I Choose to Write---It's What I Do

By Keith N Fisher

Within a year after we were married, my wife and I moved into a small house with a fairly good sized yard. We wanted the privacy that living in an apartment couldn’t provide. We also wanted to entertain our friends and families with backyard parties.

Since the house had been a rental for many years, the tenants hadn’t taken care of the yard. Maybe you can imagine some of the problems I had revitalizing the vegetation. Not the least of which, were the two overgrown apple trees.

I believe those trees were from the original stock when the land was an orchard, before the turn of the century. When I moved in, I started a rigid program of pruning and shaping that eventually produced some of the largest Red Delicious apples I’ve ever seen.

One of my reasons for leaving the apartment was to grow a vegetable garden. So, I removed a huge block of grass and filled the space with topsoil. I was proud of the vegetables I grew. Each winter, I started seeds under fluorescent lights. People still ask about my peas every spring and whether I got my tomatoes planted.

Along with the garden, I worked on the house too. In one project, I remodeled the living room using scrap wood paneling and installed a wood-burning stove my dad built. I replaced a window with a sliding glass door that opened up on the redwood deck I built. The deck had several tiers and long angles that took careful planning and precise calculation to make it look right.

Living in a one and one-half bedroom house was okay for the two of us, but we wanted a family so I planned a second floor. Of course, in order to build it, I needed to beef up the practically non-existent foundation. Those plans led to my digging a basement, by hand, under the house. I’ve written about that project before, but I never mentioned the benefits.

During the winter, when I couldn’t work in the garden, I came home from work, ate dinner, and climbed into the hole. I dug for hours with pick and shovel. There were many times I wished for some dynamite to loosen the hard pan.

Although it was many years ago, I still think about those days and wonder how I ever found the time for all my projects. I realize, however, that I didn’t do much else. When I wasn’t making a living, or working on a project, I planned and plotted. I thought about where to plant tomatoes next season, or how to build the deck extension.

I was lost in my thoughts, but there were benefits to all that contemplation. The stress relief was healthy, but the scheming made difficult jobs easier. When it came time to actually do the project, I’d already built it in my mind and I knew exactly where to begin.

Now, we live in a different house. Gardening seemed to take a backseat to Dutch oven cooking competitions. Dutch ovens gave way to my writing career and my weed patch is doing nicely, thank you. I’m still busy plotting and planning. Characters need to be drafted and articles need to be researched. I’ve re-set my priorities.

The strength I gathered from my projects has been replaced with the strength that comes from writing and it’s brought me through some hard times. Before his health went bad, my father was my conspirator. He helped me with many of my backyard projects. When he died of cancer, my writing took me away from the reality of the hospital room. I even shared some of it with him. He said he was proud.

Some of my friends and family think I’m wasting my time writing. They see my tilled under weed patch and lament the gardens I used to grow. What should I say to them? Should I say anything?

Like gardening and remodeling, writing has become more than therapy for me. It’s a way of life. I admit discouragement at times and maybe I am a little crazy, but have you ever listened to them?

The ATV enthusiast can’t wait to tell you about the latest, sweet ride. The snow-boarder speaks another language and risks his life on that perfect maneuver. I know Dutch oven people who spend a whole year planning for a five-hour event and all they get from it, is a pat on the back. There are myriad ways people use to cope. Each one is more than a hobby to the enthusiast.

I could be working in my garden, or rebuilding cars. I could go golfing everyday, or even fishing. I choose to write. Its what I do.

If you choose the same, don’t let the skeptics dissuade you. Hang in there and keep writing. It will save your sanity.

Good luck with your writing—see you next week.

Pet Peeves

By Keith N Fisher

What is your pet peeve? A friend of mine has one that makes sense, but only when I ponder it. It might be a regional thing, but have you ever noticed how many people answer “Good” when asked, how they are? This bugs my friend because he didn’t ask about behavior, he asked about physical or mental well being. To say “I’m good” indicates lack of sin.

I know, it’s a little thing, but if you think about it . . .

If I were to poll the responses to the question about peeves, I suppose a good portion of the answers would involve spam e-mail or something to do with automobile traffic. My latest peeve involves driving, or, more specifically, the road I travel twice a day.

For those of you familiar with Orem, Utah, you know there’s an interesting traffic situation at the corner of 1600 North and State Street. If you’re traveling south and wish to turn left at the light, there are two turning lanes.




The problem arises when the left lane disappears right after you turn. A car in that lane is forced to turn north or impose on the traffic in the right lane. To aggravate the situation, there is only one lane, and vehicles coming onto 1600 North at that point must yield to those cars traveling through. Many people don’t pay attention to the yield rule.

While ignoring a yield rule, ranks high on my peeve list, what really bothers me, is the turning lane off of State Street. Some drivers deliberately get around the line of cars in the right turning lane, waiting for the light to change. They think they’ve cleverly discovered a way of snaking a better position in traffic in a 35-mph zone where many cars travel 25.

Now, I can empathize with those who make the honest mistake. I’ve been there, done that, but it only takes one time, and you’ll never make that mistake again. It’s easy to see which ones know better, but choose to get into the left lane anyway. They line up like a dragster, hoping to beat the other car through the light. They shouldn’t have to worry however, since the arc of travel on the right is so wide, the left lane easily wins.

Okay, just like answering with “good” in my friend’s peeve, this is a little thing, but if I happen to get to the intersection first, my wait is longer. What makes the other driver think he has the right to circumvent the delay? Is he so arrogant that he assumes the law doesn’t apply to him?

Recently, I sat first in line, waiting for the light after work one morning. It seemed as though the light would never change, and I saw a truck in my rear view mirror. He pulled behind me, then made a quick lane change. At the line, he inched forward. I knew what would happen next.

My irritation rose, I plotted a very Un Christian like thing. When the light changed, I stepped on it. I made it through the arc trying to keep my speed, but in the end, his truck was more powerful than my mini-van. He floored it and left me in the dust.

I knew, that he knew, what he’d done because he quickly brought his speed up to 45-mph in order to get away from me. I know it was 45, because I was right behind him . . . uh maybe I shouldn’t tell you that.

Anyway, on the next block, he turned in front of a church. I shouted, “I hope you remember to tell your bishop about that maneuver!” Yes, I know he didn’t hear me. I also know, he’s already forgotten the incident. I’m glad for that, because it was stupid on my part. I need to take a deep breath and close my eyes . . . there, I feel myself letting go. Do you feel it, too?

So, what does this have to do with writing? Well, there are rules to follow in the craft of writing fiction. Rules that, perhaps, weren’t followed in previous generations of published books. If you break those rules, like my friend in the truck broke traffic rules, you might get away with it. Your manuscript could get published. You might even self-publish, but if the rules were broken, someone will notice. It will cheapen your writing, and it might carry into your brand.

Take time to learn the rules. Apply them in your work, and use an editor. Your book will be better. You will come through the traffic of literature looking like a professional instead of an arrogant rule breaker. As for my writing, I'm getting better, but I'm still learning. As for my road rage . . . well, I promise thats the last stupid thing I'll do, ever.

Good luck with your writing—see you next week.

Another Project

By Keith N Fisher

I wrote a scene this morning for my Star Crossed book. It’s one of the many stories I’ve been working on. I believe I’ve mentioned my project file before and how full it is. In it, there are ideas and drafts for more books than I can write in my lifetime.

I’ve kept one of those projects on the back burner for a while now, but I’m bringing it forward because a good friend recommended I write a cookbook.

As a former world champion Dutch oven cook, and backyard party enthusiast, I always intended to produce a book with my recipes and advice. As one of the writers for Your LDS Neighborhood .com I blogged about the subject for more than a year. I still contribute to the blog, but with the upheavals in life, I’ve neglected it for a while.

As I said, I always intended to do a cookbook, but my fiction always took precedence. Now, I’m returning and I’m getting new ideas for recipes.

For the last day of school yesterday, my wife and I, cooked lunch for the faculty and staff of an elementary school. We made Dutch oven chicken enchiladas, sourdough bread, three kinds of cobblers, and a pineapple cake. They provided salad and the drinks. This traditional event has become second nature for us. We can be counted on to be in the same place, on the same day, every year.

During a quiet moment, between checking the pots, we reflected on some of the food we’ve cooked over the years for that event. I began to recall dishes I’ve created along the way. Many of which, I never wrote down. I invented a pile of recipes for Dutch oven cook offs that I never put on paper, and I created dinner from anything that happened to be available in the cupboard. In all my recollections I realized my cookbook will be full of crazy ideas that turned into great meals.

It’s been like that since I brought this project forward. Ideas hit me like solutions to plots in my fiction. I write it down and go back to what I was doing. Also, other things have been falling into place. My critique group loves the idea of me bringing a dish to taste for my weekly chapter, but we came up with a promotional idea that will knock your socks off. Not only will it help my cookbook but we will be launching and signing their fiction as well. I’ll give you more info later, but keep August 13 open.

Now with all this talk about cookbooks and recipes, you might be wondering about my fiction. Not to worry, The Hillside has been submitted and I’m waiting to hear back on it. The sequel is finished and edits are just beginning. Star Crossed is half written and I’m plodding along, developing ways of getting to the ending I’ve already written. I also have three other, hot stories on the front burners, waiting patiently for me to get back to them. Not to mention the rejected stories, I need to re-write.

I’m a busy writer and I work nights. Still, I love it when a new character wakes me up to tell me their story. I write it down along with the emotion that came with it, file it away, and pray God will let me live another fifty years so I can write the story.

Good luck with your writing—see you next week.

The Patient Will Live

By Keith N Fisher

I performed major surgery this week. I administered anesthetic to my screaming baby, took a scalpel to it, and cut to the bone. After that, I planted the seeds for new growth.

Did you see the movie, Catch Me if you Can? It’s based on the true story of, Frank Abagnale Jr., a con man who forged different identities and occupations for himself. No, I’m not doing that.

Like G. Parker mentioned in her blog a couple of weeks ago, the surgery I performed was to a manuscript.

In the sequel to The Hillside, I’d written a great ending. There were, however, almost 100,000 words. Yes, that’s a little long for this type of book, but that’s not what bothered me. I’d written more plots and subplots than the story needed. I felt I should send my character to New York and I created a reason to get her there.

The story haunted me, and even though I’d written a great subplot, it was just too much. To make matters worse, I’d written a climax to part of the story, in the middle of the book. My critique group felt like that was an ending, but there was more. The other character needed resolution.

So I went in and cut the cancer out. I got it down to about 50,000 words, and re-wrote the end. Now, It’s 80,000 and after I edit, there will be less. The result will be a fit and trim book that readers will love.

As a writer, you are the doctor, psychiatrist, parent, and mechanic for your manuscript. Don’t be afraid to shake it up.

All this talk about that movie, and performing functions I’m not trained for, made me think. Have you ever considered that as writers we are doing what Mr. Abagnale did? In our own small way, we live a little vicariously through our characters and we can be anything we want, even a villain. Perhaps that’s why I don’t write about murderers, I have no desire to understand that mind set.

Anyway, with a little research, our characters can be anything, from a doctor to a computer technician. As the creator, we can get a little taste of what it’s like.

In the case of the above-mentioned manuscript, I was benevolently cruel. It screamed and complained, but I offered comfort in my promise that I wouldn’t hurt it. Also, I saved the scenes I took out. Maybe I’ll take the advice of my critique group and turn it into a trilogy. Wouldn’t that be a hoot? Maybe, but I’ve got to finish the other story I’m writing first.

Good luck with your writing—see you next week.

Opening Pandora's Box

By Keith N Fisher

How do you feel about gas prices? Do you express misplaced anger at the owners of gas stations? Just for the record, service station owners only make about 2.5 cents profit on every gallon of gas. The real money is going to taxes and the executives of the oil companies.

I can remember prices at 19 and 22 cents/gal. I worked at a station when they rose to 60 cents. For many drivers, It was a hard pill to swallow. Now, we are paying close to 4 dollars and most of us wouldn’t mourn the demise of those who are raising prices.

I wanted to bring this up to illustrate a point. Are you angry that gas prices keep going up?

As a kid I watched the original Star Trek on TV and marveled over the gadgets I saw. I noticed a lack of paper and everything, from reports to novels, were read on a piece of hardware, about the size of an I-Pad. In the later series’ they used Palm Pilot sized pads. When I saw a character writing a speech in one episode, I realized electronic medium was probably the wave of the future. I figured we would see electronic books in my lifetime, but I thought it would be like checking out reader pads from the library, or buying them from the bookstores.

Now, we stand at the edge of a precipice. E-book technology has come into our lives. You can download the classics for 99 cents.

Recently, at the Storymakers Conference, Marion Jensen talked about the e-book trend and what we might expect in the future. I noticed a prevalent attitude in the class. Writers were thinking they might use the medium to bypass publishers and self-publish. I also noticed many of them hadn’t given much thought to how much work it would be to promote those books.

Marion went on to quote some experts who think electronic books will never replace the traditional. Still, I was disturbed. Apparently, some authors are promoting their work, by selling it for pennies.

I once heard an author say he didn’t mind his books getting passed around because it builds a fan base for the next book. I agree with his thinking, but keep in mind that he didn’t drop the price on the book that gets passed around.

Okay, here is the way I see it. When people get used to paying 99 cents for an e-book how are we going to raise the price? Like Pandora, are we opening a box that can never be closed? Is it better to sell five books at 15 dollars, or fifty books at 99 cents?

Yes, you can touch more lives at 99 cents, but isn’t your time worth more than that?

Like with gas prices, people will resent a raise. Keep in mind that gasoline has become a necessary staple in our life, books are still a non-essential item in our budgets. Well, I know some writers who ... Anyway, Since book publishing is mostly a good will business, you will never be able to make more for your books. Neither will I.

At this juncture, I have no intention of self-publishing. If, after the hard copy comes out, my publisher wants to sell it in electronic format, I will expect it to sell for a reasonable price. If the costs of other books are far below that price, my book won’t sell.

So, before you launch yourself into this final frontier, consider the future when the market is flooded with low cost e-books, and everyone works for free. I have another parable for you.

There once were two kids who each opened a lemonade stand. Billy opened on his corner, and Mary opened across the street. They drank a lot of lemonade, but didn’t get many customers. Then, Billy decided that if he lowered his price, the customers would buy from him, rather than across the street.

Incensed, Mary lowered her price and got all the business until Billy lowered his, again. This went on, until Mary got fed up and offered hers for free. Well, Billy couldn’t compete with free, so he packed up and went out of business.

After a while, Mary noticed a significant fact. Even when she gave it away, she still could not attract the majority of passersby. They just didn’t care. That’s when Mary got an idea. She developed better lemonade. It was far superior to anything anyone had ever tasted. Mary advertised and tried to sell it for a reasonable profit. After all, with advertising, she had overhead costs.

Soon, she found that customers wouldn’t buy it. “It may be as good as you say, but we can get lemonade from Jane, down the street and she gives it away.”

Be careful where you tread. You might be stepping on a landmine.

Good luck with your writing—see you next week.

Competent

By Keith N Fisher

At the LDStorymakers Conference this year, I walked into the ballroom at the beginning of a session and encountered a lady who wouldn’t shake my hand.

We introduced ourselves and I told her I write women’s fiction. I don’t remember her exact words, but she looked me square in the eye and asked, “How are you qualified to write women’s fiction?”

I was perplexed. What qualifies every writer to write anything? I must admit that getting into the mind of women is dangerous, and a difficult journey. Not unlike the first moon landing, and being a man, how can I presume to be successful in this genre?

I stumbled over my answer, not knowing quite what to say. “I’m the only man in a six member critique group and I get insights from my partners?” I could’ve claimed an understanding, and I would’ve liked to claim the title of, Casanova of the Twenty-first Century Book Writing World, but I’m just a man. I think Nicholas Sparks would like to contest that claim, anyway.

I shared my dilemma with my friend, Tristi Pinkston, and she joked, “You should’ve looked her in the eye and said, I’m really a woman.”

I write stories about women, for women, in a way that men would enjoy reading it too. You see, there are differences, but basically there isn’t much separating the sexes. With a few genre specific details, all fiction is pretty much the same. Yes, there are situations women find themselves in that men wouldn’t, but women’s fiction, not romance, is a contemporary story about the struggles and joys of women characters. The secret to success is telling it with resonance to women. Sometimes, that includes romance.

My new friend made me consider the answers to many questions, and sparked a visit into my project files. I’ve written stories about men, but my very first, written twenty years ago, was about a woman who struggles to find balance between the corporate world and her desire to be a singer. A mystery unfolds along the way, and she finds answers to her life’s questions.

The second book, my first LDS market, was a coming of age story about a teenage girl. Pregnancy and a desire to find her own way, spurs a late night flight to a new life in the big city. Through a series of missteps and misplaced trust, she finds herself at the end of her rope, and discovers God.

As I said before, I’ve written male protagonists and testosterone-laden plot lines, but really, women’s fiction is what I’ve always written. So, how am I qualified? After considering many possible answers, I came up with a good response. I write women’s fiction because my characters dictate their stories to me. I am competent, if people find joy in reading them.

Good luck with your writing—see you next week.

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

By Keith N Fisher

I’m writing this blog between classes at the LDStorymakers Conference. I have no Internet on my computer so I hope I can post on time. I have no time for editing so please don’t laugh at my mistakes.

Although the standard is changing, in our culture, boys are given a set of rules to follow. They are taught to be the breadwinner, the protector and provider. Girls are taught to be the homemaker, nurturer, and teacher of all good habits.

Being true to my lessons, I’ve endeavored to make ends meet, provide, and keep a status quo, no matter what the circumstance.

About fifteen years ago, we were given the opportunity to purchase a bigger house than I could afford. If the truth were told, however, It wasn’t much bigger or expensive. I’d just grown comfortable in my situation and making a larger payment worried me.

At the time, we were making payments on a one and one-half bedroom bungalow with plumbing problems, but it was ours, and we loved the garden. I’d spent the early part of our marriage paying debts we brought into it and I didn’t want to start over.

One day, while considering my options, I realized life was short and if I didn’t grab the piece of happiness the new house would bring, I might never realize the dream. In short, if I didn’t take a chance, I might never move forward.

Now, this might seem like selfishness, or self-justification, but I learned there are times to take risks you can’t move forward if you don’t speculate occasionally.

At the LDStorymakers Conference this year a presentation reminded us that if you never take a chance, you’ll never succeed. It also suggested if you’ve never failed, you never tried.

Keep writing. Success may never mean writing full time or making a six-figure income, but dreams, not pursued, can never come true. Your writing will never touch a life, unless you keep writing.

Hang in there. Good luck with your writing—see you next week.