Cindy Wright and her husband Rick .

Rick Wright was born and raised in Grant County . He has story after story of adventures with friends , and “ all kinds of orneryness ”. Childhood pranks on locals seemed to fill his early days — like the day he discovered he could use the new TV Remote to open and close his puzzled neighbor ’ s garage door .

Rick spent his youngest years in Jonesboro — what he calls his stomping grounds . He shared the many memories of calling to his mother that he was going “ down over the hill ” to hunt crawdads , impersonate Tom Sawyer , and sled with friends .

This familiar childhood phrase is one that Rick holds closely , and in fact , he ’ s written a book entitled “ Down Over The Hill ”, filled with stories and memories of these sorts . Rick has not published his book quite yet , but with a bit of convincing , this book could be available for reading one day .

As Rick got a bit older , he began working as a sodajerk at Webb ’ s drugstore , “ Webbie ’ s is what we called it ,” he remembered . “ Back then , you collected popbottles and turned them in for money . People were different — nobody had cell phones and everyone was familiar with everybody . You grew up outside of the house .” He shared the thrill of riding a new bicycle around town , and finally acquiring his driver ’ s license to drive an old 59 ’ Volkswagen all over .

On July 22nd , 1969 , Rick was drafted for the Vietnam War . He spent time training in Fort Knox Kentucky , California , Washington , and then onto Vietnam . Rick served hauling water around several different base camps for a time , and later drove for the Pentagon Motor-Pool . As a bunker

guard , Rick learned many things through some close encounters . He told of a particular time when he quickly recognized a grenade booby-trap and prevented a friend from setting it off — “ I didn ’ t have to buy soda for months after that , because he was bringing

them to me constantly .”

Some wonderful friendships were developed in his time serving — Rick smiled thinking about his friend Cliff , who was called ‘ Hillbilly ’.

“ We teamed up together . He was a big guy , and if someone ever picked on me ,

he told them , ‘ You leave Sparrow alone .’” Sparrow was the name Rick was given from friends like Cliff , Richard ( called YoYo ), and Dan .

Rick ’ s clever entrepreneurial side came out in this time as well . He explained the ration card system —

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used to purchase things like cigarettes or sodas . He had a clever habit of storing up his resources to sell the extras for a nice profit . After all of Rick ’ s impactful experiences , he missed his family .

A vivid memory he holds is sitting with all the other

A vivid memory he holds is sitting with all the other newly drafted soldiers when “ Leaving on a Jet Plane ” by John Denver came on over the radio , and seemed to bring everyone to a silence in a great wave of homesickness

newly drafted soldiers when “ Leaving on a Jet Plane ” by John Denver came on over the radio , and seemed to bring everyone to a silence in a great wave of homesickness . “ When we left Vietnam to come home , everyone was sitting on the plane just waiting for it to take off . As soon as that wheel left the runway — screams and yells everywhere — we were so excited to be home with our families .” Rick ’ s family picked him up at the Indy airport and his niece and nephew waved a giant sheet declaring “ WELCOME HOME UNCLE RI-RI ”.

Rick is thankful to live in Upland now and enjoys the many things he involves himself in . He ’ s currently Vice President of the Lion ’ s Club and loves to serve his community . “ I used to be kind of shy at times , but interacting with all these great people over the years — I ’ m not shy anymore !” One memory Rick loves is the first year he debuted as the Easter Bunny , “ I looked down and there was a little girl sitting right on my foot , grabbing onto my leg , ‘ I love you Easter Bunny !’ she said . Well , that was all it took for me , I ’ ll do it every year ”.

This micro lesson is the second in a series specially adapted from Finding Success with Your Dream Writing Projects by Dennis E . Hensley , Ph . D . , with Diana Savage ( Bold Vision Books , 2017 ). All rights reserved .

by Dr . Dennis E . Hensley

I tell my students to look at their lives as data banks of plot ideas . All lives contain human dramas . Some dramatic moments are good — such as being announced the class valedictorian — others are bad , such as being fired from your job . The writer ’ s challenge is to raise routine human events to levels of entertainment by increasing their dramatic tension , by retelling them with humor , or

Blending all three methods results in limitless creativity . You can take an event from your own life , modify it by adding characters you have read about , and then conclude with an anecdote someone else told you last week .

by having them teach some sort of lesson . Novels show life in an abridged format where the emphasis is on the emotional rather than the factual aspects of events .

To help stimulate your memory in your search for plot ideas , pull out family albums and notice how you ’ ve celebrated birthdays and holidays . Watch home movies or videos ; talk to your older relatives about their lives ; read your grade-school diaries and journals ; go to the attic and search through the treasury of forgotten toys , school yearbooks , and outdated clothes .

As episodes from your earlier years become vivid again , take notes . Try to figure

out ways to enhance the real stories in order to make them fascinating enough for fiction . For example , remind yourself of the fear you felt bringing home that fifthgrade report card with the two Ds on it . Now , ask yourself how that scene could be made even more intense if you wrote it as a work of

fiction . Maybe the two Ds would keep the main character off the basketball team or the cheerleading squad ; or perhaps the Ds would result in punishment of no TV , MP3 , iPad , or video use for six weeks , along with no allowance . What else could those bad grades do to ruin a fifth-grader ’ s life ?

After you have spent a couple of hours jotting memories and plot ideas , put each scene into its proper chronological position . Amplify each episode by adding more notes about what led up to the event , what motivated your reaction , how you felt about the circumstances , and what the long-range ramifications were .

Next , judge your material . If a particular episode doesn ’ t seem real , determine how you can rewrite it with more credibility , making it relevant to today ’ s readers . Eliminate any sappy or overly melodramatic anecdotes . Create elements of suspense that will keep readers turning pages .

Always remember that no writer creates out of a void . All writers must draw ideas from what they have read or heard or experienced firsthand . Blending all three methods results in limitless creativity . You can take an event from your own life , modify it by adding characters you have read about , and then conclude with an anecdote someone else told you last week .

When you finish , the completed work may seem to have no direct relationship to your personal life at all , but in a very real sense , it does , indeed . However , only you , as the novelist or short story writer , will know just how much .