TECH: Nanowrimo Notes Number Nine?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting 9 Nov 2011

All right, so I'm getting confused about which day it is. For me, it's Thursday, November 10, but due to the wonders of the international date line, you are probably still back on November 9, right?

In any case, you're cruising along with nanowrimo! Words, words, and more words, right? If you happen to be doing a three act structure writing from beginning to end, you've probably posed some kind of a story problem, kicked off your character in pursuit of the goal, and are wandering along somewhere towards the doorway of no return -- the point where the character commits themselves to going on the journey, turns away from the old homestead and sets out to do what he has to do! Or maybe you've already passed that doorway? In any case, you may be looking at the muddled middle, where you need to add complications, distractions, and all kinds of other problems.

One thing you might do is take a look over here. http://www.mindtools.com/smlcu.html has the Holmes and Rahe stress scale -- 43 elements of modern life that are known to cause stress! Notice that the ones near the top are more stressful, while the ones near the bottom add less stress, but they're all problems! Even things like an outstanding personal achievement. I tried grouping them, just for fun, and came up with these nine areas. Death, family, legal problems, health, work, money, achievement, school, and changes in almost anything and everything. It all makes trouble for us. But, for your story, a little trouble goes a long way. Consider mixing some of these into your nanowrimo tale. Keep your protagonist struggling! Not quite as bad as the character in little Abner who walked around with a black cloud dumping rain and lightning bolts on his head -- Joe something or other? But you definitely don't want your protagonist to have an easy time, so go ahead and add some stress in their life.

1. Death: of a spouse, close family member, close friend
2. Family: marriage, change in the number of arguments with spouse, divorce, marital separation, marital reconciliation, change in number of family
get-togethers, gain of a new family member, son or daughter leaving home, trouble with the in-laws
3. Legal: Jail, minor violations of the law
4. Health: personal injury or illness, change in health of a family member, pregnancy, sexual difficulties
5. Work: trouble with boss, change in work hours or conditions, spouse begins or stops work, business readjustment, change in responsibilities at work, change to a different line of work, fired at work, retirement
6. Money: change in financial state, a large mortgage or loan, a moderate loan or mortgage, foreclosure of mortgage or loan
7. Achievement: outstanding personal achievement
8. School: begin or end school/college, change in school/college
9. Changes: change in living conditions, change in eating habits, revision of personal habits, change in sleeping habits, change in residence, change in recreation, change in church activities, change in social activities, vacation, Christmas

Or if you want something a little bit wilder, go visit http://www.snopes.com/ and take a look at some of those urban legends. Try the randomizer, or just the Hot 25 for the ones that seem to be hitting the top of the charts. Postcard virus, egg whites for burns, General Electric outsourcing to China, changes in the Pepsi-Cola can... All kinds of stuff. Use it as is, think about the fear or worry behind it and use that, anyway that you want to use it, there's some good stuff there to help make your plot boil. Your character flaw? Something like that.

Okay? Add those complications and make your words count... Or at least your word count!

TECH: Nanowrimo at the bend? #10 or thereabouts?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting 11 Nov 2011

First of all, over here

http://writercises.livejournal.com/143199.html

There are some comments about Chekhov's gun -- the idea that when you talk about something early in your story, later on something should happen with it. A gun hanging on the mantle really deserves somebody taking it down and shooting it, sooner or later. Or perhaps you prefer a MacGuffin, a Maltese falcon, a holy Grail, or one of those other things to be searched for. There's also plot tokens and plot vouchers -- if you get the six parts of the ancient crown, you too can reign incandescent or something like that.

The key here is that some of the objects and bits and pieces floating around in your story imply things, and you want to show them to the reader sooner or later. A bear trap being set up in Chapter two will turn up later, probably with something or someone's leg in it. Or perhaps the music box on the dresser will eventually be played, revealing that someone really did like Fantasia? Whatever, keep those keys ready to turn in locks, alright?

Another thought, while we're at a turning point -- one third of the month roughly behind us, two thirds ahead. You might want to consider what you learned about your protagonist and antagonist. Quite simply, by writing to this point, you've probably figured out more about what's going on. Even if you had a detailed outline, character sheets, and all that planning, when you start writing, you start inventing, and suddenly you realize where the scar on your protagonist's shoulder came from, what happened to the antagonist's favorite cat, and all those little details that bring your story to life. You may also find yourself getting a bit confused.

Which makes it a great time to sit down and remind yourself who everybody is and what they're trying to do. Based on what you've already written, take a little time and write up again who your protagonist is, what their goals are, what the blocks and conflicts are that they face, what they plan to do about it, and just what's ahead for them, as you see it now. Then give the other guy equal time, and think about your antagonist. What are their goals? What about the conflicts and problems that they face? As they wind up their thin black mustache, what kind of an evil plan do they have? And what's ahead for the antagonist? Are there any other important secondary characters that you need to reconsider, now that you've come this far?

What about your plot? Are there events that you want to add to the mix at this point? Perhaps some that you want to take out? Take a look back at the 10 days worth of writing that you've done, and consider the next 20 days or beyond. You might want to think about the promises that you've made and consider when and where you're going to pay them off. What questions have you raised for the reader, and what kind of answers are you going to give them?

Okay? 15,000 words more or less already out of the way, and you probably have a feeling for what it's going to take to keep going. Frankly, I don't think it's as important to hit the quota as it is to set your own goals and keep going. Be consistent.

So, sit down and write. Word after word after word, a bit here, a bit there, and watch the pile grow.

Incidentally, as Nanowrimo likes to remind you, back up your work! You don't want your writing to fall into the great bit bucket and disappear!

TECH: Nanowrimo #13

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting 13 Nov 2011

Connecting your story world to the real world? A.k.a. weather, sports, news, and all that jazz?

So how are your words piling up? I think it can be surprising how quickly a little bit every day adds up! Here we are, just 13 days in and another 17 days more or less to go, and that probably means thousands and thousands of words! Yeah! Even if you haven't hit your targets, keep going. Steady and consistent adds up.

I was thinking about one of the oddities I notice about a lot of stories. Nobody seems to watch TV. Oh, occasionally they'll notice something to push the plot along, but the daily news, soap operas, and regular shows? It seems as if most stories are still hermetically sealed away somehow. The TV, radio, newspaper, and that wonderful source of all kinds of stuff -- the Internet, the information superhighway, Facebook, blogs, Google, and all the rest -- they just don't exist. Weird.

So I was thinking that one way to help make stories more real is the simple one of connecting it with the rest of the world. Let your hero watch Monday evening football, listen to a news show during breakfast, notice that the horoscope in the newspaper isn't all that great, or even perhaps scan some blogs? Admittedly, I think there's a delicate balance here. You want the story to fill cozy, to feel focused on what's happening in the story. At the same time, you don't want to make your world feel unrealistic. And frankly, when people go days and weeks and months without any news or gossip or whatever from the world around them, I think it feels odd.

Similarly, weather! Sure, we don't pay a lot of attention to weather in our lives sometimes, but umbrellas, raincoats, snow, and all the other fun and games of weather certainly remind us that we aren't in control all the time. Heck, I'll bet even California occasionally gets weather, even if they don't like to admit it. So toss in something besides plain sunny days. It doesn't have to be a dark and stormy night, or even the thunder storm of the century, but a little rain, maybe some hail, or perhaps ice and snow can make me feel as if the story is happening somewhere.

Okay? You want to put your story in a place. But that place also needs to be part of a world, and the modern world really is pretty actively connected. TV, radio, movies, advertising... There's this incredible flow of information that we all live with and ignore, mostly. But just making it disappear is a little bit like putting your story in scenery that has painted flats for background. Similarly, the weather just doesn't go away for your story -- blue sunny skies don't happen every day!

And for more about weather, check out this old posting:

http://writercises.livejournal.com/143808.html

Write?