Nik Morton has been writing for over forty years, honing his craft. He writes genre fiction, whether that s science fiction, horror, crime, thriller, romance or westerns. To date he has 15 books under several pseudonyms. His westerns are usually written under the name Ross Morton. Within these pages you can discover how to write a western from the initial ideas, through the preparation and research, to those all-important character studies and plots. And you can do it in 30 days! , While day work may interfere and I will probably have to take weekends off for church activities, I fully plan to write a 35,000 word (or slightly more) novel for Piccadilly Publishing in 30 working days. -- Chuck Tyrell Nik is a published author of 15 books of fiction, in several genres. He has sold hundreds of articles and 120 short stories. He is also editor in chief of Solstice Publishing, a US publisher. He lives in Spain. , Write a Western in 30 Days With Plenty of Bullet Points! By Nik Morton John Hunt Publishing Ltd. Copyright © 2013 Nik Morton All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-78099-591-5 Contents 1. Introduction............................................................12. Preparation.............................................................103. Research................................................................214. Theme and ideas.........................................................435. Point of view decision..................................................566. Book and chapter titles.................................................687. Plot-plan...............................................................728. Character creation......................................................879. Get writing.............................................................10710. Dialogue...............................................................11411. Description and Visualization..........................................12812. Symbolism and Layering.................................................13813. Beginnings and Endings.................................................14214. Self-edit..............................................................14515. Synopsis and Blurb.....................................................15516. Marketing..............................................................161Appendices.................................................................A. 30-day countdown........................................................164B. Word count..............................................................165C. Publishers and Literary Agents..........................................167D. Formatting the manuscript...............................................174E. Western Fiction book list...............................................176F. Selection of western series characters..................................183Index......................................................................186 CHAPTER 1 Introduction Why write a western? Received wisdom would have us believe that the western genreis dead. It died in the 1970s, buried by detective and spy fictionthat swamped the market. Though seriously wounded after afew skirmishes, in fact it didn't die, because there was a renaissancein the late 1980s. But then after that western books fell intodisfavour yet again ... The western had a foot in Boot Hill, itseemed. That might have been the rumour a few years ago, but itwould appear that, to paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of thewestern's death were exaggerated. Over the last couple of years,there's been a definite resurgence in the western. Go online and check out the number of western novelsavailable, particularly new authors and books, and you'll besurprised at the sheer volume. Western authors have embracedthe digital age. Before the release of Stagecoach in 1939, there'dbeen a slump in western movies; that film's Oscar-winningsuccess spurred on more films in the genre. So popularity of thewestern rises and falls. Now, more western films are being madethan for many a year. The critical sniping at Spielberg's Cowboys& Aliens didn't do it any harm at the box office: the film isseventh in the list of top grossing western movies; Dances withWolves is still top. Before Avatar and Star Wars ('cowboys in space') there wasJohn Carter, the ex-Confederate Captain created by Edgar RiceBurroughs; Carter begins his adventure prospecting for gold inthe Old West and ultimately finds untold wealth, love and a newplanet, Barsoom (Mars). The unjustly maligned film actually didthe book A Princess of Mars (1912) justice. Burroughs joined the7th US Cavalry in 1896, at Fort Grant. Several westerns followedhis successful Tarzan books. At the time of writing, independent filmmakers are embracingthe genre, too. Meek's Cutoff has achieved critical and audienceacclaim. Other film projects upcoming include Johnny Depp,Quentin Tarantino, Val Kilmer, and Luke Perry being