TECH: Get That Novel Started (3)

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting 24 July 2012

Once more, the book is Get That Novel Started! (And Keep It Going 'til You Finish) by Donna Levin. It's from Writer's Digest Books.

Chapter 3 has the title "Write What You Want, and the Novel Will Follow." Now in Chapter 1, Donna recommended that we get started today, and in Chapter 2, that we start with just 10 minutes a day. But... What are we going to write about? Well, we're not really ready for the section on ideas, but Donna suggests that you start with a journal. This can be on the computer, or on paper. But this is your writer's notebook. And help you get started in 10 minutes a day, here are some things that you might write about:

1. Something unusual that you saw recently.
2. The first time that you did something.
3. Try to imagine your parents meeting for the very first time.
4. The worst date that you ever had.
5. Something that you love to do.
6. Describe the view from your window.
7. Write a letter to a friend.
8. Imagine what your life would be like if it were perfect.
9. Summarize the plot of a favorite novel or movie.
10. Write the words to as many songs as you can remember.
11. Make a list of 10 words that an 18-month-old might say and then make a poem using just those words.

Keep track of topics and ideas that you want to write about in your notebook.

One thing to be careful about. This is a journal for writing observations, identifying objects, describing how people look and move, playing with dialogue and so forth. Try to avoid the grand abstractions and the introspective obsessing that we all sometimes fall into.

Also, watch out for saboteurs. These are the experts, friends, and sometimes enemies who intentionally or accidentally derail us when we're trying. The person who says, "tell me all about it," and then comments, "That sounds dumb" or "no one would buy that" or "it's already been done." There are so many ways for people to block your work. This is why so many writers will not discuss works in progress -- they have learned to avoid sabotage.

At the same time, you may very well need to build up a few trusted people to act as your fan club, support, and even sometimes critics. Just be really careful about it.

Donna also talks about the desire for a room of your own. Most of us are going to be able to start with an office dedicated to our writing, but you can at least carve out some space for yourself. It might be a box full of papers and books that you take out and put away. For some time, in one of our apartments, I had a rolling cart that had originally been intended as a microwave stand that held my computer, keyboard, and some files. When I wanted to write, I rolled it out and plugged things in.

In any case, whether you're ready to actually start on your novel or not, use your writing time for writing. A journal, a dedicated space, these can help.

As Donna ends her chapter, "To Get That Novel Started: use your writing time. If you don't want to work on your novel, write something -- anything -- else."

So, start today. Write 10 minutes every day. And make sure you're writing during your writing time!

EXERCISE: More Scruples!

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting 27 July 2012

Just when you thought it was safe to relax -- all right, pick a number from one to six!

Got it? Yes, we'll wait....

Got it now. Good! Here's what you have chosen:

1. You are the director of the neighborhood food cooperative. A member -- a single mother with four children -- is caught shoplifting $30 in groceries. You suspect she has been stealing for years. Do you press charges? (Feel free to stop after the first two sentences and just use that situation)
2. You are an adoption worker. A native child has been living happily with a white family for three years. Now his relatives want to take him back to the reservation. Do you let them? (You may want to ignore the question of whether an adoption worker actually has a choice in the matter -- or you may want to make your story about that!)
3. At lunch, your colleagues are running down the work of another colleague who is absent. Do you speak up for the absent coworker? (Gossip, rumor, innuendo -- just what you needed to hear right?)
4. You are a primary school teacher. A pupil is doing her very best and still failing. Do you flunk her?
5. You run a small bookstore. A customer says she has lost a credit slip for $4.50. Your clerks don't keep a record of these slips and can't recall them
all. Do you take her word?
6. The government has been overthrown by a party that is violent and undemocratic. You're asked to join the underground. Do you? (Or perhaps the new governors ask you to join them! Do you join them?)

There you go. A situation just waiting for you to write about it. Before you start, you might want to think about who are the characters involved? Who is being hurt in this situation? Then, perhaps you'd like to think about what can go wrong? That should give you some ideas for the plot. And then consider who is going to pay what -- this will probably suggest a climax.

What do you want to say? What ending would show that to the reader? Who are the characters involved, what are their strengths and weaknesses? What situation would lead to this ending? Now, how do the characters run into -- or get dragged into -- this situation? And how are you going to introduce the story problem to us?

Go ahead. Fill out those characters and make them live. Show us the setting and the problem that drives them. Tell us about the goals that motivate them, what they intend to do about it, the obstacles they face, and... how they drag themselves up and face their demons and tormentors, putting everything they have on the line for one last chance to win. In other words...

WRITE!

(Situations thanks to the game "A Question of Scruples.")