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Coming up with a scene or story goal sounds momentous and difficult.
It isn’t.
Your character doesn’t need to have a million dollar sales goal or desire to scale Mount Everest.
Writers pick goals for their characters instinctively, if not consciously. When you sit down to write a scene, your characters do and say things. What they do and say should have purpose. Their actions and words should move the story forward or cause complications or reversals. Every story should have a central conflict at the heart of it that is easily summarized in a one-sentence logline. A strong scene has a central conflict too. That doesn't mean only one thing happens in a scene or that only one character has a goal in each scene. It means the point of view character for each scene has a reason for being there and that he is earning his page time. Think of a story or scene goal as having a subject, object, verb, and outcome. The subject is the point of view character. The verb is the motion toward or away from the object.
Obtain or get rid of it.
Hold onto or release it.
Reach or escape it
Hide or reveal it.
Change or keep from changing it.
Tell or not tell it.
Evade or capture it.
Avert or allow it.
Define or obscure it.
Prove or disprove it.
Evaluate or decide it.
The object is the target or focus of the words and actions.
Person
Place
Thing
Information
Situation
Physical Task
Mental Task
Need
Want
Emotion
Belief
Prejudice
For every struggle there is an outcome.
The character can succeed in his goal and feel good about it or bad about it.
The character can achieve his goal only to find out it was the wrong goal.
The character can achieve his goal and find they have created a bigger problem.
The character can fail and feel good about it or bad about it.
The character can fail and realize he was after the wrong goal, so his failure was really a success.
The goal of the antagonist, or antagonistic forces, is to keep the protagonist from obtaining the object and make the verb challenging.
Friends and foes provide stumbling blocks and step ladders to keep the character moving toward and away from the object and make the verb more difficult or easier.
Providing stiff opposition and high stakes equals high tension.
Movement toward and away from the scene and story goals creates satisfying S-curves readers enjoy cruising, or racing, through to reach the story’s end. It adds the requisite tension to keep the reader turning pages. If you can complete one sentence for your entire story, you have a solid logline.
Character (subject) wants to (verb) the (object) and (outcome).
If you can complete one sentence for every chapter, you have a solid synopsis.
Next week, we'll illustrate the theory.
You can visit http://www.dianahurwitz.com to download free scene-building worksheets. For more information on scene goals, pick up a copy of Story Building Blocks II: Crafting Believable Conflict.
“I just want my novel out there.”
Ouch.
Too many times lately, I have heard people say this about their self-publishing efforts. Out there. I just want it out there. What does that even mean?
It means a couple things:
First, it means that the writer can find closure to his/her writing process. It means there is a finished product and the creative process has ended. Now, it’s up to everyone else to do whatever they will do with that product: ignore it, read it, praise it, trash it. But the writer can move on. There’s value in this, of course, to have something finished and not on the back burner, to have it stop nagging.
Second, the writer usually means that the story, novel, picture book, or nonfiction book will find readers. Here’s where the writer is wrong. The book will not find readers by itself. Guaranteed.
In their fascinating book, DECISIVE, Chip and Dan Heath talk about one flaw in the decision making process, namely, that people overestimate their own success and ignore solid data in front of them. In fact, most self-published books sell less than 100 copies. If your book is OUT THERE without any support, you will NOT sell copies. Your friends and family–because they love you–may buy copies, but that’s usually the 100 copies that get sold. Do not make this mistake (and how many ways and how strongly can I say this?), you will not sell copies if you do not market.
OUT THERE–publishing a book without marketing a book is not going to work.
Many of you will ignore this fact: you will convince yourself that your story is different and will beat the odds. OK. Do what you have to do. Put it OUT THERE. But it will not sell.
Unless.
A self-published book needs marketing. That means the publishing house (that’s you!) needs a platform, a network of connections that are proven places to sell a book. The author (that’s you!) needs to be working to support the publisher (Oh, that’s you, too!) to sell the book. This can be accomplished through any number of means: catalogs, speaking engagements and back of the room sales (BOTR), online venues, guest blogging, schools, special sales to corporations, gift shops, and on and on. The venues for sales of books are endless. But you must focus somewhere and work to get your book into those venues.
OUT THERE? You want your book out there? Get it out of your head by doing a small printing and giving copies to friends and family as Christmas gifts. But if you really want it OUT THERE in the world wide market place, get ready to work.
Instead, you should be saying, “I want to work hard to get my story into the hands of the right readers.” Now THAT is a worthy goal of self-publishing.
I used to set ambitious New Year's goals every year ("I'm going to write 2000 words a day, every day!") but then get discouraged when I inevitably realized that, once again, I had set a goal or goals that were unrealistic. Or that had originally realistic but then got put on the back burner because of circumstances out of my control that had to take higher priority.
This year, I'm taking a different approach. While I am going to set some realistic work-related goals (to be posted on the MiG Writers blog) which I have tried hard to make realistic, I'm also going to work toward an overall goal:
Make more time to read and create books.
It's so easy to say, "I wish I had more time to xxxx" but the truth is that it's up to me to MAKE more time for what's important to me.
One of my tendencies is to want to do everything. I want to write (and illustrate!) more picture books. I want to work on my new MG and YA novel projects, because I know my writing and knowledge of the industry has improved over the years and I'm much confident about getting these newer book projects published. I have some fun nonfiction book ideas for grown-ups that I want to turn into book proposals so I can start pitching them. I'm thinking of self-publishing a compilation of my writing comics, but I also know that self-publishing requires a lot more admin/promo/marketing time. I want to keep all my webcomics updated but know I have way too many webcomics to keep updated. I want to improve my German language skills before Jeff and I attend Essen in late 2013. I want to improve my French language skills before Jeff and I visit French-speaking friends in late 2013. I want to write a new song for my music group to perform in our concert at FilKONtario. I want to reorg my home office. I want to learn more about non-digital art techniques like ink and watercolour, acrylics and multimedia textural art. I want to turn some of my cartoons and daily doodles into greeting cards. I want to help beef up content in my various collab group blogs. I want to improve my Photoshop skills and also go through Lynda.com tutorials on various creative software packages I've purchased in the last year. I want to write more songs.
I could go on and on and on. Clearly, I can't do all the above. I need to let go of many of these goals, else I know I'm going to end up not attempting any of them very well. So again, I've decided to focus on the following:
Make more time to read and create books.
Throughout this coming year, in addition to my regular Inkygirl.com posts, I'm going to be sharing my experience in trying to make more time to read and create books.
My first steps:
1. Managing my email more efficiently.
2. Being more aware of how much time I'm spending on social media.
I'll report back on both of these first steps in upcoming Inkygirl posts, so stay tuned. :-)
0 Comments on My 2013 Goal: To Make More Time To Read and Create Books (plus a New Year's Resolution Comic) as of 12/31/2012 1:23:00 PM
Well, my friends, we’ve come to another holiday season. There are those looking back to count accomplishments. Others are making goals for the coming year. Lists are popping up everywhere.
Since that’s the case, I’ve decided to make a list of my own, or more. Why should I stand back and let everyone else have all the fun?
List 1: 2011 Accomplishments
Visited with family and friends across the country during the winter and saw things totally new to me.
Arrived back in Montana with all fingers and toes from the research trip from Hell. Sanity somewhat dented but still workable.
Procured livable apartment and had money to pay for it and the food to keep us going throughout the rest of the year.
Managed to have many submissions accepted for magazines and newsletters
Reinvested in my craft through university coursework
Got through another rewrite on The Moon Sees All and began what is hopefully the last rewrite before being submitted.
Came to a point where I can see the blessings that grew from this past year’s trials on the road.
List 2: 2011 Blessings–The Short List
Repeat List 1 for emphasis
Can still say that I’m healthier than many I could name
Learned more than I ever thought possible about too many things to mention
Watched the struggles and accomplishments of friends and family, knowing that they came through whole, if dented, and I can still enjoy them
I have a home, food on the table, clothes to wear, work to do that makes my heart sing most days, friends everywhere, family that I love, and I’m moderately warm for a snowy day.
My country hasn’t imploded yet, even if it is shaky in some quarters
I’ve lived long enough to appreciate the simple things of life
List 3: 2012 Goals
Repeat List 1, numbers 1 and 4 through 7
Get everything that’s already on my computer—stories, essays, poetry, children’s books, etc.—submitted somewhere
Finish “Failures to Blessings: Finding the Silver Lining” and, you guessed it, get it submitted
Survive to write another day
Assuming I accomplish the items on this last list, I will be satisfied with life for another year. I say that because I plan 2013 to be busier than ever in the writing department, and I’m going to need all the energy I can get to deal with it.
There you have my obligatory lists for this year. I hope you have a satisfying time doing your own lists, whatever they contain. Let me know if you’re ready to either celebrate or need commiseration. I can accommodate either situation and will do so happily.
pearl ketover prilik said, on 12/19/2011 2:40:00 AM
Horray for each and every item on your list …. The list is a testament to lessons kerned and memories made and fuel to move forward into the future. Lovely:) as they say “may the wind be at your back….”. Know that your one accomplishments and the love of others strengthens your steps
pearl ketover prilik said, on 12/19/2011 2:42:00 AM
That was “learned” not sure what “kerned” lessons are but IPAD likes them and I am sure in the richness of your journey you have picked up a few! Lol….
claudsy said, on 12/19/2011 7:39:00 AM
Thanks, Pearl. Yep, I’ve had a few lessons this past year. In truth, I’ve learned more about too many things to count. I suppose the best blessing of all was learning that I could still learn and retain. It’s always good to know that capabilities are functioning even if not considered on a regular basis.
Mina’s first children’s bookGOAL! has received great recognition including: being named to the list of the best one hundred books (Smithsonian 2010); the best one hundred books, (NYPL 2010); nominated for the SCIBA Awards in 2010. Humanitarian, human rights activist and Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu wrote a beautiful blurb for GOAL! calling it: “Uplifting and inspiring, this beautifully written and illustrated book reminds us of the joys and saving grace of friendship and sport. Set in South Africa, this book is a gift for soccer fans and all families around the world.”
Mina’s second book, The Secret Message is a beautifully written and illustrated story based on a poem by the 13th-century Persian poet Rumi that Iranian-born Javaherbin heard from her father as a bedtime story. To learn more please visit Mina’s website: http://www.minajavaherbin.com
0 Comments on This week’s podcast guest: Mina Javaherbin as of 1/1/1900
I want to thank all of our readers, reviewers, supporters as well as the publishers, p.r groups and authors we have worked with to help Book Dads have its highest number of site visits and views since the site was resurrected in April of 2010. As a special thank you for supporting Book Dads, I would like to offer a special giveaway with the help and generosity of one of my favorite children’s book authors, Mina Javaherbin.
Not only is Mina an amazing children’s book author, she’s a wonderful person who I’ve had the privilege of getting to know over the last few months. I’ve reviewed both of Mina’s children’s books: GOAL and The Secret Message here on Book Dads.
Here are the details on the giveaway:
5 Comments on The month of November in review (and a special giveaway!!), last added: 12/2/2010
thanks for sharing all the great books i love to read your blog for inspiration [email protected]
Sunniemama said, on 12/2/2010 12:05:00 PM
All of Mina’s books are beautifully written and can be read over & over & over again, without the typical burnout! Very important for parents and caregivers alike. Even the littlest ones can figure the secret of this special book. It is a wonderful book for families to share.
Cindi said, on 12/2/2010 12:38:00 PM
What a lovely book and a tale that I would love to share with
our two children…..
Happy Holidays!
Many thanks, Cindi
Eric Van Raepenbusch said, on 12/2/2010 1:37:00 PM
Looks like a good book! Thanks for all the great stuff in November!
Carol M said, on 12/2/2010 3:20:00 PM
This is a book I’d love to give my grandchildren. I know they would really like it. Thank you for the giveaway!
In Scene and Structure, Jack Bickham suggest other problems that might arise in a scene. Here is my take on the problems he lists.
Cast of thousands. The most dramatic conflict comes when two characters go head to head. More than two and the conflict starts to be diffused. Whenever possible, concentrate on just two characters. If you must have more around, keep them slightly off stage, or else make it very clear where the main conflict lies. It’s like making sure a subplot stays a subplot. Keep the tension as clear and unblocked as your story allows. Crowd scenes? Isolate the two main people somehow, even within a crowd.
On the other hand, in Thanks, But This Isn’t For Us, Jessica Page Morrell says,”Avoid too many two-character scenes. They tend to box in the story.” Solution? Balance the scenes with some limited to two people, some with more than two participating, and some with thousands, but isolating the main combatants.
Senseless banter. You want conflict, not senseless banter. Don’t fall into a trap of “Did not/Did so” type of exchange. Send characters into a scene with attitudes that are at tangents to each other. They agree on some things, but disagree on the major things. That prevents the senseless chatter and gives you a solid conflict.
Unwanted interruptions. Don’t clutter scenes with cell phones ringing, babies crying, doorbells ringing. Bickham says some people try to add these things to make a story seem more realistic. Sorry, it doesn’t work. Don’t put a smoking gun into a story unless you intend to use it. Each element should be included because it adds to the story in substantial ways.
Getting off track. Focus, focus, focus. Restate the scene goal, give characters internal thoughts about their goal, write out cards with a scene goal succinctly stated and tape it above your computer. Do whatever you need to make sure the scene is focused on the goal that fits your plot.
Inadvertent summary. Ah, please, give us a blow-by-blow of the action in a scene. Scenes are not places for summary; instead put that in the transitions between scenes. How do you know if you’ve done this? Look for places where you use these words in a scene and make sure you revise to omit them: Later, after a few minutes, having thought it through, when they finally got back to the subject, meanwhile. Even if you need to fill story time, you still need to do it blow by blow. “The grandfather clock’s tick-tock filled the hallway, the seconds passing wi
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Scenes are made up of Actions, Thoughts, Dialogue and Emotions.
In every scene, a character has external goals and internal goals. External goals might be something like getting a cup of coffee to drink, while the accompanying internal goal is getting to talk with the pretty barista one more time. These goals can be expressed through actions, thoughts, dialogue or emotion, usually all four.
Each scene has a structure.beginning, middle, end. This implies that some event is happening. It may be walking inside a house, or it may be a scene where a character finds out something important. Sometimes, you even want to make a distinction between the external and internal: the scene takes place in the stands of a football game, but it’s really about discovering the villain’s real name. in The Scene Book, Sandra Scofield, uses two terms, the occasion and the event. Here, the Occasion is watching the football game; the Event is finding out the villain’s real name. In other words, the Occasion is the external circumstances; the Event is the actions that directly relate to your plot.
Scenes open in various ways, but the goal of an opening is to hook the reader, just as you would in the opening chapter. The middle involves obstacles and complications to the goal, and the end is usually a disaster. Somewhere, there’s a pivot point, a place where the action speeds up, changes direction, or twists off in a tangent. Things don’t go as expected. It may be just deepening of tension or emotion.
Pulse. Sandra Scofield says there’s a pulse to every scene. For me, it’s the subtext that is happening. Two characters talk but that means nothing without understanding the characters and situation. When we understand the underlying issues, we know that the conversation may be about eating apples or oranges, but really, it’s a quarrel between lovers; or it’s between a husband and wife and is really about who has control of the family budget; or it’s between a grocer and stock boy and is really about job expectation and job performance. In well told stories, often the underlying issues (control of the family budget) isn’t stated explicitly. That’s good: remember the adage to Show-Don’t-Tell. Talking about fruit is a good way to SHOW the strain in a marriage over the divisive issue of money.
Scofield, then, says to search for the subtext in every scene. What are the characters fighting for? What do they long for? How can you subtly add this to the scene?
Is rejection your goal? No, of course not. You and I both want to succeed, to have a manuscript accepted and to sell thousands of books.
When you apply for jobs, though, especially in today’s economy, you may need to send out 20, 30, 50 resumes before you find the right job.
It’s the same for submissions. You must have the right manuscript with the right editor at the right time. So many things could go wrong: you may have the right editor and right time, but you haven’t finished the right manuscript or you just sold it elsewhere.
You may have the right manuscript and the right editor, but–maybe the editor is moving to a different house next month, or maybe s/he just bought a similar project. That means yours showed up at the wrong time.
The variations on the possible scenarios are endless, of course, but the bottom line is that a little luck is involved. And the way to increase your odds is to send out targeted, appropriate submissions, enough to collect a few rejection slips.
For some writers, it is a good goal to get 20 rejections before the end of this year. Yes, 20. Or more.
It means you are submitting, looking for the right combination of circumstances to make that sale. You want your book to be published well, not just published. You want excitement, enthusiasm, joy. And the best way to find that may be by sending it to 19 places that reject it, and a 20th who accepts it.
One-half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it. ~ playwright Sidney Howard (he adapted Gone With The Wind for the screen)
Envision what you want your life to look like. Then ask yourself, “What do I have to become to manifest this vision?” ~ Rev. Michael Beckwith (paraphrased)
Dear Readers,
Huzzah, huzzah--it's nearly fall and a new Teaching Authors CONTEST has begun!
New Year At The Pier—A Rosh Hashanah Story by April Halprin Wayland, illustrated by award-winning Canadian Stéphane Jorisch, is so delicious, we want you to have a chance to win an autographed copy!
Here’s lots of juicy stuff about the book, here's the 1:16 minute book trailer and here’s a summary of the book, which got a starred review in Publishers Weekly:
Izzy’s favorite part of Rosh Hashanah is Tashlich, a joyous ceremony in which people apologize for the mistakes they made in the previous year and thus clean the slate as the new year begins. But there is one mistake on Izzy’s “I’m sorry” list that he’s finding especially hard to say out loud.Humor, touching moments between family and friends, and information about the Jewish New Year are all combined in this lovely picture book for holiday sharing.
So...how can you win your very own autographed copy?
Simple. Since the book is about the new year...do you have a new school year goal? Great! Then post one reading, writing or teaching goal you'd like to accomplish by December 31, 2009 in 25 words or less.
Here are some sample goals to get you thinkin':
Do you want your student(s) to understand the concept of Show, Don’t Tell?
Do you want the courage to delete all of your emails so that the clutter isn't keeping you from writing the next Charlotte's Web?
Do you want to set aside 30 uninterrupted minutes to read for pleasure each day?
Do you want to send out a manuscript by Halloween?
What is that one goal for this bright and shiny new school year?
Be specific. Here’s the place to ‘fess up!
Win-an-autographed-copy-of-New-Year-at-the-Pier CONTEST rules: 1) Read the two quotes at the top. 2) Take a deep breath. 3) Post ONE reading, writing or teaching goal for the new school year in 25 words or less. 4) Your goal must be posted on one of the Teaching Authors blog posts between Friday, August 28, 2009 and Monday, September 7, 2009. 5) You must include your email address in your post so that we can contact the lucky winner. Here are our general give-away rules.
The winner will be announced Tuesday, September 8, 2009.
We expect to hear back from you in the first two weeks of January—every one of you. If you don't win this time, you'll have another chance in January when you report on your progress. How did you do? Who or what helped you? Who or what hindered you?
Coming next week: more on New Year at the Pier!
And finally, because it's Poetry Friday...and to REALLY confuse you now that you're thinking about goals...I leave you with a beautiful completely contrary anti-goals poem by my wonderful friend, poet and author George Ella Lyon:
First homework, then housework, now soulwork. No list, no checking off, no done. ~ George Ella Lyon
image of girl with a goal by April Halprin Wayland
21 Comments on 1) Take a deep cleansing breath. 2) Set a goal. 3) Enter our contest!, last added: 8/31/2009
My goal (for the whole school year, not just until December 31, but that will make a good check-in point) is to stay BALANCED. I will not let school (teaching, planning, grading, mentoring, committee-ing) take over my life. I will work on my writing project every week (but I will not require a certain number of hours of myself). I will tend to my gardens. I will spend time with family and friends. I will keep up with my reading project (Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts for NCTE). I will keep the house reasonably clean and I will fold and put away my laundry as soon as it comes out of the dryer. (okay, that one might be a little unreasonable, but I'll TRY...)
My goal is to get my daughter's toddler school back on track, develop a steady source of income, get caught up on my book reviews, and successfully follow a schedule. And lose 30 lbs... :)
Maybe you’re a little like me. You have a gazillion ideas floating around in your noggin 24 hours a day. You wake up at 2:00 AM with a new project. Add it to the pile.
There are plenty of systems out there for managing your time and I have tried quite a few. I’ve written articles on time management myself, but here’s a juicy little secret: Sometimes I suck at time management. Sometimes I get it wrong.
I use iCal (Yes, I’m a Mac Dude) and I’ve worked up several different systems for managing projects and my life; color-coding entries, creating calendar groups, using Mail notes, and syncing with my iPhone. Yet somehow none of my handy little gadgets or apps has been the Better Mousetrap for me.
I read something by Sark that magically simplified the way I’ve been thinking about the whole project/goal/time… thing. To sum up, she suggests that you break every thing you want to get done into “micro movements.”
For example, say you want to write a blog post but you just keep putting it off because what the hell are you going to talk about this time anyway (never happens to me, but we’ll pretend - ahem). You break writing your post into tiny little movements that get you closer to your goal, which is a posted entry. Then you schedule each step. The first step could be as simple as Tuesday, 4:00 PM: put notepad and pen next to laptop. The next step could be something like Wednesday, 9:00 AM: read one thing (could be anything; cereal box, paperback cover, blog post, ingredients on graham cracker package, whatever).
Get the idea?
This seems so slow, right? You can schedule it however you want, but the point is to break a big project down into doable chunks. Saying to yourself “tomorrow I will write a scintillating new blog entry and post it” is just a humongous task. Can you do it? Maybe, maybe not.
It’s highly probable that you can place a notepad and pen on your desk at 4:00. That’s pretty easy because you don’t have the pressure of thinking about what’s good, what’s interesting, who will care, do I need a photo, blah blah blah. It’s just one tiny step that you can manage.
I’ve been working on this for a week or so. I’m not perfect at it, but it seems like the smaller chunks I break things into, the easier it is and more I actually get done every day. It’s actually kind of fun scheduling times to “think” about things or just read something. Look at my calendar from this week:
An iCal entry to read something. I managed it.
In the past I would have made a goal to learn everything there is to know about licensing my art. Wow. No wonder I feel like I have so much to do.
In this case, I saw a section of Tara Reed’s web site and thought that I should take time to read it. That’s all. I don’t have to create 12 pieces of art, contact manufacturers, or imagine a new line of pajama wear. Just read an article. One micro step towards my humongous goal of licensing my art.
See the entry that says “Think about an agent?” Check. It’s kind of goofy and funny to see an entry like that in my iCal, but I feel better. Now I don’t have to think about an agent anymore today. Except now, because I just wrote that sentence. Wait, is that okay? Did I just f*** up?
The other thing I learned is, take it easy on yourself. Go ahead and be driven and goal-oriented, but jeez! Give yourself a break now and then.
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How to Write a Picture Book
Horray for each and every item on your list …. The list is a testament to lessons kerned and memories made and fuel to move forward into the future. Lovely:) as they say “may the wind be at your back….”. Know that your one accomplishments and the love of others strengthens your steps
That was “learned” not sure what “kerned” lessons are but IPAD likes them and I am sure in the richness of your journey you have picked up a few! Lol….
Thanks, Pearl. Yep, I’ve had a few lessons this past year. In truth, I’ve learned more about too many things to count. I suppose the best blessing of all was learning that I could still learn and retain. It’s always good to know that capabilities are functioning even if not considered on a regular basis.