Photo: our horse, Taia
The writer in the most pain should be the main character. – David Farland
Today was kind of a rough day, starting out. This morning, we had one of our horses, our mare, Taia, euthanized. She was in her mid-20s, and has been suffering from two lame front legs the past couple of months. We finally made the tough decision to put her down, afraid that one of these days, she would just not even get up, as much pain as she had been in.
The vet was scheduled to come right about when I should be heading to the workshop. I was prepared to dash off to the freeway, but luckily, Dr. Gowans came early enough that I could join my little family to the back of our pasture.
After we said goodbye to Taia, and hugged as a family, I took several deep breaths and drove to the workshop. In my mind, I started writing a poem (which I posted on my FB timeline). When I am dealing with difficult things, I tend to express myself in poetry.
We started out reading our writing exercises from yesterday. I didn’t get a chance to read mine, but that was okay – I was still able to improve my first chapter.
Many of us went to a restaurant nearby for lunch. I ordered a chicken sandwich and roasted pepper bisque while asking for advice related to The Spanish Exile. One of my classmates brilliantly suggested a solution to my problem. That’s what I love about being with other writers. We can talk shop all day and it’s okay.
After lunch, Dave went over hooks. He gave us homework: to come up with hooks for our stories. I chose to write hooks for my first chapter and look forward to sharing them tomorrow. It’s amazing how a well-written hook makes so much difference. Well-written doesn’t mean divulging all secrets. It means intriguing the reader to make them want to read on.
Another assignment was to write a character introduction. So I chose to write about my villain. That was fun. No more cardboard cutouts for me.
Again, I am surprised that I haven’t been writing this way already before. Why did it take me a workshop to start doing the obvious? At any rate, I’m doing it, so that is what matters.
I just feel bad for my beta readers *waves* having to plow through my last TSE version. This post-workshop one should be better. 🙂
Next: Day 3
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