Tag Archives: Writing

Using Weapons in Writing IV

By Terry C. Misfeldt

Disclaimer: This blog is about writers using weapons for the characters in their stories. It is not advocating violence of any sort but sharing of wisdom about weapon use.

Over the last three weeks, we’ve covered the use of weapons for provision (supplying food to feed people), protection, recreation, and today’s post is about their use by an aggressive character. That intimates a character who is intent on using a weapon to kill someone. There is a hidden implication here that the character has no remorse for murder and cares not about the consequences.

Allow me to start with one of the world’s most feared aggressor: the sniper. Assassins such as a sniper like to shoot from distance, often from a lofty perch like the roof of a tall building. In combat, however, a sniper may lie on the ground concealed by a ghillie suit. The most feared sniper weapon is a high caliber rifle such as a .30-.06 bolt rifle with high powered scope. It is an accurate weapon in that it propels a bullet at high velocity through a long barrel and often a considerable distance from the target.

The formula: Power plus barrel length equals accuracy over distance is a sniper’s forte.

Most military grade weapons are designed for attacking an opponent. Sub-machine guns, grenades, carbine rifles and bayonets are meant to kill. However, a high caliber pistol or revolver can also prove deadly but are less accurate due to a shorter barrel length. Even a smaller caliber weapon such as a .22 caliber firearm can be used to kill.

The list of deadly weapons — beyond firearms — include spears, knives, throwing stars, axes and hatchets, swords, machetes, and numerous other devices. Many of these are meant for close, often hand-to-hand combat, such as batons and chains.

What every writer must remember is that the aggressive character intent on murder will somehow have to deal with the consequences of their action. Some snipers have been known to die at the hands of another sniper. Some slayers commit suicide while others are captured and prosecuted to the full extent of the law and sentenced to prison or death. What they leave behind is not only a dead body but families that are destroyed by violence. Consider the members of the military wounded or slain during conflicts.

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,

COVID Motivation

By Terry C. Misfeldt

Writers I converse with regularly seem to lack motivation to write as a result of COVID-19. They are isolated from other writers, family members, and friends, so it is hard to write about anything without human interaction. So here are my thoughts for writers who lack COVID motivation.

  1. Dedicate time each day to writing. Just write! It matters not what you type into your document or scribble on a note pad. Write about your day’s experiences if nothing else. What is essential is that you are writing, whether it’s at 7:00 in the morning or 11:00 at night. Write!
  2. Find something to write about. Your favorite food and why you relish that delicacy. Your best friend and how you get along with that person, even if your best friend is yourself. Write about your favorite time of year or the season that inspires you, such as the colors of autumn.
  3. Correspond with someone you care about. Find a blank note card and send a friend who lives far away a message about why you miss them or what you treasure most about your relationship and your hopes of rekindling it when you can get back together again. Open your heart to them.
  4. Find a writing contest and enter it. There are many magazines and writing groups solicting entries in their writing contests. If you find one you feel qualified to enter, study the rules and write that winning entry. It may cost you a few bucks to enter, but the satisfaction of competing…and winning…can be motivating. And last…
  5. Set a daily goal and write your novel. If you want to write a 90,000 word novel, you can do it in 90 days if you set a goal of writing 1,000 words every day. Perhaps you write 500 words in the morning and another 500 after dinner or all of them at once. The key is to set a goal and keep working at it. It can be your motivation.

Writing Perspective – Day 2 of 31

By Valerie Routhieaux

Day Two – Ideas

Today, I’m going to focus on ideas. One of the most frequently asked questions is how do I get my ideas? I’d like to say I think a long time about what to write. I don’t. Thoughts are always there and spawn ideas I can write about.

You can get ideas from news stories, books, movies or something that happens. The way it happened brings forth a great idea for a book.

Talking to people and something they say, or how it’s said, can be a good plot for a story.

There are so many places you can find stories, they’re endless. Even dreams can evolve into a book. For non-fiction books, there might be something that happened–such as a mystery–that hasn’t been solved or a memoir from your childhood could make a good book. History is full of people who did something other people would want to know about.

Think about every book you’ve ever read. Which was your favorite and why? That book started as an idea in the author’s imagination. They took that idea and made a story from it, and that story became the book you read. It might have been a best-seller and it might not. However, you read it, reviewed it and others have done the same.

Jerry B. Jenkins, author of the Left Behind series was on a plane and had the idea to write about the tribulation from the viewpoint of an airline pilot. The series became a reality, which he co-authored with Tim LaHaye. One book led to twelve and then four prequels.

Don’t discount the ideas you have. They all lead somewhere, whether it’s a blog post or a best-selling novel.

You might wonder how a person can take an idea from a book. I read an article once that said, there are no new stories, and someone will always come along and write the story better than you did. Find a nugget in a book and you have an idea, a seed, and a new story comes forth. What are your ideas? Let them germinate the seed for a story.

It’s time to write.

Tomorrow’s perspective: Join a Writer’s Group.