Writers in the Storm

by Charlotte Carter

Writers in the Storm asked me to talk about my strengths as a writer as part of their fantastic new WriterStrong series.

Huh. Do I even have strengths? All writers have days where this question brings doubt.

I know I don’t always have enough strength to open jars, but I have a husband who takes care of that for me. (He’s not all that helpful with my writing except when I ‘lose’ a word and he finds it for me.) But surely after 50+ books I must be doing something right.

Okay, I think I’m pretty good at plotting—that’s left brain stuff -- but all that layering is a hard to show in a short blog. It’s a little easier to ‘show’ how I use humor in my books, which my readers say is one of my strengths.

There are three basic types of humor:

• Situational
• Physical
• Character

By saying one of my strengths is writing humor, I don’t mean that my books are rollicking, laughing-out-loud funny. Certainly not in the often deeply emotional stories I write for Love Inspired. But humor does slip in as part of characterization or the situation. Apparently I can’t help myself.

Humor before a heart-touching scene deepens the emotional reaction.

Physical Humor

This excerpt is from Montana Love Letter, October 2012 Love Inspired release: If you’ve ever gone fishing with children, you can probably relate to this scene.

Set up: Adam has taken his 10-year-old daughter Hailey, his girlfriend Janelle and her 5-year-old daughter Raeanne out fishing on his boat on Bear Lake, MT.

After some missteps, he has gotten both the girls’ fishing lines all set. Now he’s going to help Janelle, and the humorous scene turns into a bit of sexual tension.

“At the rate we’re going, you’re not going to have time to do any fishing yourself,” Janelle pointed out.

“I just have to get everyone organized.” He stood with his arms around her guiding her hands. She swung the pole back then started the forward motion, determined to get it right this time.

“Ouch! Ow! Stop!” he yelled.

“What’s wrong?” She turned quickly. The pole slipped from her grasp.

“Grab the—”

The pole splashed into the water.

“Daddy, what’s wrong?”

“My bobber jiggled again!” Rae cried.

He clamped his hand over his shoulder. “The hook. It caught me in my shoulder. Hailey, help Rae.” He gritted his teeth.

“Let me see.” He turned so Janelle could take a look. Janelle gasped. “How in the world--"  The hook had gone through his shirt right into his flesh. Her stomach clenched.

“See if you can haul the pole back up before we lose it.”

“I need to get that hook out of you.”

“It’ll wait.”

“Rae caught a fish! It’s a rainbow.”

“Get the net.”

Torn between helping Adam, seeing her grinning daughter catch her first fish or retrieving the fishing pole, Janelle opted to do as she’d been told. The boat didn’t ride very high out of the water. She leaned over the side to snare the line to pull up the pole. Just as she gripped it, the boat rocked in the wake of a passing boat. She lost her balance. And fell into the lake. Head first.

The icy cold water stunned her. She gasped, swallowing a mouthful of the lake water before she popped to the surface. She shook the water from her eyes and coughed.

Adam leaned over the side toward her. “You okay?”

“The water’s really, really cold.”

“Yeah, I know. Grab my hand and I’ll pull you up.”

“Oh, no, Rae’s fish got away,” Hailey cried.

With amazing arm strength, Adam lifted Janelle out of the water and helped her into the boat. He held her for a moment, steadying her. Looking into her eyes, he brushed a wet strand of hair away from her face. He warmed her cheek with his palm.

“You know what? I think I just caught the best looking fish in the lake.”

As the warmth of his look and words heated her from the inside out, she smiled up at him. Her heart fluttered. “Seems to me I hooked a pretty handsome fish myself.”

Character Humor

Excerpt from Montana Wrangler, a July 2013 Love Inspired release:

Set up: Jay is the hero, a wrangler/trail guide who works for Paige’s grandfather in Bear Lake, MT. Paige has been terrified of horses since she was thrown off of a horse at age five. Jay has convinced Paige to ride a very gentle horse, Peaches. He is leading the horse around the corral.

Jay stepped away from the railing, leading the horse. Paige rocked in the saddle with each step Peaches took. Paige closed her eyes. I do not like this. No, I don’t. I do not like this at all. In her head, she sounded like the Grinch in the land of Who.

Later in the story, Paige manages to saddle and ride Peaches around the corral on her own. When Jay is told of her accomplishment, he reacts with this thought.

Surprised as a grasshopper about to get stepped on, Jay smiled to himself. That was worth a celebration.

Here’s how I used a child for humor in my Love Inspired Big Sky Family, a 11/2011 release.

 Set up: Arnie, the hero, is a paraplegic and lives in a small Montana town. He and Ellie, the heroine, once had a relationship, but she moved away. Now she has returned, with her 5-year-old daughter Torie, who she had out of wedlock.

This scene takes place outside the church where Arnie is sitting at a table taking pledges for a Paralympic event.

“Look, Mommy, Arnie’s here!” Breaking away from Ellie, Torie bee-lined it across the patio to Arnie’s table. Instead of stopping in front of the table, she squeezed in behind it next to Arnie.

Sheila (Arnie’s service dog) stood, backing away from her spot next to Arnie to avoid being stepped on by Torie. Arnie leaned back in his chair, equally startled by child’s sudden arrival. “Hey, squirt. What’s up?”

“I want to ask you an im-por-tant question.”

He glanced toward Ellie, his lips twitching with the threat of a smile. “Sure, ask away.”

Torie’s face scrunched into its most serious expression. “If my mommy bought me a horse of my very, very own, would you come take care of it for me?”

Ellie choked. “Victoria James! You’re not supposed to—”

“I don’t know, squirt,” Arnie said with equal seriousness. “That would be a big job to take care of a horse.”

“I know, and I’m too little. I get a dollar a week allowance. I could pay you that much.”

By now those standing around Arnie’s table were fully engaged in the conversation, to Ellie’s mortification.

“High time you earned an honest dollar, Arnie,” a man said.

“Isn’t she cute,” a woman said. “I bet when she’s a teenager, her father will have to guard the door and lock the windows to keep the boys out.”

Ellie had heard enough. “Come on, Torie. We have to find Grandma.”

“But Arnie hasn’t said he’ll take care of my horse yet.”

“You don’t have a horse, so why don’t we worry about who’s going to take care of it, if and when you have one?” With an apologetic smile, she handed the pledge form and check to Arnie.

Overlapping Humor Styles

There’s nothing more fun for a writer than to "mortify" their hero or heroine. Hopefully, the scene also makes readers smile in recognition of a similar ‘mortifying’ experience in their own lives.

From Montana Hearts, a December 2010 Love Inspired release:

Sometimes types of humor overlap. This scene uses both Character and Physical humor.

Set up: Teenagers are great for adding humor to a situation. In this case, hero Kurt, a widower, is in desperate need of a housekeeper. When he breaks the news to 13-year-old Beth and 9-year-old Toby that he is hiring Hannah, the heroine, here’s the reaction:

Beth said, “I don’t need a babysitter, Dad. Or a prison warden! I mean, I can cook ‘n stuff. We don’t need anybody else.”

“Wait!” Toby cried. “You can’t even fry an egg, dummy. We’d all starve. Or be poisoned! Grrrggh......” Making an inarticulate croaking sound, he stuck a finger in his mouth and flipped onto his back, his legs up in the air like a dying bug. “I’m dead! My sister—”

“Cut it out, son,” Kurt said, trying valiantly to hold back a smile.

Beth stuck out her tongue at her brother. “You’re such a jerk.”

Situational

Over the years, I’ve also had a great time using ‘situational’ humor in setting up the story.

In my Courting Cupid, a Love and Laughter release, Eloise is dead serious about breaking the all-male gender bias to earn her Cupid wings, and goes to great lengths to get Blake, her target, to fall in love with the ‘right’ woman. Of course, she fails.....but receives something better, a man who loves her in human form.

For Harlequin American, I wrote a mermaid story, Catching a Daddy. The mermaid needed to get pregnant before the next full moon or she’ll die. (My then editor asked, “How does a ‘real’ mermaid get pregnant?” Some editorial questions are harder to answer than others.) The scene of the mermaid learning how to walk on two legs must surely have brought a smile to the reader’s face.

And with a selling pitch, I sold a ‘Mrs. Doubtfire meets the Amish’ book to Love and Laughter.

What's your favorite type of humor to use in your writing? Is your humor conscious or unconscious? Do you have any questions you'd like to ask?

About Charlotte:

Read more about writing humor at Charlotte's website: Writing Humor, Part 1 and Part 2

Montana Love Letter, Love Inspired, available now
Home to Montana, Love Inspired, March 2013

Charlotte Carter is a multi-published author of more than fifty romance, cozy mystery and inspirational titles. Her books have made Waldenbooks Best Selling lists and have been translated into a half dozen different languages. Her awards include winning the National Readers’ Choice, Orange Rose and Romantic Times Career Achievement contests. A frequent speaker for RWA and community groups, she has led workshops for national conferences as well as local chapters. In her spare time, Charlotte performs standup comedy.

Married for 49 years, she and her husband live in Southern California with their cat Mittens. They have two married daughters and five grandchildren.

Visit her blog: www.CharlotteCarter.com

By Laura Drake

I belong to the Women’s Fiction chapter of RWA.  We just completed a month-long Write-a-Thin (you’d have had to have been there,) and it was wonderful, on many levels (not for me, on the ‘Thin’ part, but that’s another blog altogether.)

Since I’m so anal regimented in my schedule, I didn’t think I needed the external motivation of a group with goals.  I only signed up to support others. But I found that it helped a lot, to feel like I was writing with friends.

In chatting as a group, we got off onto interesting tangents. I admit, I experienced angst,when people began sharing their writing process.  It was fascinating in that, “curious, but not sure you want to know” way.

Let’s face it. It’s like your hair: blonde, curly, thin, red, thick, grey, whatever. Mine is brown (until the gray, anyway,) straight as a board, and very fine. Which means that it most often looks greasy, flat and mousy. I always wanted auburn. And curly. And thick (yes, WITS bloggers, I have a heroine like this. I also gave her the body I didn’t get, but that, too, is another blog.)

Bottom line is, whatever we got, we think someone else got better. Right?

WF group coined the term: Process Envy. If you’re a plotter, you think you’re too rigid – writing would be easier if you just let it flow.

I’m a pantster. I know the characters, but not what is going to happen to them. I start, and the plot becomes clear to me, one chapter at a time. Maybe some part of my brain knows it, but not the conscious part.

If you write in order, you think those that write out of order must be more fun.

I get up at 3 am to write. People are amazed by that. I’m amazed by the guy I know who realizes that when he gets an email from me at that time, it’s time for him to go to bed.

I think this is human nature. I keep trying to plot, thinking I’m going to like it. . . all I need is the right tool! Scrivener is the latest one, calling my name. Those little virtual index cards are SO cute!

Whatever we got, we think someone else got BETTER than we did.

I’ll probably never be satisfied with my process, and maybe you won’t either.

But I’m glad I KNOW it!

Do you remember how hard it was to discover your process? Some of you may still be trying to figure yours out. Doesn't it feel like walking around in a pitch-black room, full of furniture, and steps you weren’t aware of? Virtually barked shins hurt just as badly as real ones, don’t they? We bumble along, making mistakes, and learning from them, until a form comes out of the darkness . . .

Like it or not, it’s the only way.

So please tell me, am I the only one with Process Envy?  What do you wish for in your writing process that you didn’t get? Or your hair, for that matter.

ALERT: C.K. Crouch - you are the lucky commenter that has won a copy  of Kat Martin's Deep Blue!!!!  Please contact us, and let us know if you'd like a paperback, or e-version! Congratulations!

By Laura Drake

When we learn to read, we’re taught to take one word at a time, reading left to right. We still read like that (only hopefully, much faster.)  We picture the scene happening in real time in our heads. That’s what I call immediacy in writing – the first words you read should happen before the next words, etc.

Therefore, the order in which we write sentences, and even pieces of sentences, is important. If we get them out of order, it causes a ‘speed bump,’ that slows or stops the reader. Sometimes they’ll need to read the sentence again to understand what is being said.

There are several ways I’ve seen (and made) errors in immediacy.

• The Yoda Error. I got busted on this at crit group last week. Since I’m usually the one who catches it in other's writing, Fae was delighted to nail me on a “Yoda.”

Yoda told Luke Skywalker, “Do, or do not. There is no ‘try.’” We say this about ‘starting.’ You know:

“She started across the room . . .” “He began to talk . . .” or worse, “He thought about starting.”

Movement either happens, or doesn’t.  No one can picture in their head, “starting.”

Easy fix: do a ‘find’ in Word for ‘start’ and ‘begin.’

• Out of order sentences

I sometimes get the action and the reaction reversed.  Sharla caught this one of mine:

She ran her fingers through her hair. Her head felt as though ants were crawling on the inside of her scalp.

Her head would have to itch before she scratched it. This is subtle, but important.

Sometimes, it’s not incorrect, but the sentence would be stronger, reordered.

Here’s the way I wrote it:

What if, in December, when she was done here, she threw her leg over the bike and hit the road, only to find the road no longer there for her? The road had been her savior. The one constant in her life since dad died. It was her solace and her comfort.

I believe it’s stronger:

The road had been her savior. The one constant in her life since dad died. It was her solace and her comfort. What if, in December, when she was done here, she threw her leg over the bike and hit the road, only to find the road no longer there for her?

This backloads the paragraph – first explaining what the road means to her, so we then understand better what’s at stake if she loses it.

• As

The brilliant Margie Lawson explained this WAY better than I could, in an earlier WITS blog (you should read it – here.) But the bottom line is:

GOOD ‘AS:’

“As” is welcome when it represents “like.”  It’s also welcome when used as a comparison.

Their personalities were the flip sides of a coin as well; her dad’s Atticus Finch to Junior’s Vinnie Gambini.

BAD ‘AS:’

1. When it connotes simultaneity - things happening at the same time. She recommended having “A” happen, then “B.”
2.   When it spotlights a stimulus/response reversal

Before: 

A clock ticked in her head, matching the cadence of her feet as she pounded through the barn.

After: 

She pounded through the barn. The clock ticking in her head matched the cadence of her feet.

Okay, at the risk of being accused of blasphemy – I’m not as tough about not using the simultaneity ‘as’ as Margie is. I do believe that some things can happen simultaneously, and it’s a smoother to read that way. For example, some people can walk and talk at the same time (not me, but some people.)

You should do a find for ‘as’ in your WIP to be sure you’re happy with your usage.

So? What do you think? Are you guilty of errors in Immediacy? Which one is your Achilles heel?

Laura Drake decided to write a novel.  Three years later she completed it. 500 queries, three novels, and ten years later, Laura hit pay dirt. She finally achieved her dream, signing a three book deal with Grand Central for her romances, set in the world of professional bull riding. The Sweet Spot, will be released in May of 2013. She has since sold Road Song, a ‘Biker-chick’ romance, to Harlequin’s Superromance line.

She’s a member of the Orange County Chapter, as well as the current President of RWA’s Women’s Fiction Chapter.  Twitter: @PBRWriter   http://LauraDrakeBooks.com