Joanne Bischof's First Novel ... Review Coming

Look what the postman delivered today. Advance Reading Copy ...

Be Still My Soul

Book 1 The Cadence of Grace Series

by

Joanne Bischof

Release Date: October 2, 2012

Rocky, Monday Evening

Stop taking my picture!

Publishings Biggest Lie

"This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. "  Publisher's Note

~~~~~~~~

Dear Reader, this is not a true story ... is of course the biggest lie in publishing.  Unless of course of it is a memoir ... then perhaps the words are a product of the author's imagination. 

Just saying.

Building Character

Anatomy Of A Novel

According to Syd Field "the story has to move forward, from beginning to end, whether in a linear or a nonlinear fashion. The way you drive your story forward is by focusing on the actions   of the  character.  ... every scene in a screenplay should fulfill one of two functions:  Either it moves the story forward, or it reveals information about the character."   From The Foundations of Screenwriting by Syd Field

The story I am writing first appeared to me as a series of plot points complete with a handful of what ifs. That was the easy part. Populating the story with real characters was a little harder, but not impossible. I quickly recognized the antagonist and the protagonist and a bunch of supporting characters.

The main character arrived with two young sons and a whole lot of baggage. She's determined, overwhelmed, and single. She's also attractive, nice, energetic and a lot more unsure of herself than she was willing to admit. She has a ex-husband and an ex-boyfriend and isn't sure what had happened in either relationship. She sorta  knows what a relationship should look like.

I treated her as the main character. After all she was the one who caused things to happen in the story. I made a list of plot points, gathered my characters together and started writing. By page 52 I was less sure of myself.

Instinctively I knew that there was a problem with this story. Was it the order of events? The chapters did seem to be choppy and sloppy. I kept moving the index card into different patterns. It just didn't seem to matter. Did I have too many scenes? too many characters? Maybe.

I was so sure I knew what the story was about; the dramatic premise. I took another look at the characters. All of the characters ... and slowly realized that I had failed to recognize the main character. It wasn't her  at all, it  him  and his name was Dominic.  His problems are bigger .... deeper and more difficult to fix.  Dominic needs something (or someone) to resurrect him. 

He needs her. And she is the last thing he wants.  She is so obviously wrong that he is unable and unwilling to look beyond the complications. And suddenly this new information provided a different opening.  And a new direction. A new twist on complications.

Pema Chodron Heart Advice

Writing a novel requires action, commitment, creativity, a plotline, and characters ... yesterday was suppose to be a writing day ... it wasn't, because I was stuck. So, what's the problem?  The main character is incomplete. Defining him has been an ongoing problem.  I know him, know where he's been, what he needs (which is different than what he wants), understand his fears and insecurities.

He's been successful in the past,  thought he was happy and believed that there was enough time to fix things in his marriage. He was wrong. I know that the past will bring forth the best in Dominic. I want the reader to recognize this truth. 

In The Art of Fiction, Henry James says that the incidents you create for your characters are the best ways to illuminate who they are -- that is, reveal their true nature, their essential character. How they respond to this particular incident or event, how they act, and react, what they say and do is what really defines the essence of their character.

Dominic's life is about to change. A lot. My job is to make him believable, likable, worth investing in. I have to chose my words well. Yesterday I didn't write because I was stuck. I have a lot of bad writing habits.  Yesterday I stared at the sky waiting for the answer to reveal itself. I should have been actively writing. Today this appeared in my email:

Getting Unstuck

"We can contact our inner strength, our natural openness, for short periods before getting swept away. And this is excellent, heroic, a huge step in interrupting and weakening our ancient habits. If we keep a sense of humor and stay with it for the long haul, the ability to be present just naturally evolves. Gradually we lose our appetite for biting the hook. We look* our appetite for aggression. "  Pema Chodron

* I think this should read lose.

Reading & Seasoning

Today, in between chapters of Flunking Sainthood ... I season my first wok...

Tomorrow it is back to work writing.

Flunking Sainthood ... Sunday, A Day Late

Flunking Sainthood is Jana Riess' recounting of her "year-long quest to become more saintly by tackling twelve spiritual practices, including fasting, fixed-hour prayer, gratitude, Sabbath-keeping, the Jesus Prayer, and generosity. Although she begins with great plans for success ("Really, how hard could that be? she asks blithely at the start of her saint-making year) she finds to her growing humiliation that she is failing - not just at some practices, but at every single one. What emerges is a vulnerable story of the quest for perfection and the reality of failure...."   (taken from the back cover)

  It seemed appropriate that I should read Chapter Seven, Unorthodox Sabbath yesterday. For this chapter the author choose to follow the Orthodox Jewish Sabbath tradition (no driving, no use of electricity, no cooking...) and her companion during this month is Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) who wrote The Sabbath (1951).

I no longer keep the Sabbath of my childhood, Then my Sunday's were memorable for their once a week uniqueness. My father who worked every other day of the week now walked me to Sunday School in the early morning quiet. Dinner was at noon, afternoons were spent at my grandparents and Maryland Blue Laws meant that everyone was taking a scheduled time out.

As I continued to read today I came across Jana's own closing reflections of her "attempts at sainthood" and how the practice of spiritual practice forever changed her. Jana didn't fail.

 
There is a lot to like about this book. It is highly readable and well-intended. Often I found myself lost in memories of my own life. The unexpected gift is that Jana's journey opened wide the door for these thoughts and reflections. I hadn't expected this. I'd like to think I learned something about myself from reading Flunking Sainthood and how I might better organize my own spiritual learning in the near future ... and perhaps better prepare for my Sabbath keeping.

Note: This is a library book. My own is on order.