Rusty Strait | Senior Reporter

I am often asked, “Where is the best place to start my manuscript?” Good question. There are as many answers to this one as there are questions. What, for instance, is the nature of your story? Are you working on a biography, or is your story fiction? Is it romantic, or about someone with a major disadvantage who is struggling to reach goals in life?

One way to bring interest early in your journey is two characters discussing the situation they find themselves in. For instance, they might be discussing steps to take that will carry the protagonist’s goal forward. For example, if you are just starting out as a writer, you might want to consider setting a preliminary goal before delving into the heart of your story.

As I have said many times, research is your first step, no matter who and what your characters are or want to be. Joining a local writers’ club is almost a requirement if you are new to the business of writing.

Back to the main question, where do I start? One good thing about starting to write for the first time in a local writers’ group is that you will encounter other writers who have been there and done that. They know shortcuts to phrasing that you might not even imagine. Also, every week your work will be scrutinized by several group members. It is a system of reading, critique, rewrite, and so forth.

Are you trying to make a dramatic statement early on in your first chapter, or just casually approaching a scene that need not be too blunt to make a point without a lot of grandiosity? For instance, if your story has anything to do with police work, a homicide detective may casually pick up an isolated item at the crime scene, slipping it into his pocket to become a valid clue as the story starts to unfold. A very wise detective once told me, “Whenever I begin my investigation of a homicide, my immediate observations always turn out differently than they seem at first. It is somewhat like finding a body in a shallow grave. Until the coroner has conducted an autopsy, there will be no way of knowing anything about the victim of a murder.”

So where you start is of no value unless you know where you are going. An example of what I mean is like diving head first into a river. It’s better to have some swimming experience before taking on uncharted vistas. I value your input via email. Just saying: rustystrait@alice-petersen

DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various author’s articles on this Opinion piece or elsewhere online or in the newspaper where we have articles with the header “COLUMN/EDITORIAL & OPINION” do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints or official policies of the Publisher, Editor, Reporters or anybody else in the Staff of the Hemet and San Jacinto Chronicle Newspaper.

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Rusty Straight | Senior Reporter

I received a rather unusual request this week from Barbara in Palm Springs. “I am writing about a government agency. How do I research that? I’ve been running into blank walls.”

Barbara, this one is fairly easy. First, start with the freedom of information site and list what you are seeking. Freedom of Information elicits long answers covering every angle of your request. Also, if your story mentions other names, you may be able to contact those persons directly. Contrary to public opinion, government agencies and personalities love publicity so long as it doesn’t place them in a bad light. There are always ways to handle those sources. Who else knows something that relates to your story that you might happen on accidentally? I’ve often run into things I didn’t know about a person while researching.

Your public library is an excellent source of information. Library managers often have information that is not listed in the usual places. As I’ve said over and over again, research is an ongoing effort. I hope this gives Barbara the insight she seeks.

To new writers especially, if you really want to be successful as a writer who makes a living at your craft, I would recommend that you read about other writers. I highly recommend Stephen King’s book on writing. See what Dean Koontz says about his early days as a writer and how he managed to reach the top of his game. Remember, these famous writers were once novices. John Grisham applied his experience as an attorney into a once-a-year bestseller. He has penned dozens of books involving the law and always looks out for the underdog.

I welcome your questions or suggestions. You can reach me at the email below. Just sayin’

rustystrait@gmail.com

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I received a note from Melissa in San Bernardino. Her question was, “Why do I need a line editor? I have a spell check.” That is a question that needs to be answered, and Melissa isn’t aware of some of the rudiments of completing any manuscript.

To begin, if you misspell the word you want but it is a legitimate word otherwise, then you are botching up your work. Spell check doesn’t catch everything. For instance, you meant to say ‘read’ but it came up red and was accepted by spell check, which is an error that a line editor will catch. Despite all the warnings that new writers get, they still send in work with word mistakes that a good line editor will catch. I hope this answers Melissa and others’ questions on this matter.

Now, to other things. You believe you have a manuscript that is just itching for television or films. East Coast Agents rarely handle anything to do with films. If one of their clients has something for film, a good agent will refer you to a Hollywood agent who knows all the ins and outs of film. And you need to be careful with agents and sub-agents to make sure they are all they advertise themselves to be. There are always a dozen sources who will promise to make you a millionaire best-selling writer. Meanwhile, they always need money up front to make that happen. Talk to writer friends about their experience or check with the Authors Guild. All too many new writers get sucked in with blah, blah, blah about your work and what they will do for you. Better to be safe than sorry. Do your investigative work until you find the right agent with a track record. All good agents will tell you who they represent and prove it by the list of authors they have represented.

I’ll be seeing you next week. Until then, keep your eyes and ears open. Just sayin’.

rustystraita@gmail.com

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Rusty Strait | Senior Reporter

I came across a book in my vast library, written by a Santa Barbara Writers Group. Writers love to be discussed, so I’m sure they won’t mind me paraphrasing some of their work. The question was: “How does one go about becoming a writer? That is the eternal question. According to the author of the book? You might as well ask, how do you go about becoming a human being, whatever that is. What kind of writer do you want to be? Sci-fi writer, historical fiction writer, romance writer, or mystery writer, which is pretty much the same way you go about being a normal writer. We love to tell our stories. Writing is a lifetime love affair that never ends in divorce. You may separate from the art from time to time, but you always have that yen to get back in the mix.

Public libraries have been the incubators of newborn writers. Only at the library can a new writer feel at home. He or she will parse the shelves, the stacks of books on tables, and fiddle around until something catches their eye. They may glance through a book, skipping through the pages and catching a paragraph here and there. It is only when they find that one book that they really idolize that they may find it is the kind of manuscript their brain would like to concoct.

You might be surprised at how many well-known writers I’ve run into at public libraries in New York and Los Angeles. No matter how well-received they are in the literary world, it is the library that has always been their native land. Go try it.

Now, I had a message from Janice in Beaumont. “I read your column every week, and the way you write sounds so easy, but when I go to my computer, I’m all thumbs. How do I get over that?” I don’t have a solid answer for that.

I know when I was in radio school in the Air Force, I learned typing. It was required. I fumbled around until I learned which fingers hit which keys for a word. We had a sentence that we kept repeating over and over to adjust to which fingers went where. “The little red fox outran the hounds to grandmother’s house.” That is something I still practice when my fingers get fidgety.

As I’ve said time and time again, anything really productive takes time, patience, and hard work. Learning to write is no exception. Just remember one thing: the more you read, the more ideas roam around in your head. Think of it as a brain Ouija board. You might just get the right message and be on your way. Good luck. Just sayin’.

rustystrait@gmail.com

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President Harry Truman once said, “The lessons of history we don’t learn can come back to bite us. How quickly we forget things in politics. One thing I never forgot is the 1948 presidential election. The media were all agog over New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey beating “Give ‘em hell” Harry Truman. Prior to election day, the vaunted Gallup poll rated Dewey at 53.2 and Truman at 32.1 in its pre-election poll. The press was so excited that one newspaper came out on election night with headlines that read DEWEY WINS. The publisher, Robert McCormick, had mud on his face for a long time. It is simply a matter of pollsters not being trustworthy with facts. They quickly adapt to something they hear or read about a candidate.

Adolf Hitler told everybody what he would do in his book, Mein Kampf. A book that, according to Donald Trump’s daughter, he kept by his bedside. Today he is quoting almost verbatim from Hitler’s book. Hitler called the Jews vermin to be gotten rid of. Trump calls Americans who don’t support him vermin and publicly vows to get rid of them. He is talking about many of us honest and patriotic citizens who respect and honor the Constitution that he would like to replace with his own set of rules. Not on my watch.

Joe Biden has proven his merit. He doesn’t come close to the percentages of Harry Truman. Let me list the things he inherited from the Trump Administration: a humongous deficit. He left just as inflation was gathering wings. It rose to 9.1% in June and is now at 6.5 per cent. That is quite a drop. It continues to fall. High prices, for instance, gasoline and fuel bill increases due to the greed of the corporate giants who, like Trump, couldn’t care less about ordinary citizens. What has Biden given us? I’ll tell you:

1. 1.8 jobs for every unemployed person, down from a peak but still historically high.

2. $24.2 billion, the amount of U.S. Security assistance committed to Ukraine since the Russian invasion over a year ago.

3. 2.38 million ending in September 2023, for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It stopped migrants at the U.S. border nearly 2.4 million times, a record surge driven by sharp increases in Venezuelans, Cubans, and Nicaraguans making the trek. The previous yearly high was in 2021 when CBP stopped migrants at the border 1.66 times.

4. The number of High Mobility Artillery Rocket known as HIMARS that the Administration has committed to send to Ukraine. The mobile advanced rocket systems have been a game-changer for Ukraine forces, allowing them to fire at Russian targets from dozens of miles away and quickly drive away before Russian armillary can target their position.

5. Biden won Senate confirmation for 97 of his picks to the federal bench, including Supreme Court Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson during the first two years of his presidency. Biden has outpaced his two immediate predecessors.

6. The president has granted nine pardons and 80 commutations, far more than any of his predecessors at this point in their presidencies. Donald Trump had granted 11 at this point, and George Bush, seven. Barack Obama didn’t take any clemency action in his first two years.

7. The average price per gallon that American motorists are paying at the pump has fallen since peaking at $5.02 per gallon.

8. 660 million COVID-19 vaccines have been administered to Americans under Biden.

9. Twenty million had received the jab before Biden took office. Donald Trump said that COVID would disappear in a week. We know how that turned out.

10. Deaths from the Corona Virus had already taken 416,750 when Biden was elected.

11. One trillion dollars has been allocated for roads, bridges, ports, and more in Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure legislation, arguably the most significant legislative achievement of his first two years in office.

12. 43,000 bridges in the U.S. are rated as poor and needing repair, according to the White House. He also brought down the price of insulin and other medicals.

These were things he did to make America safe and comfortable for you. It is hard to compare what Candidate Trump would do. I don’t understand why the Republicans fear him so much. As you look at all the bangles and beads being flashed at you like a carnival shill, don’t be swayed. Remember, all that glitters is not gold. Don’t give up what you have to a traveling salesman. I’m an American, and I’m concerned because I love this country just like it is. Just sayin’.

rustystrait@gmail.com

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Rusty Strait | Senior Reporter

Welcome to the club. I never knew a writer who just sat down at a desk and a typewriter (or computer today) and wrote a perfect thousand words. We all learn the hard way: “Write one word, one sentence, one paragraph at a time. School will not teach you to write. Writing is a craft, and education only provides the tools to help you manage your craft. Writers are like carpenters; they need tools. Of course, there are other ways to use those tools. Travel, relationships, sights, life experiences—those are the products upon which they use their tools. Why do some people latch onto the routine better than others? Easy. Not all artists are so adept. Some have to struggle with their tools. Others seem to have brought them from the womb.

Where do ideas often come from? Most, I am told by other professionals, come from their dreams. I get a great many scenes or incidents from my dreams. Dreams are inspiring if you treat them right. In my writing career, I’ve received so many ideas from my dreams that it’s like I live an entirely different life in those sleeping thoughts. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and find that it takes half an hour or more before I come back to this life.

No matter what rules there are in writing, none fit every occasion. It’s okay to break the rules if you believe you have a better way of doing it. Ever heard an auto mechanic say, “I’ll have this fixed in a jiffy”? You may wonder how he does it with a piece of metal and a wire. That’s what is called being creative. Get the point?

I may have mentioned this in the past, but I’ll say it again, as stories are built the same way a house is. An idea, framework, and everything else. A story, at least a lasting story, will have a good foundation, structure, and walls to complete it. Maybe you don’t believe me. Go read Plato and Socrates, and you’ll quickly grasp what it means to be a writer. POPULAR WRITING COMPARED TO THE CLASSICS CAN BE COMPARED TO POP MUSIC AND OPERA. Classics versus popularity. They are so different and yet so much alike in structure. Anyway, go buy a comfortable blanket to cuddle up with while you pound the keys to next year’s best seller. What do I know? Just sayin’. rustystrait@gmail.com

DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various author’s articles on this Opinion piece or elsewhere online or in the newspaper where we have articles with the header “COLUMN/EDITORIAL & OPINION” do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints or official policies of the Publisher, Editor, Reporters or anybody else in the Staff of the Hemet and San Jacinto Chronicle Newspaper.

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I received a note from a writer who wishes to remain anonymous. She has submitted her book to several agents who like it but can’t find a publisher. “Too short” is their response. She insists that the book is a short novel and doesn’t understand the rejections.

Nobody, except the writer, is going to fix this problem. Whether she likes it or not, she will have to go over her manuscript chapter by chapter and do one or all of the following:

Expand your story, starting with Chapter one, elaborating on your characters or scenes.

Write fill-in chapters. This is easier than rewriting established chapters. It is easier to create new chapters by writing new scenes that fit into the overall picture. Establish a book with a minimum of 250 pages and resubmit. If agents and publishers liked your original story and you continue to make it a page-turner, I’m sure you will find a publisher. Good luck.

Now, for some general writing advice: Don’t write a short story and consider it a novel. It is not. Each chapter in a novel is a story unto itself. When all those stories are connected, it becomes a book. My last book had over thirty chapters and ran 415 pages. Novels require more effort than a short story, which might fit into a magazine.

In a novel, your characters are more important than anything else, in my opinion. A well-defined character will carry a story, whereas it is rare that the story carries the book. Plotting is important, but the characters in the plot always lead the way. If you are into mysteries, characters dominate each and every chapter. For instance, the detectives who solve the mystery or the criminal who is the target in the chase. That is why Stephen King and Dean Koontz are so popular. There is always a crime, a criminal, and a pursuer. It is one of the oldest plots in writing, going back to biblical times.

Next week, I’ll have another piece of the jigsaw puzzle called “writing.” Until then, just sayin’.

Email: rustystrait@gmail.com

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Rusty Strait | Senior Reporter

The question has come up many times in my writing career. Frankly, there are no specific answers. One day, fiction tops the chart; another day, non-fiction does. When “Gone With the Wind” was published, writers started clicking on their manual typewriters to emulate other sagas, and so it went. Non-fiction takes center stage when popular issues carry messages that invite the writer to dive in, like Alaskan Novels, for instance.

You may be utterly surprised, but if you don’t believe me, check the web and see the surge in interest for gay books, both fiction and non-fiction. Why is this? Primarily, I believe it’s driven by straight parents who discover one of their little darlings has identified as LGBTQ+, which is becoming way more common than you may think. They want to understand what “causes” it. Nothing causes it. Scientists have thoroughly examined this and come to the conclusion that it is genetic, and in males, it mainly comes from the mother, rather than the father. It is common for twin boys to be gay. Social connections between teenagers have made LGBTQ+ individuals more accepted than in previous generations. Do you know any teenager without a LGBTQ+ friend?

The Catholic church has always frowned upon same-sex unions. In today’s paper, Pope Francis has suggested there could be ways to bless same-sex unions. Pope Francis has also stated further, “Matrimony is a union between a man and a woman,” but when responding to questions about homosexual unions and blessings, he said, “pastoral charity requires patience and understanding, and that regardless, priests cannot become judges who only deny, reject, and exclude.” I take no position on the issue. I am only responding to many requests about what sells books, and what sells books are facts. Almost every major publisher is doing great business with gay books that are often turned into films.

I haven’t had a chance to read all my emails this week and will try some other writing enigmas next time. Hold your breath. I’ll be back. Just sayin’.

rustystrait@gmail.com

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Rusty Strait | Senior Reporter

Edna from Murrieta surprised me with the question: “Why would any sane person want to write? It seems so hard and depressing.”

Well, Edna, I’ve never had that question before, but I’ll give it my best shot. Not everyone is cut out to write, but some ideas can be taken from family memories… It goes on and on, but if you’re not interested, hang it up. Find something else to occupy that free time.

Paul from San Bernardino County asked, “How many words on a page of an autobiography?”

Paul, that’s an easy one. There are typically 250 words per page of a 6×9 hardcover book. You can easily find various measurements for different types and sizes of books on the internet.

Edna’s question brought me to today’s topic. Actually, her question is pertinent because those of us who write for a living have a bug inside that says, “Write, you fool. Write.” And so, we plant our tired hooves under the table and attack the computer with the appetite of King Kong. To those of you who aspire, you may ask, “What should I write about?”

There are numerous ways to start a writing career, either for fun or as a profession. Did you keep a diary in high school? There’s plenty of substance there for fun or publication. It’s amazing what sells today. I recently read an article in which the writer stated, “I have this compulsion to write, as a chef has the desire to cook, or a baker to bake, or even to teach. I can’t call it a calling because I’m not sure I know what that means. In my case, I am drawn to the keyboard like a husky pulling its sled through the Yukon. I just can’t help it.”

So long until next time. Just saying.

rustystrait@gmail.com

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Hardly a day goes by without someone asking me, “Rusty, I’d like to write a book.” That’s how this column started a couple of weeks ago. I expected a couple of comments, but I received a dozen responses in just two weeks.

Marge from Beaumont asked, “Which kind of book is the easiest for a first-time writer?”

The answer, Marge, is that they are all challenging if you don’t know what you’re doing. Once you’ve navigated your way through the do’s and don’ts, it becomes easier. I’ve often told my students this in a straightforward manner: Invest in some essential tools – three must-have books for any writer.

1. Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary

2. The Elements of Style

3. Roget’s Thesaurus

These three books form the writer’s Holy Trinity and are indispensable for writers at any stage of the game.

The next question caught me off guard because it came from three readers: “What makes you an authority?”

First and foremost, I’m not sure I’d consider myself an authority. The term “authority” can vary in its definition. Some argue that you’re an authority because you get published, while others say it’s because your book sells a million copies. For most new writers, the first step is often self-publishing. Your success depends on how many books you sell and the reviews you receive. Even Stephen King was surprised when he learned that his first book was given a substantial advance. You never truly know. Writing, however, is akin to prospecting for gold. You search through the stream until it runs dry or you strike the motherlode.

Now that this column is up and running, I eagerly anticipate more questions and comments. Share your successes and failures with me, and together, we can exchange experiences. Until next time, just saying,

Rusty Strait

rustystrait@gmail.com

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