IT’S ABOUT TIME

 THE JOY OF STORY

John M. Daniel’s Blog

March 5, 2016

Greetings, and welcome to the blustery month of March. This month my blog will present a fine and fun collection of 99-word stories on the theme “It Hit Me Like a Tornado.” That will appear March 12 and the week following. Then, on March 19 and for the week following, we’ll have a guest post by mystery writer (and cat lover) Elaine Faber.

This week, my essay concerns the complexities of time and tense in stories. March happens to be a good month for thinking about time. For example, this year we’ll be setting our clocks forward on Sunday, March 13. Two days later, March 15, we remember that Julius Caesar met his date with destiny, right on time. Two days later, March 17, we celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day. What did St. Pat have to do with time? Or tense? Nothing, right? Well, maybe.

Coincidentally, or not, this month’s book promotion is for my novel Behind the Redwood Door, in which time and timing play a key role: back story (a multi-generational feud) drives the present plot (revenge and murder). We never outlive the past. As Faulkner told us, the past isn’t dead; it isn’t even past.

Also this week I introduce the prompt for April’s 99-words story feature: “Spring can really hang you up the most.” Details below.

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IT’S ABOUT TIME

Lately I find myself tripping out on the subject of time. I don’t mean to say I’ve been taking time trips, nor do I wish to revisit the past in my writing; but as my days dwindle down to a precious few, this seems like a good time to discuss the concept of time and how time is used, and misused, in fiction. Hang on. This discussion could get tense. (For example, I should rewrite the first sentence of this essay, because the adverb “lately” can’t properly modify the present-tense verb “find.”)

I’ll start this essay by warning you about the Dreaded Ing. By this I’m not referring to the gerund noun suffix (writing stories can be addictive), but to the present participle suffix (when I’m writing stories I get lost in the time zone). It’s sometimes a trap, so beware. I’ll demonstrate with a 55-word story set in San Francisco, a city that treasures its past.

Bad Luck of the Irish

I didn’t realize it was Saint Patrick’s Day until I stepped into O’Malley’s and ordered Bushmill’s. The others in the pub, all dressed in green, were drinking Jameson.

They made it clear I was not welcome.

Hurrying across town to my apartment, I tore off my orange shirt and pants and drew a hot bath.

Okay, so the story needs work. But it illustrates the infamous Ing Trap. This poor misguided Northern Irishman made a number of mistakes that day, but the worst may have been taking off all his clothes as he was running across town. The present participle, that ing-word, indicates simultaneity. He was undressing out in public while he was hurrying, which is just a little more dangerous in San Francisco than wearing orange into an Irish pub on St. Paddy’s day.

It is a common error to use the present participle to imply a sequence of events. It just doesn’t work.

Onward. Another common error in the time zone is tense-jumping. This hidden trap occurs most often in stories written in the present tense:

That’s a Bunch of Blarney

After work, I stop by O’Malleys for a Bushmill’s. For reasons I don’t understand, I get bounced around the bar by a bunch of Irish bruisers.

I hurry home. I have to walk, because yesterday I had loaned my car to my daughter.

They say if you’re lucky enough to be Irish, you’re lucky enough.

The mistake here is in the words “had loaned.” Since this story is in the present tense, we need only take one step back, to past tense, to tell what happened “yesterday.” “Had loaned” slips us back too far, into the past perfect tense. This common error is one reason writing fiction in the present tense is tricky.

Let’s rewrite the story in the past tense and see what we get:

That’s a Bunch of Blarney, take two

After work, I stopped by O’Malleys for a Bushmill’s. For reasons I didn’t understand, I got bounced around the bar by a bunch of Irish bruisers.

I hurried home. I had to walk, because yesterday I had loaned my car to my daughter.

They say if you’re lucky enough to be Irish, you’re lucky enough.

Well, in this version, the past perfect “had loaned” works. But the word “yesterday” doesn’t.  Another common error: using “yesterday,” “tomorrow,” and their cousins when writing about an incident in the distant past or the near future. By the way, look at the last sentence in this past-tense version of the story: it’s in present tense, but that’s okay. They said such a thing on that St. Paddy’s day, but they still say it, and it will always be true (or not).

If, however, I were to write the story this way, I’d be in trouble:

 Uphill Both Ways

After the brawl in the bar, I rushed home. Having loaned my car to my daughter the day before, I had to walk home, and it wasn’t an easy walk, because San Francisco had steep hills.

All the way home I thought to myself: “I was never going to drink in O’Malley’s again.”

Although it’s technically true that the San Francisco hills were steep on that unlucky day our hapless schnook hurried home, it’s also true that those hills are still steep. So I would have preferred “San Francisco has steep hills.”

Now take a look at that sentence in quotes, the interior thought that closes the story. As interior thought, it should have been written in the present tense, even though the story’s written in the past tense. It should be treated like dialogue: “I’m never going to drink in O’Malley’s Bar and Grill again.”

Are you getting tense yet?

I’ll wrap this up with a riff on the word “since.” “Since” has two meanings. It can mean “subsequent to that point in time” or “as a result of which.” Sometimes “since” can mean both at the same time. “Since when?,” “since why?,” and “since when and why.” The word “since” doesn’t have to be in every story, of course, but the concepts of “since” do need to be in every story. Sequence of events is essential to plot. And consequence of events is equally essential.

To understand what I’m talking about, return with me now to the City of San Francisco, home of O’Malley’s Bar and Grill:

Since When, and Since Why

O’Malley’s has been a favorite pub since 1957. [since when] Since it’s next to my job, I’d often drop in for a drink. [since why]

I haven’t been back since St. Patrick’s Day, when I got beaten for wearing orange. [since when and since why]

Since I’m color blind, I don’t know the difference between green and orange. [since why] I wish everyone were color blind.

Thank you for sticking with me through all that. Your reward, whether you want it or not, is one last 55-word story, not set in a bar or on the hills of San Francisco, but set in two time zones and told in two tenses.

Lost in Paradise

Once when I was a kid I got lost at Disneyland. After searching frantically all day, my dad found me with Mickey Mouse, grinning like Goofy.

Nowadays, when I take my kids to Disneyland, I sometimes catch a glimpse of that same lost boy, soaring through the sky on Dumbo’s back, still grinning like Goofy.

§§§

Calling all authors—

I feature a guest author the third Saturday (and week following) of each month. If you’re interested in posting an essay on my blog—it’s also a chance to promote a published book—email me directly at jmd@danielpublishing.com.

§§§

Call for submissions: Your 99-Word Stories

The deadline for April’s 99-word story submissions is April 1 (no foolin’). The stories will appear on my blog post for April 9, and the week following.

note: this 99-word story feature is a game, not a contest. Obey the rules and I’ll include your story. I may edit the story to make it stronger, and it’s understood that you will submit to my editing willingly. That’s an unwritten rule.

Rules for the 99-word story feature are as follows:

1. Your story must be 99 words long, exactly.

2. One story per writer, per month.

3. The story must be a story. That means it needs plot (something or somebody has to change), characters, and conflict.

4. The story must be inspired by the prompt I assign.

5. The deadline: the first of the month. Stories will appear on this blog the second Saturday of the month.

6. I will copy edit the story. The author of the story retains all rights.

7. Email me your story (in the body of your email, or as a Word attachment) to: jmd@danielpublishing.com

THIS MONTH’S PROMPT FOR NEXT MONTH’S 99-WORD STORY: “Spring can really hang you up the most.”

§§§

And now a word from our sponsor:

Behind the Redwood Door

A Guy Mallon Mystery

Oak Tree Press

ISBN 978-1-61009-023-0

Trade paperback, $14.95

Buy or order Behind the Redwood Door from your local bookstore, from one of the online booksellers,

or direct from the publisher:

Oak Tree Press or 217-825-4489

To order an autographed copy from the author,

send a check for $15.00 to:

John M. Daniel

PO Box 2790,

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Who knows what secrets lurk…
BEHIND THE REDWOOD DOOR?

 Guy and Carol Mallon own a used bookstore on the north coast of California, a land of rocky shores and redwood forests, with a rich history of gold, lumber, Native Americans, and hardy entrepreneurs. They are content with their small-town life until Pete Thayer, their friend and the publisher of the local alternative newspaper, is stabbed to death behind their favorite tavern.

 Urged on by Pete’s girlfriend, River Webster, Guy begins to poke around, uncovering a past festering with power politics, a newspaper war, a multigenerational family feud, marijuana traffic—and murder. Guy’s investigation takes him from the town square to the harbor to the forests and into the mountains, where he must confront evil in the form of a bully nearly twice his size.


“This novel, rich with history and small-town secrets, is peopled by swindlers and fishermen, Rotarians and dope-growers, prim Presbyterians and floozies, and a small but feisty, curious bookseller addicted to getting into trouble and other people’s business. Author John M. Daniel’s style is by turns witty and elegant, serving up fear and laughter in generous helpings.

 Behind the Redwood Door is a complex mystery with a colorful rustic background. The exciting story line will keep readers on the edge of their seats with wonder as they try to figure out who is the evil serpent is who is destroying paradise and why. John M. Daniel writes an enthralling whodunit within a vivid setting.”

         
—Genre Go Round Reviews

Read more reviews of this book:
http://www.danielpublishing.com/jmd/redwoodreviews.html

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As always, thanks for stopping by. You’re welcome to make a habit of it. And meanwhile, continue to find pleasure in the joy of story.

http://www.danielpublishing.com/jmd/index.html

WRITING IS A REAL JOB

THE JOY OF STORY

John M. Daniel’s Blog

February 27, 2016

Greetings! This week, I’m starting off with an announcement. As I announced a few weeks ago, Black Lamb, the literary magazine to which I’ve contributed monthly essays for more than five years, has ceased publishing a print edition. For (what I consider lamentable but understand all too well) economic reasons, Black Lamb is now an on-line zine. My announcement is that the first edition of the new on-line Black Lamb is up and available for reading (free) at http://www.blacklamb.org.

My first contribution to this new incarnation of Black Lamb is a bunch of 55-word stories. By now, if you’ve been reading this weekly blog, you know my affection for micro-fiction, and these are some of my favorites. These ones have not been published in print, but you may have seen some of them appear on my blog. Others are making their first appearance anywhere. The sampling starts with a dilemma for Frank Sinatra, and contains other celebrities as well: St. Francis, Leonardo da Vinci, and King Arthur. See for yourself: http://www.blacklamb.org/2016/01/01/very-short-stories-2/

§§§

Speaking of 55-word stories, I’m using one to introduce this week’s essay. Here goes:

Such a Deal

“God,” I prayed, “let me write for a living.”

Through my garret door strode a dude wearing a red suit and brimstone cologne.

He grinned. “Let’s talk.”

“What? You want my soul?”

He laughed. “A writing career’s not worth that. I’ll accept your sanity.”

“Deal.”

Decades later, I’m still in my garret.

He’s still laughing.

WRITING IS A REAL JOB

Whenever Susan and I go on vacation, we find ourselves talking to strangers, often in warm, friendly bars. Inevitably someone asks us the question “What do you do?” We refuse to answer. It’s not that we’re shy, or ashamed of what we do, or especially unfriendly. It’s just that we don’t talk about our work when we’re on vacation. We work side by side, fifty hours a week, fifty weeks a year, and the reason we’re in that bar somewhere in the tropics is to forget about the publishing business.

In recent years, however, I’ve developed the sheer brazen gall to say, “I’m a writer.” That warms up the conversation, shines a big spotlight on me, allows me to brag about my books, and gives me a chance to pretend to be modest, just this guy doing his job. I don’t pass out bookmarks or collect emails for my mailing list. But I do say out loud what for decades I’ve been too shy to say: “I’m a writer.”

Why haven’t I dared to say this all my adult life? Have I only recently earned the right? In fact, I’ve been writing all my adult life, and have always been able to make a few dollars doing it. I’ve led a literary life as a bookseller, a free-lance editor, a small-press publisher, and a teacher of creative writing. Along the way I’ve written a lot of books and a ton of stories, and some of those books and a few dozen stories have appeared in print. Some even brought me some money.

It is true that most of the writing that has earned me a living has been crafting contracts, press releases, catalog copy, back cover copy, and business correspondence. When I’m writing contracts, business letters, and press releases, I’m writing to live. When I’m in the midst of making a novel, on the other hand, I live to write. And by God, I consider that a real job, a respectable job. For practical reasons, I don’t allow myself the addictive pleasure of writing fiction during “business hours,” Monday through Saturday. But I write my fiction all day Sunday, every Sunday, and even a few hours every day on vacation.

I’m a writer. You are too. Say after me: “I am a writer.” We writers are writers because we must write. We made a deal with the devil, I suppose, and the deal was worth it.

Note: If this essay sounds familiar, it’s because I’ve posted it before. In fact it’s a bit out of date. Most people don’t ask me what I “do” anymore. I now usually hear the question “What did you do?” I guess I appear old enough to be retired. Hah.

§§§

Calling all authors—

I feature a guest author the third Saturday (and week following) of each month. If you’re interested in posting an essay on my blog—it’s also a chance to promote a published book—email me directly at jmd@danielpublishing.com.

§§§

Call for submissions: Your 99-Word Stories

The deadline for next month’s 99-word story submissions is March 1. The stories will appear on my blog post for March 12 and the week following.

note: this 99-word story feature is a game, not a contest. Obey the rules and I’ll include your story. I may edit the story to make it stronger, and it’s understood that you will submit to my editing willingly. That’s an unwritten rule.

Rules for the 99-word story feature are as follows:

1. Your story must be 99 words long, exactly.

2. One story per writer, per month.

3. The story must be a story. That means it needs plot (something or somebody has to change), characters, and conflict.

4. The story must be inspired by the prompt I assign.

5. The deadline: the first of the month. Stories will appear on this blog the second Saturday of the month.

6. I will copy edit the story. The author of the story retains all rights.

7. Email me your story (in the body of your email, or as a Word attachment) to: jmd@danielpublishing.com

THIS MONTH’S PROMPT FOR NEXT MONTH’S 99-WORD STORY:

The title of this illustration is “It Hit Me Like a Tornado.” Write a 99-word story inspired by the illustration or the title, but don’t make it about the weather.

§§§

And now a word from our sponsor:

Recently published by Daniel & Daniel, Publishers, Inc.

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a novel by

Dee Hubbard


ISBN 978-1-56474-568-2


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order from your local independent bookstore.

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Charlie, the proud hero of this strong and gripping story, is known to his fellow truckers, loggers, and fishermen as Hawk. His father, a full-blooded Hupok, taught him his Indian heritage; his Scots-Irish mother gave him a lifelong love of reading. He feels connected to both roots, but he is most himself when he’s by himself, out in the forest, on the banks or in the flow of his beloved Klamath River. The language in this novel is lush and romantic. Lots of thoughtful philosophy is verbalized in internal thoughts and stream of consciousness. In the mix we are treated to solid information on fly fishing, trucking, logging, the marijuana industry, and most of all the ecology of the forests and rivers of the California far north, a land that still enjoys wildness.

Dee Hubbard worked as a Denver CPA and was also a Director or Trustee for twelve organizations, including the Nature Conservancy in Colorado. He now lives and writes in Steamboat Springs. His other passions include hiking forest trails and climbing high mountains with his wife and muse, artist Bonnie McGee, and fishing with their golden retriever, Skye. His writing has been recognized in local, regional, national and international literary competitions, and his first book, Slim to None: A Journey through the Wasteland of Anorexia Treatment, became a Denver Post best seller and a Colorado Book of the Year nominee.

§§§

As always, thanks for visiting. I hope you’ll make a habit of it. Meanwhile, enjoy reading and/or writing stories. They’re a wonderful pastime. But you know that already.

John at the mouth of the Klamath River

http://www.danielpublishing.com/jmd/index.html

IS FICTION INSPIRED BY "WHAT IF" OR "WHAT FOR"?

THE JOY OF STORY

John M. Daniel’s Blog

February 20, 2016

Greetings, writers and readers of stories! This week it’s my pleasure to introduce novelist and short-story craftsman David Mohrmann. Dave and I belong to the same writing group, The Great Intenders, and his contributions to critique sessions are thought-provoking and insightful, sometimes surprisingly so. So it comes as no surprise to me that his post this week is controversial and challenging. And I won’t be surprised if some readers take issue with some of his views on the purpose of storytelling. If that’s the case, I hope they’ll respond with comments. I happen to agree with Dave that our lives are full of unsolved mysteries, which give us a ready source for some of our best stories.

I’ll say no more, and turn the spotlight onto our guest.

§§§

MYSTERIES FROM LIFE

TRANSFORMED BY FICTION

by David Mohrmann

What if a stranger comes to town…a mysterious man who, rumor has it, possesses magical powers?

     Sounds like a decent plotline, unless it turns out that this character is so amazing that the reader cannot in any way relate to him. Perhaps his story, while quite cleverly written, is so fantastic that we poor readers cannot imagine it ever happening in the real world?

     In other words, if the intention of a writer is merely to entertain…I, for one, will soon be bored.

    

“What if” plotlines often suffer from that same base intention, as if the world were not already inundated with far too much entertainment.

     My opinion is that good fiction is intent on only one thing: to uncover some unseen truth about life that the author believes is worth telling. This is a difficult paradox to explain, but I would like to spend my blog-spot trying.

     For me, whenever a “What if” situation presents itself, the essential question is always What for? I certainly want to be entertained by the fiction I read, but there has to be more than that. What worthwhile question is being asked, or reality exposed, by the stories we write? I am not demanding that every bit of literature shake the world to its core, but it should, I think, express those personal events, those intimate stories, that shook each of us.

I doubt I am the only one with certain memories that are oddly resilient and perhaps a bit troubling. Why troubling? Because there was something about the experiences they represent that we never quite understood. I would suggest that these mysterious experiences somehow mark us. They dangle in our mind, sometimes like unpicked fruit, sometimes like barbed hooks. Some we would like to forget…and with enough time it must be possible.

     As a writer, however, I try my best not to let that happen. These were the people, events, feelings, that affected me in ways I have not yet come to terms with. These are the little mysteries of my life, and must be solved!

     One story of mine, for example, came from me wondering how I could possibly have allowed a man I did not trust to put my daughter’s life in danger. Another story tries to make sense of my unexpected affinity for a gypsy woman with her hand in my wallet.

     These were things I did not understand at the time. I had to write about them later, had to re-create (that is, fictionalize) the scenes, the people, and the complex human dynamics at play.

It is no mystery that the mystery story has always been one of the most popular forms of fiction. For me, traditional whodunit stories never had much pull, probably because they have become such an established genre, and therefore often seem contrived. Besides, what’s the point of creating a convoluted plot when everyday life, if well examined, is equally mysterious?

     I fear that “thrill-a-minute” stories make people regard their comparatively “simple lives” as boring.

     I am not trying to dissuade mystery writers from doing their thing, but rather to encourage the rest of us to recognize our own inherently interesting existence. Soon as you, whoever you are, begin to examine one of your life’s mysteries, a story is ready to be written. It is called fiction only because you must tell it through your personal perspective, your own sense of what happened. You show the characters and what they do in your uniquely particular way. It is your story, no one else’s.

     And there is always at least one worthwhile result of that effort. By identifying, and writing about, the mysteries of our own lives, we better understand the mysterious lives of others.

§§§

Xocomil: The Winds of Atitlán, David Mohrmann’s first novel, has just been published by LastWord Books and is available from Amazon. The novel spans what most historians term the Guatemalan Civil War (1960-1996). The story travels from traditional Mayan villages through the war-torn mountains of Guatemala; from cornfields in Kansas through the jungles of Vietnam; from pot-filled hills in Northern California through the psychedelic haunts of San Francisco to the ruins and magic mushrooms of Southern Mexico.

“Mohrmann takes us into the complex personal lives of two young men—one Kaqchikel/Mayan, indigenous to Guatemala, the other a USA Vietnam vet—whose lives intersect following Guatemala’s brutal civil war. The prose is fierce, the characters intriguing and dimensional, creating an important and timely window into the complex impact of a generation-long war.”

—Theresa May, author of Salmon Is Everything

David Mohrmann began his artistic career as a painter, and has had numerous exhibitions of his work.  As a playwright, he produced ten plays, and taught for fifteen years in the theater department at Humboldt State University, where he specialized in “Theater of the Oppressed.”  

After retiring in 2005, he began writing short stories, and has had five of the thirty published. His first novel, Xocomil, is informed by many travels throughout Guatemala, beginning in the 1970s.  

He is now living in Arcata, California--with frequent trips to Guatemala--and working on a collection of his short stories.

§§§

Call for submissions: Your 99-Word Stories

The deadline for next month’s 99-word story submissions is March 1. The stories will appear on my blog post for March 12 and the week following.

note: this 99-word story feature is a game, not a contest. Obey the rules and I’ll include your story. I may edit the story to make it stronger, and it’s understood that you will submit to my editing willingly. That’s an unwritten rule.

Rules for the 99-word story feature are as follows:

1. Your story must be 99 words long, exactly.

2. One story per writer, per month.

3. The story must be a story. That means it needs plot (something or somebody has to change), characters, and conflict.

4. The story must be inspired by the prompt I assign.

5. The deadline: the first of the month. Stories will appear on this blog the second Saturday of the month.

6. I will copy edit the story. The author of the story retains all rights.

7. Email me your story (in the body of your email, or as a Word attachment) to: jmd@danielpublishing.com

THIS MONTH’S PROMPT FOR NEXT MONTH’S 99-WORD STORY:

The title of this illustration is “It Hit Me Like a Tornado.” Write a 99-word story inspired by the illustration or the title, but don’t make it about the weather.

§§§

Thank you, as always, for stopping by. I hope you’ll be back next week. Meanwhile, I hope you'll find pleasure in reading and writing, and celebrate the joy of story.

http://www.danielpublishing.com/jmd/index.html