"TheOtherSideofGlory"--July 21, 2008

On Friday night I finished typing the first draft to my Prologue for this second novel: The Other Side of Glory. I had to start typing this story over from page one, being the original "draft" from 2002 was destroyed. The only thing I had left of the original 18 chapters I discarded was a .PDF version of the Prologue and first two chapters I started re-typing in 2005, about the same time I transformed my 4,000 word short-story (the Cabin) into what is now my first novel: Proud Souls.

Trying to get back into character and follow a plot written years ago is hard--at least for me--so I started typing again, this time clearing my mind of any traces of Justin Bower or Tessa Jameson. On Monday the 14th, the first night of my re-write, I dreamt the opening scene to this story as clearly as you could see the imagery of a movie. In that dream I realized there were concepts missing in my written words--things such as smell, lighting and emotion. Don't ask me how I come about these things because honestly, I don't know. What I do know is this: Once I partake on a story and try to learn the characters, they reveal themselves to me in dreams while I sleep (when I can sleep) and in sounds and images that distort my vision while I am awake.

On Friday I began typing everything I had written free-hand; as I have said before I write my stories on paper and then transfer that material to typed text. It is that typed version of the story I dub DRAFT One or Two, etc. I spent five hours on Friday night--while my wife and kids were away--drawing the opening scene. There was a point where I stepped away and smoked a cigarette outside. It was dark and I was tired and I was ready to call it quits for the day. I only had approximately 5 more written pages to type before I realized I was going the wrong direction with the story. It wasn't a few seconds after lighting my cigarette [that] I saw the rest of the scene play out in my imagination. It was clear and detailed and it had substance, something I felt was missing from the original draft. I tossed the cigarette aside, ran to my computer and typed the final scene from the opening Prologue. After more than five hours of work I had overcome the first hurdle in this long process.

I have since dreamt the story only once, being I don't have much else written. Tonight I began typing the opening paragraphs to the first chapter. This is the part of the story where I will introduce the audience to both my protagonist and antagonist, each in opposing settings, contrasting the extreme differences in their characters. Remember, "The Other Side of Glory" is a play on the duality of man so my trick (for lack of a better word) is to draw the essence of one human divided into two entirely different human beings. One man will represent what society might deem as Good while the other will represent Evil. How good or how evil each us will have to be determined by the audience in their own way, as I can only create them as they are and portray them in story as they present themselves to me. No doubt however they will show themselves to me. Each in turn will master my thoughts and my mind and in doing so will transform a portion of their characteristics to me. I can only hope the lesser of the two evils doesn't overstay their welcome as that is the price for writing such realistic characters. That is the bain of my existence as a poet, herald and writer.

Someone asked me today how fast I can turn around this story and what "process" I use for completing the manuscript draft. My answer was this: There is no exact formula for writing a novel and I care little about what the experts say with their proven methods and fancy novel writing software. My attitude is this (and it's the reason why I have never taken a creative writing course--or any writing course for that matter): If my writing is truly a gift from God, something I was born with, then I am not going to taint it with shoddy advice from people who can't write, but rather decipher "better" means and alternatives for remembering the storyline, characters and plot. My stories come to me in visions, dreams and whispers. I see them, feel them and live with them until I dare to pour their stories onto paper. The more involved I become and the more of myself I give back to understanding the story--WITH an understanding of the concepts and fundamentals that make a story real--the easier it is to produce the finished product. I would suggest one thing if I had to suggest any outside "material" for understanding the concepts--not HOW--but the practiced methods for creating a story most people would follow. Read Joseph Campbell's "A Hero With A Thousand Faces" and follow-up with Christopher Vogler's "A Writer's Journey." If you can understand Mr. Campbell's philosophies and Mr. Vogler's methods for applying them into modern storytelling, then you are already one leg up on the competition.

Remember this though, it doesn't matter how well you are grammatically or how well you understand the concepts applied by Joseph Campbell or any other "expert" on how to write. In the end, if you can't tell a good story...there won't be anything worth reading anyhow...


~Bobby Ozuna
www.BobbyOzunaOnline.com
"Drawing Stories...With Words"

And Now Introducing..."The Other Side of Glory"

This week I have embarked on a familiar path on a new journey. I have made up my mind to begin writing my second novel, which I have selected from the many first chapters I have written for multiple potential novels over the years. The story is one that I began writing in 2002, only (like Proud Souls before it) to be discarded after eighteen chapters and one year of work. I didn't like, not my writing style at the time nor where or how the story should be written with regards to point-of-view. I struggled at first with writing the story in First Person--but knowing the story is so close to personal experiences despite being fiction--I felt too many people would assume the novel was autobiographical. That and I didn't want people to look at me weird. I tried writing it in Third Person but couldn't determine who would be telling the story--as in which character. In the end it was a chance conversation with a very good friend of mine by the name of Manny Loya that I discovered (or rather, the story discovered me) the means to open the novel I will entitle: "The Other Side of Glory."

"The Other Side of Glory" is my tribute to the time, sacrifices, friendships, dreams and realities of my younger days and my time in the US Marines. Unfortunately, for those of you Hoo-Rah! hard charging Devil Dogs out there or warmongers who appreciate a good military tale, this probably won't be the story for you. I am sticking to my traditional means of writing fiction, using my own flare for enticing an audience, focusing on the struggles of the human condition as I attempt to transform characters as they take the stage in their archetypal roles to create a coming-of-age story of the essence of Good versus Evil.

In my attempt to write this second novel, I must be honest when I say (and every aspiring writer out there should adhere to this warning) it isn't easy nor does the personal satisfaction always outweigh the emotional costs of drawing stories with words. Already in this week I have written an opening Prologue, and on the first night after writing it, I have dreamt the scenes, realizing what was missing in the opening pages. In that initial dream I was introduced (more thoroughly) to the introductory characters, still uncertain how much of a significance they will play. As I have said before, my stories develop in time, as do the characters, and in time--as I succumb to the faint whispers of their voices within my head--they introduce more of themselves and in revealing their secrets and sins, the story becomes more and more complete.

I am going to try something different with this novel. I am going to journal my experiences--mostly the emotional aspect of creating the characters, storyline, plot, etc--in my blog as part of enhancing the experience for the readers. I feel you can get to know me more as a writer, if you know what I am thinking while writing my next book, and perhaps learn to appreciate the completed novel more, when you understand the complexity and emotional turmoil some of us undergo as we (as I am so fond of saying...) draw our stories with words.

So, today I would like to share a (draft) portion of the Prologue to my second novel: "The Other Side of Glory."

I hope you stay with me during the course of this experience, from draft, to thought, to idea, to completed manuscript and ultimately published novel. I think it will be a great experience for all of us and if anything, prove just how crazy I am.


"The Other Side of Glory"
PROLOGUE:

Ask an old man who has spent his years providing a means for his family under the Texas sun to describe the summer heat and he might say it feels as hot as Hell. Ask a State Correctional Officer in the Huntsville prison system and they might say Hell is the place they work, where they clock-in and clock-out in efforts to support a family who will only become disenchanted with them in time, because of the severity by which the emotional turmoil takes its toll on prison workers. Ask a young Marine who has served his country abroad during nonetheless—“peacetime”—and he might say Hell is the emotional state by which men struggle to survive as the natural human instinct to destroy and the condition by which he has been trained wrestles with the notion that he is meant for greater things and somehow he was destined to be the light upon a hill. A beacon of salvation for all humanity. Even still he might say, it is the psychological struggle of the lion borne in each of them, shaken from their bowels, dusted and set loose for all anarchy and rage, only to be caged in spite of the Light they were meant to represent, guardians of peace and justice in an unjust world—the keepers of the very gates of Heaven themselves; He and his brothers might say they were men destined still by the right of their actions to defend a Heaven that will not have them, but instead banish them to the confines of Hell to wage war with the legions of Satan’s army for all eternity.

Somehow that prison guard, that husband and father and yes, even the lowly Marine can at different times all be correct in their interpretations of Hell. It isn’t the existence or the beauty and wonder of Heaven that separates them; on the contrary, their internal faith is the mortar by which they are bound. And sadly, it is the part of their true existence rarely seen or understood because of the external belief and acknowledgement of Hell that seems to pour from their souls.

If you had the chance to ask the man they called Pops, he would have said as passionately as any poet, that Hell was a fictional realm created to scare children, referenced by every religion known under the stars to give balance to their amazing heavens they have portrayed in fantasy, fairy-tale and faith; but in reality, it was a psychological world created within the minds of those who lost their humanity and whose names were scratched from all eternity because of the mishaps created by the demons within the minds of man.; the same demons that drive a husband and father away from his children. It is an ever-present life-force which can drive a man insane, suffocating him and tormenting him to the point where all reality becomes a dream and in an instance, all life passes before his eyes and every story ends the same—behind bars, locked-up and stored away forever—lost to the soul of the world in long corridors of space and in time, altogether forgotten.

And into that same long corridor of the forgotten came two prison guards—one old and one young—escorting between them the State’s newest inmate. He walked with his head down, careful not to make eye contact with any of the other inmates he passed along the way. It was late, so most of the prisoners were in bed, pretending to sleep and others were just beginning their long night of battle with the demons of their minds.

~Bobby Ozuna
Texas Writer & Author
www.BobbyOzunaOnline.com
"Drawing Stories...With Words"

"Proud Souls" On Location Video Documentary, Pt 2

I apologize, but due to "size limitations" within Blogger I will be unable to publish my latest edition to the "Proud Souls Video Documentary" (part 2) directly into this blog.
But you can link to it from here...

This is the second video in my documentary, where I take the audience "on location" to the setting in my debut literary novel: Proud Souls.
I was fortunate to meet some great people and somewhere in the midst of these videos...I share insight into how I created the story.

Thanks for the support! I do hope you enjoy the video footage.

"Proofing Versus Editing???"

For those of you who often ask yourself, which stage is more important in the creation of my next story...editing the manuscript or proof (reading) it? I have answered your question.

Check out my new CultureFeast.com article: "Proofing Versus Editing Your
Unpublished Book." Click the link below and give it a read.

Bobby on CultureFeast.com

Thanks for the support! Don’t forget to leave your comments!!!

~Bobby Ozuna
author of Proud Souls
http://www.bobbyozunaonline.com/

"Back Where It All Began..."

This weekend I had the privilege to return to the very place that inspired my debut literary novel: Proud Souls. I visited Seymour, Texas on Friday the 14th to shoot some videos, meet new friends and sign some books. It was an incredible trip and for a writer who was fortunate to visit a small chapter of the world that would later lead to the opening pages of a draft that would then become a novel length manuscript--the end result was nothing short of amazing. I was reminded both in the moment where I stood at the cabin porch looking over the same settings as my hero--Justin Olerude Bower--and again when I sat down with the members of the Seymour Writer's Group--that despite what I felt about my progress as an artist...I have moved forward and I have something to offer other would-be writers.

I started the trip with some footage of me discussing the concept of creating Proud Souls while driving West on Highway 199/114. Before arriving in town however I contacted the good people (Jo Petty & Samantha Spurgeon) at the Seymour Police Department to help formulate a practical joke on the Chief of Police--Tommy Duncan. With the help of Officer Mike Hansen, we simulated an arrest (and Mike even processed my license to make the arrest seem real) and waited to see if Tommy would take the bait. I had to warn Mike that although he was working to make the joke seem more real--once I heard them call out prior addresses and my parents info I had to warn him there might actually find something on me!!! Needless, Mike took me in handcuffed and by the time we got to the station, Tommy said he wouldn't come out until I was arraigned. Well that ended the joke...I wasn't about to spend any time in cell #3.

Tommy and I spent a few moments talking before we received notice that a house was on fire! I got to ride (in the front seat this time) with Tommy and watch the Seymour Volunteer Fire Department put out the fire while Mike Hansen made an arrest. I had lunch with Tommy and his wife over at Diaz restaurant and when I returned from the lunch I signed some books and made some new friends. I want to thank Jo Petty, Samantha Spurgeon, Gerald Livingston and Mike Hansen from their support! My next stop was Lake Kemp and Justin's cabin...
I shot a series of videos I will be posting in the next few days on the road to/from Seymour and more importantly, a video while at "the" cabin. It was strange because like my character (at the end of the book), I didn't see the cabin like I did before, like Justin did in the opening to the story. It was cleaner and in a rugged solitary way--it was beautiful. I shot some scenes and gave a brief narration and hopefully gave a better view of what inspired the story. I tell people every chance I get--you never know where inspiration will strike--nor do you know what experiences will make their way into the pages of your next big story. I will be posting the videos over the next few days; I shot them in an unscripted manner, simply talking as I would if I were writing.
I finished the weekend on Saturday with a 2-hour meeting with some of the members of the Seymour Writer's Group. We met down at the Senior Center and it was wonderful! Like most things I do, the meeting was unscripted; I sat at the end of a long table and talked and answered the questions as the members threw them at me. And I have to say: they were GREAT questions! I wasn't sure how to feel about the meeting, but boy was I glad I did it. The people asked tough personal questions--important questions all relevant to my writing style, my approach to drafting a story and how I process a draft into a completed manuscript. Thank you everyone! Thank you Myra Busby for working with me to help get me in town and thank you Kelly Fest for being so proactive and helping to spread the word to the Writer's Group! I cannot thank-you enough!
I finished the trip with a few more photos from around town...and although the story Proud Souls was completely fictional..ironically I took a few pictures that you might find similar to images I created in my story.

Bobby on CultureFeast.com:

Continuing with my list of contest specifically designed and targeted to independently published authors, this week I add to that list with two more contest! Click here to read more...

Bobby's Useless Information: Love
The British, using sophisticated brain scanning techniques, found in 1999 that the sites in the brain that are most active when a person falls in love are generally the same as those stimulated by cocaine. The Italians added to this by looking at the changes in the brain chemicals of people in love. Their conclusion was that love is a form of obsessive-compulsive behavior.

*The Encyclopedia of Useless Information ISBN: 978-1-4022-0828-7 William Hartston*

Writing Dialogue: You Play The Part

Last night I was talking to some family and friends about my book, because naturally, when your passion is your art—well quite honestly—there isn’t anything else to talk about. One of the topics of discussion was the concept of dialogue. Primarily, they wanted to know how I created the conversations between characters. Now, for anyone who has attempted to write a scene, you know as well as I, dialogue can be one of the hardest parts of crafting any good story. Oftentimes when we are writing freehand or pounding away at the keyboard, what we interpret as clean, smooth dialogue, actually reads as choppy, blocked and essentially “fake” interpretations of how people actually interact with one another.

I remember years ago while Proud Souls was still in infancy form, running into this same scenario. In my mind I could see my characters interacting and it was as smooth as any scene on television. And to make it worse, after re-reading it (within MS Word), it still seemed to flow magically. Later, like I always do, I printed out my draft and later at night, when everyone would fall to sleep, I would read it aloud, again and again and the more I read the worst it sounded. I had fallen victim to the ever-present trap of formulating dialogue based on the concepts of good grammar and proper English. Needless to say I was stumped for lack of a better word and discouraged—more so than I already was. I stepped away from the scenes for a moment, continually taking mental notes however, preserving them within my mind for a later date.

One Sunday however I got my break. I have happened to become a fan of a show called Inside the Actor’s Studio, hosted by one James Lipton. If you haven’t seen the show, I highly recommend it. In an audience of Master’s Degree students, Mr. Lipton sits in a one-on-one session (so to speak) with many of the great actors of our generation. The environment is relaxed, allowing the guests to smoke a cigarette, have a glass of water, sit on a nice comfortable chair or by the end of the show, have a seat at the end of the stage, where they become readily accessible to the vast array of students and their inquiries. Knowing my passion is for writing and not acting (though I have been told to be something of a character myself) I realized something within the concepts detailed by many of the actors being interviewed. When on the subject of character development, and how so many great actors seem to take on the role of an entirely different person, insomuch that we believe wholeheartedly that they are indeed that person being portrayed on screen, many of the actors had a common approach to formulating and in essence taking on these roles. The answer was simple and I understood what I was missing within my writing.

When these actors are accepting their roles, based entirely on the producer/director’s concepts and visions and later a screenplay, many of the better actors shared how they immediately took on the role of their character, more importantly off the screen. The common consensus between these professionals was this: If they were to truly portray another human being, they would have to become that person for a moment in their lives, to see the reactions of the world around them and better understand their points-of-view and their prejudices, interests, likes and dislikes. And when they did this, they in turn, became that person they were asked to portray from the moment they accepted the role, thereby creating absolutely real fictitious characters.

And that was it! I understood then what I was missing in my own dialogue. If I was to create realistic scenes within my own fiction, I had to—in essence—become the characters themselves. Like these actors on the show, I accepted my role within the various characters of my story. And like an actor, I found a quiet room within my home, took my script or draft in my hand and with a pen, I began making corrections like a screenplay writer or director in a film and acted the scenes as they would appear on a stage. For instance, when the story opens with our hero Justin, sipping his whiskey on his porch swing, watching the darkness envelope his cabin, that was me. I waited for the sun to go down and I sat in a chair in the back of my home and I remained still and quiet, until all that encompassed me was darkness and solitude. In the scenes where Justin is interacting with Tessa Jameson, or with Reverend Polk or Ralph Parison, I took turns playing each part, studying the movements of my own body and natural idiosyncrasies while I spoke and relayed their dialogue. When I did this, I found a multitude of mistakes in my dialogue, much less artificial movements within my characters that indeed made my dialogue “fake.”

Take this example from Proud Souls. Without spoiling anything from the story, here is a scene where our protagonist Justin has his confrontation with the town pastor, Reverend Hillard Ray Polk. What I tried to capture within these few simple lines was not only voice (dialogue), but movement and internal thought process.

“You came here tonight for a reason son. I just want you to talk to me,” Polk said, searching for Justin’s face with his eyes. “Just talk. That’s all.”

In that example, Reverend Polk is addressing Justin in words easily interpreted as how one might talk. But if you notice, with the simple phrase “searching for Justin’s face with his eyes” it is easy for the reader to envision Reverend Polk possibly bending forward or moving his head side-to-side while he searches to make eye contact with Justin.
In continuing with this scene…

“I don’t know what to say,” Justin said. “Or where to start. I have so much anger running through my mind right now that I don’t know where to begin. I feel like I can’t see straight anymore.” He [Justin] ran his fingers through his long greasy hair and then scratched at his beard. “I don’t want to do it anymore.” I’m tired.

In this particular example we can [see] the character running his hands through his hair and then scratching his beard while he explains his feelings for the present situation. This particular passage ends with Justin thinking or saying to himself “I’m tired” allowing the audience to get inside his mental state to better understand the words he was [trying] to convey, being more than a simple I quit attitude, but actually an I give up state-of-mind.
And this state-of-mind is reiterated in a follow-up scene when Justin reaches a point where he wants to convey a message of potential suicide without ever saying the words And this was setup by the internal thoughts, movements and dialogue from previous scenes. Justin stood to continue his plea, waving his arms and hands in a manner of exclaiming his point. “They are dead! You understand that? I had a wife and a son and they are dead. Do you hear what the hell I am saying? They are dead and they left me alone here in this God forsaken world, to rot away, alone in some dirty cabin!”

Now I may never become a master artist at creating dialogue, but I do believe I have grasped a concept that is easily understood and can easily be applied by anyone wanting to add more depth to their interactive scenes. Besides that, when you are in the middle of a tough scene, working to find the right words to get over a particular hump, taking a moment to act out the scenes of your own story is one heck of a way to lessen the stress and quite simply laugh…
I’d love to hear what you think.

Bobby Ozuna author of "Proud Souls" http://www.bobbyozunaonline.com/

Creating "real" fictitious characters: Part I

Creating "REAL" fictitious characters, Part I: "Identifying With The Audience

Since releasing "Proud Souls" I have been asked many questions relating to my ability to create fictitious characters which appear very "real" and "life-like." As ironic as that might sound, I felt inclined to share a few tidbits of information and methodical rituals I partake in to create my characters.

When creating a new story, I never delve into the task "blindly." That is to say, I always have a general idea of how the story might turn out, but unlike many writers, I'm unclear as to how the story might end. I feel this is important considering we as artists should never limit our creativity. Let's take my story, "Proud Souls" as an example. I began writing the story and originally titled it "the Cabin" and I wrote the initial pages on a trip home from Seymour--the setting to my novel. I wrote approximately 14 pages and 90% of those pages were setting, with no character created. I had idea at the time of the draft if the hero of the story would be male or female and I wrote the setting and drew the initial opening to the story with a clear point-of-view. I did this because I didn't want to limit the story to a particular targeted audience. For instance, most romance writer's write from a female perspective, for females. This is not to say a male could not appreciate the emotion and storyline anymore or less than a woman could, but generally speaking, the greater customer base for romance novels is female.So, when the time came to begin compiling a draft for my story, I had to consider the audience and the make-up of the story, as a male character would have different emotional aspects associated with him as would a female. Now, I did write a female, who played a serious role in the life cycle of my protagonist Justin. Her name was Tessa Jameson. I will use Justin Olerude Bower as my example in this lesson however.

Step1: Identifying With the Audience

The first and most important aspect of drawing (as I like to say) or creating real characters would be creating characters the audience can identify with. I write character driven stories, not plot-based, therefore it was imperative that I create true human form on paper, and almost immediately, if I wanted to keep my audience interested and turning pages. I knew right away I would have to draw on basic human emotions that anyone could identify with, if I was to keep the potential reader interested—and I had to do this right away. Now, for those who have read my story (and I promise not to give too much away), you will notice I put lots and lots of emotions within the first opening chapters, which not only helped establish Justin as a character, but these emotions also helped lay the foundations for the theme to my story. "Proud Souls" is a story of loss and in order for me to establish a change within the character, one that will allow him to grow, I had to first draw the character at one spectrum of the character scale, in order for you to see growth and change later, which in turn helps push the story forward.

When I create characters I focus on emotions that are common to most readers. I have often said, a good fiction writer is one that has tasted the water from the well. You can't write about love, until you have had the courage to love someone more than yourself. You can't write about loss, until you have suffered and you can't appreciate victory, unless you yourself—the author and creator of the story—are daring enough to take up the call and challenges of life. Now, does this mean we should write stories that are targeted to particular audiences? Some experts will say yes, but I say no. To do this means you are restricting your own abilities. The stories I write, are the stories that have come to my heart and mind. But, a key element in any good story, again, is emotion. For instance, we (generally speaking) can all relate to love. In some way or another, even the strongest and boldest of men and women have loved someone or something in their life. So, to draw a character that is passionate about someone or something is easily relatable and the art or trick is to create vivid emotion on paper (that is another lesson). We have all experienced love or hate, sickness and health, financial accomplishment and debt. When I begin creating my characters I make sure to touch the senses, those of touch, taste, smell, sight and sound. For instance, let's say you have a character that is standing on the porch, overlooking some passing cars and watching the rain.

You could easily say, "He was standing on the porch when the rain began to fall, nodding hello to the passing cars. That is simple and easily understood, but another approach might be one that captivates and entices more than one sense—more than just sight. Let's say we tried the same approach but this time wrote instead:

"He was standing on the porch when the rain began to fall, waving at the passing cars. As the storm moved in he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, appreciating the cleanliness that comes with an evening rain. He smiled, feeling the first drops spray against his forehead."

In that example, we touched on sight (seeing the storm coming & passing cars), smell (cleanliness of the rain) and touch (drops against his forehead). Now, what I see for a character at this point in the story may be completely different from the next reader, but the commonality will be the senses, as we all can remember the feeling of raindrops on our forehead—for some this might remind them of a bad day when they were caught in a storm and for others a childhood memory when they played in the weather as kids. Either way, you have begun to draw on common emotion, and this my friends, is what readers relate to when getting to know a character.

For my part and "Proud Souls", Justin as did Tessa Jameson, both shared numerous emotions common to us all. Justin is a bitter man, with a hardened heart and he seems to wear the memory of the loss of his family around his neck like a heavy chain. Tessa is sensual and in tune with her more sexual side, something many people might relate to. Some of my readers won't identify with Justin, as they themselves have never lost a family member, much less a spouse or child, but they have known moments where life seemed hopeless and all remained loss, and if they substitute Justin's situation for their own, they will soon find the emotions that come with loss are similar, just weighed and measured on a different scale.

Practice this with your characters-in-progress. Review the scenes or opening chapters and ask yourself, despite the individuality of my character, what emotions does he/she have which can relate to my audience? Remember, you don't want to isolate yourself to any particular group of readers, especially if you write fiction. I myself love fiction of all sorts and when I hunt for the next great read, I try to taste water from the various wells along the bookshelf, not remain isolated to one row. You should always keep an open mind and consider not only yourself and your immediate target audience, but the followers of your genre in general. What emotions do we all have in common? What characteristics are common amongst the various nationalities and groups or sects? Try it… I think you will be surprised how much more "real" your fictitious characters become.

~Bobby Ozuna www.BobbyOzunaOnline.com