When Cop Stuff Is Not Told Right / Happenings In The Outhouse 05-April-2024

This goes with any profession.  From law enforcement to nursing, from plumbing to pilots, and a host of other things, it's difficult to get all of the details right.

As a former law enforcement officer, with years of experience throughout many aspects of that profession, it irks me when I see shows where things are so wrong.  My wife and I just finished watching the hit TV show Sons of Anarchy.  We loved it, but there were aspects of both law enforcement and nursing that struck us both.

It's difficult to get all of the details right, but when some are so blatant (cocking back the hammer on a Glock pistol, for example) I just shake my head as it throws me right out of a story.

The storyline for SOA was complex and entertaining.  Yes, you were cheering on the bad guy, but when there were varying degrees of badness, you seemed to be cheering on some more than others.

The first thing that struck me was that city cops typically wear blue.  County deputies wear brown.  All of the city cops in SOA wore brown.  And when it came to hospitals and security, that seemed to be thrown right out the window with SOA.  No one should be able to walk into a hospital administrator's office or a doctor's office that is closed.

In a nutshell, if you're going to make things far-fetched as SOA had done, do it well when it comes to story.

It's all in the details.

And I could go on with this.  I probably will in future posts . . .

Myth Of The Small Town / Happenings In The Outhouse 21-Jan-2022

I've been listening to a few true crime podcasts lately (don't I always?) and the same phrase keeps popping up over and over again.

"It was a small town.  A place where everyone knew everyone."

FALSE!  UTTER BS!

I can speak with firsthand knowledge that, no matter how small the town is, no one can possibly know everyone.  Everyone will have a past or desire no one knows about.

Because, in many of the true crime cases, that someone who ends up being the killer is one they didn't suspect.

What does this have to do with writing?  Plenty, my friend.  You see, it all comes down to character development.  Call it creating a "round" character if you wish, but everyone has motives and events in the past no one knows about.

Use that creativity and shape memorable characters.

And please, for the love of God, do not use the phrase "a place where everyone knows everyone" at all.  Strike it from your vocabulary, unless you are making a satirical statement about it.

I have surpassed the 80,000 word mark on my current work-in-progress.  I have a goal to hit PUBLISH by the end of March.  But there is still a lot yet to write, and I am only in the third of four parts to the novel.  So it might be beyond that date.

The Jesus Moment (In Character Development) / Happenings In The Outhouse 12-Nov-2021

I recall in the movie Man of Steel, starring Henry Cavill as the fabled superhero Superman when, during a tornado, his earthly father (portrayed by Kevin Costner), was swallowed up by the storm.  Moments before, young Clark Kent was on the verge of racing to save him, but Jonathan Kent held out a hand and told him no.

It wasn't time.

That was his Jesus moment.

Throughout the Gospel books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, there are numerous times when Jesus performed a miracle and then told the recipient to tell no one about what happened.  For the longest time, I never understood why He would do this.

Then, as I studied the Bible more in depth, I realized the timeline of the events in question.  They were during the times when Jesus chose not to reveal Himself yet as the Son of God.  He did what was right in performing His miracles, but did not want the truth behind it to be known until it was the right time.

Go back to many of your favorite stories to see where the Jesus moment is.  The characters go through much training, or journey so far, until their Jesus moment comes upon them.

How long did Luke Skywalker train before he was revealed to Darth Vader?

How long did Harry Potter lie in wait, until the protection of his aunt and uncle's home, before he was permitted to attend Hogwarts?

When did Batman become the famed vigilante that he is known for?

How about Bilbo Baggins?

Or Paul Atreides from Dune?

Or Clarice Starling?

The list, my friend, can go on and on.

Let's Talk Villains / Happenings In The Outhouse 29-Oct-2021

A few weeks ago, I watched the latest installment of the Halloween franchise on the big screen.  It was bloody fun and full of lovely gore, which you'd expected from a slasher flick.

It did not disappoint.

And the box office numbers showed too.

On the drive home, I pondered other fictional villains, such as Hannibal Lector, Darth Vader, Freddie Krueger, Pinhead, and Jason Voorhees, just to name a few.  I did a deep dive into the top villains from TV and the big screen, and the list was quite massive.

Do they have elements in common?

If anything, they're downright evil.  Their characteristics host a wide range from the clever and sinister to a single-mindedness of brute force.  On a side note, the same could be said about the side of good too.  Heroes and Heroines come in many flavors.

Another common element is that, by and large, they are not easy to destroy--the exception is the ending of Dracula.  The fabled vampire's death was so minimal, covering only a few sentences, that I almost threw the book in the trash.

The last element (okay, I'm sure there are others, but that's all I'm covering right now) is that they are unique.  No one can mistaken Hannibal Lector with other run-of-the-mill serial killers.  Or Freddie Krueger with other rules of our darkest nightmares.

So, many of the great and infamous fictional villains are pure evil, difficult to destroy/kill, and unique.

The Chosen - a unique way of telling the same story / Happenings In The Outhouse 09-April-2021

Long ago, I said if you gave a writing prompt to the top 20 bestselling authors in the world, you'd have 20 different stories.

Well, let me ask you this: how many dramatic/theatrical versions of Jesus Christ have you seen?  Probably many, and some are favorites.  I recall one as a kid that used to play on TV quite often, usually around Easter, that fascinated me.

That being said, how many different ways are there to tell the life of Jesus?  Too many to count, would be my guess.  Well, The Chosen is a quite unique telling of the life of Jesus, mainly from the perspective of those around Him.

Season 1 (I believe there are either 7 or 8 planned seasons, all crowdfunded) is out on DVD, but you can watch the entire first season for free online, through their app.

Episode 1 of Season 2 is out now--it was released Easter Sunday--and I highly recommend it.  Even from a storytelling perspective, it's a unique way of telling a story many of us have already heard.

It's all in the details / Happenings In The Outhouse 24-July-2020

A funny thing happened earlier this week.  I'm about 8,400 words into the next thriller in the Central Division Series and it dawned on me that I may not have one of the details right.

The detail in question was the day of the week.  The story involved the murder of a religious figure, which occurred right after an evening service.

Now, around here, most religious services occur on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and of course Sundays.  In other areas, it's just Sundays.  For some, services are a daily occurrence.  Even a many-time-a-day thing.

But this was one detail, albeit minor, that could have had greater implications down the road if I didn't get it right.

When I look back at other stories I've enjoyed, it's the small details that make or break it.  I'm knowledgeable about firearms--no, I am not a firearms guru who can rattle off stats and give intricate details about this model of weapon--and it irks me to no end when I see a line that goes something like this: "He cocked back the hammer on his Glock . . ."  Sorry, but Glocks do not have an external hammer to cock back.

Look for the small details in your story.  If the day of the week is important, be specific about it.

Not everything needs an explanation / Happenings In The Outhouse 12-June-2020

Writing a decent story means, at times, that you may be walking a fine line between a well-paced story and one that drags.  Well-paced doesn't necessarily mean fast-paced.  Have you ever read a book or watched a movie/TV show where you found it difficult to stop?

That's good pacing.  And the best ones blends fast and slow pacing very well.  It would do you well to study how it was done.

A few weeks ago, I decided to watch all eleven Star Wars movies back-to-back, in chronological order by the events in the movies, not the release dates.  I started with the three prequels, then Solo and Rogue One, and of course the original trilogy and finished off with the sequel trilogy  Now, before you ask, I didn't watch them straight through without any sleep.  Lord no!  But it was interesting how quickly I moved through the first movies--including the prequels--and by the time I got to the final sequel movies, I found it difficult to watch for too long.  In fact, it took longer to watch the final trilogy than the others.

Then I discovered why.  Pacing.

Even Rogue One and Solo didn't suffer from a pacing problem.

If you view the sequel trilogy, there is a problem with the characters having to explain EVERYTHING.  True, there was some explanation in Phantom with the whole midichlorian thing when it came to the Jedi and Sith, but it was done quickly, in passing, and then we moved along--well, some were upset by it and still are to this day.

Remember.  Not everything needs to be explained.  And mindless banter just for the sake of banter only drags the story along.  Not that dialogue needs to be eliminated.  If you want a lesson on dialogue, read anything by J. D. Salinger.  Especially his other stories.

Watch one of your favorite movies or read one of your favorite books.  I can almost guarantee you that the pace of the story doesn't suffer.  Events don't always have to be explained in great detail.  Even Tolkien didn't explain a lot of the events in Lord of the Rings.  Neither does Rowling and George R. R. Martin, when it comes to their worlds.

Please leave something for the imagination.

All characters have a story / Happenings In The Outhouse 04-Aug-2017

I recently finished all three (current) seasons of the Netflix show The Ranch.

Reflecting on the show--and many others, from Friends and Criminal Minds to How I Met Your Mother and Orange is the New Black, for example--I discovered that the better shows have stories surrounding each character.

For simplicity purposes, let's focus on The Ranch.  I will try not to spoil anything, but some things can't be helped so be warned.

The father Beau is married to a wife who doesn't live at home, and works on a ranch with his two sons.  Throughout the series, his love for his wife shines through, although circumstances arise that end up with divorce.

The mother Maggie owns and runs the local bar.  She constantly deals with her sons, who aren't treated very well by Beau.  In the divorce process, she wants everyone to be happy and wants to give her half of the ranch to her two sons.  Beau, of course, doesn't see it this way and bucks it.

Colt, one of the sons, is a former high school football star who comes back home.  His fame isn't what it once was, and bounces around between ladies, a high school sweetheart and another attractive blond, one of which he gets pregnant--and that drama is drawn out across several episodes.

Rooster is the other son.  He's had to deal with living in his brother's shadow and running the ranch with Beau while Colt was away following his short-lived football career.  He also doesn't feel he gets the respect he deserves and ends up working on another ranch for a much higher pay.

In the end, each character has their own story aside from the overall stories.  The more one can twist and turn these stories, the better.

Create A Character List Early On In The First Draft / Happenings In The Outhouse 21-July-2017

I'm in the middle of editing the last two novels in the Shadowkill trilogy, and I've come across something that may be helpful to fiction writers: as early as possible, create a character list as you write.

This may seem like a no-brainer to some and a "oh I don't need that; I'll remember all of my characters" to others, but trust me when I say that for most, you'll thank me later.

No matter how minor a character may seem, it's good to jot their name down and maybe add a note on how they're relevant.  About a third of the way through book 2, I discovered I had a different name for an extremely minor character.  I didn't have a note on this one.

This list doesn't have to be some Wikipedia page or anything.  Just a name and anything relevant to the story.

Killing off a character / Happenings In The Outhouse 28-Oct-2016

This past Sunday was the season 7 premiere of The Walking Dead.

Normally, I watch The Walking Dead on Netflix, but season 6 ended in such a way that I had to see what character Negan (the newest bad guy) would kill with his trusted baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.

No, I won't spoil who died.

Was I shocked?

Nope.  Another TV show I watch, Game of Thrones, also kills off several characters--even main characters.  Yes, I've read all of the books so far, and I am eagerly anticipating the next novel to be released.  So the death of a main character isn't shocking to me.

But it must serve a purpose.

And I truly believe the latest deaths in TWD will also serve a purpose.

I'm currently 28,000 words into my newest novel.  It's a stand-alone Christmas-themed drama.  It's been very fun to write.  Then, as I started thinking about the path the book is going to take, I planned on having a character get hurt.  Severely.  Then, I imagined what the story would be like if this particular character died.

Believe it or not, I had tears in my eyes when I thought of it.  I still do, knowing I may have to end this person's life--fictionally, of course, but that doesn't make it any less hurtful.

Will it serve a purpose?

At this point I hate to answer that.  Because I know what my answer may be.

The two Cs

I'm in the middle of editing my next novel Shadowkill when I enhanced a scene where one of the main characters talks a member of the opposite sex in regards to an unfortunate incident that occurred with this person's lover.

At first, I didn't know what the unfortunate incident would be.  Then, after scratching the first two off my list, I settled on a murder.

But what were those first two?

They were the two Cs:

Cancer

Car accidents

I don't know how many times I run into unfortunate events where it involves either cancer or a car accident.  These seem to be so clique.  We, as writers, need to stretch our imaginations.  There are tons of other unfortunate incidents: heart attacks (although this one has been done many times too), suicide, shot, stabbed, AIDS, poison . . .

Don't stop with the obvious.  Do something different, in order to be memorable.

Happenings In The Outhouse 28-Feb-2014 / Don't hold back. Push the envelope.

This past weekend, I was at a crossroads with two shows I've been watching on Netflix: Dexter and Breaking Bad.

At the end of season six of Dexter, someone discovers Dexter Morgan's secret.  At the end of the first half of season five of Breaking Bad, someone discovers Walter White's secret.  Both characters are at a crossroads, a dead-end for their careers, it would seem.

However, in Walter's case, there are six more episodes left in the second half of season five.  In Dexter's case, the mild-mannered blood splatter analyst for the Miami Police Department has two full seasons left.

Not quite a dead-end.  And I know they don't spend those episodes/seasons behind bars.

Many times in both shows--and others--the characters face obstacles that appear to have no favorable outcome for them.  Yet, they move on.  They overcome them.  When writing your own characters, don't be afraid to put them in situations where it seems like they're impossible to escape from.  Don't hold back.  Push the envelope to the limits.

Then, write them out of it.  It makes for a more interesting story.

You can always tell when the author cops out and doesn't quite push the characters--I bet a story just popped into your mind, something you read and almost (or maybe you did) threw the book away in disgust.

Now, not everything has to be this no-holds-barred thrill ride.  But hitting a level of tension that seems impossible to overcome does make for a more interesting story.  If you disagree, then why were so many people reeling when the final episode of Breaking Bad aired?

(BTW, Netflix has now finally released on their streaming service the second half of the fifth and final season--it took me about 48 hours to binge-watch them all.  It was worth it.  My hat--pork pie hat, in other words--is off to Vince Gilligan and the entire crew of Breaking Bad for creating such an incredible story).

The anti-hero: Dexter's Dexter Morgan vs. Breaking Bad's Walter White

We all love a good hero.  From Luke Skywalker to Captain Kirk and from John Wayne to Clint Eastwood, we love to root for the good guy.  The hero.

But what if the hero is a bad guy--you could almost say Dirty Harry is a bad guy, for he's a cop who breaks the law, but for now I'm going to concentrate on two others.

On Netflix, I'm currently on season four of Dexter and several months back I finished watching Breaking Bad.  I'm counting the days to February 24th when the final season of BB is on Netflix.  Both Dexter's Dexter Morgan and Breaking Bad's Walter White--the main protagonists--are anti-heros.

Dexter is a serial killer.

Walter White is a meth cook.

Yet we root for them.  We want them to win.

We're fascinated by Darth Vader, but only because we're fascinated by those evil creatures that do harm.  We're not rooting for Darth Vader to win.  He's a bad guy.

If I had to pin both Walter and Dexter together, I'd say Walter White has the better story.  Why is Walter White making meth--really good meth, the best anyone's ever seen--when he could be doing something . . . legal?  Because, as we see in season 1, he's dying.  His insurance sucks.  And he has no money set aside for the future.  He has a handicapped son.  Oh, and did I add that his brother-in-law is a DEA agent and is actually tracking down the dealers whom Walter White is working with?  That, in and of, itself makes for a great story.

Dexter's story is good too, for he's a serial killer who's killing . . . well, other killers.  He's a blood splatter expert for the Miami Police Department, which gives him access to all sorts of information.

In the end, your protagonist may be a bad guy.  And if he or she is, make them interesting enough for us to follow.  You don't have to get all Walter White crazy, but there are elements of both Walter's and Dexter's characters that put them close to getting caught.  The tension is unnerving.  Once again, that makes for a great story.

Happenings In The Outhouse 31-Jan-2014 / What I learned from Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, and The Following

I don't watch much television.  In fact, aside from the occasional nightly news (local, not the 24-hour news cable networks) and some late night funny men such as Jay Leno, Jimmy Fallon, and Jimmy Kimmel, I don't watch any television at all.

We have one television, and either my wife or kids seem to always be in control of it.  I'm okay with it.  Instead, I watch Netflix on either my Kindle or the app on my Android phone--I love it!  Netflix has opened a lot of creative doors for me, in terms of keeping in touch with movies or TV shows.  A few of my favorites are The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, House of Cards, Dexter, The Killing.  And so many more.

I recently watched the first season of The Following.  I hate to say it--because I feel Kevin Bacon is a strong actor--but I didn't like it very much.  I have a number of reasons for it.  First, there always seemed to be this high-speed pursuit to catch the bad guys and there was never any let up.  Contrast this with The Walking Dead.  In every single episode, you have the threat of the latest zombie attack.  But there is a down time too.  A breather, in other words.  You need that in your stories.  The Following had very little and I was exhausted after each episode.

Another reason I failed to like The Following is that there was no character arc throughout the season.  Kevin Bacon's character never really changed.  Sure, some of the minor characters did, but not enough to carry the story.

The final reason The Following didn't do it for me is that I never knew what the killer Joe Carroll and his followers were all about.  What was their passion, aside from killing?  It was never really clear.

Enter Breaking Bad.  Walter White, a high school science teacher who gets struck with cancer and a bad case of poor insurance.  He wants to provide for his family.  He then discovers the best way he can do it: make meth.  Over the five seasons--I haven't seen the final season yet as it does not come out on Netflix until February 24th--Walter White has some great character arcs.  There is also the threat of getting caught.

It all makes for a great story.

The edits for Shadowkill are moving along at a steady pace.  Right now, I'm roughly a sixth done with the edits and it's coming along nicely.  As far as what I want to accomplish this year, I've kept my same list of goals, but I'm emphasizing two things: publishing more and getting healthier.  The latter involves losing a certain amount of weight.  How much, I'm keeping that to myself.

(As I re-read this post, I fear that I give the impression that I watch a lot of Netflix.  I do not.  I watch a little each day, but I'm usually doing it while I'm working on chores or for a few minutes just before going to bed--I know, I know, The Walking Dead is a poor show to try fall asleep to, but I haven't gotten any nightmares . . . yet.)