TECH: Kickstarting that horror?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting 16 October 2011

Oh! Almost forgot. In case you're interested, here are some resources for horror stories...

Horror Tropes! Yes, right over here, people have collected some of the cliches and wonders of horror, just to inspire you:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HorrorTropes

Urban myths and legends? Yes, a collection of the ways that people scare each other...

http://www.snopes.com/

There's a pile of other websites, too. Just google "urban myths" or "urban legends" and let your mouse do the clicking.

'saright? Take one horror trope, one urban myth, mix well (shake, don't stir!) and... shiver...

Write!

FILL: Why Nanowrimo?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting 23 October 2011

Okay. National novel writing month, also known as nanowrimo or NaNoWriMo, starts up real soon now. November 1. 30 days to write 50,000 words.

The website is over here http://www.nanowrimo.org/

You can sign in, set up your account, even "Create Novel" -- which means writing down the novel title, genre, synopsis, and perhaps a short excerpt. But right now, we're really just getting ready. And yes, if you want to poke around without creating an account, take a look at http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/faq

But you might wonder why bother? After all, you can write any day of the year, or any month that you like. Absolutely true.

However, it's like running a marathon, doing it with other people gives you a little extra boost.

I think of it as a chance to practice. Practice setting aside the critic, that internal editor that insists on double checking every single word? Just tell him to wait, it's nanowrimo time. A chance to practice free writing, just letting it all pour out quickly. A chance to practice hitting a steady pace of writing, with a regular quota, aiming at 50,000 words or more in one month.

It's a chance to lay out a novel-sized idea, and the daily or weekly or whatever smaller ideas to fill out that big idea. You can try out three act structure, character arcs, all of that fun theory. Put it to work in practice.

A chance to learn? I think I can guarantee that if you try it, you will learn some things. If you keep going and finish, that's good! But even if you don't, you'll have a better understanding of what it means to write. Steadily, regularly, towards a goal of so many words.

Another way to look at it is that it's just one month. I mean, if you are looking at writing a novel in a year, that's a huge commitment of time! This is just one month. That's not so daunting. Of course, it's also true that doing something for a month can help establish a habit. And the habit of regular production writing certainly can't be bad for a writer, now can it?

A chance to practice writing, a chance to try out those ideas, and a chance to learn. For just a month of commitment? Sounds like a bargain to me. What about you? Why are you going to do nanowrimo?

Why not do it? Well, the inner critic wants to point out that letting a flood of crud out might not be the best idea. Of course, I'm not sure that keeping it inside makes it any easier to clean up. At least once it's on the page, you've got a better chance to revise it. But that's an argument you and your inner critic need to have.

Incidentally, nobody else has to see what you write. All you have to put into nanowrimo is the word count. Yes, there is a word count validator, but the main thing is just to keep the running word count updated on the website. You don't have to beat anybody, no one will come around and ask why you didn't write yesterday, it's very much a self inflicted discipline.

I suppose another reason not to do nanowrimo is that it doesn't give you practice or guidelines for getting ready, planning, actually finishing your work beyond hitting the goal of 50,000 words, revision, submission, and all the other stuff.

And, of course, November has Thanksgiving. And you need to put the shutters up for the winter. And... It's really easy to come up with reasons not to do something, isn't it?

Anyway, some thoughts. I think the main reason to do nanowrimo really is that you want to. If you don't want to, that's all right. Like a marathon, workshop, and most of the other things in life, it's not for everybody. But if you want to try running a few laps -- grinding out some of that 50,000 words or more -- then you might want to start stretching now. Just so that you can get ready for the starting gun next week.

(About 690 words, but who's counting :-)

TECH: Nanowrimo? Get set?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting 29 October 2011

I know Nanowrimo actually doesn't start for a couple of days. Still, I think it's fair to do some preparation. For example, you may want to think about how you're going to do your writing. Personally, I set up a folder for Nanowrimo 2011. One thing that's in it is a spreadsheet. Yes, I know that Nanowrimo provides a tracking facility, so that you can put in your daily word count and see the graphs they make up. But... I find it worthwhile to keep my own. I've actually done it as a Google spreadsheet, so it's available to me anywhere there is a browser.

There's a public copy available over here if you'd like to get your own copy. I'm pretty sure it's set up to allow you to grab a copy -- let me know if it isn't?

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlXxRgbVerJHdDViM0psNkdzU2t5b3p6T2JoREdlb0E&hl=en_US

Depending on your writing style, you might want to do some thinking or even outlining. Think about questions like these:

1. Who hurts? This helps you figure out your characters.
2. What can go wrong? This helps you with plot.
3. Who's going to pay, and what will they pay? That's often the driver for the climax.

I actually got those from someone who suggested that was enough. Pretty clearly they're mostly going to write by the seat of their pants.

There is the old four points from the definition of a story:

1. A likable character
2. Overcomes Opposition and conflict
3. By his or her own efforts
4. To achieve a worthwhile goal

Pick a character, set them up with opposition and conflict, have them work to achieve a worthwhile goal. Simple, right?

I often use the 10 questions from Barry Longyear's Science Fiction Writer's Workshop 1. I group them this way:

Background

1. Where are we? (Setting)
2. Who is involved? (Characters, strengths, flaws)
3. Where are they headed? (Goals, motives)
4. What stops or blocks them? (Obstacles)
5. What are they going to do about it? (Plans to overcome problems)

Story

6. What hook(s) or bait for the reader will I use? (Where will it start) What story question do I pose for the reader?
7. What backfill is needed? (Background that needs to be filled in)
8. What build up do I want? (Scenes)
9. What is the climax?

- How does the character change? (Overcome weakness, etc.)
- How is the plot resolved? (Problems overcome and goals achieved)
- What answer does the reader get to the story question?

Higher level

10. What purpose, moral, or theme am I writing about?

Another useful list of points that I have used is:

1. What is the main character's self-concept?
2. What is a significant event that threatens that self-concept?
3. What is the moment of change to start with?
4. What intentions or goals does the character have?
5. What do they plan to do?
6. When, where, and how are you going to answer the story question?

I have to admit, I think that last one is interesting because they didn't mention the story question before that. I suppose in order to answer it, you have to figure out what is.

I've also got a little table, where I've put down various notes about the three act format. For example, act one usually starts with a hook, or inciting incident. Someone suggested that this needs to present the character, the problem, and the crucible -- why are they sticking around to face this problem? Sometimes this is one of the problems with bad horror -- someone or something is killing everyone around this lake. So why doesn't the hero just leave? The other end of act one is the first doorway of no return. This is where the hero makes the commitment to deal with the problem. Fairly often, before that they might turn away. But once they take this step...

Act two begins. Act II is conflicts and complications. Struggles, actions, worry and hope, and getting the hero locked in. The end of act two is the second doorway of no return. This is where the hero gets up, decides they're going to take one more swing at it, and frequently has realized what is going to take and decided to do it.

Act three is the climax. This is where we get our resolution. Everything gets tied up, and we see what it all means.

What about you? Do you have some idea who your characters are, what the main plot is all about, what the problem is? What about the general genre? Are you on your marks? Ready?

TECH: Nanowrimo Drill #1

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting 3 November 2011

[Sorry. Long busy day without any network or computer, so... you get odds and ends at the end of the day. Enjoy! ]

All right? Still don't know what you want to write about? Okay. Set your timer, and do these:

Who is my protagonist?

1. For 3 minutes, freewrite about who the protagonist is. What's their name? When they look in the mirror, what do they see? How old are they? Family? Friends? Who is this person?

2. For 3 minutes, freewrite about what the goals, desires, needs are that drive this person. Where are they going, what do they want to do, what is pushing them? Go!

Reset your timer to 10 minutes! Yes, a long chunk.

3. For 10 minutes, expand on that beginning. What are the key traits, abilities, and so forth of this protagonist? What is their main goal in the story? What is their main problem or weakness in the story? Talk to the protagonist, and let them talk a bit.

4. For 10 minutes, consider how the character will change during the story. Where are they starting, and where will they end up? Also, what won't change? What will they hold onto no matter what slings and arrows your story throws at them?

DING, DING, DING! How many words do you have? I just saw a professional writer saying that they average only 600 words an hour, so if you don't have some ridiculously high number of words after your half hour of freewriting, don't fret about it. Hopefully, you now have a better idea of who your protagonist is and what they are trying to do.

So, take some time and write it out again. Who is your protagonist? What do they want to do? What keeps them from getting there? How are they going to change?

Say, where do they live? How about work? Now that you've met them, where is this story going to take place? Are they at home, on vacation, traveling, running from the... consider the setting and the character. What are they doing there?

'saright? A little tickle to keep things moving, anyway.