Inspiration part 21 - Cattle Farm

Welcome back,

While looking through my old files, I found several unused photos from my urban explorations. Given I have no overall theme this month, it is the opportune moment to showcase this material.

This article will feature an abandoned cattle farm. This location has closed for a long time. Since then the land was sold and now has houses built on it. However, the original barn is still present, so I took the opportunity to investigate the area.

**Please note, that abandoned locations are dangerous and one should not travel there without permission or supervision. These photos were taken from a safe distance.**

A cattle farm is a workplace normally consisting of a large tract of land along with facilities needed to raise livestock (especially cattle). In this case, the main barn was still present, along with enclosures where cattle were kept and herded onto vehicles. Since I could not enter the building for safety reasons, the article will focus mainly on two parts of the building; the barn itself and the enclosure.

           First, let us take a look at the enclosure. It is mainly composed of wooden fencing, meant to contain cattle within a desired location, and to navigate them to a ramp for loading them onto a vehicle. We can also see a few feeders, where the farm hands would place food for the cattle. In this instance, the fence has not undergone maintenance in years, so you can see it falling apart in some locations.

           Then we have the barn. The building has tin roofing and metal siding which, though they have lost their color over time, are not rusted. The entire structure is supported by a system of wooden beams, which has started to mold. There is a wooden staircase on the side of the barn which leads to the upper level, and is now completely overtaken by plants.

           A structure of this nature could serve as inspiration for a few different story types. Could be part of the setting in a western, or maybe in a romance between a ranch hand and the farmer's daughter. Maybe a murder/mystery story can use this location as the dumping ground of a crazed serial killer. Perhaps a comedy about a protagonist learning to be a rodeo clown. We could even use this location in a horror story, much like Hershel’s farm from the Walking Dead series.

Hope you enjoyed today’s exploration. I had a great time, and maybe these images will come in handy for your next story. Until then, get out there and get inspired!

Cheers!

Patrick Osborne

Interview - Robert Enders

Welcome back,

           For this month's interview, we have the pleasure of meeting published author, Robert Enders. Robert and I met on one of the many Facebook writing pages after I posted that I was looking for published writers to interview. Like so many other authors, he finds time to balance writing with a full time day job. We both worked in private security, so I found his idea on writing a story about security guards interesting.

           So on to the interview!

Short Bio: I have worked in private security since before 9/11. I have put out fires and sent bad people to jail. But more importantly, I have prevented fires from starting and deterred people from illegal activity. When private security is done right, nothing exciting happens. When exciting things do happen, my employer won't allow me to talk about them. Sometimes I write opinion pieces for thelibertyconservative.com , a political website.

Published works: A Long Way From Tipperary (novel), Over the River And Back Through Time (short story included in Novopulp Anthology II).

Current Project: I'm working on a novel about security guards. It's NOT autobiographical. It's meant to be funny. I keep hearing "Write what you know" and private security is what I know.

Website: blogoftheenders.blogspot.com

When did you begin writing?

I've given storytelling various levels of effort since elementary school. I wrote my first story intended for publication in 2005.

Did you receive any special training or attend a school?

I attended public school. I have a BA in political science from Indiana University.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

During quiet days and nights at work when nothing is happening, I imagine bad things happening to my characters.

Do you use any special resources when writing? (other books, computer programs, etc)

I use Scrivener and Write or Die on my computer.

What is (in your opinion) the most important thing to remember when writing, and why is it so important?

Remember that fiction is entertainment. Give the reader a reason to read your story instead of watching Netflix.

What is (in your opinion) the most challenging part of writing, and how do you overcome it?

Staying focused on one story until it's finished. I have a lot of ideas, but I can only follow through on a few of them.

Did you use an agent? (why or why not?)

I did query agents to represent my novel, but none of them took me up on it. Agents tend to look for something that they can find a publisher for. Often that happens to be anything similar to recent bestsellers and movies. I am open to working with an agent in the future though.

Did you use an Editor? If not, what process did you use to edit your work?

I did work with an editor. She had me print it out and put it in a 3 ring binder. I also put my novel on my Nook, and read it as if it were a e-book. The story will look different on paper or on a tablet than on a computer monitor, so you'll catch mistakes that you didn't catch when you were writing.

How did you get your book published? (self-published, Vanity publishing, Mainstream publisher).

I self-published it through Kindle Direct Press.

Do you handle your own marketing?

Yes. I wish I didn't have to. I would rather be writing books than selling them.

What is your best marketing tip?

Make sure you have a product that people might want first, then use any opportunity to talk about it. Don't let it be the only thing you talk about, or you can expect to be unfriended on Facebook.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Keep your expectations modest. Don't treat this as a way to get rich quick. You can write whatever you want to write. But if you are looking to get paid, you are going to have to do a lot of research and work very hard. And even after all that, you might make only $50 on a story that you spent months on. It's not a waste of time if you enjoy doing it, but don't expect it to pay all the bills either. Also, try not to be a jerk because you never know who you will need help from in the future.

Hopefully everyone found this interview as informative as I did. I would like to thank Robert Enders for taking the time to take this interview. Your knowledge, experience and participation was very much appreciated.

Until Next time.

Cheers,

Patrick Osborne

Current Projects part 31

Welcome back!

           The last month has proven to be a veritable cascade of activities! Work has been slowing down after the events for Canada’s 150th anniversary of Confederation, meaning I’ve had more time to work on my personal projects.

Typically, despite the lax workload, I still waited to the last minute to work on next month's articles, so now I’m rushing to get things done. There is no overall theme for my articles during August, so I will be posting material I’ve had stored for times like this.

I have a lot to share with you this month, as well as a lot of new ideas to iron out. So let’s get right to it.

Earlier in the month, I did a fair amount of progress in terms of writing. While chipping away at the character sheet of my second henchman, Misery, I got a major breakthrough. The document itself did not get that much headway, but when thinking about Misery’s powers, I got this idea which changed a considerable part of my story. Inspiration hit me, then evolved into a wicked little plot twist, which not only added depth to a lot of the characters and the story, but also fixed a few holes in the plotline.

This new idea came from a little modification to a character, and in turn it spawned content for three new chapters. Needless to say I was ecstatic, and promptly added the information on my plotline excel sheet. As a writer, you gotta love it when this happens!

But that was not the only form of inspiration that hit me these past few weeks. During my vacation, I had begun renovation work in my basement; fixing base boards, a window, a door, and the most notable project, tearing down the old bar that came with the house. The bar was a DIY project from one of the previous owners, so it wasn’t all that pretty. Add to that the fact I rarely drink, and the bar suddenly loses all reason of being there. So I began taking it apart, but while doing so, left a big empty space in the room (not to mention a mess).  

The room became a blank canvas. Now in full designer mode, I began researching for ideas for what the basement should look like. Intended to be a gaming room, I searched for video game related content, with a heavy penchant for industrial style. The room is taking shape inside my head, now I only need to work on making it a reality. I will post pictures once the room is completed, but for now, here are some work-in-progress photos.

           Ever since I decided to learn as much as possible about writing, I began analyzing  every story I read. Of course, books are the primary source of storytelling, but there are also plots in movies, television shows and video games. Though the audience interacts with these mediums differently, many of the same storytelling principles still apply.

           Over the past two years, I’ve actually created a spreadsheet of the movies I’ve watched, and my thoughts on their plotlines. It’s shocking how my opinions on certain movies have changed once I started actually paying attention to the plot, rather than simply following the narrative. I also discovered I can predict story outcomes easily, once I get a feel of the story.

           With this being said, I have been thinking if creating a movie/video game review articles, similar to my current book reviews, would be a good idea. I’m not entirely sure how copyrights or trademarks would come into play in terms of blog posts. If writing these types of articles would be allowed, then expect to see some movie/video game story reviews in the future.

           I have also been considering a few other ideas in order to generate more traffic to my Blog. The first is writing Tweet/Facebook posts that give details of my story, either monologues from my characters, or descriptions of the setting. The second is translating some of my old content to french in order to reach a bigger audience. I’m still working on these ideas, so it is not a guarantee at this time.

In regards of new material from Missing Worlds Media, there hasn’t been any lore related content released from last month. Two article did get published however, both from the art department. One focuses on animation, and the other on character modeling. You can read the full articles on our kickstarter page:

Animation: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/missingworldsmedia/the-phoenix-project-city-of-titans/posts/1919464

Character modeling: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/missingworldsmedia/the-phoenix-project-city-of-titans/posts/1931008

I would like to mention that I am always looking for more authors to interview. If you, or anyone you know, is a published author and would be interested in having an interview posted on my blog, feel free to contact me. It is a great opportunity to share advice you may have with other writers, as well as free publicity for your own work.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bookmarkboundPMosborne/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

Twitter: @OzmosisCoH

Google+: https://plus.google.com/+PatrickOsborneOzmosis

That is all I have for this month. Thank you all for dropping by, your continued support is always appreciated. I hope to see you all at next month's progress update.

    Until then.

Cheers,

Patrick Osborne