Behind the Stories: A Preview in Pictures

Posted on October 17, 2011 by SloanParker

When writing I often utilize my imagination, but I also will pull from my own experiences and the details I can recall about certain places I’ve been or people I’ve met. For Take Me Home I was able to use my experience of traveling across the United States on a passenger train.

But I also do a fair bit of research for each of my stories. I used to dread research, but I’ve learned to embrace it and see it as an opportunity for two reasons: 1) to learn something new about whatever I’m researching and 2) to expand my understanding of the world and the characters in which I’m writing about in a particular story.

I’m a visual person. I find pictures and videos helpful to really get into the story. Even if my description ends up nowhere close to the visual, the images create a spark of ideas in my mind that keeps the description from being stale and typical (at least typical for my writing and my usual vocabulary). Through my writing research I’ve learned about places, occupations, animals, symbolism, and more I might never have had a reason to delve into otherwise.

During my research phase of writing Take Me Home, I saved links and images and descriptions in one document for inspiration as I wrote. So I thought I’d share a preview of Take Me Home using only a sampling of the pictures from my research notes. Under each photo is a link where I found the photo and the credit if it’s available.

**Please note: Some may consider the following minor spoilers for the story, but the pictures give away only a few more specifics than the blurb and merely illustrate the story’s premise.

Photo Credit: Yuri_Arcurs

Photo Credit: kupicoo

Image Credit: Amtrak website

Photo Credit: Wigwam Jones

Image Credit: Amtrak

Photo Credit: Amtrak

Image Credit: Amtrak

Photo Credit: no body atoll

Photo Credit: pferriola

Photo Credit: Virtual Farm Boy

Photo Credit: The West End

Photo Credit

Photo Credit: Minerva Bloom

Photo Credit: oakmechinsl

Photo Credit: Decarli

Photo Credit: Loco ( Inactive ) Steve

Photo Credit

Photo Credit: Doug Wornom collection

This one’s a video, you can watch here if it’s not embedded below.

Photo Credit

Read the blurb and preview excerpts for Take Me Home

Friday Photo: Dave’s Hot ‘N Juicy

Posted on October 14, 2011 by SloanParker

Seriously, who thought that was a good name for a burger? And that sign? I couldn’t resist snapping a pic.

Friday Photo: Scene Board

Posted on September 30, 2011 by SloanParker

Just for fun here’s the scene board for Take Me Home (cleverly covered by my editing check marks to avoid spoilers). Each scene actually has 8 or more check mark post-its. I kept track of my read-throughs on a scene-by-scene basis. First time I’d ever done that, and it worked well for me. Gave me a nice sense of accomplishment at the end of every day.

Link Roundup: m/m Role Playing Game, Customize an m/m, A Coming Out & more

Posted on September 23, 2011 by SloanParker

A Rush of Ideas: my group blog post where I talk about one of the aspects I love most about writing: the start of a new story. As I work on Walter and Kevin’s book, I’m getting the ideas down for a new story, and I’m having a fantastic time with it (and yes, I still have two more MORE books coming also). I love when there is no shortage of ideas.
A yaoi role-playing game: Hot Guys Making Out. I read what one guy said about playing this game (in a private email) and it sounds neat. (Thanks to my uncle for sharing this one. Thanks, T!)
Interesting… an M/M romance in which you enter your own details and customize the book.
Joanna Stampfel-Volpe responds to a recent PW blog post on LGBTQ YA. On Being Used, the Lack of LGBTQ Characters in YA, and Why It’s Important to Work Together

Source: (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Repeal of gay ban causing few waves in military
Airman tells dad he is gay as ‘don’t ask’ policy disappears. From his Youtube video: “I called my dad to tell him the hardest thing that gay guys will ever have to say.” Brought back memories of talking to my own parents. Not an easy thing to do even when everyone already suspects. (thanks to my niece for sharing the link. Thanks, A!)
As gay military ban ends, officer sheds his alias
I haven’t really had time to check out this blog but it looks interesting: gaytwogether
For the writers out there, this is an excellent article from Joseph O’Connor. He shares his tips for writing fiction and I’ve included a couple fab quotes below.
As Checkov said: ‘Don’t tell me the moon is shining. Show me moonlight reflected on broken glass.’ One of the strangest paradoxes of writing fiction is that the more you tell the reader, the less he or she knows. If you write ‘we were very happy indeed’ the reader thinks ‘big deal’. If you write ‘we grabbed each other and hugged and we couldn’t stop laughing’ the reader is in the scene. Putting the reader in the scene is everything to the storyteller. So describe what you can see, not what you know. Use visual words when possible. And never be afraid of leaving something out. Leaving something out is a powerful invitation to the reader, an incitement to the imagination of the person you must never forget. The reader is an essential participant in what you are writing. Meet them half way, and never more than that.
– From: Joseph O’Connor
I think of it in musical terms. The writer is providing the sheet music. It’s the reader who is singing the song. To know who you’d like to make sing is an important factor. It also helps to stop writing being egotistical. Writing must always be about the reader, in the end, not the writer. If I have one single commandment, that’s it.
– From: Joseph O’Connor
And another one for writers: Paper Boats: Bail water or bail out? Knowing When to Abandon Your Wip by Josh Lanyon
And a little eye candy for everyone:
- Loved the second photo on this blog post.
- This is an old post but there are some lovely pics over at Yummy of the Day (link is NOT WORK SAFE)
Lastly, because you know I love this site, here are some screenshots from Damn You Auto Correct
- I Don’t Remember That Sesame Street Character
- When Craigslist Goes Wrong: 5 Autocorrected Text Fails

Have a great weekend, everyone! I’ll be doing some brainstorming with my local writing group. We have such a blast when we get together to work on our story ideas. The conversations that come up are priceless. Last year there was mention of Fire Lube and artificial immaculate insemination and orgasming (is that a word?) your way across a room full of bodies. I wonder what we’ll discuss this time around.