Prospecting and Collecting by Barbara Baldwin

You can find my books at Books We Love

            Prospecting doesn’t always mean looking for gold. It can include looking for things that interest you, such as things you collect on your adventures. Are you a collector? Do you look for unique, strange, useful or ornamental things?

            I collect rocks. Nothing really huge, you understand, but certainly unique. Can you see the bird rock in this picture of my collection? There is also one at the bottom with a white band that goes completely around it. I call this my infinity rock. Notice the fossils imbedded in yet another one?

I visited Bar Harbor, Maine several years ago where the coast and shore lines are very rocky so it’s a great place to collect rocks. That’s where I found out about heart stones, of which there are two in my rock bowl. Heart stones have been formed by the forces of nature into universal symbols of love. They’re not precious like diamonds or rubies, but are still unique. A walk on the beach with any stones at all will usually turn up one or two heart-shaped stones. (Keep in mind, as you can see in the two I have, they may not be symmetrical; they may have cracks and blemishes and be lopsided and imperfect, but they can be the best find on the beach.)

 When I left Maine, I was trying to put my carry-on in the overhead compartment and a nice gentleman offered to help. As he lifted it overhead, he asked, “What do you have in here, rocks?”

            Well, actually… J

            I also collect sea glass and bits of pottery found along the shore. Sea glass doesn’t seem to tumble around the gulf coast, but I’ve found pieces all along the Atlantic Ocean and my daughter even found some in Ireland. These broken bottles and other glass are technically ocean trash, but over time, the ocean has broken it up, tumbled it around and spit it out as beautiful frosted pieces, often made into jewelry and used in other pieces of art.

            Prospecting and collecting doesn’t always mean having physical objects to display in a jar, bowl or on a shelf. As a writer, I am continually prospecting for new story ideas, names for my characters and interesting sites for my settings. Ellie, in “Prospecting for Love”, was in similar circumstances as she was taking photographs in the ghost town of Peavine, Nevada, for a magazine photo essay.  Unfortunately for her, she was abducted by two ghosts and taken back in time to when Peavine was a thriving mining town.

This time travel romance has plenty of humor as Ellie is a thoroughly 21^st century woman and finds it hard to cope without electricity and a microwave. Reviews give it 5 stars – “Twists, turns, memorable characters and a ‘can’t put down’ story are the trademarks that make Ms. Baldwin’s stories so wonderful. Each character is so well drawn you feel like you know them.” (Love Romances and More)

Take a fun adventure into the past with “Prospecting for Love.”

Barbara Baldwin

http://www.authorsden.com/barbarajbaldwin

Every now and then we run across a great article … and we print it out and keep it.  Writing is writing – and whether you are writing YA, suspense or historical – good writing is the bottom line.

I’m ‘paying forward’ Aaron Shepard’s article on ‘What Makes a Good Story?’    Rita

 

What Makes a Good Story?

Tips for Young Authors - By Aaron Shepard

Copyright © 1998 Aaron Shepard. May be freely copied and shared for any noncommercial purpose as long as no text is altered or omitted.

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Good writers often break rules—but they know they’re doing it! Here are some good rules to know.

Theme

A theme is something important the story tries to tell us—something that might help us in our own lives. Not every story has a theme, but it’s best if it does.

Don’t get too preachy. Let the theme grow out of the story, so readers feel they’ve learned it for themselves. You shouldn’t have to say what the moral is.

Plot

Plot is most often about a conflict or struggle that the main character goes through. The conflict can be with another character, or with the way things are, or with something inside the character, like needs or feelings.

The main character should win or lose at least partly on their own, and not just be rescued by someone or something else. Most often, the character learns or grows as they try to solve their problem. What the character learns is the theme.

The conflict should get more and more tense or exciting. The tension should reach a high point or “climax” near the end of the story, then ease off.

The basic steps of a plot are: conflict begins, things go right, things go WRONG, final victory (or defeat), and wrap-up. The right-wrong steps can repeat.

A novel can have several conflicts, but a short story should have only one.

Story Structure

At the beginning, jump right into the action. At the end, wind up the story quickly.

Decide about writing the story either in “first person” or in “third person.” Third-person pronouns are “he,” “she,” and “it”—so writing in third person means telling a story as if it’s all about other people. The first-person pronoun is “I”—so writing in first person means telling a story as if it happened to you.

Even if you write in third person, try to tell the story through the eyes of just one character—most likely the main character. Don’t tell anything that the character wouldn’t know. This is called “point of view.” If you must tell something else, create a whole separate section with the point of view of another character.

Decide about writing either in “present tense” or in “past tense.” Writing in past tense means writing as if the story already happened. That is how most stories are written. Writing in present tense means writing as if the story is happening right now. Stick to one tense or the other!

Characters

Before you start writing, know your characters well.

Your main character should be someone readers can feel something in common with, or at least care about.

You don’t have to describe a character completely. It’s enough to say one or two things about how a character looks or moves or speaks.

A main character should have at least one flaw or weakness. Perfect characters are not very interesting. They’re also harder to feel something in common with or care about. And they don’t have anything to learn. In the same way, there should be at least one thing good about a “bad guy.”

Setting

Set your story in a place and time that will be interesting or familiar.

Style and Tone

Use language that feels right for your story.

Wherever you can, use actions and speech to let readers know what’s happening. Show, don’t tell.

Give speech in direct quotes like “Go away!” instead of indirect quotes like “She told him to go away.”

You don’t have to write fancy to write well. It almost never hurts to use simple words and simple sentences. That way, your writing is easy to read and understand.

Always use the best possible word—the one that is closest to your meaning, sounds best, and creates the clearest image. If you can’t think of the right one, use a thesaurus.

Carefully check each word, phrase, sentence, and paragraph. Is it the best you can write? Is it in the right place? Do you need it at all? If not, take it out!

July New Releases from BWL Publishing Inc.

An exciting mix of historical Australia, West Texas Mysteries and Science Fiction for your July reading pleasure.  Visit our BWL Publishing Inc. website and click the covers to purchase from your favorite bookstores.

My New 19th Century BFFs

                                                       Click here to purchase
                                                       Click here for Eileen O'Finlan's website

I’ve been making new friends as I research and write the sequel to Kelegeen. My latest BFFs are two prominent 19th century ladies – Catharine E. Beecher and Lydia Maria Child. Both wrote prolifically on several subjects, but for my purposes it’s their works on domestic science and cookery that are of particular interest.                                                          Catharine E. Beecher                            1869 Edition of The American Woman's Home or Domestic Science                                     by Catharine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe Readers may not realize how much goes into the research of historical novels. Sure the author has to know the general history of the time – what was happening politically, economically, internationally, etc., but often even more important is knowledge of how people lived their everyday lives.  What did they eat and how did they prepare it? What did they wear? Did they purchase their clothing or make their own? How did they address one another? How did they celebrate holidays? What items did they have in their homes and, for that matter, what kind of homes did they live in? And just how much is that ubiquitous 19th century unit of measure, a hogshead? (64 gallons as it turns out). The questions go on and on.  Fortunately, the answers can be found in books written in or near the time period (in my case 1850s New England). Specifically, I’ve been enjoying The American Woman’s Home or Domestic Science co-authored by Catharine E. Beecher and her younger half-sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe of Uncle Tom’s Cabin fame and The American Frugal Housewife by Lydia Maria Child. Both Beecher and Child wrote with self-assurance and the occasional strong opinion.  Besides learning all about home economics of the 19th century, the reader also absorbs insights into the thinking of these women and their contemporaries. Though some entries seem quaint, others have had a “hey, that’s a good idea” effect on me.  I wish I could meet these two exceptional ladies, but as that is impossible, I’m happy to settle for getting to know them through the writings they’ve left behind.

Nova Scotia Ghosts

Ghost Stores – how true are they?

 Although the stories of women are scarce, there is an unlimited supply of ghost stories for the Maritime Provinces. They comprise a collection of forerunners, apparitions, and other-worldly events. Forerunners foretell a death. They include:

 

• three knocks on the door with no one outside
• visions of a relative seen in the night
• ghostly figures following you on the road
• non-existent figures are seen in a rear-view mirror
• footsteps heard on the stairs with no one there
• footprints are seen on a floor where no one has walked
• the sound of a vehicle arriving but no one is there

Usually, forerunners are followed by the death of a family member or friend often before that person has reached a ripe old age.

For two real ghost stories of this generation, told to me by a reliable source, visit my blog on A Plethora of Ghosts

Stories of ghostly events and their outcomes are available in many books. 

 (The Books are linked to Amazon.ca if you would like the book.)

 The most famous eastern story collector is Helen Creighton whose books, Bluenose Ghosts, are well known.

 I've also shivered to the Ghost Stories of authors like Vernon Oickle.

 

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