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Friday, May 4, 2012
How I reached the writing of my fifth novel: Chasing The WindI'm writing my fifth novel: Chasing The Wind.
When I look at the word “Fifth”,
it scares me. It seems like just yesterday I was working on my first novel, A Brownstone in Brooklyn. With the publication
of Brownstone, I thought my novel writing days were over. Now, four books later and I’m going strong in crafting novels.
I’m
on a roll.However, the crafting
of a novel is never easy. There is character development with character resumes, scene construction, setting or the sense
of place in a book, point of view, descriptive details, pacing, etc.The elements of a novel are daunting and must be conquered and woven
together into a cohesive book that will grab and keep readers turning the pages.In Chasing The Wind, I want to explore how characters persevere over or destroyed
by ever changing themes in their lives. After the publication of A Brownstone in Brooklyn in 2001, the flood gates opened with
Philly Style and Philly Profile in 2007, Ghost of Atlanta in 2011 and Purple Phantoms in 2012.My fourth novel, Purple Phantoms, will be published
by Passionate Writer Publishing which published the National Gold Medal Award Winning Ghost of Atlanta. I learned something from Terry Kay, the incredible southern
author, that has helped me since 2005, when I started writing Philly Style and Philly Profile, and that is when I finish
a book, “don’t get up from the desk until you have written the first line of the next book.” That has helped me stay in the process of writing a novel.
The writing never stops and I LOVE it!***PS: In the title of the book is it: “the” or
“The”…a little help please (smile).
11:20 pm edt
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Thompson On...One Writer's Journey to become a successful Novelist! Sometimes when I enter my writing area, in a corner of my office,
it seems that words will not come and the critic inside me attacks my creativity with a constant bombardment of negative thoughts.
Enough! Finally, I sit down, strike the letters on the keyboard and let the
words energize each other as they create vivid word pictures that become vibrant mental images for my readers. I'm on my writing
schedule and I believe in my myself!
I wasn't always this confident in my writing ability.
I listened to the "Rules Police" or "Peer Critics" and didn't believe enough to even look inside myself
to come up with the courage to write a single line. I was scared, really scared, at one time in my life, many years ago in
my high school days in the turnbulent sixties.
What developed confidence in my writing abiiity? It
was faithful fall day, when I was a junior at Bushwick High School, in Brooklyn, New York. I was scared to express any thoughts, because of my rural southern
background where you had to put your ego under a deep cover of quietness, and where any opinions brought out retribution. Heck, I was even afraid to look people in the eye because of the
oppressive segregated atmosephere of small-town Georgia. Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence was lacking in my personality. I knew I had this amazing ability
to write, but the motivation and confidence was zero.
I was now in my second year, at Bushwick, after moving from Statham, Georgia, population 300 and segregated, to Brooklyn,
population 3,000,000 and integrated.
I got up enough nerve to ask my English teacher and student council/general organization sponsor, Ms. Egan, the question.
If the answer was negative, all my hopes and dreams of becoming the next great novelist would be dashed. I knocked hard on the door to her
office, entered, and asked, "Can I be a writer?" She stared at me for a few moments and then said, "Do It!" I haven't looked back. As a high schol English teacher, I know the power of
positive or negative words in a students life. I learned that fall day in Brooklyn and I instill that confidence in my students
today: 2012. Oh, my writing
Career: ***I wrote
articles for The New York times.
***I wrote for the Philadelphia Bulletin (National Sports Writing Award---third best story in the United States in 1977) ***I wrote for the Atlanta Journal
Constitution.
***I wrote for the Associated Press.
***I wrote for Sports Scene Magazine
***I wrote for Parade Magazine ***Georgia
Author of the year nominee 2007(For my novel Philly Style an Philly Profile). ***Georgia Author of the year nominee 2011 ( for my novel Ghost of Atlanta) ***2011 National Fiction Award Winner for
Ghost of Atlanta! Ms. Egan would
be proud!!!!! Not bad for a scared
little kid from the Bush Chapel Section of a small town in Georgia. I'm telling you like my high school English teacher told me: "Do it!" Happy Writing!
11:02 pm edt
Thompson...One Writer' journey to success as a novelist
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10:54 pm edt
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Thompson On...Subplots in Novels! Have you ever driven down one of those winding backwood roads
in a rural area and couldn't figure out how to get back to the main highway? Well, that is the feeling a reader gets when
they read your novel and get lost in a tangling subplot.
Your goal as an author is to create a little depth to your novel, maybe a little suspense, but not take away from your main
plot and pull your reader out of the "Fictive Dream" you worked so hard to create in the reader's mind. What is a subplot? ***A subplot is a secondary plot strant that is supporting a side
story for any story or main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or in themeatic signaficance.
Subplots often involve supporting characters, those besides the protagonist or antagonist. ***Subplots are distinguished from the main plot by taking up less
of hte action, having less significant events occur, with less impact on the book. Novels comment on one thing from multiple
perspectives and with side trips her eand there: This means subplots. In a novel, you can take a side trip to give extensive back story or other reasons.
However, the subplot isn't a side trip, it's a set of cohesive actions with its own main characters, goals, sebacks and
resolutions. Subplots are a sequence of events
that parallels themai plot; it can closely resemble the main plot or it can diverge in significant ways in order to highlight
themain plot. For example
from my first novel, A Brownstone in Brooklyn, Jesse Towns and the possible horrific selling of the brownstone without
the tenants knowledge was an early subplot. This subplot lasted the first seven chapters, but it impacted the thematic development
of the rest of the novel. The
Key for all subplots! 1. They relate
to the main plot and inersect with it in some way. 2.
Don't swamp the main plot line with subplots. They must advance the story and show complexities in
your characters. Ideas
for Subplots! 1. The main character
can have more than one goal, usually relating to the main goal in some way. 2. Romantic subplots are common. 3.
Secondary character's concern and goal. One of the other characters is the hero of his/her own plot/? As you craft your novel, your objective is to pick and
choose when to use subplots to add depth and possible suspense to your book. Subplots are most effective in the middle
of a novel as the reader moves toward the climatic ending. Keep your readers on the main Highway, but don't be afraid to make a detour to show a little
extra scenery, fight some incredible battles and meet some new and interesting characters. Happy Writing!!! *****
11:52 pm edt
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