Story Lengths

 The publishing industry has a loose set of guidelines that define writing based on length:

- Micro-Fiction: <100 words - Flash Fiction: 100-1K words - Short Story: 1K-7,500 words - Novelette: 7,500 - 20K words - Novella: 20K - 50K words - Novel: 50K-100K words - Epic: 110K+ words

My work on Vocal

My stories have been added to Vocal. Drop in and browse. Give a few of the stories "likes." 

He said/she said

 https://thewritepractice.com/a-critical-dont-for-writing-dialogue/

Elmore Leonard said, Never use any word other than “said” as dialogue tags. Why? Try reading the above out loud. The “he exclaimed” and “he admonished” and “she cried” become like a child saying your name over and over. Distracting.

The word “said,” though, is easily ignored. You want the attention focused on the dialogue, not your clever use of verbs. In many cases, it’s good to change up word choice. You don’t want to use “quintessential” or “luminescence” too many times. “Said” is a major exception. Let us tune it out. Please.

Besides, does “exclaimed” or even “whispered” really change how you read the dialogue? Instead, show the emotion with an action. Like this:

“I hate you,” she exclaimed she said, hurling her French book at him. The corner struck him just under the eye. A bright red mark began to rise on his skin.

Books like Twilight can misuse dialogue tags like this because the plot will suck a reader in deep enough they will ignore the distraction.

But just because Stephanie Meyer can do it, doesn’t mean you can.

The Great Gatsby

 After posting A POSSE FOR TEXAS RED yesterday, I began a story about a poor man, inspired by but in no way reflective of THE GREAT GATSBY.

The latest projects

 involve a portrait of my mother and a third Mexican Red story.

As a young man I had my western heroes, mostly in the movies. But my favorite one of all never made it to film that I am aware of. It's Max Brand's Silvertip. I think I read the whole series but it's also possible I missed a few. In my own way, Mexican Red is a tribute to Max Brand and Silvertip. Not a copy by any means. Silvertip was straight-arrow all the way. Red is an outlaw who often does good things. Silvertip may be an inch or two higher than Red, but physically Red is his match. All fun writing. 

I had been letting this blog languish

 Feeding my other three blogs sort of left this, the original one, in the lurch. I will try to do better by it in the future.

WWIII

 WWIII is the backdrop for a new tale. Henry's family is all gone, taken by successive pandemics. He lives in an American city victimized by repeated missile and drone strikes. Some of the great cities are no more. Nuked. Everywhere there are any military installations around the globe and beyond is war. The story begins with Henry sifting through the rubble of a supermarket and finding an unlabeled can, overlooked by preceding scavengers. He finds himself in a struggle with a boy, who wants that even more than Henry needs it.

There is no schedule for when it may appear in my blog of free stories. 

Invaders from Twarr

The version of Invaders From the Shadow Planets of Twarr that I posted on my free blog is not just hard to read; it is in need of some fresh editing. That I have undertaken. When it gets done I will simply switch the new post for the older one. 

A new Mexican Red tale will be added to my Free Stories blog this weekend.

 This short story was fun to write. I hope to do more with this character again.

Quiet Desperation

 The mass of men lead it. I suppose Thoreau meant that quote for women also. Quiet Desperation is the title of the latest tale I am unfolding. It may take a week or two to post it.

HUNTING WASSELNORF

 That's the new shortie. Perhaps half done. About an expedition to get a specimen for a museum on a foreign planet gone wrong.

Latest

 Working on Larry Donovan's Tongue. A fun read. The title derives from Donovan's Brain, a story by Kurt Siodmak. The tale itself is something else. 

Newest short story

 My newest story has no title as yet. It tells us what happens after death, in case anybody has been wondering.

Going through old files

 found The Wooden Angels. It wandered through concepts as I put it down, ending with a confused piece. I still like the concept, so am rewriting it.

Took time away

 I had a short story to capture before it could escape, so left off  Moloch Eaters for now. This one ought to be finished by week end. It's a touching story about marital indifference and bouts of resentment.  

Despair & Bananas

 Putting together a collection for Amazon publication. DESPAIR AND BANANAS. The human condition, a touch of the fantastic - What could go wrong?

Not much to report.

 The Moloch Eaters has been monopolizing my time these days. Here's hoping it will materialize in full in a matter of months, not years.

About The Moloch Eaters

 On my Free Stories blog there is a short story titled The Moloch Eaters. It is actually an outtake of a longer story I am currently at work on. This will take a while to get finished. Not that many read my work and no one awards words of encouragement, but I do what I do. As the Zen master once taught his Zen to the stones since nobody listened to him, I bestow my words on the internet. 

Today I should finish re-editing Beyond the Dark Water.

 I've streamlined the narrative somewhat, plus added new points to bolster the reader's understanding of situations. It should be available on my Free Stories blog this evening or tomorrow.

The Black Rose Writing edition went out of print and the rights have reverted to me.

CDs.

 I found more. This stuff will keep me busy for a good while.

New Access to Old CD Files

My last desktop couldn't access CDs I made of certain files. Instead it treated them as new discs to be formatted for receiving files. So they languished in a box, thought to be useless. Yesterday my wife wanted to get the box they were in out of the way. Just out of curiosity I put one in and opened it. There was Ebeneezer's Ghost and some I had forgotten altogether. To me, priceless. 

On "Beyond the Dark Water"

I originally set out to write my full life story when I began this piece. Then eventually edited it down to exclude mention of most of my brothers and sisters, who mostly are still alive and whom I did not wish to antagonize or argue with. Left with a much-shortened version, I grafted it onto a fictional tale of an adventure with my long-dead brother, who in it visits from the grave. The autobiographical material is all true. The ghost _? Well, I was asleep one night less than a year after his death and I was aware that he crawled into the bed to sleep alongside of me. I felt his warmth until shortly before awakening. I had to dismiss it as but a dream -

What is your favorite music

Beginning when I was a child and working to the present, my favorite artists have been

Hank Williams
Harry Belafonte
Jerry Lee Lewis
Little Richard
Peggy Lee
Don Gibson
Buddy Holly
Bob Dylan
Donovan Leitch
The Beatles
Phil Ochs
Leonard Cohen
John Lennon (solo)
George Jones

Of course, that list is partial. It could expand a hundredfold. But Ave Maria is my favorite song of all time.

Right now - - -

I discovered a ms. that I started about five years ago. Story concerning a man who runs a book store and plies customers with free goodies and coffee. So, I'm resurrecting that one, but already doing a new read-through of Mexican Red.

Reached the end

The final word was typed last night. Today the last two chapters will be gone over and then the manuscript will be given a cooling-off period before a hopefully final edit. I use Grammarly to help correct documents. This program has to be treated like spell check to be certain the suggestions it offers are in line with the actual intent of sentences. As mentioned earlier, future projects may be limited to short stories, except I reserve the right to complete a few long manuscripts already begun.  

About Mexican Red

It's my first effort in western novels. Begun at least two years ago. I generally know what I want to say, but it's a major operation to put all the elements together. Most of my first drafts are comparable to an artist who begins a canvas by drawing stick figures on it and then alters a line here and there until realistic portrayals of people emerge from those simple lines. It depends on the artist how well it turns out.

Years of writing verse almost exclusively has turned my prose into a bare bones operation, making the stories fill fewer pages while telling just as much story as works thousands of words longer. Some prefer long winded writing. It's okay to like whatever you want to like.

Many instances of my language can be nit-picked for not being authentic old west. It's the same with history. Not a history lesson. It's more Hopalong Cassidy than Parkman's The Oregon Trail.

Others may find discomfort in the fluidity of moving the narrative from character to character. I couldn't tell the same story if I did it another way.

So as I prepare to write the final several pages, it would seem it is almost ready to be read. But not so fast. Then it will sit unread by me for a time and then almost certainly undergo some revisions when I revisit a final time or three. Or four or five. And then most readers may hate it. By then I may hate it too. 

  

Because I write so slowly I am able to slip in the occasional short story.

So yesterday I began a short about a man not willing to be conscripted to fight in the Civil War, who heads out west.

Getting Closer

I'm getting closer to the end of Mexican Red. There are a few issues to address before it can happen.

Arlo 15

no more longer works

Once I wash my hands of Mexican Red, I plan to turn out only the occasional short story. Nothing so ambitious even as a novelette. The amount of encouragement I get in return for any of my work does not merit the effort I put into it. I only intend to do the short ones due to an inability to ignore them, once they pop into my head. To the few who encourage me: Thank you from the bottom of my heart.  

Change to my stories on Lulu

Can't say I'm happy how Lulu changed my books and narrowed the selection.
https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/charlesturner

The Dog Headed Folk of Old

Western Novel

I had gotten lost while trying to wind up Mexican Red and nothing helped. So I left alone. Now I am back reworking from page one and having a good time of it so far.

It's Posted

I've posted "A Woman Too Dark" on my free stories blog. Shrug. On to something else.

Presumptuous

Not so much. I am attempting a short story concerning a black American woman. Trying essentially to be inside her head. Will it work? Not really. But it might make for a good story anyway.

Arlo 14

Still Working

It's tough to keep it together in placid times. The uncertainty right now makes my thoughts even more flighty than before. But I do make a little progress every day on different projects. I hope any who visit here are well and will continue to be so. 

Arlo 13

Staying with short stories for now.

I started on Four Angry Clowns today.

Perhaps I went too far

I have the first draft of Penny and Drew and The Nearly Perfect Zoo. There were several options on which way to go, particularly at the end. I chose the hazardous way, the kind that means no editor will touch it. It's an essay concerning the welfare of animals, including humans. The human condition and how to upgrade it forms the conclusion. Because I diss war, poverty, racism, and come out for MeToo, to the young, it brands me a rebel. I may be forced to self publish or even offer it for free to those willing to share it. I have a few people to show it to before I make any decisions.  

Arlo 12

Zoo

As mentioned earlier, I work on other projects when I feel I am not able to do justice to my western novel. I've spent the week at work on a middle school children's book. It's beginning to take shape. I think it would be best for me to stick with it for now. It's a story that will require an illustrator of far greater proficiency than what I possess. I hope to get it to a publisher who will accept for publication and assign a really good artist, who is good with animals and people.

Arlo 11

Whenever I get stuck -

Whenever I get stuck on Mexican Red I do other writing projects. For instance, a children's story, tentatively titled, Penny and Drew, and Their Nearly Perfect Zoo.

Arlo 10

Arlo 9

Quote by Madeleine L'Engle

“You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.”
― Madeleine L'Engle

Western TV Shows

A listing of my top favorites:

Have Gun Will Travel
Gunsmoke - first three seasons
Maverick
Cheyenne
The Life and Times of Wyatt Earp
The Rifleman

Lesser favorites:

Wanted Dead or Alive
Rawhide
Tales of Wells Fargo
Bonanza
Branded

A mess of a show with a couple of great episodes

The Westerner

Western Stories

I love the novels and films that feature grit and determination. Some of my top favorites are

High Noon
The Outlaw Josie Wales
The Good the Bad and the Ugly
Jubal
3:10 to Yuma [original with Glenn Ford only]
Last Train to Gunn Hill
The Last Posse
Yellow Sky
MacKenna's Gold
The Ox-Bow Incident
The Cowboys
The Shootist
Rio Grande
Stagecoach [original only]
The Three Godfathers [John Wayne version]
Westward the Women
Tom Horn
Dances With Wolves

There are more.

I did not really love

The Magnificent Seven and its sequels
Once Upon a Time in the West
Shane
The Way West

A Listing of Top English Language Writers