January 17th, 2024

 

It’s storming up north, and a few cold weather escapees joined us this time. We welcome back Bill Elam, a regular at our winter meetings. JoAnn McGrath joined us as well. Ursula Wong joined us for the first time. Ursula is an established writer who we hope will become a regular attendee. All in, we had fourteen writers in attendance.

Rod, running a little behind schedule tonight, joined us about twenty minutes late. He accepted his tardy slip and started talking. (It’s hard to keep him quiet.)

 

Peter McNally opened the meeting by announcing a project he launched this month. A stroke survivor, Peter has begun an ambitious project to aid stroke and brain injury survivors in finding medical help both for their physical and mental health. He is establishing a non-profit organization through a new website. Peter does this in conjunction while continuing to write his memoir about the trauma he endured. Good Luck, Peter.

The group listened as Rod read an article shared by a group member, Doug Sahlin, on how to create Likable but Flawed Protagonists. As the group discussed the ten steps set forth in the article, a discussion highlighted variations some of us use as everyday tools in character development. A few put together an extensive biography of our main characters, adding to it as the character grows, while others write by the seat of our pants, giving our characters flaws and weaknesses. We create real situations and responses to them. Nobody’s perfect, so why would our character possess traits an ordinary person wouldn’t? Well, maybe it’s sci-fi or depicting a God-like creature that can’t ever be wrong, but even the Norse Gods weren’t perfect.

In fiction and non-fiction work, characters and situations must meet the expectations of readers who live in the real world. Perfection is rare, so allow room in your writing for your characters to make mistakes. Let them fail. Look at yourself, your friends, your antagonists in life. Use their traits and foibles in writing about them. Even though I knew better, I once wrote a chapter about Pepper, a perfect dog. I looked closer, and there were a lot of flaws in Pepper’s behavior. When added to the story, Pepper became an interesting character.

Your protagonist is important, and so is your antagonist. Either could be a person, an animal, a thing, natural or unnatural, real or something straight out of your brain. But it must sound and feel real.

 

With five readers waiting in the wings, we moved on. Bruce Haedrich was first up. Bruce is in the final editing stages of his latest work, The Janus Moon. However, he was pondering several different things, including how to design the cover for the new book. After reading some quotes about the interconnectedness of actions as observed or philosophized by thinkers in history, he presented several illustrations created using AI programs. By using basic instructions and parameters he initiated he created renderings  professional in appearance but looked somewhat manufactured rather than original. He also redesigned the covers of several of his existing works. In my mind, the jury is still out on using AI for anything.

Don Westerfield shared two poems with us this evening. In his The Closet Poet, he exposed his secret fear of ridicule and shame should he publish his work. The poem is a whimsy, as we know, Don has published several collections of his poetry and prose. Reading Unwritten, it seems as if many more poems are lurking in Don’s fertile mind. We can hardly wait.

 

James Kelly brought us Chapter 28, MacKenzie’s War, of his latest work, Tremain. Tremain Running Deer MacKenzie introduces his father to the second in command of the Rough Riders, Teddy Roosevelt. As Commander of the Sixth Calvary, MacKenzie will remain in Tampa as the rest of the force embarks for Cuba. But he sends two sons and a son-in-law into harm’s way. James has taken advice from members of the group and included more about those who had to stay behind including the women, wives and mothers of the soldiers going off to war.

 

Even after an extended absence, Bill Elam’s story of an old man and his beloved old airplane stays fresh in my mind. Bill gave us a little background on the little airstrip and the old pilots who frequented the failing airport as they spun yarns about “The Good Ole Days” in The Little Old Airport. The tales of flying in the days when pilot’s licenses were often non-existent, and instruments consisted of a pilots behind encased in a pair of pants abound while bailing wire, canvas, and glue patched up aircraft and sometimes those pilots.

 

Gary Conkol, whose first book was chosen as the book of the month by the Florida Writers Association, read from his second foray into fiction. His story begins with the receipt of a letter requesting the writer’s presence on a sponsored visit to an undisclosed location. The invitation came from a person the writer only met once. The invite was mysterious in its content. Gary listened to suggestions from several members who urged him to start the story with more suspense and include a “hook” in the opening lines. We’ll find out more at the next reading.

 

That sums up our meeting this time and I look forward to our next meeting, February 7^th here at the firehouse. Until then, read as much as you can and KEEP ON WRITING!