Category: Katie Ganshert

Mr. and Mrs. Duck

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

Here they are – the two ducks that have been wandering around our neighborhood for the past week. (disclaimer: these two ducks are not the exact same ducks, but the resemblance is uncanny). I refer to them as Mr. and Mrs. Duck. Creative, I know. I imagine they are very much like those elderly couples you see holding hands and taking walks very early in the morning. I think they are in love.

My husband and I first spotted them in our neighbor’s yard, pacing the fence line, as if they wanted to get into our yard. But before they could do too much exploring, we let our dog, Bubba, outside (he was whining at the door). He ran to the fence and chased them away.

The very next day, we spotted them again, meandering on the street behind ours. And this morning they were in our front yard. Right now as I type this, they are across the street. They waddle from yard to yard, side by side, and I’ve grown quite fond of them. Ryan decided to put some bread on our front lawn. Maybe Mr. and Mrs. Duck will have a little dinner date outside our window.

The other day, Mr. Duck was standing in a puddle on the side of the road while Mrs. Duck watched. I imagined their conversation going something like this:

Mrs. Duck: Dear, you do know that’s just a puddle, don’t you?
Mr. Duck: But it’s delightful! Look, my feet are wet.
Mrs. Duck would probably have no response for this. She probably would just blink several times and let Mr. Duck amuse himself.

Maybe I should write a children’s story about Mr. and Mrs. Duck. Oh wow, that would be a horrible idea. I have ideas for other kid’s books though. I thought of a whole series once about animals that were afraid of things they shouldn’t be. Like a bird who’s afraid of heights. Or a raccoon who’s afraid of the dark. Or a snake who’s afraid of mice. Or a worm who’s claustrophobic. Isn’t that sort of cute? What other ones could there be?

I got up at 3:30 AM this morning and couldn’t fall back asleep. So I just stayed up and started writing. Can you tell I am currently sleep deprived? Who blogs about ducks, anyway?

Question to ponder: Have you ever thought of writing a children’s book? If so, what would it be about?removetweetmeme

Phases

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

My husband and I go through these weird phases. We get on some sort of kick and run with it for awhile, until we get so absolutely sick of it that one or both of us agrees to put it away for awhile. Here are some examples of Ganshert family phases:

There was a period of time in our life when we “called” everything. For example: I call you do the dishes. Or, I call you feed Bubba. Sort of like elementary school – only we weren’t calling “Not it!”. And for whatever reason, we went by this rule. This started leading to arguments. It was at this point we decided maybe there was a healthier way to assign chores.

We went through a very bizarre phase where we would go to the mall and set down different coins (like pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters) and sit on a bench, and see if anybody would pick them up. We discovered nobody cared about anything less than a quarter. I can’t remember how this started – I think we were at the airport and our flight kept getting delayed, so this is what we resorted to for entertainment. We are easily amused.

We went through a phase where we stopped listening to the radio and would sing instead. This often led to hysterical laughter. If you heard either of us sing, you would understand why. It doesn’t help that Ryan always makes up his own lyrics to songs.

Our most recent phase originated from Ryan watching Donnie Brasco. Now, whenever I ask him a question or ask him to do something, his first response is, “Fah-get about it!” I have a feeling this phase will be leaving quite soon.

I go through phases is reading and writing too. I’ll get on one author and read all of his/her books . *cough* Francine Rivers *cough* Or I’ll get hooked on a certain genre and read all those books. Or, as a writer, I’ll fall in love with a word or a phrase or a character trait and find myself using them often in my writing. I have to be very careful here, since this can get repetitive.

Question to ponder: What phases have you gone through in life? If you’re a writer, what writing phases have your gone through?removetweetmeme

6 Elements of a Scene

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

I am taking an online course through ACFW called “Unputdownable”. The course covers the elements that make a book impossible to put down. One of the lessons focused on scene writing.

When I read this lesson, a big light switch flipped on in my brain. It was definitely an AH-HA moment. Believe it or not, when I wrote novels in the past, I didn’t think in terms of scenes. Often, I’d just write whatever came to mind that day. But really, books are just like movies, and each scene needs to have a purpose. Each scene needs to drive the overall plot of the book forward.

My course instructor laid out 6 defining elements each scene should include:

1. Point of View (POV) character: each scene needs to be told from one – and only one – character’s point of view

2. Goal: this POV character needs to have a scene goal – there should be something this person wants to accomplish or prevent throughout this scene.

3. Motivation: there should be a logical reason why this character has such a goal.

4. Conflict: this is the tension – every scene should have it. What is preventing the POV character from reaching his/her goal?

5. Climax: the high point of the scene – the part where emotions are running the highest and the reader is most engaged

6. Resolution: how does the scene end – usually, the resolution should end with some sort of hook – something that makes the reader want to keep going.

My crit buddy thinks I am OCD – and I don’t question her assessment (she is a licensed therapist, after all) – but I actually went through Velvet Sky and made a document that outlines every single scene in my book. For every scene, I address each of the six elements.

It took FOR-EVER (Sandlot style) to do this. But now that I have it done, I feel very secure in the direction I am headed. Does that mean my characters won’t throw me for a loop every now and then and take my story in an unexpected direction? Of course not! But it does mean each scene I write from here on out will have a purpose. Each scene will drive the overall plot of my story forward, which feels good.

Here’s another bonus to my OCD behavior. Some writers have an overall word count quota they set out to accomplish each day. I’ve never been good at this. Now, instead of a word count quota, my goal is to write one scene a day. And what’s even better – I can pick and choose. If I’m having problems with motivation – I can skip to a high-intensity or fun scene and write away. If I’m particularly focused that day – I can choose a scene that I know is going to be painful or hard to write. So, regardless of the time and effort this outline took, I think I’m going to be doing it with every story I write from here on out.

Question to ponder: What has been an AH-HA moment in your writing journey? Have you ever read or heard something that just flipped on a light switch, and your writing is better because of it? Please share, as your AH-HA moments will probably teach me lots!!removetweetmeme