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By:
Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 6/11/2014
Blog:
Teaching Authors
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Today I'm pleased to share a Wednesday Writing Workout contributed by the inspiring and talented author Margo L. Dill.
I first met Margo some years ago at an SCBWI-Illinois writing conference. I believe she'd already sold her first novel, the middle-grade historical
Finding My Place: One Girl's Strength at Vicksburg (White Mane Kids), but it hadn't been published yet. With today's post, we join Margo's blog tour celebrating the release of her second novel,
Caught Between Two Curses (Rocking Horse Publishing), a YA light paranormal romance novel about the Curse of the Billy Goat on the Chicago Cubs. Margo has two more books under contract--both picture books--one with High Hill Press and the other with Guardian Angel Publishing. Besides being a children's author, she is also a freelance editor with
Editor 911: Your Projects Are My Emergency! and she is part of the
WOW! Women On Writing e-zine's staff. There, she works as an editor, blogger, instructor, and social media manager. When she's not writing, editing, or teaching online, Margo loves to spend time with her husband, stepson, daughter, and crazy Boxer dog, Chester, in St. Louis, Missouri. You can learn more
at Margo's website.
Here's a summary of
Caught Between Two Curses:
Seventeen-year-old Julie Nigelson is cursed. So is her entire family. And it’s not just any-old-regular curse, either—it’s strangely connected to the famous “Curse of the Billy Goat” on the Chicago Cubs. Julie must figure out this mystery while her uncle lies in a coma and her entire love life is in ruins: her boyfriend Gus is pressuring her to have sex, while her best friend Matt is growing more attractive to her all the time. Somehow, Julie must figure out how to save her uncle, her family’s future, and her own love life—and time is running out!
As a die-hard Cubs fan, I'm really looking forward to reading Margo's new book. (I'm hoping the main character solves not only her problem, but the Cubs' curse too!)
And now, here's Margo's three-part
Wednesday Writing Workout.Wednesday Writing Workout: Putting the Pieces TogetherWriting a novel is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle with my daughter. I’ve been teaching her to do the edge pieces first and then fill in the middle. This reminds me of writing a novel because writers usually start with an idea, maybe a plot or an interesting character with a problem—in other words, our border. We build our foundation for a story by piecing together our ideas. But sometimes, that beginning border, even with a few pieces filled in the middle, is not finished or even sturdy. Here are exercises I use with my
WOW! Women On Writing novel students to add more pieces to their puzzle and come out with a strong, final product—a finished, publishable novel! (These can also be used with short stories and picture books.)
1. Create characters with internal and external problems.
The characters I remember best are the ones that struggled with both internal and external problems. What’s the problem your character has that he must overcome in the novel? Trying to raise money for a new bike? Figuring out how to deal with a sibling? Tired of moving around and always being the new kid at school? These are all external problems, and the ones that our plots are built on.
But your character also needs an internal problem! In
Caught Between Two Curses, Julie has to break two curses; but while she does this, she also struggles with her self-esteem and confidence as well as what love means. These are her internal struggles. While she rushes around to save her uncle, the events in the novel help her grow and work through her internal problems.
Just ask yourself these four questions either before you write your novel or even during revisions:
a. What is your main character’s internal struggle?
b. How does he or she solve it?
c. What is the external problem in the novel that affects the main character?
d. How does he or she solve it?
2. Brainstorm problems.
If you find yourself with a strong border for your novel—an exciting beginning and an ending that will leave readers talking for years, but you are stuck in the muddy middle, make a list of 10 problems that a person can have that’s the same age as your main character and in the same time period. For example, my novel’s main character is 17, lives in Chicago in present day. Problems she can have are: pressure to have sex, temptation to do drugs, failing classes, negative body image, disloyal friends, etc.
Once you have this list, are there any of these problems that you could turn into a subplot for either your main character or a minor character or sidekick? Subplots can often dry up the muddy middle and keep readers hiking to the end.
3. "Then what?"
The last exercise asks a simple question, “Then what?” Each time you answer, make the problem or situation worse for your main character. You don’t actually have to use all of these horrible situations in your book, but they may help you push your main character a little harder. Here’s an example:
Julie learns a curse is on her family.
Then what?
The curse makes her uncle fall in a coma.
Then what?
Julie’s grandma says her uncle will die before he is 35 if the curse isn’t broken.
Then what?
He is 35 in less than 5 months.
Then what?
She has no idea what to do to break the curse.
Using these writing exercises while you are piecing together your novel will give you a complete story in no time!
By:
Angela Ackerman,
on 6/11/2014
Blog:
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I recently read a Huff Post psychology piece on Turning Negative Emotions Into Your Greatest Advantage and immediately saw how this could also apply to our characters. Feel free to follow the link and read, but if you’re short on time, the rundown is this: negative emotions are not all bad. In fact, they are necessary to the human experience, and can spark a shift that leads to self growth.
And after reading James Scott Bell’s Write Your Novel From The Middle: A New Approach for Plotters, Pantsers and Everyone in Between
and attending a full day workshop with him a few weeks ago, I can also see how this idea of using negative emotions to fuel a positive changes fits oh-so-nicely with Jim’s concept of “the Mirror Moment.”
But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, let’s look at what a mirror moment is.
Mirror Moment: a moment in midpoint scene of a novel or screenplay when the character is forced to look within and reflect on who he is and who he must become in order to achieve his goal. If he decides to continue on as he always has, he will surely fail (tragedy).
If the story is not a tragedy, the hero realizes he must either a) become stronger to overcome the odds or b) transform, shedding his biggest flaws and become more open-minded to new ideas and beliefs. One way or the other, he must better himself in some way to step onto the path which will lead to success.
Jim actually describes the Mirror Moment so much better than I can HERE, but do your writing a BIG FAVOR and also snag a copy of this book. (It’s a short read and will absolutely help you strengthen the character’s arc in your story!)
To see how the two tie together, let’s explore what leads to this essential “mirror moment.” Your hero is taking stock of his situation, realizing he has two choices: stubbornly continue on unchanged and hope for the best, or move forward differently, becoming something more.
The big question: what is the catalyst? What causes him to take stock of the situation? What causes his self-reflection?
The answer is not surprising: EMOTION. Something the character FEELS causes him to stop, look within, and make a choice.
Let’s assume this isn’t a tragedy. If this moment had a math formula, it would look something like this:
Emotion + look within = change
So what type of emotions are the best fit to encourage this necessary shift toward change? And are they positive emotions, or negative ones? Let’s experiment!
Common positive emotions, taken right from The Emotion Thesaurus:
Happiness + look within
Happiness is contentment, a feeling of extreme well being. If one feels good about themselves and where they are at, it doesn’t encourage a strong desire for change, does it?
Gratitude + a look within
Gratitude is thankfulness, an appreciation for others and what one has. Because again, gratitude creates contentment, feeling “full” and thankful, it doesn’t make the best catalyst for change. However, if you were to pair it with something like relief (such as being given a second chance), then gratitude over being spared something negative could lead to resolving to change.
Excitement + a look within
Excitement is the feeling of being energized to the point one feels compelled to act. On the outside, this looks like a good candidate for change, but it depends on the type of excitement. Is the “high” a character feels something that distracts them from self reflection (such as being caught up in the experience of a rock concert) or does it inspire (such as the thrill of meeting one’s sports hero in person)? If one’s excitement propels one to want to become something better, then change can be achieved.
Satisfaction + a look within
Satisfaction is a feeling of contentment in a nutshell. It is feeling whole and complete. As such, looking within while satisfied likely won’t lead to a desire to change anything–in fact it might do just the opposite: encourage the character to remain the same.
Common negative emotions, again right from The Emotion Thesaurus:
Fear + a look within
Fear is the expectation of threat or danger. Feeling afraid is very uncomfortable, something almost all people wish to avoid. Some even try to make deals with the powers that be, so deep is their desperation: if I win this hand, I’ll give up gambling, I swear. So, combining this emotion with some self reflection could definitely create the desire to change.
Frustration + a look within
Feeling stymied or hemmed in is something all people are familiar with and few can tolerate for long. By its very nature, frustration sends the brain on a search for change: how can I fix this? How can I become better/more skilled/adapt? How can I succeed?
Characters who are frustrated are eager to look within for answers.
Embarrassment + a look within
Embarrassment is another emotion that is very adept at making characters uncomfortable. Self-conscious discomfort is something all usually avoid because it triggers vulnerability. When one feels embarrassed, it is easy to look within and feel the desire to make a change so this experience is not repeated.
Shame + a look within
Disgrace isn’t pretty. When a person knows they have done something improper or dishonorable, it hurts. Shame creates the desire to rewind the clock so one can make a different choice or decision that does not lead to this same situation. It allows the character to focus on their shortcomings without rose-colored glasses, and fast tracks a deep need for change.
* ~ * ~ *
These are only a sampling of emotions, but the exercise above suggests it might be easier to bring about this mirror moment through negative emotions. But, does this mean all positive emotions don’t lead to change while all negative ones do? Not at all!
Love + a look within could create a desire to become more worthy in the eyes of loved ones. And emotions such as Denial or Contempt, while negative, both resist the idea of change. Denial + a look within, simply because one is not yet in a place where they can see truth. Contempt + a look within, because one is focused on the faults of others, not on one’s own possible shortcomings. Overall however, negative emotions seem to be the ones best suited to lead to that mirror moment and epiphany that one must change or become stronger and more skilled in order to succeed.
So there you have it–when you’re working on this critical moment in your story when your character realizes change is needed, think carefully about which emotion might best lead to this necessary internal reflection and change.
(And of course, we profile 75 emotions in The Emotion Thesaurus: a Writer’s Guide to Character Expression, so that’s just one more way for you to use it!)
The post Story Midpoint & Mirror Moment: Using Heroes’ Emotions To Transform Them appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS.
I've been thinking a lot recently about how I write, and reading some of the many blogs and books about how other people write. I find it fascinating to see how many different ways there are to get those ideas from inside our heads onto the page.
Some writers who plan their books seem to make detailed outlines, lists, high points and subplots, working out where problems might appear and try to resolve them, even before they write a word. I have tried this approach but each time I try it I find that I seem to get bogged down and quite frankly bored with the idea, however enthusiastic I was about it before I began.
I recently started my own personal challenge to write 2000 words a day, usually first thing in the morning before 9.30am, and when I read Miriam Halahmy's post a few days ago on her editing process I was interested in a book she mentioned by Rachel Aaron. In Rachel's book she mentions that she is a planner and talks about her process for writing more words in a day (2,000 to 10,000). Her planning is incredibly detailed and I can see logically how this would enable you to write a lot more and quickly because you always know what you re going to be writing about. It is a detailed road map. It obviously works, not just for Rachel but also a number of writers I know who do plot their books in great detail before they start.
But not only is this the complete opposite to the way I work, it sounds like something that would (for me) take all the pleasure out of writing. I get such a buzz out of a new idea, even if I have no idea where it is going. I might have an image in my mind, that I have seen or imagined, and something about it will have triggered my interest and sparked an idea.  |
| Is it a log or a creature from the swamp? |
It could be an animal or a person in a particular situation that sets my imagination off.I often have no idea where the story will go, or what exactly it is and I need to start writing to find out. Something about sitting at the keyboard, or putting pen to paper seems to bring the story out so that I can examine it and see what shape it is going to take.
Usually once I get the first idea down and I begin to explore it, I find that I need to know more about the main character. At that point I will often write in the character's voice letting them have a bit of a rant, which may or may not end up in the story. But crucially it lets me understand what is important to them and what problem or several problems the character is facing.
Now and then I will start to write something and it does not become a complete story, so I save it and leave it to one side if that happens, because nothing is ever wasted.  |
| Wandering in the forest of imagination |
The story I am writing at the moment includes two of these short pieces that I wrote at different times, years apart. I'd been juggling several ideas in my head that were gradually coming together and as I started to write they coalesced into an idea for a novel. When I started writing it I realised that something I had written long ago was exactly what I wanted to begin a strand of the story, quite separate from the main storyline. It was soon after that I remembered the other completely unrelated piece, and it too feels right as another element that will build on the first ideas I had.
I am having a huge amount of fun writing this, that is not to say there aren't times I am fighting with the story, trying to wrestle it into place. I have a vague idea of where it is going to end up and what is going to happen close to the end of the book, but no more than that.
Recently, in view of trying to write more each and every day, and after reading about all those plotters and planners out there, I tried to plot out the story and lost two days struggling to get my head around laying out the whole story. In the end I gave up, I am fairly sure my brain is not wired that way, because I could not dig out a single idea beyond what I had already written.
I went back to one of the story strands where I was desperate to find out what was going to happen next and started writing. The following day I went to another part of the story and continued that bit. I discovered one thing. If I wasn't interested enough in writing what happened next then the chances were it was not right and would not be interesting for anyone else, so it needed to be cut or rewritten.
I have decided that planning and plotting are fine, if that is how it works for you, but it is not for me. It drains all the joy out of writing and while the way I write may not seem the most logical way to do it, for some reason it works and best of all I can't wait to get back to it.
I don't think I am the only person who doesn't like plotting but I would be interested to hear about your method of getting the words on the page. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Linda Strachan is the author of over 60 books for all ages from picture books to teenage novels and the writing handbook Writing For Children
Her latest YA novel is Don't Judge Me
Linda is Patron of Reading to Liberton High School, Edinburgh
website: www.lindastrachan.com
blog: Bookwords
Game theory must be the epitome of Western faith in logic. We think that if we plug in some variables and press a button we can predict the future. Apparently, we apply it to all sorts of things: economics, war… It’s founded on our belief that if we know enough facts we’ll be in control. But do we really think that we can ever come close to factoring everything in? Isn’t it a bit like trying to predict exactly how the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Tokyo will affect the time that Mrs Morgan arrives at work in Sheffield?
And yet, perhaps those game theorists have a point. If, as quantum physicists now seem to believe, "we are one", the flap of a butterfly’s wings
will affect the time that Mrs Morgan gets to work. Nothing acts in isolation. Every event, every movement, every action, every thought is affected by everything that has come before it and in turn affects everything that comes afterwards. So there is, in fact, a formula connecting Tokyo and Sheffield – and if we could plug in every variable we could calculate the outcome.
In order to predict such complex causality with any certainty, however, our equation would have to take
everything into account. The result would be that it wouldn’t just predict one outcome, it would predict
every outcome. It would be huge. It would be a mathematical equation that would incorporate the entire world. No - the universe! Wait a minute – this equation would
be the universe. Our primitive little left brains, which like to quantify and categorize, simply aren’t sophisticated enough for this sort of maths.
Our right brains, however, would seem to be designed to compute exactly this sort of all-encompassing complexity. Not logically – but intuitively. In the creative and scientific disciplines, tiny portions of the Great Equation tend to reveal themselves in brief, bright flashes of insight, during which we shout ‘eureka!’ In fact, David Bohm, quantum physicist and author of
On Creativity, believes that the intrinsic appeal of all artistic or creative endeavour is this moment of satisfaction, in which we perceive what he describes as ‘a certain oneness and totality or wholeness, constituting a kind of harmony that is felt to be beautiful’.
The truth, in other words.
Writing fiction involves exactly these sorts of flashes of insight. They’re like lightning strikes, illuminating the way. Flash by flash we find our way through the forest, and step by step the narrative unfolds. Every step must link logically – truthfully – to the one before it and the one that comes after it. One false note and the chain is broken and the mathematics goes awry.
If we try and predict a plot logically, using a pre-arranged formula – the way that game theory seems to – it tends to feel ‘wrong’. It never quite rings true in a way that makes you want to shout ‘eureka!’ What a novelist wants is for the causality of events to be so sophisticated and yet so flawlessly logical that afterwards the reader thinks, “I didn’t see that coming – but in retrospect, of-course it was inevitable.” This sort of integrity is rarely achieved by the logical mind; it has to be intuited.
So, step by step we intuit the way. We draw on all the powers of our unconscious to intuit exactly what a certain character will do and what will happen as a consequence. Intuition is about widening our perspective, holding the whole world of our novel in the periphery of our vision in order to feel the pattern.
The end result is a plot: a linked sequence of cause and effect that has an almost scientific integrity to it. The plot reveals the underlying pattern, the mathematical formula that underpins our novel’s ‘reality’. How do we know if we’ve got it right? Because it feels right. It clicks.
Sometimes people assume that writing fiction must be easier than non-fiction. They assume that because you can make it up as you go along, you can write whatever you want. But nothing could be further from the truth. You can’t just write whatever you want. You have to write exactly what
would happen. No wonder writing fiction is so difficult. We are trying to predict the future.
www.heatherdyer.co.uk
Conflict is always good.
It's good for our characters, and it's good for us as writers. Pushing ourselves through the hard scenes, the hard revisions, the tough first drafts, that's conflict. Overcoming conflict in ourselves and our writing forces us to become better at our craft the same way conflict forces our characters to become better, stronger, more interesting to our readers. And just as our characters don't always choose the right fork in the road, it often takes trial and error--and an eventual alignment of whatever planets guide our writerly feet--for us to find the right path through a story.
As writers, we learn by reacting to a set of stimuli: a book read, a scene written, feedback received, or perhaps just the right combination of all of the above. Our characters learn because we put them in conflict with an antagonist, stick their butts in moral or mortal danger, and force them to fight their way back out. Learning how to do that to our characters credibly is the greatest thing we writers can learn. Because, in the end, for us and our characters both, fiction comes down to the credibility of stimulus and response.
From the first page we write, our main character must want or need something specific. She either has a goal or a problem. The antagonist, on the other hand, wants something that will prevent the main character from getting what she wants. The battle between the two will wage, nearly equal, until it results in a climax that pits all the strength of one against all the intelligence and cunning of the other. How do we, as writers, get them to that point though? That's the trick.
Pulling the reader by the heart from the beginning of the book to that climax, scene by scene, is the key to successful writing. Ultimately, a book isn't about beautiful descriptions or sparkling prose. It's about action and reaction, which is all a response to conflict.
I like to reread craft books. I usually try to get through one a month, even if it is one that I have read before, because I get something new out of it every time. Just forcing myself to think about craft in a new way gives me time to think about whatever story I am working on from a different perspective. This weekend, I picked up Jack M. Bickham's SCENE AND STRUCTURE, which approaches conflict from the approach of both logical and emotional stimulus and response.
Although Bickham focuses largely on scene, he also starts covers the cause and effect sequences that form the smallest elements of a story, the individual steps that begin to build the climb toward the climax. From the first scene in the book where the protagonist's journey begins with a the inciting incident, a stimulus, we writers have to provide a sound motivation for every action by every character. The more deeply motivated we can make the goals or problems, the more satisfying we can make the reader's experience, and ultimately, the more the reader will care about the outcome of the dilemma.
Even less likeable characters are readable and redeemable so long as they are striving for something they desperately care about. One of the basic tenets of creating a powerful story is that the protagonist must want something external and also need something internal one or both of which need to be in opposition to the antag's goals and/or needs. By the time the book is over, a series of setbacks devised by the antag will have forced a choice between the protag's external want and that internal need to maximize the conflict. The protagonist must react credibly to each of those setbacks, and take action based on her perception and understanding of each new situation.
Bickham points out that credibility results from understanding the stages of response. Character reaction, like human reaction in general, has four individual parts. As writers, we don't necessarily have to put all four on the page at any given point in time, but what we do show we have to put in the proper order. First the stimulus, then:
- the character's visceral emotional response,
- her unconscious knee-jerk physical action,
- her decision to act, and
- her initiation of conscious action or verbal response.
If we violate that order, we dissipate the tension in our sentences by creating a tiny, niggling disquiet in the mind of our readers, a sense that there is something wrong that can pull them out of the story and suspend disbelief. But as long as we follow the logical sequence, we can build from the initial opening action to the end of the first disaster. What disaster? The obligatory disaster at the end of every scene that answers the basic story question of whether or not the protag will get what she wants, the turning point of the scene that all those stimulus/response pairs lead up to as part of the two primary building blocks of story.
As Bickham defines it, every scene has to break down to the protagonist:
- striving to achieve a goal,
- encountering opposition (conflict), and
- smacking into disaster.
The disaster can fall into one of three categories that answers the basic question of whether the protag can achieve her goal or overcome her problem. Obviously, the answer can't be a simple yes, or we would stop the story in its tracks. Therefore, the answer to the question can only be:
- yes, the protag gets what she wants, but accepting it means she will have to get over an even bigger hurdle or face a moral dilemma,
- no, the protag won't get what she wants
- not only will the protag not get what she wants, but now something even worse will happen because of what she has done.
Obviously, any of these three choices will need some getting over and regrouping. A lesser character might give up. But being the resourceful, engaging heroine readers will love to read about, our protagonist won't be daunted for long. Instead, she heads right into the sequel in which she:
- experiences an emotional response to the disaster that just occurred,
- picks herself up and recovers from her setback,
- discovers she faces a choice with no clear-cut fix-all option, and
- ultimately decides on the lesser-of-the-evils next course of action.
Which of course, gives her a new goal, which leads to new conflict, and results in yet another disaster. This active, dynamic structure pulls us through the book because we never have the opportunity to forget that the character is working for something. It applies on the book level, on the scene level, and on a micro level within the scene. At any point, we can leave out one or more aspects of response or scene or sequel. We do not have to show them all on the page. But we, as writers, do need to know that they did occur and how they ended. Even if we don't show them to the reader in real time, what happened must color future responses and actions.
Bickham also suggests that readers expect the scene/sequel structure, that like the order of the responses to a stimulus, the need for a sequel is so ingrained that niggling doubts will creep into the reader's mind if we leave one out. In essence, he is suggesting that we will leave the reader more likely to question and suspend disbelief if we shortcut their unconscious expectations.
That doesn't mean he suggests structure is inflexible. Within certain limits, we can make up our own. What I think he is inferring throughout the book, or at least what I took away on this read-through, is that the more that we deviate from the norm that our readers expect, the stronger we have to be as writers. Learning how far we can stretch, how far we can push ourselves? That's one of the best, and hardest, parts of the journey.
Reading SCENE AND STRUCTURE this time through, it occurred to me that if I go back to my WIP and examine every line as part of either a stimulus or response, I will very quickly see where I have inserted tangents. Sometimes, tangents are necessary. Just as sequels slow down the pace of a story and give a reader a necessary respite in which to regroup, breathe, and take stock of what is going on, sometimes a brief description or internal thought within a scene is a welcome break that can actually help ratchet up the emotional tension. In other instances though, it can dissipate the tension and make the scene collapse. I'm always looking for better self-editing tools, and I'm wondering if I've found one with the stimulus/response test.
What do you think? Do you notice scene/sequel as you read or write? Consciously or unconsciously? Do you pay attention to stimulus/response pairs, and do you think that test would work to help spot extraneous material and an imbalance of action/dialogue to description/introspection on the page?
Maybe it's one more way to approach those pesky areas that slow down pacing.
Happy writing and revising,
Martina
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By: Diana Hurwitz,
on 3/14/2014
Blog:
Game On! Creating Character Conflict
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When a stimulus signals the brain, the body goes through a logical sequence. Make sure you relate the beats in a logical order.
1. A stimulus triggers the senses. The brain receives the stimulus instantaneously. It can be something your character hears, intuits, sees, smells, tastes, or touches.
2. The body has an involuntary response that takes a nanosecond. The limbic system evaluates the stimulus and sends chemicals racing through the body as neurons fire, depending on its evaluation of whether the stimulus is negative, positive, or neutral. The brain decides if there is a potential threat or reward.
3. The response triggers a reflexive action.
4. The brain then regains control over the body and makes a conscious decision about how to proceed.
A posited theory is that everyone we meet (and everything we come across) leaves a neural imprint. The brain decides if a person, place, or thing is a friend or foe and whether the next encounter will be negative or positive. The composite images are stored in an easily accessed file folder for comparison. How much a person or thing resembles the positive or negative composites determines how likely you are to like or dislike a new person, place, or thing when you encounter it. It decides whether snakes are lovely or lethal, whether a physical action is comforting or threatening, and whether an action you take is likely to result in reward or punishment.
It compares faces and decides that your new boss looks a lot like the girl you liked in elementary school. Your initial reaction is positive. She may turn out to be perfectly awful.
The brain makes these split-second decisions every second of every day. It is important to understand this process as you write, but it's only necessary to zero in on this part of the response at the most critical turning points of your story.
Next, the body reacts involuntarily to the stimulus. It recoils or reaches out. It startles or is soothed. A character gasps, coughs, sneezes, laughs, or screams. This reaction is embedded deep within the animal part of the brain. It is governed by sheer instinct and raw emotion. It is the fight or flight response at play. His pulse, breathing, and muscles react. His skin erupts in chills. His mouth goes dry. The character is not speaking or moving yet. He flinches, blinks, tenses, and displays a micro-expression.
What happens next depends on how the brain filters the stimulus through the character's conditioning, personality, and emotional connection to the stimulus. It tests the emotion of the moment. The brain decides to override or reinforce the initial involuntary response. If the stimulus is a threat from a comforting person, it causes dissonance. The same is true if the loving gesture is issued from a threatening stimulus. Dick's impulse may be to hug someone. It is awkward when that someone pulls away from it.
Finally, the character's conscious mind takes over and is free to decide which course of action to take next. The body recovers from the initial reflex. It overcomes the muscle memory and moves with intention. Conscious control over his breathing, pulse, and muscles is restored. Dick moves deliberately forward or backward and speaks. He alters his breathing, flexes his trembling knees, or relaxes his tightened gut and jaw. He smiles and shakes hands or fake smiles and avoids shaking hands.
If Dick has been startled, shocked, or wounded, his body recovers. Writers often forget to mention this step of the process. His system returns to normal once the threat has passed. Make sure you show the recovery after a major impact.
Not every encounter needs to reveal every beat. Use more beats when the tension is high, less when the tension is low. Use extreme actions and reactions sparingly. The verbal camera should zoom in on the mechanics during critical parts and zoom out for the noncritical parts.
Next time we will discuss distance and touching. How close is too close?
I am an organic writer, as I said earlier this month, which makes it difficult for me to talk about plotting. What is an organic writer, you ask? I've seen references to us for a long time, but usually the references aren't very involved, as if many people aren't clear on what we are. ("I may not know organic writers, but I recognize one when I see one!") We are said to write by the seat of our pants. Thus you sometimes hear us referred to by the mildly vulgar term "pantsers." We are said not to plot. I once saw a blogger describe us as using our first drafts to find our stories, meaning we sit down to write before we know what our story will be.
Plotters, on the other hand, presumably plot out their stories before they start to write. My understanding is that they know what they're going to write, they just have to sit down and do it. I once read a plotter describe spending three months working out his plot before he started actually writing. I don't know if most plotting writers do that, or if plots spring from their heads fully formed, or how they work at all. I can only guess what they do.
My last Weekend Writer post dealt with The Plot Whisperer by Martha Alderson. Alderson provides some of the best writing on organic writers that I've ever seen.
Organic writers, she says, tend to think in pictures, as in "the big picture," rather than language, while plotters go the other way. They are more analytical and detail oriented. Organic writers tend to prefer writing about characters while plotters prefer dramatic action. Organic writers tend to see a story as a whole and are short on details. Plotters tend to see the story in its parts. Organic writers may concentrate on character and end up being weak on the action that drives readers to stick with a story. Plotters may concentrate on action scenes and lose readers who need human interest.
I agree with a lot of what Alderson has to say about organic writers. Our interest in the big picture tends to leave us going, Okay, how do I get to that big picture? This is why formulaic plotting plans often aren't very useful for us. They involve coming up with details. A problem to solve and roadblocks to solving said problem or, heaven help me, metaphorical doors to go through or not are more mystifying than not for us. If I have problems coming up with details, telling me to come up with details isn't going to provide me with a lot of help.
Plotters are like engineers who design every element of a project so that it can be built into a completed whole. Plotters supposedly know what's going to happen in their story after they have their plot worked out, just as engineers know how their project will turn out once they've finished their, though both may have to make some changes before the job is done. Organic writers are also like engineers, engineers who have to "fast track" a project, meaning construction begins before they've finished the design. Organic writers frequently begin writing before they even are clear on what the basic story is going to be. Their process is all about design changes.
In future posts, I'll have more to say about writing process for organic writers.
When women are getting ready to birth a child, there are often many signs that their body is ramping up for the big event. They might become restless, or have the urge to clean and organize, or experience a myriad of physical symptoms.
I seem to have the same signs when a novel's plot is nearly done cooking in my brain.
I get incredibly restless. Nothing keeps my attention for more than a few minutes at a time. It feels like my brain is running at a really high rev--for no good reason. Lots of spinning, lots of smoke, no output.
And I get the nesting urge too. All the laundry is done and put away. I put together bags of donations. I bake.
It's not a comfortable time, mentally or physically. I don't sleep well. I binge on strange foods (sesame sticks mixed with chocolate chips!) and find myself pacing.
Every single time this happens, a plot is born. Suddenly, the plot pieces that have been ping-ponging in my brain for months or years shift, as if I've twisted a kaleidoscope.
Then it is time to run to the whiteboard and start sketching out the bones of my new novel. The plot has decided it is going to be born, and it will be born right now.
It is during this time that I best understand the obsessive nature of artists. I only want to work on this plot. Work, fun, food, none of it seems that important. Must. Birth. The. Plot.
When it's over, everything ramps down. I'm energized, because I want to write this thing. But my body and brain are on a steady pace now. They know that a marathon of writing, revising, and more revising is ahead--probably for the better part of a year. It's easier to sit down to work, and to focus. I have a goal in front of me.
I fear for the day that a series idea hits me full force. Triplets!
Can I handle it?
Only if Trader Joe's keeps the sesame sticks in stock. Maybe some pickles, too. And dark chocolate... and those little pepperoni pizzas...
Now, let's see...What was I talking about before I got distracted by a
conference? Oh, yes.
Plotting. This could be a good time to discuss
The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master by
Martha Alderson.
There is lots of good material in
The Plot Whisperer. There is also just lots of material in
The Plot Whisperer. Though I came away with some new knowledge I think will be very helpful, I also sometimes felt overwhelmed while I was reading.
For instance, Alderson talks about what she calls the Universal Story, a common structure she believes underlies all stories. She also talks about The Writer's Way, which is sort of motivational. I sometimes wondered if this material could have been two separate books. However, I read
The Plot Whisperer as an eBook (if memory serves me, I ordered it when it was being offered for free). The Universal Story and The Writer's Way sections of the book were laid out differently than the rest of the text and with an eBook readers don't get a good look at that. How the page is laid out helps comprehension, and I wasn't getting the benefit of that. Those people reading this in another format may not have the same response I did.
Putting that issue aside, there are many, many good takeaways with this book. Among them:
- The difference between plotters and organic writers. This book is very good on organic writers, though I may be biased because I self-identify as one.
- The three major plots for a story--dramatic action (what); character emotional development (who), and thematic significance (why). Many writers don't think about theme at all while they're writing and only identify their theme after they're done. I like the idea of recognizing your theme early on and working with it throughout the writing process.
- Back story, and when to use it, versus front story.
- Scenes show, summaries tell. In order to keep a story from appearing episodic (all scenes), you need some judicious use of summary.
- Cause and effect. In order to create the causal relationship necessary for a plot to be a plot and not a series of random events, Scene A should set up the cause of the effect that will occur in Scene B. There should be a linking effect.
Writing books are like cookbooks. Every reader of a writing book is going to appreciate different things, just as every reader of a cookbook is attracted to different recipes. So other readers are going to jump at other parts of
The Plot Whisperer. I am finally working on a new manuscript, one in which I've been concentrating a great deal on planning scenes. A lot of the points I just checked off above are having an impact on the writing of this new work.
Plotting is hugely important, Weekend Writers. You really should consider some study before trying to do it. Martha Alderson maintains a
plot whisper blog, and she has a plot series on YouTube,
How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, or Screenplay. She has another YouTube series in which she
analyzes a piece of writing for plot and structure. She also sponsors an
International Plot Writing Month in December. So she offers quite a bit of free material on plotting that new writers can take advantage of.
By:
keilinh,
on 3/19/2013
Blog:
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We’ve invited Karen Sandler, author of Tankborn and the sequel, Awakening, to the blog to share her wisdom about how to plot a trilogy. In her first guest post last week, “The Trouble With Trilogies,” Karen shared the challenges she experienced while plotting the second two novels in her Tankborn series. Today she shares five useful tips for writers taking a stab at trilogies:
Five Tips for Writing Trilogies
- Keep notes on the culture, including governmental structure, societal structure, flora and fauna, religion, and local calendar. You’ll want to refer to it often.
- Draw a map and keep it up to date. In my case, the Tankborn series takes place on a planet called Loka, in which there are different regions called sectors. I added sector names to a map as the stories progressed. I had to keep track of the fact that, for example, Daki sector was northwest and Sona sector southeast.
The continent Svarga
- Keep a list of character names. I didn’t do this as much as I should have, which meant I had to constantly search the previous manuscript for a particular name.
- Keep track of your invented terminology and other names unique to your story. While some of this I scribbled in a folder (for example, the names of the trinity moons on Loka are Abrahm, Avish, and Ashiv), most of my invented words were incorporated in a glossary that appears in Awakening, the second book. I’ll keep adding to this for the third book, Revolution.
- In the end, sometimes you just have to let story take precedence over continuity. I know some readers will exclaim, “Wait, she never talked about this in Tankborn!” But some things are just too good to leave out even though I hadn’t thought of them while writing the first book. Nothing I have added directly contradicts the Tankborn world (GENs—genetically engineered nonhumans—aren’t suddenly being genned with wings, and Svarga’s Got Talent! isn’t suddenly the new hit TV show). The additional material fits the current society/culture, it just wasn’t highlighted before.
A drom, one of the fictional animals that inhabits the Tankborn world
Further Reading
How to Plot a Trilogy Part I: The Trouble with Trilogies
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By: Clara Kensie,
on 3/17/2013
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Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, everyone! Before you head out to that parade, why don’t you take a couple of minutes to answer the new Question of the Week?
Pretty much the only thing writers love as much as writing is talking about writing. So each week here at Adventures in YA Publishing, I post a question for you to answer. The questions cover all topics important to writers: craft, career, writers’ life, reading and books. Together we’ll become better writers by sharing tips and discussing our habits and practices.
Question of the Week for March 17, 2013:
What is your favorite book on the craft of writing?
As writers, we all probably have at least one bookshelf filled with books about how to write. Which of your craft books do you consider mandatory? To which one do you refer over and over again?
My answer: Yikes! Why did I have to ask such a hard question? How can I pick just one? Let’s see… after much deliberation, I’ve made my choice. While I value many, many craft books and reference them often, my favorite would have to be SAVE THE CAT! by Blake Snyder. Written for screenwriters, the advice and tips work perfectly for novelists too. The book is a quick and humorous read, and Mr. Snyder uses personal anecdotes and analyzes popular movies to illustrate his points, which makes them easy to learn. I reference this book dozens hundreds of times while I’m plotting my manuscripts.
I also love the follow-ups: SAVE THE CAT GOES TO THE MOVIES, which breaks down fifty well-known movies according to the STC plotting method, and SAVE THE CAT STRIKES BACK, which expands upon each point in the original book and offers even more advice. While Save the Cat isn’t the only craft book I use, it is my favorite.
The only negative side effect: my family loathes watching movies with me now because I’m always labeling the plot points according to Save the Cat!
YOUR TURN: What is your favorite book on the craft of writing? Why do you love it?
I can’t wait to go buy a whole bunch of new craft books based on your suggestions!
~Clara Kensie
(cross-posted from Karen Sandler’s blog)
In two guest posts, Karen Sandler, author of Tankborn and the sequel, Awakening, shares her wisdom about how to plot a trilogy.
Part I: The Trouble With Trilogies
Back in my romance writing days, I didn’t write trilogies. The love stories I wrote were one-offs. Although half of my Harlequin books were all set in the same small town of Hart Valley and had some overlapping characters, there weren’t any connections between the stories. There were two books I did for Harlequin that were part of the Fostering Family mini-series, where the second book picked up where the first left off. Characters from the first book were mentioned in the second, but the main story revolved around a new hero and heroine.
Then along came Tankborn. When I first wrote Tankborn, I had a hazy idea of possibly writing a trilogy. Then when I signed with my agents and we were getting the manuscript ready for submission, they suggested I write up short blurbs for a second and third book. When we sold to Lee and Low/Tu Books, the original contract was only for the one book, but we later sold them two other books to complete the trilogy.
So my foray into writing my first real trilogy actually commenced with the second Tankborn book. With book one, I was blissfully ignorant of how anything I wrote might have a ripple effect into books two and three. Although I’d still had that hazy idea of writing two more books, I completed Tankborn and saw it into print before I ever wrote word one of the second book, Awakening.
And that was when the hand-shackles went on. From the moment I started Awakening, I had to constantly keep in mind the Tankborn universe. The book was already printed, many, many people had already read it, and while most readers probably wouldn’t notice if some little detail wasn’t consistent, someone somewhere would.
So I certainly couldn’t change the planet my characters were on from Loka to somewhere else. I could not make the sky blue instead of green. There had to be two suns in the sky, not one. And seycats and droms had to have six legs, not four or eight. In other words, I couldn’t fudge or goof. The first book was already in print, there for anyone to refer to and point out my mistakes.
Still, as I wrote Awakening, I thought it was pretty cool having the Tankborn universe already defined. I didn’t have to re-invent the wheel. If I couldn’t remember whether seycats had stripes or spots, or just how tall a genetically engineered drom was, I had the best reference in the world–the first book.
So I finished Awakening feeling pretty good about things. My editor and I had a great round of developmental edits that strengthened all my characters and added some complexity to the plot. Then it was time for the copy editor.
That’s when the oopsies started. For instance, Risa, a very minor character in Tankborn, is a prominent secondary character throughout Awakening. As I fleshed out her character in the second book, I gave her red hair mixed with gray. I didn’t bother to check in Tankborn to see if I’d mentioned what color hair Risa had. But the copy editor did check. And pointed out that in Tankborn, Risa is described as having dark hair. For continuity’s sake, Risa’s hair couldn’t be red.
This may seem very minor (and it was for the most part). But I was a little sad at the necessity because Risa has a pet seycat (a wild feline indigenous to the planet Loka) and seycat coats are red (with black/grayish markings). I’d really liked the idea that Risa’s hair matched the seycat’s. That had to go away with the change of hair color, which required a bit more tweaking than a simple change from red to dark.
Sketch of a seycat
The second blooper was an incorrect character name. There’s an important character who plays a very minor role in Tankborn, a slightly more important role in Awakening, and will play a major role in the third book of the trilogy, Revolution. I used the wrong name for her throughout Awakening. I hadn’t remembered that one of the last changes we made in Tankborn before it went to print was to change that character’s name. Again, it was a good catch on the part of the copy editor that saved us from using the wrong name and really confusing readers.
Alas, there is an error/inconsistency that was my fault that sneaked its way into Tankborn. I only noticed it as I was working on Revolution. There’s a shrub on the planet Loka called a sticker bush. At least that’s what I was calling it all through Awakening, what I thought I’d called it in Tankborn. But it turns out that at some point, I decided to call the sticker bush a prickle bush instead. And I wasn’t even consistent at that, because while I call it a prickle bush twice in Tankborn, I call it a sticker bush once.
Sticker bush, aka a prickle bush
So what to do? Prickle or sticker? I realized I liked sticker bush better and made an executive decision to call it that, inconsistency be damned.
Live and learn. Continuity in trilogies has proved to be a tricky business. I’ll have another chance to play around with this in my upcoming mystery series from Angry Robot/Exhibit A, which begins with Clean Burn. Since it’s not science fiction, it should be a piece of cake, right?
Right.
Thanks, Karen! Stay tuned next Tuesday for part II: Five Tips for Writing Trilogies.
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Hi everyone! I’m Clara Kensie, and I’m thrilled to be back as part of the Adventures in YA Publishing team with a new weekly post. What’s my topic going to be? YOU!
Pretty much the only thing writers love as much as writing is talking about writing. So each week, I’ll post a question for you to answer. The questions will cover all topics important to writers: craft, career, writers’ life, reading and books. Together we’ll become better writers by sharing tips and discussing our habits and practices.
Question of the Week
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Plotter: A writer who plans their plot, characters, and settings before writing the story.
Pantser: A writer who writes “by the seat of their pants.” No plotting, no planning ahead.
My answer: I’m 80% plotter and 20% pantser. I guess that makes me a plantser.
My first two manuscripts were pantsed. I loved sitting at the computer each day and letting my characters surprise me. The result, however, were two manuscripts that totaled 186,000 and 205,000 words respectively, subplots that had no conclusion, and entire chapters that failed to move the story forward. Revision was more painful than prying out my eyeballs with a spork.
So, I decided to give plotting a try. To my delight, I loved it. Now, before I write the first word, I do a detailed story outline, sketches of each main character and setting, as well as a bit of research. However, sometimes there are issues I can’t solve by planning. In those cases, I just start writing and let my characters tell me what to do. And occasionally, once I’m writing, I realize something in my outline doesn’t work, so I change the outline. Pantsing releases my creativity in a way that plotting does not. I think 80/20 is a good balance for me.
YOUR TURN! Are you a plotter or a pantser, or a combination of both? Have you ever tried to switch? To what results?
Psst: there are no wrong answers!
~Clara
Good news! Plot Whispering guru
Martha Alderson is visiting today as she releases
The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing into the world.
I know that finding inspiration and getting our writing mind running can be a struggle at times, and so having a book that offer s prompts and wisdom on how to connect with our creative inner selves is a great tool for our writer's chest.
Martha agrees, and so is putting 3 books up for grabs to 3 lucky commenters. To win, comment on which danger(s) listed below most plagues you. Share a method you’ve found helpful banishing writer’s block, and your name is in the draw!
The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts gives you the inspiration and motivation you need to finish every one of your writing projects. Written by celebrated writing teacher and author Martha Alderson, this book guides you through each stage of the writing process, from constructing compelling characters to establishing an unforgettable ending. Here's some great answers to an area that trouble's many: writer's block. If you've had it before, you know how terrible it is, and how hard it can be to climb out of it. Please read on!
~~ * ~~
Angela: What dangers are responsible for writer’s block?Martha: I address writer’s block on the first page of my new book, The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing.
“But you’re stuck. You can’t seem to get going. And what seemed so easy and so urgent now appears as a huge obstacle sitting in front of you, blocking your path to fulfillment.”
Writers beware of the three major dangers responsible for writer’s block.1) Disorganization
2) Uncertainty
3) Lack of Knowledge about How to Write a Story with a Plot
Angela: How does one pull oneself free of writer’s block?Martha: I have always been fascinated by energy, which is why the Universal Story so delights me. I love the idea of an energetic path that cycles through the beginning and the end of a story, and everything else in life, too. Sometimes the energy builds and sometimes it fades, like the waves near my house. I appreciate that you can’t force a story to come any more than you can force a wave to break. However, there are three magic elixirs, one each to cure the three major dangers for writer’s block. Practice them liberally to ensure the path of creativity stays clear and wide open.
1) Replace Disorganization with Discipline I cringe even writing the word discipline, like I’m writing a bad or even evil word. Yet for writers with jumbled ideas, cluttered workspaces, stacks of stories started and stopped at varying degrees of completion, writing in moments of sublime inspiration followed by weeks and months of writer’s block isn’t working.
Discipline once referred to an avid pursuit. At some point in history, discipline became linked to punishment and quickly fell out of favor, especially with creative and more permissive people. An everyday discipline is not nearly as romantic as being struck by inspiration. Yet every successful writer I know writes daily.
The most successful writers write full-time everyday. Discipline demands self-control. Self-control requires emotional maturity. How does one achieve emotional maturity, you ask? Same way as your protagonist achieves her full character emotional development, through trial and error and trauma and plunging into the dark night of the soul. The protagonist’s emotional development takes place over time and culminates at the end of the story in a lasting transformation. The character’s emotional development can be plotted from the beginning to the end of the story.
Your emotional maturity develops from writing a story with a plot from beginning to end and culminates at the end of the story. This means you write every day. Even when you don’t want to, even when you don’t know what to write and when there are so many more important things to do than write, you sit down, wait and write what comes. Rather than punishment, discipline grants you access to a wondrous world.
At first, establishing a daily writing discipline takes persistence and will-power. You try and fail and pick yourself up and try again. The more consistently you follow-through with the intentions and promises you make to yourself, soon your writing discipline becomes automatic, a habit, a routine. Rather than controlled by whim or strong emotion or wait for inspiration to strike, a disciplined writer writes.
Consistency creates habits and routines. Every time you write repeatedly with strong purpose, intention, and emphasis, the habit or routine enters the realm of a ritual. Finishing happens when you write consistently.
Today I write.
When you’re writing a first draft, committed not to show anyone until you’ve written all the way through to the end and started rewriting, use your critique group instead as a place to publicly state your writing intentions. Having your intentions witnessed increases your likelihood of discipline and success.
2) Replace Uncertainty with Confidence To write takes confidence and energy. Something haunts you—a line of dialogue, a character; an event whispers to you like an invitation to sit down and write. Imagine for a moment that perhaps something in the invisible world wishes to manifest in the visible world. You—yes, you—have been chosen to make that dream a reality. You can always say no. However, once you say yes, the energy and commitment you bring to that task is sure to rise and fall as you follow the path on which your story leads you.
In appreciation of how fragile most writers’ confidence, I added to the PWBook of Prompts daily affirmations reminding you of your goals. Each time you renew your commitment to yourself, you renew your energy for your story. The more committed and highly energized you are, the more successful you’ll be at writing everyday. Suddenly, the ritual of showing up for your dreams empowers you to seize that which you most want.
Learning new concepts and exploring new ideas in your writing can fill or deplete you of energy. Daily affirmations lift your vigor, refocus your beliefs in yourself, and keep you writing. The ritual of repeating an affirmation every day at the same time becomes the anchor that keeps you grounded when life and your story fall apart around you.
Affirmations provide inspiration and foster creativity as you follow the more concrete plot elements of writing your story from beginning to end. Every day you repeat an affirmation, you are symbolically focusing your thoughts on your goals. Daily repetition of an affirmation builds positive, upbeat energy.
3) Replace a Lack of Knowledge about How to Write a Story with a Plot by Studying Plot and Structure The more you know about plot and structure, the more confident and disciplined you grow and the more easily your ideas fall into place.
As a plot consultant and teacher, I meet writers who talk about writing but don’t actually write. I meet others who write endlessly but never get anywhere. In every case, it means the writer doesn’t know what to write next. Writers who know what comes next in a story with a plot and have a plan and pre-plot, no matter how vague, are less apt to experience writer’s block than writers who don’t know what goes where in a story with a plot. The writing prompts in the PW Book of Prompts take care of that for you with daily plot prompts to prompt your imagination and expression toward the plot and structure considerations at the exact spot where you are in writing your story. Increase your appreciation and knowledge of plot and structure and move from blocked and frustrated to writing the story all the way to the end.
Thank you, Angela, for allowing me space to share my passion for plot with your friends and followers. I invite you all to join me virtually on March 6th to
Track Your Plot at the Scene Level, a webinar hosted by the
Writer’s Store.
Martha Alderson,
aka the Plot Whisperer, is the author of the Plot Whisperer series of plot books for writers:
The Plot Whisperer Book of Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing,
The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories – a companion workbook to
The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master. She has also written
Blockbuster Plots Pure & Simple (Illusion Press) and several ebooks on plot.
As an international plot consultant for writers, Martha’s clients include best-selling authors, New York editors, and Hollywood movie directors. She teaches plot workshops to novelists, memoirists, and screenwriters privately, at plot retreats, RWA, SCBWI, CWC chapter meetings, at writers' conferences and Writers Store where she takes writers beyond the words and into the very heart of a story.
As the founder of December,
International Plot Writing Month, Martha manages the
award-winning blog for writers, awarded by Writers Digest 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. Her vlog,
How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay covers 27 steps to plotting your story from beginning to end.
Super helpful as always Martha--it is always great to have you on the blog. I have learned so much about writing from your books, blog and videos. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge with us!**Don't forget! You could WIN 1 of 3 copies of Writing Prompts, so tell me in the comments which danger(s) listed below most plagues you. Share a method you’ve found helpful banishing writer’s block! Print (US only) or ebook (International), the choice is yours!
Unlike the other TAs, I don't think I have a "favorite" craft book per se. I have dozens that I have found quite helpful at particular times for particular purposes. Recently most of my reading has focused on that thorny area of plotting, particularly internal vs. external plot. Some texts that have been esepcially useful:
20 Master Plots and How To Build Them by Ronald Tobias
The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master by Martha Alderson
Steal This Plot: A Writer's Guide to Story Structure and Plagiarism by June Noble and William Noble
I want to mention another book in this vein that may not exactly qualify as a craft book but that I have been reading with great interest.
Hit Lit: Cracking the Code of the Twentieth Century's Bestsellers, by James W. Hall, provides an academic's literary analysis of 12 common qualities of 12 top-selling (adult) novels, from To Kill a Mockingbird to Gone with the Wind to The Godfather.
Whether or not one is intentionally setting out to write a "commercial" novel, this is an informative and fasciating book. Some of Hall's conclusions are certainly subject to debate, but I think I will always view popular literature (and perhaps my own ideas) through a different lens now that I've read this book. --Jeanne Marie
The e-mails are flying thick and fast. Initially gentle message headers like ‘Prezzie?’ Or ‘Anything you’d like?’ have now evolved into shouty ‘WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR XMAS?’, as we all leave it to the last minute as usual.
What I really want for Christmas is a plot.
I don’t mean the kind you can build a shed and grow cabbages on, although that would be nice too. I mean a plot for my story.
Or rather, not for my story, because if it hasn’t got a plot then it isn’t story yet, is it. It’s a… a situation. A potential. A seed. A torment. A promise.
This… situation (let’s go with that word) I’ve come up with is great. Everyone who knows about it loves it. It’s funny and sad, it’s gothic, it’s inventive, it’s original. I can tell you how marvellous it is without feeling like an arrogant smug git, because however funny and inventive and bla bla bla it may be, without a plot, it’s actually – nothing.
I’ve never had this problem before. All my books so far have started the same way, with a situation, but as it developed in my imagination the plot came too, as intrinsic as bones under the skin, as the trunk growing branches, sprouting leaves. I wouldn’t say that any of my books have tidy plots, because I like loose ends and suggestions of characters and events continuing beyond the book pages. I definitely wouldn’t say plot is one of my strong points as a writer. But I have always had a sense of a framework and a narrative moving things along, giving shape and purpose and sense. Making a story.
Not with this new situation. I can’t make anything happen. It won’t budge, it won’t grow, it won’t turn into a narrative that can be brought to resolution.
How do you kick-start a plot, people? I’ve been visiting vaguely relevant places, going for walks (when I get my best thinking done), collecting snippets of related information, pictures, articles from newspapers. I’ve been being distracted by all the other unrelated things in the newspapers and on my walks; I see the homeless people, the Christmas decorations, the payday loan ads, the sunsets; I read about dead children and how to make trifle and missile strikes. I can’t make sense of any of this. I can’t find a plot or a resolution.
You see what I’m doing here, of course. I’m turning my situationinto a metaphor. I can’t make a story out of life, with all its awfulness and beauty. So why on earth should I be able to force a plot onto a potential book idea, so that it makes sense?
Except that’s what books are for, isn’t it? We need stories to make sense of who we are and what we do and why we do it. We can use them to escape, and we can use them to engage. To justify appalling behaviour, but also to nudge us towards behaving better.
Oh, here’s another e-mail in. ‘LAST CHANCE, OR YOU WON’T GET ANYTHING!!!’ People are getting desperate.
I’ll send this blog post in reply, I guess. Maybe I’ll get a flat-pack shed and a packet of cabbage seeds for Christmas. Maybe I’ll be able to make a plot out of them.
Plotter- those who plot things out with a detailed synopsis or outline.
Pantser- those who write by the seat of their pants.
There have been numerous discussions on the big debate of panster vs. plotter.
A panster is someone who “writes by the seat of their pants.” True pansters don’t take the time to write detailed plot outlines. They let the characters drive the narrative, and discover the story as it unfolds. Pansters will uncover their characters weaknesses, traits, quirks, and personalities as they write. But pansters will often write themselves into corners, because they don’t bother adding the basic elements that every story needs to have a solid character ARC, including the key structural beats that work as the connective tissue between scenes, so they end up having to do a lot of rewrites.
In contrast, plotters know exactly where the story is going. Some plot out every scene, and others will plot out the general storyline and all major plot and pinch points. There are many graphs, spreadsheets, questionnaires, and worksheets that plotters can use to achieve their in-dept formula.
One major thing plotters have that most pantsers don’t, is that they tend to know their characters. Plotters have their characters’ personalities written out, their backstories fleshed out, they know all their likes and dislikes, fears and weaknesses, and even their character quirks. For the average plotter, all that’s left to do is write the actual narrative.Yes, I admit to being a "pantser". But I'm so sick of doing months of rewrites. My last developmental editor, the brilliant Rochelle French (an editor for Entangled Publishing) gave me some solid advise on plotting that I took to heart. Was it hard to hear that my story was good, but my plot was a hot mess? You betcha. Now, I'm trying to incorporate some plotting into my pantsing. I am also using as a guideline Save the Cat Beat Sheet Spreadsheet for Novels created by Liz (last name?) to make sure my storyline is basically staying on track.
After reading K. M. Weiland's book, "OUTLINING YOUR NOVEL" which is one the best books on writing I've ever read (it covers a vast number of writing subjects that can immensely improve anyone's writing), I've decided to explore these very diverse writing techniques, and see how other successful writers mange the writing process. I will be posting interviews on this controversial topic over the next couple of months. I sincerely hope these "Q and A"s enlighten us all and help to enhance our skills as writers.
How do you write? Are you a logical and detailed plotter or an emotional and creative pantser? Or do you fall somewhere in between?
Some writers have an idea and just start writing. Some writers like to do a bit of plotting first. A few of them like to do a lot of plotting.
And then there’s me. I plot, a LOT. In fact, I plot so much that the plotting is the longest part of my whole process. But the great thing is that once I’ve finished plotting, all I’ve got to do is write the book! Oh, and then edit it. And think of a title. And – ok, so writing a book has quite a lot to it!
So here is an insight into how I write my books.
The very first thing is the IDEA. This can come from anywhere and anything. Quite often, it is a place that inspires my ideas. This was the case with Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist. I visited a place called St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall, and found it so magical and mysterious that I knew it had to feature in an Emily Windsnap book! The actual place itself isn’t in the book, but it gave birth to the whole idea. Here it is.
Looks like quite a magical place, huh?
So, OK, I’ve got the idea. It’s a brilliant starting point, but that’s all it is – a start. So then I do all sorts of things to try to develop the idea. The first thing I do is either go to the place – if it’s somewhere real that I can actually get to – like Cornwall, or even Bermuda, or in the case of my brand new Emily Windsnap book, the arctic landscape of the north seas. If it’s not somewhere I can get to (for example a frozen land that you can only get to by crawling through a hole in time) then I have to research it online or in books – or purely in my own imagination.
At this point, I need a nice notebook! Here are a few of my notebooks…
I LOVE this stage. I wander around, staring into space and scribbling notes in my lovely book. And the best thing about it – I can call it work!!!
After a few weeks of doing this, I’ll come to a couple of realisations. The first realisation is that I’ve got a LOT of notes and thoughts about my new book – which is good. The second realisation is that I’ve got NO IDEA how any of them fit together. Not so good.
So here’s what I do next. I type up all the notes from my notebook, and then I cut them up into pieces! Yep you heard right. I cut the whole lot into a hundred tiny pieces. (Actually, for the latest book, it was more like 150 – but who’s counting?) Each separate idea goes on a separate piece of paper. Then I spread the ideas all over the biggest table in the house, until it looks a bit like this…
Then I go and make a cup of tea (see the cup in the top left corner?) and I sit staring at the enormous amount of tiny pieces of paper and wonder how on earth I’m ever going to piece them together.
This is usually the time when I suddenly remember all sorts of important things that need doing. Put the washing in, clean the bathroom, phone my mum, check out my emails etc etc etc. At some point, though, I realise I’ve exhausted all my excuses and I really need to figure out the next step.
So I take a few deep breaths and I sit down and I start reading through all the notes. And then something a little bit magical happens.
It starts to fit together!
This piece goes with that piece; this idea has to happen before that one; these three all say the same thing so I can throw two of them out; these two have to happen at the beginning; this one belongs at the end. And so on and so on, until, after maybe a few hours or maybe a few days, a pattern begins to emerge. The story is taking shape.
Once I’ve figured out a rough shape for my notes, I work and work on them, building them up, adding more detail, figuring out the nooks and crannies of my story. Once I think I might have enough notes to make a whole book, I break it into chapters. If I seem to have roughly the right number of chapters, it means I’ve got the plot sorted! Yay!
At the same time as the plot is taking shape, I like to try a few more tricks to figure out what’s going on. This is where I’ll spend an afternoon ripping pictures out of magazines to get a better picture of my characters, or doing big mind maps to come up with more ideas about my story.
Here’s a mind map I made whilst writing Philippa Fisher’s Fairy Godsister.
Anyone who knows this book quite well might notice that only a few of the ideas here actually made it into the book! This is something that happens quite a lot when writing a book. One of the things you have to learn to do is recognise that not all of your ideas fit into the book. Sometimes it’s the ideas you like the most that don’t belong – and it’s hard, but you have to cut them out!
So eventually, I’m happy with the plot and I’ve got to know my characters pretty well. It’s time to write the book!
The good thing is, I usually do this fairly quickly. I’ll usually aim for around 2,000 words a day. I do sometimes make changes along the way. The plot outline is there to help guide me – but every now and then the characters want to take a little diversion along the way.
But after a few months, I get to that wonderful moment where I reach the two words that give any writer a wonderful feeling.
The End
And I do actually write ‘the end’. It gets taken out before the book is published, but I like the feeling of writing it. Except that it isn’t actually the end quite yet. Oh no-ho-ho! The end of writing the first draft means the beginning of the editing.
Luckily, I have BRILLIANT editors and working with them is great fun. Here’s an example of a page of my writing that’s in the middle of the editing process. The black type is my original draft, the blue type is my editor’s notes, and the red ink all over the paper is my re-written thoughts after reading what my editor said.
Bear in mind – not every page ends up looking like this! But quite a few of them do. Sometimes it can be quite a job figuring out how to type up all the changes I’ve made, as there are so many squiggles and arrows and numbers that all made perfect sense when I was writing them but take a bit of imagination to unravel later! Other pages just have smiley faces on them or things like ‘Ooh lovely!’ or ‘I like this!’ That’s because my editor is really, really nice as well as really clever!
What happens next is a bit like a tennis match. I write a draft and send it over to my editor. She edits it and then bats it back over the net. And so on and so on until we both agree that we think it’s done.
And then….ta dah…hip hip hooray…woohooo…it’s DONE! The book is written!!
This is the point where I usually collapse in an exhausted but happy heap, and then take a few weeks off before the next job…
…starting the next book.
PS This article first appeared as part of the US Girl Scouts' Behind The Scenes project, but I wanted to share it with some fellow authors and other adults as well, so I hope you don't mind me posting it here too!
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My illustration is intentionally messy. Many writers would
give the middle-end a steeper slope. Credit: Elizabeth Humphrey |
Now that school is back in session, I’m getting geared up to play editor-mom. That is, reading drafts of stories and reports, trying to be supportive without, well, rewriting the some of the work. I love reading the beginning stories, but it continues to astound me that we read countless stories to children, but if you ask them to tell you what happened in a story, the storyline seems bland or flat. The stories don’t seem to go anywhere.
Often the flat story is how the children process the stories, as well--even if the story involves a boy, his dog, kidnappings, and international spies. If I ask my children what happened in TinTin (the movie
or the comic books), I may get the response about the cute dog and nothing about the story’s plot.
The plot of a story may be compelling, but it is not necessarily what we notice all the plot points as we learn about storytelling. (After all, when was the
first time you diagrammed a novel’s plotline?)
As we develop as writers and readers, we start learning about plotting our stories. It helps us to discern what writers we like—fast-moving books generally have tightly written plots with conflicts that crackle from the pages. But even so, plots can still be a confusing muddle.
How do you plot a story? How do you ensure the plot points are strong and build to the middle and bring the story to a good conclusion? Take your time.
Often the stories our children tell—and ones that we attempt to write—are missing the dramatic question and the conflicts that advance a plot. The question and conflicts help to tease out what the story is really about and helps to answer the question: “So what?”
Work those out as you work with your draft. It’s not a one-time happening, but something that is massaged along your novel or short story’s journey.
Sure, the cute dog is important, but he’s vitally important because he and his actions help move the plot along.
Do you sketch out your plot points in an arc in the beginning, middle or end of writing your story's first draft?Elizabeth King Humphrey is a writer and editor living in North Carolina. She enjoys using various colored pens to plot her novel’s storyline, but sometimes gets carried away and starts doodling instead.
The other day, my son discovered Maury Povich, and it wasn’t just any topic. This was “whose the baby’s daddy.” I decided to watch with my tween son and use the show to drive home a few cautionary points. What I didn’t expect was a lesson in building tension.
First, they would bring out the young woman. She would tell her story and swear up, down and sideways that the guy they were about to meet was the father and she was going to prove it. THE PROTAGONIST had a GOAL.
Then Povich would interview the “father” who would swear that there was no way the child was his. He became the ANTAGONIST.
This alone would just be a case of he said, she said. But the producers made sure we got RISING TENSION. One guy said the baby didn’t look like him. Another pointed out that she had pulled this before; he had proved the first baby wasn’t his. The ANTAGONIST has a GOAL that goes against the protagonist’s goal.
At last, Povich held the envelope with the DNA test in his hand – the TURNING POINT. Invariably the man in question was not the baby’s father. Why invariably? To keep the TENSION high, and, believe me, with the tears, screaming and name calling, there was plenty of tension.
As writers, you need to manage the tension in your stories as if you were a producer on Maury Povich.
Start with your PROTAGONIST. What is her GOAL? If you are going to use it to create tension, it has to be a big deal. What is at risk if she fails? She doesn’t have to look foolish on national television, but the bigger it is the more tension you will create.
There also has to be someone or something in her way. If you use an ANTAGONIST, vs. nature or time, your antagonist doesn’t have to be evil. His goal just has to be at odds with the goal of your protagonist.
Before the end of the story, you need to INCREASE THE TENSION. The reader could learn something about the protagonist that puts her goal in question. Or another character could surprisingly side with the antagonist. In some way, the protagonist must meet a REVERSAL.
This is where so many of us fall down on the job. We like our characters and don’t want to be the cause of their suffering. We make things too easy. We make things boring while Povich and his producers keep throwing more and more trouble into the mix.
Do this and, like Povich, you will keep your audience on the edge of their seat, shouting, cheering and maybe even booing. The one thing they won’t be doing is putting aside your writing to watch something on TV.
–SueBE
Author Sue Bradford Edwards blogs at One Writer's Journey.
The best villain for your story may not be a moustache twirling bad boy. After all, moustache wax is a tad out of fashion. Take a look at this list and see what other options may fit your next work in progress.
The ProtagonistYes, you read that right. Your protagonist can be her own worst enemy. Take a look at her faults. Or try something more difficult. Maybe you could create a situation where her strengths are her greatest handicap. Her issue could be as soap opera as amnesia. Will she remember what she has forgotten in time to save the day? Or maybe it is as ordinary as bad self esteem. She only has three days to apply for the fellowship if she can work up the nerve to do it.
The Best FriendYour main character has a goal. What happens when her best friend wants the same thing and only one can prevail? Or maybe they don’t want the same thing but opposite things. Obviously, someone is going to have to learn to live with disappointment, but which one? And what is each person willing to do to assure that she is the winner? You can make this especially tense if your main character has a reason to let her best friend win.
Animal AgonyWhat if it is a creature who’s got your main character’s goat? A furiously digging armadillo has destroyed the landscaping job that will keep her fledgling company in business. An endangered species has put the development project she needs to jump start her career on hold. We’ve all dealt with them, the feathered, furred and finned that simply will not mind their manners.
Mother NatureBigger and broader than an animal pest is Nature as an opponent. A threatening storm, a towering mountain or stormy seas can all put your character’s hopes in peril. Not sure how this might work? You do remember a wee little boat called the Titanic, don’t you?
The next time you need to throw something between your character and her goal, think of something other than your stereotypic bad boy – unless of course, you’re writing a steamy romance!
–SueBE
Author Sue Bradford Edwards blogs at
One Writer's Journey.
I’m at the beach this week and taking a little time to work on plotting. I’ve been wondering about trouble, as in how to make trouble for my protagonist, and then I remembered a fish story.
Many years ago, I was sitting in a lounge chair on the beach, when a boy, fishing in the ocean, pulled on his line and started yelling.
And so his friends came running, and the boy heaved and heaved, and the line bowed and bowed. A crowd started to gather, watching this boy trying to pull in whatever was on the other end of that line.
The line began to drag the boy down the beach. He splashed through the water, running parallel to the shoreline, block after block, always pulling on the line. He looked like the Pied Piper of Hamelin in surfer shorts, with little kids and big kids, moms and dads, old-timers and me, too, following behind him, shouting and asking, “What is it? What could it be?”
Until finally, we saw it, skimming the top of the shallow water—a stingray’s wingspan—and it was huge! The gray behemoth’s barbed tail flashed, and then suddenly, it flicked those wings and with a snap, the line broke. The boy fell on the sand, exhausted.
That was some kind of high drama, and I’ve never forgotten it. And working now on my plot, I’m reminded that if I want good drama, I need bad troubles.
Every story has a protagonist that wants something. The boy on the beach, for example, wanted to bring in the fish on the other end of that line. Lots of kids and adults were fishing at the water’s edge that day, wanting the same thing. But I’ve remembered that particular boy for one reason: he had a whole lot of trouble reaching his goal.
He slipped and slid down that beach, playing out his line, matching wits with the unknown. He hollered to his friends for help. The strain on his face, the tension in his biceps, was visible testament to his refusal to give up! He was absolutely compelling in his quest, and that made his story compelling.
So don’t make it easy for your protagonist to reach his or her goal. Make that protagonist work! Throw in obstacles, ramp up the troubles!
I guarantee you’ll land one whopper of a story.
by Maureen Lynas
WARNING! If you follow these steps you may never enjoy a book or film ever again. You may even experience marital and family discord.
Now read on.
Candy's post on the First Page Panel in Singapore reminded of an activity I attempted (and failed) years ago.
I'd just bought my very first 'how to' book - James Scott Bell's
fabulous and essential Plot and Structure. The
I always thought that writing a series would be the easiest thing in the world–it isn’t. When I wrote Longhorns and Outlaws it was with the intention of producing a book year set in the wild, wild Canadian West (there really was one) with adventure after adventure rolling off the … Continue reading →
There was a movie on USA the other day, THE CONDEMNED (2007) starring Steve Austin, Vinnie Jones, Nathan Jones, Robert Mammone: "A fight to the death against nine other condemned killers from all corners of the world, with freedom going to the sole survivor." Haven't heard of it? That's okay, I hadn't either. But the premise was similar enough to the idea of Suzanne Collins' THE HUNGER GAMES that I tuned in to watch.
It was a great example of the power of perspective and motivation.
Because it was a movie, the POV naturally bounced all over the place. We got to know several characters in the production company making the film. And naturally, we saw the battles between the criminals who all had ankle bracelets laced with explosives that their opponents could detonate. Naturally, this took place on an island that was prepositioned with cameras. Naturally the prisoners all had GPS trackers. Naturally there were a few blindspots on the island. And naturally, the show was about ratings and money. Like in THE HUNGER GAMES, there were drops of weapons and supplies to specific prisoners, and there were alliances between individuals and factions.
I watched while two prisoners died. I was singularly unimpressed. I didn't care if the production company made millions. I didn't really care which of the horrible people killed each other.
And then.... Finally it happened. One of the prisoners chose
not to play by the rules. He showed glimmers of humanity, charity, and morality. Someone in the FBI tuned in and checked who he was. Naturally, it turned out there had to have been some kind of a mistake. Jack Conrad was a retired Delta Force black ops guy who'd been caught while on a mission and imprisoned in Central America with a false identity. His ethical behavior made a woman in the production company begin to question the ethics of the show. That intensified with escalating confrontations between the prisoners, but the others in the production company shut her down. (See the B story and subplots developing?) A super-villain emerged. One of the prisoners engaged in acts of brutality so heinous, he clearly became the guy to beat. The head of the production company became so unethical and money grubbing we had to hate him. Finally, I had a protagonist to root for and a someone to root against, and I knew who would be in the ultimate showdown. Finally, I
cared a little more. But I couldn't help comparing the execution of this story to THE HUNGER GAMES, because it was all very formulaic. And though I
cared, I didn't
CARE.
The lesson here? You can have a GREAT idea and still F it up.
To make me care, a great plot has to begin with great characters who themselves care deeply about something. The more unjust the situation is for them the better, but they have to be vulnerable in some way--there has to be a hole inside them. Jack Conrad, the Delta Force guy, was great. Moral. Capable. Cool. But at first, he didn't love anything. Or I wasn't aware that he loved anything. It wasn't until he escaped, got to a phone, and called his girlfriend later in the story that I saw a glimmer of vulnerability, and by then, for me, it was too late to invest my heart.
The action got hotter. The tension ratcheted up. I continued to watch because THE CONDEMNED was a good B-movieish action flick.
It could have been so much more.
I'm eager to see how they handle the screenplay for THE HUNGER GAMES, but I know it will be stronger because the characters we care about are built into the concept. Katniss is vulnerable and admirable from the beginning, no matter how strong and capable she appears to be. She is the underdog. We
know her sister loves her. We know Gayle cares for her
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Wednesday Writing Workout: Putting the Pieces Together
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Thank you for the wonderful tips! I’ll keep them in mind as I write!