Bryce Beattie's Blog, page 6

Delays in Submission Reading

So if you’ve checked your place in the submission queue you’ll notice that nothing has moved in the last few days. I’m currently dealing with some medical issues in my family. Everything is going to be okay, but I had to spent a night in the ER, and then pick up a bunch of regular family slack as well as holiday duties. So I haven’t had the brainspace or time to read. Sorry for the delay, but I’ll get back to you 84 pending submitters, soon. 125 submissions in total so far.

Vernacular of the Logging Camps

Here’s a little help for all of you penning logging tales set in the 1930s. It was just a teeny bit too specific to really fit in the Pulp Era Writing Tips book (or any possible future sequel,) but maybe someday somebody will find it useful. It’s an interesting little bit of history anyway.

From the November, 1938 issue of Writers Markets and Methods

By Rona Elizabeth Workman

Every type of labor has its distinctive vocabulary.

I have read logging stories which were so utterly impossible as to their conversation, their location and characters that I marveled at any editor daring to offer them to his readers, but perhaps few of the readers knew any more about it than the editor, so all was well.

A trip through an Oregon or Washington logging camp should furnish an author with sufficient local color to last him for countless stories, but Chicago is a long way from the Cascades, and it may be necessary to rely upon the trusty old imagination and a few facts. I’ll furnish the facts and let some one else do the romantic writing. Perhaps I am too close to it all to be able to do “blood and thunder stories” of the woods, for I have known the real woods. How? Oh, I married the “big boss.”

Usually the woods shut down for a couple of weeks at the Fourth of July, also during the deep snows and often during the dry season, when the humidity drops below the danger point. After a long shut-down, if there are not sufficient cut logs ready to keep the crew busy, the fallers and buckers start work a week or two in advance. The logs lie scattered about over the mountain sides amid brush and stumps and windfalls. Here, when the camp opens in earnest, donkeys are fired up, lines are strung out and the choker setters begin the dragging in of the logs by fastening the loop of cable about one end of a log and shouting to the whistlepunk, who yanks his whistle wire, at which signal the engineer of the “yarder” throws the lever and the great drums begin winding in the “line,” dragging the log through brush and mud and finally leaving it where the line from the “swing” donkey hooks on and continues the haul to the “loader.” Here they are “decked” in a huge pile from which the “head-loader” lifts them with great tongs fastened by cables to a swinging boom, hung by cables to a “spar-tree” and lays them with careful precision upon the logging trucks. Each log has to be placed in perfect relation to the others in order to insure their safe journey down the “incline” and over many miles of curving track to the big mill.

All of this outfit (yarder, swing and loader, with all the details of pumps and pipe line, drag-saws, and railroad) comprise a “Side,” and the size of a camp is gauged by the number of “sides” it runs.

The yarder is the machine which “yards” or drags the logs cut within the radius of the “setting,” usually about 800 feet, to where the “swing” donkey’s lines hook on and drag them to the “loading” donkey, where, as I said, they are loaded onto the logging trucks.

The men on a “side” are, in most camps, three loaders, a “landing chaser,” “yarder chaser,” “swing-chaser,” “hooker,” “head-rigger” and “second rigger,’ three “choker-setters,” a “swing-punk,” also engineer, fireman and woodbuck for each of the three donkeys.

“Hooker”–head man of a “side”;

“Chaser”–man who unhooks logs from yarder line and fastens on swing-line; “Choker-setter”—man who fastens the “chokers” on the logs out in the woods where the trees were “fell” (never “fallen”);

“Fallers”–men who “fell” the trees;

“Buckers”–men who “buck” the trees into log lengths;

“The old man,” “bull of the woods,” “brass nuts,” “the brains”–all these mean the woods-boss (some of the other names would, I fear, be censored);

“Head-rigger”–man next in authority to “hooker,” who keeps the “yarding crew” “lined out”;

“Punk”–man or boy (over sixteen) who pulls the whistle wire for signals ;

“Flunkey”–man or girl who waits on tables;

“Bull-cook”–man who gets wood for cook and bunk houses, makes beds and cleans;

“Gut-hammer” or “triangle”–piece of steel rung as call to meals.

Now for some of the machinery:

Donkey–huge machine which winds the “line” or steel cables on great spools and drags in the logs;

Spar-tree–tall tree, denuded of top and limbs, to which the guy lines, cables and blocks are attached;

Haul-back–line which pulls the main line back to woods;

Main-line–line used to haul in the logs, made of heavy wire cable;

Ginny–line of strawline-lighter line used to string haul-back through the woods;

Molly–strand of cable;

Donkey-setting–area logged by one machine without moving it;

Landing–place where logs are loaded onto cars;

Loading donkey–loads cars with logs;

Swing-donkey–skylines logs from yarder to landing;

Yarder–drags logs from where they were “fell.”

The above are the common terms of the Western logging world and a judicious use of them may give a bit more local color, or at least will perhaps save you from the jeers of your logger readers, for these loggers are faithful readers of the Wild Western yarns, and bitter is their scorn of the author who commits the faux pas of: having his “bull-cook” preside in the kitchen.

The old river driving days were a fertile field for writers, and while those times are definitely of the past, yet some of the terms still linger:

“Slough-pigs”–loggers who drove the logs down the flooded rivers;

“River-drive”–sending the logs out on the spring flood;

“Roll-away”–the piled logs waiting the spring drive;

“Wannigan”–large tent-roofed house built on a scow, used as cookhouse;

“Center”–a rock or other obstacle upon which logs would pile up;

“Jam”–tangled mass of logs, usually formed in bends of smaller rivers, or against a “center,” upon which the flood waters forced more and more logs until the passage of the water was almost obstructed;

“Peavey”–heavy pointed steel socket with a 4 & 1/2 foot handle of stout hickory. This socket has hinged to it a curved, sharp-pointed 14-inch steel hook to grasp and pry the logs. Don’t, I beg of you, have your “sloughpig” use a “pike-pole.” It really wasn’t done in the best logging circles.

I hope that this vocabulary may prove of assistance to some writer who plots his stuff far from the faller’s cry of “Timber.” Remember, many of your readers sit in the bunk-houses after the day’s logging is over, and read your yarns, and they are keen critics regarding your knowledge of their work. If you are writing a “river-driving” story never permit your hero to lose his peavy, even though he be swimming for his life with one hand and rescuing the lovely heroine from a log jam with the other, for that is the unpardonable sin in river-driving, and if you are doing a yarn of the present time where the golden-haired flapper from the big city wanders into the “setting,” remember to keep her away from the “haul-back” and the “main-line” or she may get “back-slapped” so far even the brawny hero can’t rescue her.

This is part of my Writing Tips from the Pulp Era Series, where I reprint articles about writing which were written a long time ago.

Note on Submissions

If you’ve submitted to StoryHack and you did not get an email verification within a couple of minutes, you may have entered a typo in your email. Just contact me if you think this has happened to you. Otherwise, you won’t be able to get the acceptance/rejection email either.

Submissions now open!

The new submission system is now live and submissions are now open. They will be open until about noon on new years day, 2019. If you’ve been following StoryHack for a while, you can skip straight to the new submission system.

If you are new around here, or have questions, I suggest you start with the submission guidelines page for all the details.

Submissions to Reopen Next Week

Dear writers of exciting fiction who care about this magazine – this is the moment all 12 of you have been asking about! Let the floodgates open! 

Edited to correct date.

Submissions for StoryHack Action & Adventure will reopen next Monday, November 26, probably about noon. They will be open until Nooninsh on New Year’s Day. Watch this space, twitter or the facebook page so you can be notified the exact moment. Or sign up for the newsletter to get notified via email.

To those of you who have been testing the submission system: I’m going to turn off any new submissions tomorrow then reset the database over the weekend. Thanks for your help. I think this new system will work out great.

I will probably be accepting for two issues again. It pains me to know I will probably have to be rejecting at least a couple of stories by people I now consider friends.

Thanks as always for all the support, and I can’t wait to see what amazing, astonishing, and fantastic adventures you send in. 

Submission System Update

I’ve been building a submission system for the magazine and it is almost ready to go. I will be building in one or two last features, but I won’t need them for a while (they have to do with progress tracking of future magazine issues). I’ll be able to do the next submissions round without them being added in.

That being said, I need some help testing the system, making sure everything works and that everything makes sense. My goal was to make it as easy as possible to use. This will not be a chance to submit early, acceptances and rejections will be for testing purposes only.

If you’d like to (or are even just willing to) help me out, send me an email bryce at storyhack or if you’re on twitter, you can send me a DM there. Or if we’re friends on facebook, you can message me there. 

Status re: Submissions

As people have been asking, here’s a quick video showing what I need to finish before opening up submissions for StoryHack again.

Notes on “How I Write” by Norvell Page

The Pulp Archivist recently posted a great article on his blog, written by pulp great Norvell Page. http://thepulparchvist.blogspot.com/2018/10/how-i-write-by-norvell-page.html As should be apparent by now, I love me some vintage writing instruction.

There is much advice in the article that is similar to other prolific writers of his era. Even though Page is explaining how he wrote one particular story, I thought it would be useful to abstract out a process.

Here’s my summation of his process:

Research – Read an issue of the target magazine, cover to cover, paying special attention to the cover story and the blurbs the editor puts at the top of each story. What types of stories are they looking for? What tropes do they favor? What tone do they favor?Find a story seed – It’s hard to pull this out of thin air. It is much better to keep a notebook of ideas. In your notebook, make a note of headlines you find interesting, thoughts on stories you liked, general plot points you’ve thought about, etc. Then when it’s time to write your story, put that type/tropes/tone information in the back of your mind and scan your ideas notebook until you find or think up a good fit.Expand – Start to answer some basic story questions. What characters will you need? Who is your protagonist? Who will the villain be? What are his motivations? How can you twist the story idea into something surprising? What are some general plot events you’d like to happen?Outline the Opening Scene / Dramatic Incident – Scene must:Introduce the characters. Introduce the main problem/plot question. Introduce the story’s theme.Set the atmosphere. Complete the Outline – Write one sentence for each major event in the story. Write the Story – Follow the outline, keeping in mind all the work you’ve done so far.

Final tips:

Study your market, be it a magazine, or an audience you want to sell to directly.Keep a notebook of ideas.Pay attention to life going on around you.Writing can be enjoyable, but is also a lot of work.This process works for stories of any length, 4K to novel.

Big thanks to Nathan Housley, the Pulp Archivist.

StoryHack, issue three is finally here!

StoryHack Issue Three is now available! Paperback | ebook

In this issue, you’ll read:

Claws of the Puma by Paul R. McNamee – In the rainforests of Brazil, poaching loggers and traditional rubber tree tappers are at war. Journalist Sarah Stoughton gets more than she bargained for when she is caught up in the violence, and comes face to face with the legendary man of the jungle, the Puma.Shoot First by Jay Barnson – Flint and another agent are assigned to confiscate a dangerous cursed magical artifact from a street gang, only to find that the entire operation was a set-up by a local crime boss and an analyst from within the Order.Inside the Demon’s Eye by JD Cowan – A young adventurer searches the Black Lands for a lifesaving treasure. He may not get the chance to find it, as he is being stalked by a malevolent force.Get to the River by Luke Foster – A park ranger plays a deadly game of cat and mouse with a gang of killers on the scorching hot floor of the Grand Canyon in July.Scourges, Spells, and Serenades by Joanna Maciejewska – An archanist must work alongside a high mage to find her missing cousin. The trail leads them to the arena of a secret demon cult, where their skill will be put to a deadly test.Showdown at Stone Ridge by Jason J. McCuiston –by – A military deserter is spared the noose if he will travel to the mining town of Stone Ridge and stop the desperados. What he finds in Stone Ridge is not bandits, but a land baron with an army, led by a Djinn. How can he possibly stand against such paramilitary might and magic?Master of Thieves by Aaron Zimmerman – For years Alex has admiringly followed the exploits of the two greatest thieves of her generation. Tonight, she wants to settle the question once and for all: who is the greatest thief of all?The Dealer’s Tale by Jon Mollison – A pregnant blackjack dealer walks a deadly line as she prepares to betray her mafia-owned boss to the feds.

My Best Seller

This amusing little author’s lament came out of the January 1948 Issue of “Writer’s Markets and Methods.” -Bryce

My Best Seller

by Jack J. Gordon

I wrote a book,
Four years it took
To correlate the matter;
I spent great pains
And all my brains:
I’m bankrupt of the latter.

My book was tops
Not like some flops
That one sees now and then;
The plot did ‘jell’
‘Twas sure to sell
And pay for that nice ‘den’.

Where I would sit,
And see the hit
My brain child would create,
After years
Of sweat and tears
I’d something to relate.

But sad to say
The Ed. said “Nay-
Come back again dear feller.”
I cursed and swore!
The book-I tore
And so went my best seller.

If you like old writing thoughts and advice, you may want to check out Pulp Era Writing Tips, which I edited and is available at Amazon. It has 17 articles on writing written by some of yesteryear’s greats.