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Seeds to Sow

September 13, 2017 by Jim Potter Leave a Comment

https://jimpotterauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Seeds-to-Sow.m4a

·  Questions to Ask  ·

Recently, in a Hutchinson News article, there was a story about a long-time bar being forced to close due to dwindling customer support.

The owner was sharing a lot of memories with the reporter, but there was one that I knew immediately would fit into many a novel, maybe one of mine.

Surprise! It’s not a drunken fight scene.

The owner recalled how when she and all her female employees took the night off to attend an event, they left a few male employees in charge at the watering hole.

Here’s the rest of the story as reported by Adam Stewart. The owner “left three big, burly men to tend bar and wait tables in their absence, dressed as waitresses.” When the owner “got back to Vic’s, she found the bartenders dancing, singing karaoke and buying tequila shots to share with any money they got in tips, which customers found to be a laugh riot.

“The place was packed!” the owner recalled.

Now, if you were writing a novel, wouldn’t it be fun to incorporate a story like this into your plot? It could easily turn into an exciting chapter.

I take information like this and then begin asking “What if?” questions. For example, What if, when the owner returned, all the money in the cash register was missing? Who would be a suspect? Would the thief be caught? Would the burly-men waitresses be fired?  

Since the news is often about catastrophes, it’s no surprise to hear or read about all kinds of fatal accidents.

One of my little clippings is titled: “Man dies after being hit by train in Wichita.” The brief story informs the reader that the man was hit early in the morning by a Burlington Northern train traveling about 25 mph.

Police commented that the deceased had been identified. He was “apparently sleeping on the tracks when the train hit him.”

When I read this, I want to know about people sleeping on railroad tracks.

I want to know why the man didn’t wake up before he was hit. Or did he?

Yeah, he might have been ill, or drunk, or he might have been suicidal, but how do you definitively prove anything?

In my novel, I might show how the police officer, reluctantly taking the report, is being forced to deal with one more dead body during his PTSD career.

To add a layer of tension, maybe the officer has just returned to work after burying a loved one, or the train’s engineer doesn’t seem to care about the fatality.

The officer and engineer could easily clash.

If I wanted to inform the reader about poverty, homelessness, and the lack of affordable housing, then I’d have the officer interviewing the victim’s friends at a soup kitchen and have him attempting to locate surviving family members.

I might show an emotional scene of the officer informing the parents of their son’s death. (Had they kicked him out of the house the night before?) There are so many possibilities!

Where would you take this story?

Until next time, happy writing and reading!

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Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: creative writing, fiction, literary fiction, literature, questions to ask, story, writing

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What People Are Saying

Sean McArdle

Retired police officer Potter’s novel centres on very disparate characters and through the tried and tested means of gradually introducing each one, builds a sense of anticipation about what is going to happen to them. This often used methodology is not easy to do well but is superbly handled by Potter who knows how to give enough detail to bring the characters to life, yet not too much so as to slow down the pace of the developing story. A climactic event affects the main characters and it is at this point Potter’s deep knowledge of people and police procedures really hits home; page by page we read how a seemingly simple, though terrible occurrence, can have huge consequences. To Potter’s credit the story does not have a completely conclusive or simplistic ending. Instead it leaves the reader thinking about how the events of a single minute can affect lives forever. I would whole heartedly recommend this book not as a crime novel or even as a novel about crime but as a beautiful and positive affirmation about what it is to be human and how ultimately it is relationships which matter more than events.

Sean McArdle, Winchester, England

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:24:22-06:00

Sean McArdle, Winchester, England

Retired police officer Potter’s novel centres on very disparate characters and through the tried and tested means of gradually introducing each one, builds a sense of anticipation about what is going to happen to them. This often used methodology is not easy to do well but is superbly handled by Potter who knows how to give enough detail to bring the characters to life, yet not too much so as to slow down the pace of the developing story. A climactic event affects the main characters and it is at this point Potter’s deep knowledge of people and police procedures really hits home; page by page we read how a seemingly simple, though terrible occurrence, can have huge consequences. To Potter’s credit the story does not have a completely conclusive or simplistic ending. Instead it leaves the reader thinking about how the events of a single minute can affect lives forever. I would whole heartedly recommend this book not as a crime novel or even as a novel about crime but as a beautiful and positive affirmation about what it is to be human and how ultimately it is relationships which matter more than events.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/sean-mcardle/

Rebecca

Taking Back the Bullet is an emotional, yet captivating novel. Jim Potter does a superb job of intertwining each character and putting their individual identities on display. All law enforcement storylines are a true reflection of Potter’s years as a police officer because they are realistic and relatable. This is a book I highly recommend.

Rebecca from Proud Police Wife

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T11:41:14-06:00

Rebecca from Proud Police Wife

Taking Back the Bullet is an emotional, yet captivating novel. Jim Potter does a superb job of intertwining each character and putting their individual identities on display. All law enforcement storylines are a true reflection of Potter’s years as a police officer because they are realistic and relatable. This is a book I highly recommend.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/rebecca/

Wynona Winn

Three main characters walk different paths but with the same destination – each coping with his or her self-discovery, self-identity, and self-realization. Much like their earlier counterparts – Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield – their journeys are often joyous, often tedious and often tragic.

Wynona Winn, PhD, retired school superintendent

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:18:33-06:00

Wynona Winn, PhD, retired school superintendent

Three main characters walk different paths but with the same destination – each coping with his or her self-discovery, self-identity, and self-realization. Much like their earlier counterparts – Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield – their journeys are often joyous, often tedious and often tragic.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/wynona-winn/

Denise Low

Jim Potter is a cop, retired, but he brings deep understanding of this job to his novel Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery. This layered novel has literary dimensions as characters explore crisis situations. Congratulations to this fine writer for his debut novel.

Denise Low, author of Jackalope (Red Mountain Press)

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T11:31:21-06:00

Denise Low, author of Jackalope (Red Mountain Press)

Jim Potter is a cop, retired, but he brings deep understanding of this job to his novel Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery. This layered novel has literary dimensions as characters explore crisis situations. Congratulations to this fine writer for his debut novel.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/denise-low/

Larry Kruckman

Jim Potter displays ethnographic skills in Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, creating vivid scenes and fascinating characters. The Greeks had a word for subcultures and people’s behavior: ‘ethos,’ or ‘ways of being.’ In colorful, sometimes marvelous detail, this novel captures various people and settings . . . the ethos of rural Kansas: a jail, art fair, powwow, rehab center, courtroom, albinos, and even someone in the throes of postpartum depression. So detailed are the descriptions that they must be drawn from the author’s personal experience. Besides the artfully created characters such as the struggling jailer and husband Tom Jennings, local artist Jesse Thomas, and Native American Joe Morningcloud, there is a tight story line that grabs your attention and won’t let go. Human tensions, love, conflict, joys and sorrows are all there. Magically, all the many pieces come together in a final crescendo, giving hope that even when we find ourselves in big trouble we can survive. This is a novel I highly recommend!

Larry Kruckman, Anthropologist

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:27:15-06:00

Larry Kruckman, Anthropologist

Jim Potter displays ethnographic skills in Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, creating vivid scenes and fascinating characters. The Greeks had a word for subcultures and people’s behavior: ‘ethos,’ or ‘ways of being.’ In colorful, sometimes marvelous detail, this novel captures various people and settings . . . the ethos of rural Kansas: a jail, art fair, powwow, rehab center, courtroom, albinos, and even someone in the throes of postpartum depression. So detailed are the descriptions that they must be drawn from the author’s personal experience. Besides the artfully created characters such as the struggling jailer and husband Tom Jennings, local artist Jesse Thomas, and Native American Joe Morningcloud, there is a tight story line that grabs your attention and won’t let go. Human tensions, love, conflict, joys and sorrows are all there. Magically, all the many pieces come together in a final crescendo, giving hope that even when we find ourselves in big trouble we can survive. This is a novel I highly recommend!
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/larry-kruckman/

Deb Theis

Jim Potter has done it again! After his book, Cop in the Classroom: Lessons I’ve Learned, Tales I’ve Told, Jim has written another great work. In Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, Jim Potter takes us on an insightful journey into the lives and relationships of numerous characters. Jim is such a talented storyteller that the reader quickly becomes immersed and has a ‘bonding experience’ with each of the characters, feeling their joy, fear, passion and pain. Jim’s novel speaks to the empowerment of persistence with the characters as they work through their trials. As a therapist, I appreciated the heartfelt struggles from each of the characters and their diversity. I also found value in the novel’s understanding of society’s misunderstanding of both mental health and other conditions in which people struggle. The novel contains rich exposure to various realities that many of us do not know about . . . but should. When I finished this captivating novel, I was wanting to read the sequel! It was an honor and a wonderful, mesmerizing experience reading this book. Congratulations, Jim!

Deb Theis, LSCSW, clinical therapist/hypnotherapist

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:20:29-06:00

Deb Theis, LSCSW, clinical therapist/hypnotherapist

Jim Potter has done it again! After his book, Cop in the Classroom: Lessons I’ve Learned, Tales I’ve Told, Jim has written another great work. In Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, Jim Potter takes us on an insightful journey into the lives and relationships of numerous characters. Jim is such a talented storyteller that the reader quickly becomes immersed and has a ‘bonding experience’ with each of the characters, feeling their joy, fear, passion and pain. Jim’s novel speaks to the empowerment of persistence with the characters as they work through their trials. As a therapist, I appreciated the heartfelt struggles from each of the characters and their diversity. I also found value in the novel’s understanding of society’s misunderstanding of both mental health and other conditions in which people struggle. The novel contains rich exposure to various realities that many of us do not know about . . . but should. When I finished this captivating novel, I was wanting to read the sequel! It was an honor and a wonderful, mesmerizing experience reading this book. Congratulations, Jim!
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/deb-theis/

John & Cindy Morrill

I enjoyed your book. When I am looking for a new read, I always read the first page, last page and choose a random page somewhere in the middle before I decide to buy it. You had me on all three pages. I also like reading a book where you can relate to the characters and the settings in which they live and work. It makes a story more realistic if you can say, I am familiar with the area; I know where that town is or I have traveled that street. It was easy to relate to the characters. In one way or another, I have met them all somewhere in my journeys

John & Cindy Morrill, 20 years Air Force retired, 17 years law enforcement

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:14:56-06:00

John & Cindy Morrill, 20 years Air Force retired, 17 years law enforcement

I enjoyed your book. When I am looking for a new read, I always read the first page, last page and choose a random page somewhere in the middle before I decide to buy it. You had me on all three pages. I also like reading a book where you can relate to the characters and the settings in which they live and work. It makes a story more realistic if you can say, I am familiar with the area; I know where that town is or I have traveled that street. It was easy to relate to the characters. In one way or another, I have met them all somewhere in my journeys
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/john-cindy-morrill/

Morgan Penner

Taking Back the Bullet is a novel that provides the reader with a window into the world of law enforcement. As the novel unfolds, the reader is able to see how split-second decisions alter the lives of the main characters in the story. Taking Back the Bullet also explores how humanity is impacted by mental illness. One of my favorite quotes from Taking Back the Bullet is “We’re all just a critical moment from being disabled or mentally ill, and we don’t want to think about it.” The novel also provides the reader an opportunity to gain a better understanding of how mental illness impacts the individuals, their family, friends, and society. Taking Back the Bullet is a story of forgiveness and overcoming life’s struggles and tragedies.

Morgan Penner

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:25:35-06:00

Morgan Penner

Taking Back the Bullet is a novel that provides the reader with a window into the world of law enforcement. As the novel unfolds, the reader is able to see how split-second decisions alter the lives of the main characters in the story. Taking Back the Bullet also explores how humanity is impacted by mental illness. One of my favorite quotes from Taking Back the Bullet is “We’re all just a critical moment from being disabled or mentally ill, and we don’t want to think about it.” The novel also provides the reader an opportunity to gain a better understanding of how mental illness impacts the individuals, their family, friends, and society. Taking Back the Bullet is a story of forgiveness and overcoming life’s struggles and tragedies.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/morgan-penner/

Dennis Perrin

Masterful storytelling, exquisite character development, so real as to HURT and HOPE, a real page turner. Begs for stage, screenwriters, and visual episodic development a.k.a. TV series . . . Thanks Jim Potter for telling it like it is AND providing us visions of how it could be. Well done!

Dennis Perrin, educator

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T11:44:55-06:00

Dennis Perrin, educator

Masterful storytelling, exquisite character development, so real as to HURT and HOPE, a real page turner. Begs for stage, screenwriters, and visual episodic development a.k.a. TV series . . . Thanks Jim Potter for telling it like it is AND providing us visions of how it could be. Well done!
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/dennis-perrin/

Rebecca Schillaci

As a former law enforcement officer, I found the story very relatable as it details the life of a law enforcement officer and the struggles some face throughout their careers. . . Taking Back the Bullet is a journey of understanding, respect, and forgiveness . . .

Rebecca Schillaci

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T11:46:40-06:00

Rebecca Schillaci

As a former law enforcement officer, I found the story very relatable as it details the life of a law enforcement officer and the struggles some face throughout their careers. . . Taking Back the Bullet is a journey of understanding, respect, and forgiveness . . .
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/rebecca-schillaci/

Sheryl Remar

I enjoyed the different stories of this book because Tom, James, and Suanna, the three main characters, represent in their own way the different struggles with themselves and society’s idea of what is normal.

Sheryl Remar

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T11:47:46-06:00

Sheryl Remar

I enjoyed the different stories of this book because Tom, James, and Suanna, the three main characters, represent in their own way the different struggles with themselves and society’s idea of what is normal.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/sheryl-remar/

Jane Holzrichter

I finished it last night around midnight. What a great piece of work. It kept me intrigued all the way to the end.

Jane Holzrichter

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:21:41-06:00

Jane Holzrichter

I finished it last night around midnight. What a great piece of work. It kept me intrigued all the way to the end.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/jane-holzrichter/

Steve Becker

I’m impressed. It was an excellent read. . . . I hope you continue with more projects in the future.

Steve Becker

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:26:21-06:00

Steve Becker

I’m impressed. It was an excellent read. . . . I hope you continue with more projects in the future.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/steve-becker/

Diana Dester

Good story line, building the characters along the way. Great job!

Diana Dester

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:19:23-06:00

Diana Dester

Good story line, building the characters along the way. Great job!
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/diana-dester/

Karleen Wilson-Moon

Terrific story relevant to today’s social issues . . . well written . . . likable characters . . . insightful perspective from an insider in law enforcement.

Karleen Wilson-Moon

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:44:26-06:00

Karleen Wilson-Moon

Terrific story relevant to today’s social issues . . . well written . . . likable characters . . . insightful perspective from an insider in law enforcement.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/karleen-wilson-moon/

Judy Hawk

. . . I was impressed with the Native American information as well as the depth of character development . . . .

Judy Hawk

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:15:48-06:00

Judy Hawk

. . . I was impressed with the Native American information as well as the depth of character development . . . .
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/judy-hawk/
16
Sandhenge Publications

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