Extraneous tools I use to write

This seems like a strange subject, but I find that it is something that I just never really thought about until now. Oh, sure, I listen to music to set my mood and the mood of the piece I'm writing, and I even use it for inspiration sometimes. But there are other things that clutter my desk.

A set of bobble-heads that instill a sense of whimsy. Two dictionaries for those moments when I can't think of the correct word I want to use, or am momentarily stumped as to how to spell a word. (An uncommon occurrence, but there it is.) A baby-name book for the occasions when I need to find just the right name for a character. A pair of tactical knives (an S&W HRT and an old V-42) for those moments when I NEED the tactile sensation of having a deadly bit of steel in my hand to evoke the impression I want to insert into an action sequence. A couple of envelopes of old family pictures when I want to experience sadness, melancholy and nostalgia. The emotions help me to convey what I want to say sometimes. A measuring tape for those moments when I simply need to know how big or small a certain measurement really is. A large coaster to hold my coffee cup or glass of water.

Add to that all the general clutter that writers seem to habitually have on their desks and my workspace suddenly seems to have been diminished. Oh, and of course, a small notebook and pen to keep notes regarding whatever piece I'm working on. In it, you will find lists of characters with descriptions and familial connections appended to them regarding other characters. Hand-drawn maps of the general, fictional area the action takes place in, and page numbers denoting the page-breaks for chapters. I also keep a running track of whatever page I am on when I proofread and/or edit a piece.

When I am writing, these things delineate the extent of my world; there is nothing and no one that exists outside them. Oh, I keep my concerns, duties and responsibilities running in "background" in the back of my head. (What did you think? I'm not oblivious to the world around me.) But when I am in "writing mode", these things are what exists for me. I suppose that would indicate dedication to the work and concentration; I've been known to snarl when disturbed. The cordless phone behind me has a weak battery and I will not buy another; it manages to keep my phone conversations to a minimum so I can get back to writing quickly.

That is a partial tour of my writing environment. There are other things in the room that serve me as much as the things on my desk, but this was designed only to make people aware of what I used on my desk to aid me in writing.

Thank you, Derek A. Murphy
Author of Gulf of the Plains, Congruencies, The Empty Heart and others.
Available on Kindle

Characters I have tired of

Yes, that's right. I said it. I have tired of some of my characters. The faces and outlooks that seemed bright and new a year ago have turned old and timeworn. How tortured does a female character need to be to begin getting on my nerves? How moral and straitlaced can a male character be before he becomes something that I no longer recognize as having sprung from my mind?

I became tired of my characters in Gulf of the Plains II: Fog and Bog about the second month I was working on the sequel. Sure, they're the same characters that I used in the first book, but I think I am too familiar with them and they are no longer respectful and eager to please. Every time I turn around, they try to turn the piece into a soap-opera and I'm not having any of that. This is an action/adventure, damn-it! Act like the men and women of action that you're supposed to be! So, jack another cartridge into the chamber and blast away! Act as though you know the baddies are coming over the hill and it's do or die time! Stop getting in touch with your feelings and trying to feel up the new girl. Get some sleep, because you never know when the next time you have a chance to sleep will be! Remember, the future of the human race may depend on you; you owe it to them to kill the bad guys and make the world a better place to live.

Now that I've given them a good talking to, maybe I can get back to the job of actually writing the story. I'm sure that when I edit the piece, I'll have to cut out a bunch of the touchy-feely crap. Hey, maybe I can piece all those bits together from the other stories I've written that have gone astray and make a Romance Novel out of them...Nah! There's not enough explicit sex in any of it to qualify as the porn masquerading as Romance Novels these days. I guess I could write some, but for me, that would seem like cussing in church. Wubba-da-dubba-da-dubba-da! (That was me, blowing out my lips in frustration.)

Well, I think I can do this now. Thanks to all of you for bearing with me as I blow off some steam.

Derek A. Murphy
Author of Gulf of the Plains, Congruencies, The Empty Heart: A Collection and others.
Available on Kindle

Status of the sequel to Gulf of the Plains

It's been a while since I posted anything in this blog and I feel badly about it, but I've been working on the sequel and trying to get things done in my real life as well. I've been bogged down in the story because I'm not sure where I want it to go and if I follow the dictates of conscience, the sequel will become longer than the original. I don't want it to become a bloated corpse, stinking of putrifaction, like the corpses that must have been floating in the gulf after the polar shift. If I allow it to become too long, I fear that it will become simply a fat imitation of the original story, without the energy to move itself beyond being published.

The characters, though interesting, are beginning to pall on me and if I'm not careful, will devolve into soap-opera-like cut-outs. And that's not what I want. I want them to be vital and alive. I want them to jump off the page, slap the reader across the face and urge them into action! Anything less would be an insult to the reader.

I've written Paget Redpath as a harder character in the beginning of the story but she is getting softer with the advent of her sister Julia. I have written John Sheaves and his wife, Beth, as more realistic than previously and Matt Lyndon has become a father figure for John. Matt continues to be a wild-card in the story and anytime I want to envision him, all I have to do is remember some of the truly humorous people I've known. He is a combination of several of them, and will continue to be so.

At present I have over 65,000 words written in the sequel and many Kindle authors would think that is enough. (Can you imagine? A lot of them have the gall to charge $3, or even $5 for a single short story!) However, I believe that in order not to cheapen my product, I must make my stories the same length that people have come to expect from a dead-tree book.

Thank you,
Derek A. Murphy
Author of Congruencies, Taken Apart and others.
Available on Kindle