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 |  "Putting on the Game Face" |
  This blog is a doorway into the mind of Percy Goodfellow. Don't be shocked at the lost boys of Namby-Pamby Land and the women they cavort with. Watch as his caricatures blunder about the space between audacious hope and the wake-up calls of tomorrow. Behold their scrawl on the CRT, like graffitti on a subway wall. Examine it through your own lens...Step up my friends, and separate the pepper from the rat poop. Welcome to my abode...the armpit of yesterday, the blinking of an eye and a plank to the edge of Eternity. Note: This blog is my journal. I've no interest in persuading anyone to adopt my views. What I write is whatever happens to interest me when I start pounding the keys. |
Well the workshop is about over for this term. I had some good students even though the attrition was high. As I sit here contemplating my navel I have plenty of ideas on how to simplify, consolidate and make the workshop better. I’ll definitely be doing some more work on the course before the next term in January. Linda and I went to see Captain Phillips. It was a good show. I recommend it to those who like “Non-Fiction” with an action adventure theme. I got the sense that the script had been altered and watered down to conceal the “Tactics and Techniques” that were actually used. Still, if not totally faithful to the historical record the movie was fast moving and exciting. It has been unseasonably cold the past week. I split a trailer load on Monday and need to get it stacked and drying in the wood shed. Some of the wood is pine from the one that lightning struck in the summer and almost fell on the house. I really hated to lose that tree because it was planted in 1918 in memory of my Uncle who died in WW1. There is still plenty of Oak left over from last year. I had three semi-loads brought in and only burned two. Mark told me I needed to call Heatmore and find out why my stove burns so hot and uses so much wood. I did and when I told them I was burning up a grate every year they asked how often I clean out. I told them once a week and they said that was much too often... that I should let the ash build up inside. The term the technician used was to let it run “Dirty” and evacuate the ashes under the firebox no more than twice a year. Maybe that will make a difference. I sure hope so. Some parts came in for my RC model airplane and we will be going to Wausau later in the morning to pick them up. So, I better get cracking with the chores. Between the chores and the “Honey Does” it’s a wonder I get anything done. |
| This morning I went to breakfast with some of the regulars from the River Valley Flying Club. It was a relaxed get-together and as always I learned something new. Perhaps “Reaffirmed” is a better term. Recently I rebuilt a wrecked model and went out to the field to test it. When I took off the model sheered to the left and slammed into a table in the pit area. For the past week I’ve been repairing the model, concurrently trying to understand exactly what happened. The first thing I learned is that when taking off don’t “Slam” the throttle wide open. A single cylinder glow motor is inclined to pull to the left and ground loop. Full throttle really accentuates that tendency. Rather, the model should be allowed to gradually accelerate and the pilot should be prepared to apply right rudder to the left gimbal on the transmitter. Concurrently pull back slowly on the on right gimbal, which raises the elevator. The gradually increasing momentum, coupled with the rise in the elevator should allow the model to take off in a controlled fashion. An RC model, thus in its design, has the engine mounted to the firewall with about a degree down and to the right. Since the engine flew off when I hit the workbench I needed to reinstall the forward bulkhead with that orientation. Another thing I found out was that our President Elect, Wayne, used to own the U-Can-Fly-3D airplane I’ve been working on. He told me he had a Hundred-Twenty-Five motor installed and it flew perfectly. I’d gotten the model with no engine and installed one that was Sixty-Sized. Thus, it is easy to understand why the model was tail heavy. I have a bigger heavier motor and intend to install it instead of the old one. Linda was after me to get home early because she’d made arrangements with friends to go to the movies this afternoon. We will be seeing a movie about that cargo ship that was commandeered by the Somalia Pirates. I’ll let everybody know what I think about it. |
| Yesterday it was cold and dreary. The wind was blowing at about twenty-five miles per hour and there was a chill in the air. Better start working on the wood, I thought to myself. So I dressed warm and went outside ready to get to work. I had loaned my splitter to my friend Mark over the weekend and he had worked it steady for six hours. His shed was full and ready for winter. Since he has hunting property he has plenty of “Friends” and they turned out in droves to help out. We have built a wood processor using my fandango splitter and an old farm conveyor. He had one team bringing up the logs to the incline ramp, another cutting it into blocks, three doing the splitting, two on the dump trucks and three more over at his shed stacking as the trucks unloaded. No wonder he was able to accomplish all that work. Anyway he brought the splitter back and yesterday morning I went out to do some splitting of my own. My splitter is a big unit with a hydraulic lift platform for lifting the heavy blocks and a big ram. It has a wedge that gives it a six, four and two-piece capability. Already I had a big pile of blocks staged and ready to go. Hmmm I thought, should be able to knock out a couple of trailer loads this morning. In the ten years I have had my splitter it has never failed to start on the first or second pull of the chord. Yesterday morning was the exception. I pulled six times and not even a hick-up. I checked the gas and saw it was full. Mark had not cleaned it up but then he had been in a hurry to get it back because I said I needed it. Immediately I went into the blame mode thinking to myself. Why is it that whenever I loan something out it comes back broke? Then I chided myself thinking Mark does a better job maintaining my equipment than I do and after ten years it was about time I had some trouble with the Honda motor. Anyway I pulled the plug and grounded it to see if I was getting a spark. There was no spark. I called Mark and asked if the splitter had been giving him problems and he told me it had run perfectly the day before. However, he was quick to say he would be right over. I tried a new spark plug and that one didn’t spark either. "Hmmm," I said stroking my chin as he drove up in his four-wheeler. For the next quarter hour we puzzled why there was no spark. Finally Mark unscrewed the oil dipstick and noted there was no oil showing. “Must have run it out yesterday… should have checked before I brought it back.” “Is there a low oil sensor that acts as a circuit breaker?” I asked realizing suddenly what the problem was.” “Sure is,” he answered. I went and got a quart of motor oil and poured some into the sump hole. When it showed full, Mark pulled on the recoil starter again and the motor burst to life. “I’ll be damned,” I uttered in amazement. “Had this machine forever and never realized it had a low oil cutoff.” “Keeps the engine from burning up if the stupid operators let it run low,” he answered grinning... "any good riding lawnmower has one." We both felt dumb as a box of rocks. Mark for letting it get that way and me for not being able to diagnose the problem. DUH! |
| After this term of the Exploratory Writing Workshop ends next week, I'll be redoing Lessons Seven and Eight. These two lessons come at the end of the Workshop and involve writing two outlines. The first is taking the six vignettes and placing them in a context of between twenty and thirty chapter names. The student takes their vignettes and pokes them into a surrounding story space. Then, the student names the empty chapter spaces. This is what I call the Operational level of writing, which is stringing together the chapters. The second outline is the final lesson and expands the previous one to include all the Strategic Components. Under each chapter bullets are written which show a synopsis and the components learned in the Favorite Author Chapter Template (FACT) done at the beginning of the class. These components are what I consider to be the Strategic Ingredients for the novel. Perhaps I need to define more clearly what the three levels of writing are. The first is the Tactical Level. Here a writer needs to be able to demonstrate that they can write a short piece. The evidence of the skill level is the ability of the student to demonstrate writing basics as they write their vignettes. These vignettes are designed to show some of the Operational and Strategic considerations that a novel should include. They also demonstrate a student’s grasp of fundamentals such as grammar, spelling, the ability to write a coherent sentence with a subject object and verb, being able to introduce a chapter that sets up a framework for the scenes and then shows them to the reader in a logical sequence that flows from beginning to end and leads to a conclusion. This is not something that is remedial but is an art form in itself and one that many writers at WDC have mastered well. However, when a writer attempts to go from a short to a longer work the other two levels take on an ever-greater importance. Even if the writer has exceptional talent in writing shorter pieces and a high powered bio processor, exceeding the scope of a chapter sized chunk tends to use up most of the available “Computer Space” (Room in the human mind) and the results are often disappointing and can lead to gridlock, commonly referred to as “Writer’s Block.” Thus a writer, once they have an idea in mind, needs to break it into bite sized chunks in order to be able to limit the scope of a writing exercise to something their minds are capable of doing. The Operational level is the stringing together of chapters that lead the writer through the complexities that unwind and flow from beginning to end of a story. In the military “Tactics” is what it takes to win a battle and “Operations” is the ability to string some successful battles together into a victorious campaign. Strategy is what it takes to win the war, and in a writer's case turn out a successful novel. The highest level is what I call Strategic Writing. This is introduced to the student in the beginning when they do their FACT template. They take a chapter from their favorite novel and examine it critically. Here are some strategic considerations. 1. Does the novel begin on the cusp of a Life Changing Event? 2. Do we see a gradual metering of the story world? 3. Is the Central Character (CC) introduced? 4. Do we see the Want Need and Desire of the CC? 5. Is the POV of the CC third person? 6. Do we get a “Before Snapshot” of the CC? 7. Does the story begin to reveal the Dramatic Premise? 8. Does the story have recurring themes? 9. Is there a mix in the exposition weighed towards “Showing?” 10. Is the Author showing “Dialogue?” 11. Is there Foreshadowing? 12. Repetition? 13. Humor? 14. Are the transitions smooth and natural? 15. Are the supporting characters contributing to the flow of the story. 16. Is there an antagonistic force? 17. Does the LCE cause the CC to break from the box that life has put him/her into? 18. Does the reader feel the CC’s pain? 19. As the CC resolves to break from the box what is the first crisis that presents itself. 20. What is the second big crisis? 21. Does the momentum build from the beginning leading to the third and final crisis (Climax)? 22. Can the reader begin to see change in the CC’s character? There are many more that present themselves in the workshop and it isn’t enough to simply know what they are. The writer needs to demonstrate this understanding by plugging them into each chapter in the outline in order to to make sure they will be developed when each chapter segment is written. The Operational and Strategic thinking should come in the developmental phase of writing a novel and once captured leave the writer free to simply write in those bite sized chunks knowing that when the last chapter is finished the manuscript will flow structurally from beginning to end. |
| This Thursday when I go back to Pope’s Hobby Land in Wausau I plan to get six props that are the OS manufacture’s recommended ones for a Sixty-Sized engine and run a string of test data using this new thrust measuring device I've acquired. Already I’m wondering what the significance of the data would be. For example suppose one of the six proved to be the one that maximized thrust. So what? Would that mean this propeller is the best for all Sixty-Sized aircraft or would there still be conditions where one of the other ones would be better. For example the prop generating the most torque might be best for one type of airplane but not necessarily for another. Allow me to explain. On Friday night our club has indoor flying at the gym of a High School in Wisconsin Rapids. I have this ultra-light indoor electric model called an “Ember.“ Once it is trimmed out it virtually flies itself and requires only some rudder inputs to get it to circle the gym. It runs best at half throttle. This means it came with an engine and prop that matched the lightweight construction and wing loading of the model. So there are at least two variables introduced that have a greater influence on the model's flight characteristics than how much maximum torque the engine generates. So it becomes apparent that in the range of fuselage and wing possibilities some airframes would require a different propeller to meet both the design and power requirements of the engine and airframe. As a rule of thumb I plan to begin with the hypothesis that the right engine and prop are those that make the plane fly best at half throttle. I'll also be capturing RPM data and heat data for each of test run series. For example the engine being tested will be run with a different prop for each series. The series will consist of data taken at idle, quarter throttle, half throttle, three quarter throttle and full throttle. In addition to the torque reading there will be an RPM and heat measurement. It seems to me that an airplane that is light and aerodynamically streamlined will require a different propeller than one that is heavier and with more surface area. For example the prop to run a sport aircraft, a war-bird, a glider and a biplane each might require a greater size and pitch... even though they all might require a given sized motor.. |
Yesterday Linda and I went to Wausau. Linda went to Bath Bed and Beyond and I went to the hobby shop. Actually we went to both places together. While at Popes Hobby-World I noticed on the floor this stainless steel contraption that looked like an engine test stand. Clearly it was more than a test stand and when I asked Warren, the owner, he was rather uncertain how it worked. The device sat on a heavy rectangular steel base and was beautifully machined. It appears to be some sort of precision scale. Some of its function is self-evident. On top of the base sits a tower for securing a model airplane engine. The legs of the tower are set to tilt forward on cams about a quarter of an inch forward when the thrust of the engine produces the necessary amount of torque, (measured in lbs.) depending on where the weight on the scale is set. In principle it looks to operate like those old scales in the doctors office where the weight bars were slid into the estimated range while the fine adjustment was a small sliding weight that traversed a fulcrum bar that pivoted on top. Actually it also reminds me of a device used in tractor pulls that ratchets up an incline, increasing the drag until the tractor can go no further. It is like these devices in principle, however it achieves the measurement in a slightly different manner. I tried to get him to explain its function and he only shrugged. He said it had been sitting in his basement for twenty years and he decided to get rid of it. After some examination we determined how it worked and concluded it was a device used to measure engine thrust with a given propeller. In other words it enables a tester to determine when the engine thrust will tip the cam legs forward in a scientifically measurable way. It is a beautifully designed precision instrument and I bought it at a ridiculously low price. Knowing engine thrust is one thing but knowing when that thrust is optimized by the propeller is quite another. What I think the scale shows is the maximum thrust the engine will generate. Since there is always a range of props in the recommended manufacture’s range this device will show the “Most Efficient.” This would be useful as a starting point in deciding, given the weight and volume of the airframe, the most suitable propeller in the range. It should also show if the engine is operating up to its design specifications. Isn’t life amazing? I was looking for a simple test stand and wound up with one that could perform that function and so much more. Now I need to learn how to apply this knowledge to the airplanes I repair and build. It would be nice I suppose, if there were such a device that could measure the power a novel was generating. Then, when a student asks, how “Powerful” their manuscript is, I could answer with scientific certainty. While there is some commonality in what it takes to fly a story and an RC model airplane, these analogies are a bit of a stretch. |
| When we were on the trip south two weeks ago I walked into a Hobby Shop and started looking around. It was the type of shop that I like because the owner handled consignments. Not only was there new stuff on the shelves and all the things one might expect but in a corner were half a dozen models that were used and for sale. The first thing I notice were some used engines. I bought several and the owner threw in one that looked to be mostly good for parts. These were Glow Engines, and the sun seems to be setting on these as a means to power an RC model airplane. Electric motors and two stroke gas engines. (Small versions of what is in a chainsaw or various powered lawn and garden implements) is replacing the Glow technology. Earlier in the trip I had bought a Sixty-Sized model airplane with what looked to be a good engine. To my chagrin I discovered that the carburetor was corroded shut. When I finally got it unfrozen and running I discovered some other issues that suggest bad seals. In reading up I found that the salt air mixed with the corrosive properties of the glow engine fuel are extremely hard on these engines and they have a limited service life. Since I don’t really care that much for electric motors, that leaves the new generation of gas engines for me to choose from. Many RC Airplane Flyers like electric motors. They are much cleaner than Glow that throws out a lot of unburned fuel that is greasy and covers airplane. After each flight you have to spray them with Windex or some other type of cleaner to get the gunk off. The problem with electric begins at the propeller. It has to be the right size and pitch or it will over load the Speed Controller (SC). The size of the SC is measured in amps and you have to make sure the motor and prop are compatible or the SC burns up. Then you have the electric motor, powered by a battery with up to eight cells. Recharging requires the proper charging device for the type of batter you're using. The batter is heavy and must be carefully positioned to make sure it rides atop the plane’s center of gravity. Anyway they are a pain in the butt and unlike a gas engine where you can check out the gas tank, you can’t see the electricity. I have a couple of electric flyers, but they aren’t my engines of choice. |
| The Levels of Writing Most writers who aspire to writing a work longer than a short story, essay or article have the ability to write. They can craft a short piece of poetry or prose. This is a hugely important skill, indeed a prerequisite, for taking writing to the next higher level. Clearly word selection and arrangement are important but every bit as important are the skills common to a technician and marketer. I mentioned in earlier blogs the obvious. This is that a writer needs to be able to write. Duh! Is that self evident or what? However, what many can’t seem to grasp is that writing is more than turning out golden prose. There are certain components, ingredients and a recipe that must be cranked in and if that isn’t enough there are the conditions that must be met in order to market a manuscript. Many aspiring writers think that all it takes for continued success at the next level is stringing together more of the same old stuff that got a pat on the head from the English teacher. The notion is that tactical success expands naturally into operational and strategic success simply by pushing the same old pencil a bit further, or pounding the keys longer until the necessary words are compiled and there is a stack of pages that weigh heavy enough to qualify. If it were that easy we would all have a Pulitzer Prize. Since Operational and Strategic Thinking are not always well understood, I’ll be blogging about them in the days ahead. I know the effort will make me sound like some sort of a know-it-all pseudo intellectual, stuffed shirt but what the heck. That’s what many think already and there is always the chance my detractors could be right. It wouldn’t be the first time. Still it needs to be said. |
| I’m amazed how much writing and my RC model airplane hobby have in common. Another similarity came to mind yesterday when I went to the flying field to test an airplane that Don (the flight instructor) had flight tested but I hadn’t flown. Actually I snuck out to the flying field wanting to arrive early, while some stillness was in the air but more importantly to make sure nobody was around in case I made a mess of things. I remember in the car feeling very confident... was I ever in for a letdown. I got my Crop Duster out of the trailer, attached the wing and hooked up the servos. Then I flight-tested the rudder, elevator and ailerons making sure they were working properly and set the throttle to just a crack open. With that, I spun the propeller and the engine sprang to life. Hmmm, I thought to myself, this is going entirely too well. I set the model on the grass and taxied to the end of the flightline. "What the Heck," I said out loud and gave it the gas. The model sprinted down the runway, lifted off, and to my horror banked hard down and hit a table in the service area. The engine and firewall flew off and the prop shattered. Fortunately there was nobody about and I breathed a sigh of relief while at the same time my brain screamed out in frustration. Why it flew into the ground I'll never know. Perhaps I was too aggressive on the throttle and should have let it accelerate slower and take a longer run before pulling back on the elevator. Whatever I did wrong the results were disheartening. Now I know you must be thinking what this has to do with writing. Here is my take. If everything isn’t right with a novel, it might take off but the reader will, after a few pages, set the manuscript aside. This is analogous to what happened with my airplane yesterday. It not only didn’t fly... it flopped. The physics were pretty dramatic and nobody can argue that it sheered left after takeoff and crashed into a workbench. The facts speak for themselves. The same can be said for a manuscript. Sometimes they fly badly and land hard! The author is left to wonder why. Sometimes we blame a publisher, sometimes ourselves but mostly we just can’t figure out what happened. For an airplane to fly it must be well made, the pilot skilled and the conditions right. For my part sometimes I go back to the basics and make sure I did a good job with the “build.” Did the plane check out as being straight, aerodynamic, with all systems being a “GO?” For a writer this means understanding that good writing is more than pounding keys trying to keep pace with our muse. There is no substitute for a good imagination, enthusiasm, passion and persistence, however this alone is not enough to get a writer where they want to go. There is also an operational and strategic dimension to writing that plays an important part. Do the chapters tie in to the Dramatic Premise. Are there recurring themes that spring off the premise and give it shape and substance? Do the chapters have the components of dialog, exposition, foreshadowing, a metering of backstory, and unforgettably characters? Does the novel begin at the “Good Part” with a Life Changing Event? These are questions a writer needs to ask and they are not provided on a silver platter by that elusive muse. Muses are a great thing to have but they are untrustworthy. Behind every great spirit is the science of process. If an RC model airplane is not well crafted it will simply not fly and the same can be said for a novel. It is one thing to string a bunch of words together and quite another to craft them in a way that captures a reader's imagination and leads them breathless from one scene to the next. This brings us to the skill of the pilot and of course a writer needs to be able to write. If a writer can’t write good short pieces, there isn’t much hope that piling insult upon injury is going to lead anywhere. Then if the conditions aren’t right, for example, the subject isn’t of much interest, its like trying to fly on a windy day. The airplane might be airworthy and the pilot have yeoman’s skills but if the conditions aren't right the chances for a successful outcome diminish. So why do we do it? Why do we struggle in the face of what amounts to an almost impossible adversity? The answer I think is because we're authors and we like to write... and maybe, just maybe if we give our talent, some time and discipline, we'll become the consummate craftsmen we need to become... and with a few breaks... hit the big time. How cool would that be? |
Today I tried to show some balance in the tasks on my “To Do” list. My wife often tells me that I have a single-minded focus and have trouble executing a broad range of concurrent tasks. Anyway, yesterday she said on our daily walk that we needed to install the artificial flame machine she ordered for the fireplace and move a larger rug into the kitchen. We did those two tasks last night. The artificial flame machine we saw on TV and ordered on line. We haven’t used our fireplace in years and they are a pain in the butt to keep clean and occasionally endure the blow back smoke from a down draft. Since Linda and I both have good imaginations we are enjoying the heat from our virtual fire. Today I serviced the saws, got gas for the wood splitting machine, put 5 gallons of diesel in the tractor and commenced to blocking wood. After lunch I worked on my planes and took a nap. This evening I went back to blocking and splitting and so the day went. Somewhere in the midst of all that I did a review on one of my student’s vignettes. Linda and I are not great alcohol drinkers but we like a glass of wine in the evening before bed. Our favorite is one we got to like while assigned in Germany called Auslese. It is sweeter than a Riesling and taken cold is delicious. It normally sells for $12 or more but Linda found some at Trader Joes for $5.99 a bottle. We bought a case which should last us quite a long time. We have this rather large Golden Doodle named Honey. The last trip to the Vet she weighed 75lbs so she is a big girl. Honey has taken to being a lap dog. Envision if you will Linda sitting in her recliner and this big white dog draped over her lap. Sometimes if you ignore a dog they wont’ repeat a behavior but every night for the past week Honey has been up in Linda’s lap. I think when she hears the coyotes howl she gets nervous and and feels safe there. If you haven’t guessed I have had a boring day and not much exciting has happened. At a complete loss for what to write I have decided to just tell what I did which should be of no great interest to anyone. Some day somebody with nothing better to do will read my blog and think… wow that Percy Goodfellow led a boring life if that is all he has to write about. |
It looks like a nice day to fly my RC airplanes. It amazes me how much this hobby is analogous to my writing. When flying an RC airplane the writer is not in the cockpit but rather standing on the sidelines working the controls while the central and supporting characters have all the fun. In yesterday’s blog I described how I write, realizing that the process I follow is not how everybody writes. There are minds out there that can seemingly hold all the balls to a good story in the air as they scribble with purpose and enthusiasm. Unfortunately my bio-processor falls far short of having such a capability. What I facilitate in the workshop is what works for me, a process that might not be suited for everyone. As a writer stands on the sidelines orchestrating where the story is going it is easy to make a mistake that brings the credibility of the writer into question, to have the story drift out of sight, or bore holes in the sky that take the story nowhere. If a writer can write tactically they can certainly string one vignette after the next and wind up with a manuscript. If it flies and the author takes off and circles awhile and brings it down in to a safe conclusion then I have to take off my hat and bow respectfully. For me the process cannot be entirely spontaneous and still contain all the components I want it to contain. With this in mind the Exploratory Writing Workshop is designed to capture the enthusiasm of an idea by writing vignettes and once the sense of the story comes more vividly to mind to capture it in a structure of bite sized parts. Given the limits of my mind I cannot think at the tactical, operational and strategic levels all at the same time. No doubt there are those who can and I have seen some amazing individuals who across the board surpassed anything I was ever capable of doing. For me its necessary to brain storm and freelance my ideas to first see if they are going to fly. Once there comes the sense that the story will take off, the real work begins. I say work, but it is really fun to write an outline once you know what the story is going to be about. Once that is done I stroke my chin and say Hmmmm. What is the Life Changing Event (LCE) in the story, what is the Dramatic Premise, and what are some of the recurring themes? I poke these into the outline, and read on to where the crises are coming that arise as a consequence of the Central Character deciding to change the direction of their life. Then I look for some of the devices and the balance and distribution of the components to good writing. Hmmm. Are the characters being developed with a good before snapshot, is the story world being shown in an integrated fashion, does the momentum begin to build, is there a balance between the old “Show and Tell” exposition. Once all this is captured for each chapter I begin to seriously write, confident that now the operational and strategic aspects of the craft will take care of themselves and I am free to do what I like best… simply write. |
| When I facilitate The Exploratory Writing Workshop (EWW), which is a class that is part of the New Horizon’s Academy here at WDC, I try and get students to think about a novel from three perspectives. These are the Tactical, Operational and Strategic levels of writing. Sound Military? Well it’s a view of looking at things that the Military teaches and most writers can benefit from understanding the technique. Tactical Writing is the crafting of short pieces that follow the guidelines you learned in school. These include the introduction, body and conclusion as well as grammar, punctuation and the spelling lessons that are fundamental to the craft. These can be articles, stories or sketches that stand-alone or become the genesis of something larger and far reaching. I call them “Vignettes” in the workshop and describe them as patches on a quilt. The lessons require a student to write six vignettes of between one and three thousand words. They have common characters and story line and must include elements on the lesson checklist. They are like the prompts in a contest submission or analogous to sketches a fine arts student would do in preparation for a large mural. I consider writing a novel to be a mural and write these short sketches to get my arms around a story and the components it must contain. Once the six vignettes are written and pasted on the storyboard it’s time to write the outlines. Writing outlines are the last two lessons in the Workshop. I consider this to be the Operational Level of writing. This is where the author begins to string the chapters of a pending novel together. Operations are regional in scope and in the military venacular is the stringing together of battles into a Campaign. Outlining the chapters is analogous in the sense that the writer now knows something about how the story will go and needs to shift gears into capturing the flow into a structure. This is a logical step because the human mind can handle a piece of writing in the vignette range but when it comes to something larger, now needs to begin taking the process in bite sized chunks. Writing the outline provides these manageable steps and arrays them in an order, letting the novelist think about creating at the next higher level. Finally there is the Strategic level. In the Military this is putting the campaigns together into a final victory. For the writer this is making sure the chapters have all the components a good story needs. These include, a Life Changing Event, a Dramatic Premise, Themes, Foreshadowing, Repetition, Character Development, setting up the momentum of the Three Major Crisis and other components or devices used effectively by successful writers. For each chapter in the outline these get poked in to make sure they are developed appropriately when the time comes to begin working on each little part. This is what the developmental phase of writing is all about and anybody who thinks they can write a novel, simply by jotting down whatever comes to mind... is sadly out of touch with reality. |
| I’ve been a slacker the past two weeks regarding my blog. In life there are priorities and blogging is not always at the top of my list, although it is an important aspect of my writing. A writer should write every day and not make excuses. In the past two weeks I've been traveling by car down South to see my in-laws, daughters and their families. Linda and I try and do this yearly. We don’t get to see them often enough and life changes while our attention is turned elsewhere. My daughters have good husbands and provide excellent parenting and as I often tell them... one of the objectives to raising kids is not “Screwing Them Up.” Concurrently with the trip I've been doing reviews associated with my New Horizon’s Academy class, The Exploratory Writing Workshop. Then, there was the driving, usually ten hours for the five days we were on the road. To do the class we would stop at McDonalds and I would send the reviews, written in the car, to the students. These reviews are not that hard to do because for each lesson there is a checklist of what I expect a “Vignette” to contain and then I comment on what I liked overall and considerations for improvement. It is like a quilting workshop and the format of the class allows me to deal with a full range of writers on the road of their professional development. I like this format because it allows me to offer feedback to the occasional writer who is further along than me, as well as those who have well developed skills and those who don't. As I facilitate the workshop the process becomes ever clearer in my mind and at some point I’ll have to go back into the lessons and post up all the “Lessons Learned.” Having said that, I have to say that the forward looking vision that Karen and I showed in course development wasn’t half bad and we put together a pretty good workshop. The attrition however, is high. I’m lucky to finish with a third of the students who started. In a sense this is disheartening but in another it allows me to focus on those with the time and commitment to make the investment. Writing the reviews for each weekly lesson is hard, but no harder than what the students must accomplish in completing their lessons. Several of my students have taken the class more than once and their understanding of tactical, operational and strategic writing shows it. |
| My blog calendar looks like a Bingo Card. I am missing too many numbers (dates) where I failed to submit an entry. I try and come up with something every day regardless of whether or not I have something worth saying. Doing nothing is not always a good option. Sometimes it is. Sometimes the outcome that nature will deliver if we do nothing is better than one where we do something. For example if I decide to go on an adventure or activity with my wife and we spend too much money or get a speeding ticket than doing something to improve the quality of our lives might we worse than doing nothing at all. Get the drift? On the other hand we all have behaviors we know are destructive. Being mean spirited at times, getting too caught up in life’s pleasures, taking on too much risk can get us in “Deep Do-Do” sometimes and if we do nothing to arrest their momentum they can deliver bad consequences. So what is Good? Good is a positive action taken by someone that makes the world a better place. A selfless act, a kind word, attempting to bring discipline and order to our lives, enjoying life’s pleasures in moderation are all good. So what is bad? Bad is a negative action, taken by a person that makes the world worse then having done nothing at all. This brings us full circle to doing nothing at all. If we do nothing nature, will solve our problems however, we might not like the outcome. Fate is what life will serve up to us if we do nothing. There are many philosophies that champion the “It is Written” view on life. That if we attempt to go beyond our little nitch, to step out of line and attempt more than our gifts, talents, energy and social position make possible than LOOK OUT! If we dare step outside the box of our existence then there is a penalty to pay. If we dare to kiss the hot rock we’ll soon discover that it's hot indeed. In my class, The Exploratory Writing Workshop, we get into what a Life Changing Event (LCE) is. It is an event that involves the Central Character, it happens early in the book, it changes the direction of their life, is fraught with crisis and turmoil and we see the results reshaping the CC’s character. Most good novels have one and readers find them fascinating. An LCE is often pretty self-evident but it doesn’t have to be. Sometimes it sneaks up on a reader and only reveals itself in retrospect. Sometimes it appears to manifest itself in a terrible or particularly joyous event but sort of fizzles. If the character copes with it then it isn’t really life changing, but more of the same old status quo, a bit more piled on the heap with all the rest. However, if it causes a character to change... a life to break out of the box, then it qualifies as an LCE. It's like casting aside the bonds of our fated existence and saying, BULLSHIT! Enough of this. And what is FATE’s response when we throw away that neatly crafted script? I’ll tell you what it is…. chaos, turmoil and pain. Most good novels have a series of crisis that follow. Readers are fascinated by LCEs and what they generate. Try and think of a good book without one. |
| Today was a busy day. I got up early and went to the flying field. I flew my new Almost Ready to Fly (ARF) trainer and it handled well. This means I took it off, circled the field half a dozen times and landed it on the runway in one piece. I had a second plane I got from Al in a trade. It is a big long 60 sized acrobatic airplane. It is used for what it called 3-D Flying that requires great skill and maneuverability. Since I have little skill and don’t maneuver well, Don, the flight instructor set the throws way back so now it drives like a Greyhound Bus. (Much more my speed) What I like about the big bird is that it’s easy to see and it chugs along at slow speed and floats in for a landing. I had to rush off from the flying field in order to get to the dentist for my semi-annual teeth cleaning. What that means is that I not only get the plaque picked out but also have to endure the butt-chewing of not flossing good enough and brushing three times a day. The good news is that my teeth are no longer bothering me like they once did. Its funny how we tend to take the lack of pain for granted until something really starts hurting. I hate to take pain killers and have found that Motrin (Ibuprofen) work about as well on me as anything. After finishing there it was past noon and Linda wanted to go shopping in Wisconsin Rapids and Stephen’s Point. So we were off on an adventure. We ate lunch at Kentucky Fried Chicken, one of my favorites. Upon returning home I decided to work on my airplanes and as I was plodding along the wind dropped and it turned into a beautiful evening for flying. So off I went back to the field. I was the only one there and spent about an hour making circles in the sky. It was the first time I had flow twice in one day without incident. (Incident: Definition: Something bad that happens) I really like being alone at the field. Is it just me or do others like to be alone when trying something new they're not very good at? So, here I sit, at the end of the day, my wife next to me and my dog at the foot of the bed, typing on my computer, unwinding from a day that was up-tempo, full of exciting adventures and satisfying experences. It don't get no better, unless it happens that Linda gets overtaken by one of her affectionate moods.  |
| Life Changing Event Yesterday I went to a Fly-In in Thorp. The landowner has an RV Park there for airplanes, racecars and boats. It is one of his passions in life that includes Ultra-Lite airplanes. He has his own runway. Anyway if you think you have grass mowing challenges you have to see what this guy is up against. Somehow he manages it and the park looks like a golf course. The runway is like a putting green. While I was there I noticed a fellow with a box next to his airplanes with a “For Sale” sign over some items inside. I had been looking for a couple of “Sixty” size glow motors and I picked two up at a good price. Our club was well represented and a couple of the members helped me fine-tune my new trainer. It flew great. Today I wanted to take Linda to see the Eagles in Minnesota but it rained. We’ve decided to go to the movies instead. We will be eating at Cracker Barrel, my favorite restaurant. One of the things I stress in my class is the Life Changing Event (LCE) that most novels have. This concept seems to be giving them more difficulty than it should. The idea is that early on this LCE happens and it changes the Central Character’s (CC) life. Duh! You must be thinking, How hard is that? It is hard because it can also be subtle. It doesn’t have to be a disaster or a personal trauma. It can be as simple as a new roommate or an unexpectedly pleasant date that leads to something more. It is not something that the Central Character simply copes with but rather an event that changes their lives. That last sentence tells it in a nutshell. It involves the CC, it comes early in the novel, it changes the direction their life would have taken and has a profound effect on their characters. Most of the time it is self-evident when it happens but often we don’t realize it at first and it only becomes obvious in retrospect. So now you know what an LCE is… if you didn’t know already. |
| I have this beautiful brand new Almost Ready to Fly (ARF) Trainer that I really need to build since all my other ones are no longer airworthy. Thus I resolved to build my new ARF concurrent with rebuilding the Trainer that had the wings fall off. As often happens in my writing the interesting stuff captures my attention and the rehabilitation of the wrecked plane has led me in unexpected directions. First I didn’t want to rebuild it as a trainer but as a war-bird like airplane. I think I mentioned that in an earlier blog. So I took parts from other wrecks and began piecing things together. The result is a really cool looking model. I like it much better than I ever liked the Trainer it started life as. As I read I sense that other writers do the same thing. For example when Stephany Meyers wrote her Twilight vampire series she took off on a tangent that became Bree Tanner. Bree was a minor character that was included in the series but not to the extent that Meyers followed out the thread. Another example is Steig Larson, who wrote Girl in the Dragon Tattoo. When you begin reading Book One, she starts out looking like a minor character but she suddenly blossoms into the whole enchilada. Often in life we are so caught up in the box of our little world that we become oblivious to the dimensions that exist outside it. So when something intriguing springs up we need to be attuned and receptive to its presence. If you sit in Wall Mart, like I do at times waiting for my wife to finish shopping an observer gets to see great examples of what I’m talking about. There is a steady stream of people caught up in themselves and their lives oblivious to anything not a part of the main stream of their lives. My friend Karen takes in stray dogs. She could collect kittens or puppies but the ones she winds up with are the “Down and Outers” shoved into the backwater of the world that surrounds us. Its like me with my old busted airplanes, or writers that take hold of the elusive thread that nobody else would find very interesting. Yet its those threads that lead us into those mysterious worlds outside the box and give us a glimpse of something more than ourselves. |
| We have a family in our little country church with a rich musical heritage and talent. They have a barn and give public performances, like a show in Branson. Sometimes Brent, the father, does the music for a special service like we had in conjunction with the picnic this Sunday. His daughter and son accompany him and on this occasion, a friend, playing the bass fiddle. These are not “Wannaby” performers but extremely accomplished musicians and vocalists who are professional quality players in every sense of the word. Linda and I sometimes go to their shows and leave with a sense of awe at how good they are. The friend had come down from Minnesota to be a part of the service and talked about his fiddle. He’d made it using carbon fiber components carbon and the top surface was black laminated with a sheet. The instrument had a deep resonance that added a modulated contrast to Brent’s violin. What they did was follow the traditional format of the church hand-out. Brent would give instructions on the fly to the congregation telling us to sing the first verse and then the instrumentalists would have a sort of jam session on the tune. There’d been no rehearsal and each musician was given a featured opportunity to perform. After the hymn the minister would pickup with the structure of the service. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. Afterwards, at the picnic, they jammed some more on the steps of the Church. Afterwards we watched some Sunday afternoon football and went to Mickey Ds for a burger. It was a spiritually inspiring day. |
| Well, at last I have a moment to breath. When the Exploratory Writing Workshop is in session, where I serve as facilitator, I’m up to my neck in reviews of the student’s work. We have a good group this session even though two of my flock are late on their first submissions. Not a good start. Still, I hardly consider myself rigid at anything and students can make of the course what they wish. However, there are some heavy hitters who have showed up and I read with amazement the first lesson vignettes. They were quite good and six out of eight ain’t bad. Isn't that a line from a country and western song? On Wednesday at the flying field, the wings fell off my airplane. I could blame someone else but I won’t. Even though this is Wisconsin and nobody takes personal responsibility for anything around here. “Shucks," (Place holder for the S word) doesn’t just happen in this state, it's always somebody else’s fault. Well, needless to say I caught plenty of gaff and my reputation as a flaky builder and flyer took on a whole new dimension. Actually it isn’t funny or unfunny. The way I learn is through trial and error. What is cool about this RC flying hobby is that there is little margin for error. If you screw up the plane crashes… simple as that. There's no tap dancing around the evidence of splintered balsa and twisted control wires. It’s a long walk out to pick up the wreckage while everybody is trying to be polite…. At least until you get out of ear shot. Only afterwards, as the trauma passes do you start to hear the good natured comments. The wings fell off…! How did you ever manage that Percy... Chuckle, chuckle… I hate it when my friends smirk. SHUCKS! (Just wait, what goes around, comes around at the old airdrome.) After I crash I don’t want to fly any more that day so I sit in my chair, drink my water, smile and try and look cool and composed while inside I’m sulking and muttering invectives at myself. Fortunately the flying stops when the sun goes down unless some night flying is scheduled. That’s right LED lights on the wings… is that ever a hoot to watch. When I got home I started pulling out all the receiver, servos, and all the salvageable hardware. Then I had a brain cramp. Why not invert the fuselage, put stringers down it and make it into a “War Bird?” My wife said, "Why don’t you just buy a new trainer and quit flying that rehabilitated junk you keep patching up?" So I took her advice and bought a brand new trainer (while at the same time proceeding with the clandestine implementation of my plan.) Everytime I do something on my new “Almost Ready to Fly” (ARF) trainer I do the same thing to my War-Bird. I flipped the old trainer fuselage over and built up the taper behind the cockpit with the wreckage of an old Folker I smacked into the ground. Then I fixed the wing by making sure it had a support tube inside and the halves were epoxied together. (That was the lesson learned) So as I progress on the New ARF… concurrently, from the flames my Messerschmidt dubbed “The Phoenix,” is also taking form. Can’t wait until next week when somebody asks…”Hey Bob is that a new plane you got?” to which I’ll reply, “No, remember that one the wings fell off of last week? Well I patched it up." Am I a fraud or what? |
Went to the flying field yesterday. It was pretty windy so I didn’t fly. Even some of the more experienced members used the opportunity more for socializing than flying. I mentioned earlier about the new rule that is being enforced about having a second set of eyes check out a new airplane. Since the weather wasn’t cooperating, I had plenty of “Help” when I brought out my new “Rehabilitation.” It is an old 40-sized model (uses a forty size glow engine) and I really liked the way it was built and the asthenic qualities of the model. I had fixed the problems that Don (Flight Instructor) told me to fix last week and a crowd gathered to hear his wisdom indirectly imparted. (At my expense) Anyway there were numerous good additional comments on what I should do before it was deemed truly “Airworthy.” Al helped me fix all the “nitnoids” and then Don took it up for a test flight and TRIMMING. Trimming is where minor adjustments are made with the transmitter that adjust the flying surfaces of the airplane to the conditions of flight. For example if the plane is tail heavy some down elevator can be cranked in to make it fly level. Anyway it flew great! My “fix it upper” skills are improving at a faster pace than my flying skills. Afterwards I went over to Al’s and we did some horse-trading. We exchanged some models and engines and I picked up some neat things to repair and get airworthy again. He got some engines that were practically new and a Piper Cub. Last night Henry called who is an old friend of mine. He got me interested in heavy equipment after I retired. Some of the things he does in his shop to a Semi are amazing. Anyway, I told him my motion emulator problem of being able to rotate a seat 360 degree at between one and three RPMs. He said he would think about the matter as he drives around supporting the potato harvest. Two of my students have already submitted their lesson 1 vignettes. I still have a couple that never really checked in and make me wonder if they will still be around next week. Last night I read both and wrote a critique on one. If I write a couple a day the job is more manageable. If I put things off and try and rush at the end of the week the quality suffers. This is true for working on model airplanes and reviewing vignettes. A little each day is the best way! Does that rhyme or what? |
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Love it! Especially the safety measures for us homo sapiens...
