Category Archives: General

Using Weapons in Stories III

By Terry C. Misfeldt

This is the third installment on using weapons in writing stories. THis one covers weapons for recreational use.

One of the more common use of weapons for recreation is sporting clays; shooting at clay targets with shotguns. Rod and Gun Clubs have ranges where participants (your characters) stand on a spot and shout “Pull” to propel a clay “pigeon” on a trajectory that is random. The shooter at the line must lead the “bird” and fire to break it apart. Points are scored for every hit. It is good practice for those who may hunt pheasant or other game birds. Other variations are skeet and trap shooting.

tGaining in popularity is axe throwing competition. Participants toe a mark and hurl an axe at a receptive bulls-eye type target. If throwing an axe were used in aggressive circumstances by your characters, accuracy is less essential than the fear factor of scaring the opponent. The power behind the throw and the rotation of the axe are critical elements in that regard.

Archery can also be considered a recreational use of weaponry. There are at least three types of bow used to propel arrows or bolts. The recurve is the most traditional bow for a character to use. It, generally, is a straight piece of wood, plastic, fiberglass or other material with notches at either end to attach a string (often catgut) that is stretched taut when the bow is bent. An arrow is then nocked to the string and released at the target.

Since the propulsion system is simple, accuracy depends on distance and the power at which the arrow is launched. Recurve bows are often used for simple target practice but can suffice for hunting purposes. The step up for power is a compound bow which uses a system of wheels and pulleys to increase propulsion velocity.

The compound system requires the shooter (your character) to pull the string back and hold it before release. A device that attaches to the dominant hand serves to hold the string in a “cocked” position until the shooter is ready to release the arrow by pulling a simple trigger. the compound bow comes with various levels of pull strength measured in pounds. For decades it was the dominant weapon for non-rifle game hunting.

Like the crossbow, the compound bow is used as an aggressive weapon when your character can fire a round and retreat to reload. The compound bow needs to nock another arrow from the quiver (generally attached to the bow) and “cock” the bow before another discharge.

As for a crossbow, target practice is less for competition than for increasing accuracy for use as a hunting weapon. The bow part of the crossbow extends horizontally across the rifle-like body of the crossbow. The string of the bow is then cocked back into a locking mechanism. A bolt (arrow) is loaded onto a track that nocks the bolt into the receiver. When aimed, the shooter merely aims and pulls the trigger. The bolt is propelled at great force at the target. It is a quieter hunting weapon than a rifle.

Other recreational weapons that could be used as aggressive weapons are throwing stars, throwing knives, spears, and slingshots.

Next week: Aggressive Weapons

Using Weapons in Stories II

By Terry C. Misfeldt

Last week’s blog outlined four basic categories for your characters to employ the use of weapons. We also dealt with the Provision option, so this post will cover the Protection choice that is perhaps the most common reason for your character to weaponize.

Protection: In this day and age, fiction and nonfiction characters have concerns for protecting themselves from threats. There are several options to use weapons for self protection, including firearms, knives, spray repellents, and simple physical tactics.

Let’s start with simple ones. If you carry a purse or bag of some sort, including a backpack, it can be a means of protecting yourself. The first element, of course, is being aware of your character’s surroundings and the situations they find themselves in. Walking on a dark street can be scary. If you are creating that mood with the intent of your character being assailed, a purse or bag swung with full force at the attacker can be a most effective weapon in facilitating escape. A key can also be effective, as can a kick to the groin or an elbow to the jaw. How your character departs from that scene is up to your imagination.

Carrying a firearm, whether concealed or open carry, includes the onus of being willing and able to use said weapon should the need arise. If your character only carries a firearm to “feel” safe, it may be in their best interest to get training in the consequences of shooting another person. One of the unwritten rules of firearm use is that you do not point that weapon at anything you do not intend to kill. Once the trigger is pulled, there is no retrieving the bullet. It’s on its way toc ause damage or death to whatever it hits.

If your character is concerned about protecting their home or property from invasion or attack, the best weapon to deter such action is a shotgun. The character’s choice in shotgun ammunition is either buckshot or slug.. Buckshot creates a pattern of pellets that cause a wide range of impression whereas a slug is more like a rifle bullet. Keep in mind that a shotgun is most effective at close range and pulling the trigger initiates a repercussion when the shell is discharged. That kick can hurt the shooter’s shoulder.

When it comes to knives, the weapon choices range from a large survival knife or machete to a pen or pocket knife. Blade length varies, too. Using a knife to defend oneself means the character either strikes to stab, slash, or cut the assailant. This involves some training to avoid personal injuries from defending oneself. A knife in the hands of an untrained individual can be easily pushed away by an attacker with a defensive gesture. Training in the use of knives and the correct choice for self preservation are important.

As for a home invasion, it is advisable to you, as a writer, to investigate the castle laws in the state where your work is staged. Some states have more strict regulations on how you kill or wound an intruder on your property.

This is, by no means, an exhaustive approach to protection weapons. The more you are familiar with what you plan to have your characters use, the more realistic your story will be for your readers.

Next week: Recreation Weapons

Using Weapons in Stories

By Terry C. Misfeldt

When any of your characters need a weapon of some type, keep in mind there are four basic categories for needing a weapon:

Provision

Protection

Recreation

Aggression

Let’s start with provision weaponry. If your character is responsible for providing food for their family, tribe, or themselves, a firearm is often the most effective weapon for them to use. Wild animals such as deer or bear can be slain with a rifle, but a compound or recurve bow or a crossbow can also harvest an animal.

Slingshots, traps, and smaller weapons can also harvest food but generally smaller prey such as squirrels, mourning doves, or rabbits. A BB gun or .22 rifle/pistol also provide killing power. It is not my intent to gross you out about killing animals but as your character is charged with providing food, these are tools of their trade.

Early humans, depending on the time period of your story, used spears and more primitive weapons to obtain food for their relatives, kinsfolk, or families. Of course, most people today obtain their food from shopping at a grocery store or meat market.

IMPORTANT: Any hunter charged with providing food knows that the best course of action is one shot-one kill. Pursuing or searching for a wounded animal is never good for the animal or the hunter. The distance from the hunter’s position to where the prey is situated is the critical variant in success.

My basic formula is that the length of the barrel and projection power equal accuracy over distance. If you are shooting at an elk, for example, that is 200 yards away, you need a high caliber rifle (.30-.06 for one) that can reach and kill that elk at that distance.

Next week: Protection.

Picking Mountains

By Dorothy Seehausen

I’d just finished reading Louis Schmier’s teaching and caring, and wanting at once to share Schimer’s signature motto, “If you want to climb mountains, don’t practice on mole hills,” I said to my husband of forty-three years, “Do you want to climb mountains?”

“Say what?” he replied with a squint.

“Do you want to, you know, climb mountains in your life?”

He thought for a second, then replied, “Sure.”

Of course, he was saying what he thought I wanted to hear.

“Then don’t practice on molehills.”

I smiled smugly, like his dominant left brain would immediately grasp my meaning.

“Oh, ok, I won’t,” he answered, believing these were the magic words that would make me go away. He avoided my eyes, the TV clicker poised in his right hand as colored images of light from the football game he was watching bounced off his wire rimmed glasses.

“You don’t get it, do you?”

“Evidently not.” He grinned sheepishly.

I persisted, warming to my topic. “Let me put it this way. Think of the future. Where do you want to be in five years?”

He thought for another second, pursed his lips, lowered the clicker to his lap,

Bridges

By Terry C. Misfeldt

If you enjoy solving word puzzles, such as Wordle, try this writing exercise I call bridges.

When you’ve solved the riddle, have writing fun trying to bridge the second word to the first, third to the second, and down through the solution.

Today (June 26), I was able to solve starting with the word MEANS, then CRUDE, followed by POWER, OTHER, and the solution of OFFER.

Here’s the exercise: Some people have the means to import crude oil from other countries but they lack the power to control pricing on importing crude, so they look for other options until they can find a deal that gives them a better offer.

Have fun and expand your vocabulary at the same time.

Smack Dab in the Middle

By Terry C. Misfeldt

I was curious about my position in the grandchildren pecking order.

More on that later. This, though, is about being a middle child.

If you’re not the oldest child or the youngest of three, then you are a middle child. If your parents have completed their contributions to the population, you’re stuck — smack dab –in the middle!

The only way you’re not “the” middle child is if your folks have four children and you’re either number two or number three. Oh, you’re still stuck in the middle…but you’re not alone.

I wrote this because I have a daughter who’s caught smack dab in the middle. And, like most middle kids I’ve known, they become invisible when they want. And there’s always someone else to blame for the spilled milk or broken lamp. At least, that’s what I’ve found with the middle children of my children.

But the real reason for writing this goes back to the opening. My maternal grandparents had seventeen grandchildren. Eight were older than me. Eight younger. I’m the one smack dab in the middle! It goes even further. My paternal grandparents only had seven grandchildren. Three older than me. Three younger. Again, I’m the one smack dab in the middle.

Where are you?

Earning Independence

By Terry C. Misfeldt

The Fourth of July is marked in the United States of America as Independence Day. It is intended to be a celebration of our country’s freedom from the once-tyrannical rule of Great Britain when our nation was a colony of the British Empire.

Our independence was earned by those who fought in the Revolutionary War and our founding fathers who created our nation’s Constitution.

As President Ronald W. Reagan said: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it along to our children in our bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States when men were free.”

Writers, especially those of us who live in the United States, have the freedom to write what we want without fear of retribution…provided what we write is not libelous. It is also our duty to do our research and provide credit where credit is due when quoting from another work or copyrighted material. Permission should be obtained for the copyright material, too. In other words, independence is something to be earned.

Even though we have the privilege of independence in America, it is not something to be taken for granted. Like trust, it must be earned.

Enjoy the Fourth of July! Remember that freedom is not free, either. It must be earned like a child wanting to drive your car.

A Humorous & Irreverent Look at the Elements of Writing

T.C. Misfeldt copyright 2024

Plot                                   The place to bury someone’s body in a cemetery.

Sentence                           What you must serve if you are convicted.

Comma                             What you are in if you are unconscious for some time.

Paragraphs                     Two charts used in a presentation to explain a trend.

Period                                 Part of a woman’s monthly cycle.

Story                                    One level of a building or house.

Tale                                       Something a dog, cat, or other animal wags.

Pen                                       A place where you keep an animal from escaping.

Essay                                   How you evaluate the worth of a precious metal, like gold.

Novel                                   Something unique.

Keystroke                          First sign of heart trouble.

Phrase                                What happens to children as they age.

First Person                     Adam.

Second Person             Eve.

Third Person                   Cain.

Symbolism                      One of the techniques used by drummers.

Parentheses                   A disciplinary style used by Mom and Dad.

Climax                                You know, something that’s part of intercourse.

Conflict                              What happens when a prisoner escapes from jail.

Writer                                  A person who works to correct wrongs.

Quote Marks                  Evidence that a vehicle went somewhere.

Hero                                     Sandwich you order at a deli.

Composition                  A place to put garbage and turn it into fertilizer.

Hook                                    What’s used to catch fish or hang something.

Memoir                              A piece of furniture that is usually found in a bedroom.

Copyright How to avoid stealing someone’s work the wrong way.

Season Your Writing

By Terry C. Misfeldt

The only way you could put paprika on your writing is if you printed your work, laid it on a table, and got out the paprika. Same with salt, pepper, garlic powder, or some other spice. What we’re sharing is how to spice up your story with a season of the year.

Winter, especially in northern climes, creates numerous opportunities for stories. It can mean snowmobiling and perhaps running out of gas in the middle of a forest or finding a secluded spot in the woods you’d never find without a snow machine.

A heavy snowfall could isolate a community and draw neighbors closer together as they deal with food shortages and heating issues. It can add intrigue to your story and make life difficult for characters, or enable them to have fun like making snow creatures or starting snowball fights.

The point here is to think about the time of year you’re dealing with in your story. Winter and cold temperatures mean your characters must dress more warmly or cozy up to a crackling fire. Summer means warmer temperatures and less clothing or spending time at the beach or poolside with a sweet iced tea.

Fall can be about football, trees blossoming with colored leaves, leaves rustling on the dry ground, or school swinging back into session. Walks in the woods arm-in-arm with a loved one is romantic in autumn, as is spring and the budding of trees and flowers.

If you have a favorite season, consider employing what you like most about the time of year in your story…maybe as how one of your characters shares your perspective as their own. And, perhaps, one of your antagonists may despise that same season you love and triggers that character’s animosity toward your protagonist. Maybe…

Celebrate Your Uniqueness

By Terry C. Misfeldt

Every one of us is unique in our own way. You may be a Type A with variations of your other personality traits. You may be someone who just wants to do their job and go home to enjoy peace and quiet.

As a writer, that unique nature you bring to writing must be celebrated. Your writing should reflect how you feel…or how you want to feel about your characters, settings, and words in general. How do you see a forest of trees in spring? Fall? Winter? Your perspective is yours alone, so describe how you feel about what you see.’

Your eyes, your brain, and your writing style are yours alone. Sure, you may follow the style of a writer you admire but you are not them! You are you. Who is that person? Why do you write the way you do?

There are–basically–two people you write for: One is the reader you want to reach and entertain, inform, educate, scare, or merely amuse. Get to know that person as much as you can. The second person is you. You must be satisfied with the words you write. Remember, you’re the only person who can write those words. It is your thought process that brings them out and puts them into your computer, your journal, or that spiral notebook you use to craft your writing.

Just be you.