Month: July 2020

“The Daisy Gate” Project – Update #2

A New Writing Suite

I’m always looking for way to sharpen this craft. I subscribe to several blogs by/for writers and authors. Some of them are very helpful, others not so much. I am also interested in trying new tools or writing systems. I’ve found that the more I experiment with this and that, it helps refine my efforts. I am well aware of the constant need to improve.

Recently, an ad for a new complete suite of writing apps showed up on Facebook. I thought it looked interesting, but didn’t respond right away. The program is called “Papyrus Author.” After seeing the ad several times I decided to check it out more closely.

There is a free, fully functional version which can be downloaded, and a “Pro” version with a subscription price of $15/month. I’m not generally very excited about using subscription-based software. I would much rather pay a larger sum up front to have permanent access, even if it costs to update in a year.

But, after exploring the website quite thoroughly, I decided to go ahead and bite the bullet for the monthly subscription. The company will let you cancel at any time, so I figured I could play with the Pro version for a month or two, and if I didn’t like it I could cancel. No harm, no foul.

Okay, so I bought in and downloaded the program. I figured the best way to learn to use it was to experiment with an current writing project. The Daisy Gate is my current big writing project, so I’m using the TDG manuscript to learn Papyrus Author.

So far, I have copied all the previously written material from Scrivener over to Papyrus Author. Little-by-little I am becoming more comfortable with the new software. At this point, I think I’m going to like it–and probably end up continuing the $15/month subscription. But, that remains to be seen.

As I worked on copying and pasting each chapter, I was also able to spend some good quality time doing editing and rewriting. There’s a lot of work to do yet on that side, plus about 2/3 of the story has not even been plotted yet, let alone written.

Bottom line tonight: I’m getting immense pleasure out of this process. It is hard work, but oh, so satisfying when it comes together. It’s just like all of life: enjoy the trip cause that’s the real destination.

More to come. LLF

“The Daisy Gate” Project – Update #1

It felt good today. Two very important steps in the early going.

  • I was able to spend at least a couple quality hours working getting things in place to launch the project. I discovered that somehow I had two entirely separate Scrivener files for this same project! After poking around for a while trying to solve that issue, I discovered how to import one Scrivener project into another. With that done I was then able to work with the individual pieces of the manuscript and successfully merge the two. The last step was delete the file I no longer needed so it wouldn’t cause confusion in the future!
  • The second good thing about this is that I started reading/editing some of the passages I wrote months/years ago. Made several corrections and rewrites of sentences that were weak and flabby. Just getting this new project started, but it feels great to have started the engines!

LLF Books Available @ These Locations

Physical Bookstores

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Please feel free to share this information or forward it to your friends! TYSM!

Loren

Picking Up A New (Old) Writing Project

A New Novella in the Works

Many(!) years ago I began writing a book. Not just any book. A book in one of my favorite genres.

I confess, I had no idea of what this genre was called, or what a “genre” was for that matter. But, I knew what I wanted my final product to look like. The model in my mind echoed the style of Ken Blanchard’s many little stories illustrating successful management, administrative policies, and the like. Ken started out with a block-buster business book, The One-Minute Manager. That one was so successful it catapulted him into business author stardom and a long string of stories written in the same vein as TOMM.

Eventually, I discovered books in this genre are called “novellas.” Here’s how Wikipedia defines the name:

A novella or short novel is a work of narrative prose fiction, longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. Publishers and literary award societies typically consider a novella’s word count to be between 17,000 and 40,000 words.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novella

Of course, my focus was not in business or organizational management as Ken Blanchard’s. As a pastor and spiritual leader, my goal was to encourage, inspire, and edify spiritual seekers. Through the protagonist’s journey, I hoped to bring readers along the road from uncertainty to solid faith–built on lessons from nature and the witness of other significant characters revealed as the story unfolds.

So, I began writing. In truth, I had no idea where I was going with this or how to get there. As the years passed, I periodically dusted off the manuscript (figuratively, of course) and added scenes, dialog, and characters. But, in spite of my fondest dreams, the story never went anywhere.

Finally, the time has arrived when I need to singularly focus on this project. It needs to be DONE! Now that several other writing projects have been completed–Whimsi and the Big Election; My Seven Essential Daily Prayers; and others not intended for publication–now it’s time for this new novella to move toward birth.

The title for this new project is:

THE DAISY GATE.

I’ll be posting progress from time to time, so, if you’d like to follow along, I’d love to have you subscribe to my blog using the form at the top of the right column, giving me your name and email. Each time I publish a new post you will receive notification in your inbox. Of course, you can unsubscribe at any time. But, I’d really love to have you along for the ride. Let’s roll!

“Fake News” Travels Fast!

A Snippit from My Seven Essential Daily Prayers

Sadly, I must admit that I’m not only a thief, I’m also a liar. No, I never lied on the witness stand in court or told a fib to escape punishment. But, then, there’s this . . .

OUTLOOK GRADE SCHOOL, MRS. DAVENPORT’S 1ST GRADE CLASSROOM, 1951-1952. Imagine a bunch of lively first graders—I think there were around 30 of us. I still remember my friends. Tony, Paul, Robert, Linda, Leon, Judy, Billy, and many more. Our teacher, Mrs. Davenport, was a motherly soul who loved each of us. She even gave each of us a small gift on her birthday! We spent our days with “Dick and Jane” readers, learning numbers, playing outside at recess, and otherwise just being kids. I was a social child, so I enjoyed all the time with other children my age. Every day was filled with busy activities. After lunch we got our mats out of a storage closet and lay on the floor for naps. We all loved school—and Mrs. Davenport. First grade was fun.

Since six-year-olds often like to tell about their family life experiences, Mrs. Davenport provided a weekly time for us to share “news” from home. My classmates reported things like getting a new model airplane for their birthday, going on a vacation trip, or some other wonderful detail. Even things like Mom was going to have a new baby, or the dog had puppies last night. We were free to say whatever we wanted to say.

Except, I didn’t have anything to report. Especially not anything unique or exciting. But, I raised my hand anyway. Mrs. Davenport saw me and gave me a turn.

I rose slowly from my chair and stood with slumped shoulders, head bowed, eyes looking at the floor. I pretended to sniffle, and said in a weepy voice, “M-my Daddy d-d-died last night!”

To this day I have no idea how that little nugget of “fake” news spread so rapidly through our farming community. Wildfire in a wheat field driven by a 30 mile-per-hour gale couldn’t have gone any faster. Within minutes the phone at our house began ringing, ringing, ringing! Neighbors calling to deliver condolences and messages of support and sympathy to my mother.

“Oh, Mrs. Fenton, I’m so sorry to hear about your husband! If there’s anything I can do, just call me.”

Naturally, my mother was quite curious as to the source of this strange rumor about her husband.

“Well,” she said, “I’m happy to tell you that the report isn’t true. Claude is sitting here in the kitchen, quite alive and well. Thank you for calling, but tell me, where did you get this story?”

Then, one-by-one she began to back-trace the gossip line until she learned that her youngest child had spun this wild tale in school during first grade “sharing time.”

There was a loving confrontation at the supper table that evening. Along with appropriate corrective measures (I’ll leave that to your imagination), I was admonished with a verse from Scripture I never forgot: “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 12:22a KJV).

I assure you, the core life-principle of truthfulness in all things was duly impressed on a little six-year-old boy that night.