Fiction Writing

by Kimberly A. Cook             (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Turkey time! My favorite holiday of the year brings joy to my nose. The scents of the season remind us of  both good and crazed memories from our lives. Every story needs to include the sense of smell, so let’s go on a smell-adventure this week.

Every year I bake the pumpkin pies for the family. Only Libby’s recipe will do and I have to add the spices, eggs and evaporated milk to make it perfect. There are some traditions one should never mess with.

When my Mom used to make the pies, the leftover pie crust would be rolled out, then sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, dotted with butter and rolled up into mini cinnamon rolls. They never lasted long when they came out of the oven. But I remember the smell of cinnamon, crust and hot butter.

One year my friend from Australia celebrated Thanksgiving with us. It was a first for her and she decided it was a right brilliant holiday. From the turkey and stuffing smells in the house to the table practically breaking with the weight of food, she talks about that day decades later. Smell makes an impression.

While you go about your holiday week, concentrate on what smells touch your emotions and try to figure out what memories they bring up. Our most powerful sense, smell can take us back to a single memory in a flash, like a jump to hyperspace. Be aware of smells all around this week and let me know which ones really resonate with you.

Watch out for the fun part of the holidays too. My sister and brother-in-law’s cat, Comet, has been on a diet. He is down to fighting weight but still wants to eat all the time. The vet suggested plain pumpkin. Comet loves it. Who knew even a Pumpkin Puss appreciates the smell and taste of pumpkin, without crust. Comet will be in great shape for his holiday flight if Santa Paws calls.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

by Kimberly A. Cook                (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Perhaps it’s too much Olympic Games viewing, but I decided to take on a monumental challenge this past Sunday. It was time to gut it out and assemble my new tv stand. While I inventoried and laid out all the pieces, found all the accessories and gathered my tools, it occurred to me it’s much like writing a book.

First, everyone thinks there are directions which give all the answers; trust me, in either case they do not exist. Authors can tell you their process, but each writer has to find their way to write a book. Sharing writing tools is what authors do to help new writers, but our tools may not be the right tools for you. Use trial and error to find a writing method which helps you. Be prepared for your process to change over time.

A member of my writer support group learned this step when she realized switching from being a non-fiction author to writing her memoir was a brand new journey. She learned it was a very different process from her business writing methods. She had to learn not only how to write a memoir, but how SHE would write her memoir. Sally is creating her own set of directions to build her book which fits this new genre.

Reading the tv stand assembly directions, it was easy to veer off course. This also happens when writing a book. We authors think we know what our story is about but then two unexpected pieces come together and we go down a new plot path. Works with a book, but not putting together a tv stand.

When all the pieces finally do come together, three hours later for the tv stand – five years for my first non-fiction book, it’s all worth it. Because at the end of a book writing marathon, we are all crafting the stories we need to tell and which exist only in our unique imaginations.

Because while tv stands have pre-cut parts and fairly good directions, when completed we all build the exact same tv stand. (Okay, some people have parts left over. I didn’t. This time.)Writing books is not building cookie-cutter “some assembly required” furniture. We don’t all want to write or read the same book.

Our gold medal goal is to write books which touch our reader’s hearts and make them turn the page to discover what happens next. We can use writing coaches, writer organizations, editors, and attend conferences; but in the end we have to write in order to discover how WE write.

The same way our Olympians have to put in the time, struggle, dedication and practice; in the end it comes down to each of us doing the work. Go for the tv stand AND writing gold!

by Kimberly A. Cook                (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

The tried and true advice to show and not tell a story also needs to include smell. Of all the five senses we writers use to convey thoughts, emotions and senses, the old nose is at the top of the list to help immerse readers into an intimate memory. The oldest of the five senses we humans have, a whiff of a lover’s perfume or the scent of a grandfather’s Old Spice cologne takes us right back to that place and time.

When restaurants advertise their scrumptious dishes with full color pictures of food, their marketing departments would give their right nostril to be able to include smell. These blueberry pancakes I had on vacation were divine and the picture doesn’t do them justice.

If I describe the wafting aroma of warm powdered sugar rising like newborn doughnuts from the pancake batter with warm blueberries filling the air, you want to jump in the plate.

Never miss a chance to use a smell to trigger a memory or a feeling for our readers. The simple details can tell the most about a mood an author wants to evoke.  Studies have been done on the allure of such things as pumpkin, vanilla and licorice to raise amorous notions among our species.

For my money, blueberry pancakes belong on that list too. Perhaps I need to do some more research. Bring on the blueberries!