or he isn’t in front of a computer, typewriter, notepad or whatever they put those words down on. I used to do writing thinking when I was ironing back in the day before permanent press came into vogue. But while you’re doing dishes is good too. Sometimes my best time to start figuring out my characters or what’s next in my story is while I’m walking the dogs out on the farm.

“A word after a word after a word is power.” — Margaret Atwood

I do have to write that first word and then the next and the next until I’ve somehow managed to type in about 100,000 of those words to tell a story. Of course, then I have to go back and take out the words that don’t matter to that telling. And add in a few that are necessary.

I just finished the last edits on my next year’s story, A Chance for Kallie Mae. That story is set in Appalachia too, but not on Sourwood Mountain. I enjoy setting my stories in the Eastern Kentucky mountains. Some great history is those regions. And word after word after word can get a story written even when at the beginning the idea of writing so many words can be daunting.

However, numbering the pages is pretty easy in this word processing age. 🙂

“I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done.” — Steven Wright

I’m not a plotter. I don’t really know for sure what my characters are going to do in this new story as I begin. I’m hoping these characters I’ve been thinking about and some of the problems I’ve been wondering about giving them will result in a story that matters not only to me, but to readers.

“It unfolds as you write it. That’s something I never believed before I wrote a book, but it does.” – Joan Didion

It is sometimes hard to think about a story coming word by word just from your imagination. It’s hard to think about characters springing to life in your mind and then getting into all kinds of situations and having to find ways to get out of those situations. The same as all of us must do each and every day. But characters can have a way of getting into more serious troubles or suffer more sadness or disappointments or live a little faster on the page. After all, I have to get them from point A to whatever the end point is and find a way to put all that into words that can keep a reader turning pages to find out what happens next.

“You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page. Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.” ― Annie Proulx

I agree with Annie Proulx that a writer needs to love stories. Needs to love to read. Needs to love to write. Well, at least most of the time. There are days when the words come hard, when we write and know that most of what we’re writing might have to be deleted the next day. Even those words that are edited out can be important to the creation of the story I want to tell and the characters I am getting to know better with each word.

“Having spent too many years in show business, the one thing I see that succeeds is persistence. It’s the person who just ain’t gonna go home. I decided early on that I wasn’t going to go home. This is what I’ll be doing until they put me in jail or in a coffin.” – David Mamet

Persistence is an excellent word for a writer to keep in mind. While David Mamet in the above quote is talking about being persistent in the goal of being in show business, the same can be true for writers.

A question I get all the time when I’m out and about in my town where people have known me forever is “Are you still writing?” And I guess I will be until I stop breathing. Even going to jail wouldn’t necessarily keep me from coming up with new stories and trying to find a way to write them down.  But I’ll do my best to stay out of jail!

Hmm. Wonder if I should let one of my characters end up behind bars? Through no fault of their own, of course, if they are the main characters. Probably not in this story I’m working on now, but sometimes at the beginning, everything and anything is possible with people you are walking with down that story road.

Do you ever wonder about how this or that author came up with their story? And how the writer made us believe in things that can’t be possible like a kid riding a broom to play a ballgame or a little sprinkling of magic dust can make a kid fly? Or how a writer can bring history to life? 

 I picked the winners in my recent newsletter giveaway. Lauren from Texas was my 1st place winner. She gets a gift card and one of my books. She chose River to Redemption. The other winner, Jeanne C., hasn’t responded to the email I sent her as yet. Hope to hear from her soon. I’ll be sending out another newsletter next week with a new chance to win one of my books and the cover reveal for A Chance for Kallie Mae.

And I’m thinking up a giveaway for those of you who read my blogposts. I so appreciate each and every one of you. Thanks for reading.