TECH: Outlining Your Novel (Part 3)

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Original Posting July 2, 2016

And, here we are again with another segment from Outlining Your Novel by K. M. Weiland.

In Chapter 3, K starts us into something more obviously writing related. Craft your premise! The key idea here seems to be that we should focus on developing a one sentence statement of what the story is about. This should include plot, theme, characters, setting, and central conflict. That's going to be one packed sentence!

K suggests several steps in getting to this. First of all, you might want to think about "What if?" That little question often helps to tickle our brains. Then brainstorm a bit, thinking about variations, possibilities, and so forth. Second, give yourself a kick in the brain by thinking about what is expected? You may decide to use that, or you may want to break out of that mold, but think about what the expectations are around whatever you dreamed about with "What if?"

Psst. In case it isn't obvious, fill in the "What if?" With whatever excites you. What if cats really were telepathic? What if there was a wildfire in town? What if... Whatever you like!

Then, with your thoughts all stirred up with "What if?" And what are the expectations? Sit down and write premise sentences. Include the main character, conflicts, and plot. Go ahead and write out several. Try to hammer out the best one.

Not quite there yet? Or maybe you just want to do a little testing of your premise? Okay, step back and make a list. What are the 4 or 5 big moments in your plot? Next, come up with at least 2 complications for each of those moments.

Still looking for some ideas? Stop and think about what will make the characters uncomfortable during those moments.

What are the settings for your moments?

Now, it's probably a good time to consider, who should be the protagonist of your story? Who has the most at risk, who hurts the most, who will grow the most? Also, who is affected most by the inciting event? Something kicks off your story -- who does it kick? What are two major problems or anxieties that face this protagonist of yours? How do these problems affect the others in the tale?

All right? Take all this stew of thinking, and boil it down to a one sentence statement of the premise of your story.

Keep track of all the brainstorming, ideas, and other odds and ends that you turn up in this stage! Some of it is bound to be useful as we go along.

The keys here are pretty simple. Start with a "What if?" That really reflects the story you want to tell. Then try to develop a premise statement. Use the questions as ways to help you make sure that premise the the best one for you.

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TECH: Stakes?

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Original Posting July 6, 2016

This is sort of a wonderment, more than anything else. See, the Writing Excuses group did a whole podcast talking about stakes, and what we mean when we say "raise the stakes" and so forth. Right over here

http://www.writingexcuses.com/2016/06/12/11-24-stakes/

But nowhere in their pondering did anyone mention the thing I think of right away. Gambling! Admittedly, I don't do it, but I certainly have heard enough about table stakes, a high stakes game, and that sort of thing, to feel as if the writers' "raise the stakes" is probably connected with that meaning. I mean, a high stakes game and a high stakes thriller?

Let's see. The stakes in a poker game are what you have to bet, and there's a whole set of conventions about raising the stakes (putting more money into the pot) and calling (refusing to increase the pot, but simply meeting the bet) and so on. But the key here is that you have games where you can join with a very low amount of money (a low stakes game) and others where you need a serious amount of money just to sit down.

Yes, the stakes in most stories are not directly money, they are more likely to be life, honor, reputation, and other somewhat intangible things, but it's the same principle. What are you willing to bet? What will you lose if the other person has better cards? What will you win if you have the winning hand?

Am I missing something? Are the stakes in stories that hard to understand?

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TECH: Outlining Your Novel (Part 4)

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Original Posting July 8, 2016

All right, here we are again with another thrilling episode based on Outlining Your Novel by K. M. Weiland, available ... Hum, on Amazon, I think? Anyway, on to chapter 4!

The title of Chapter 4 is General Sketches, Part 1: Connecting the Dots. Chapter 3 was about crafting a solid premise, now... Start doing "General Sketches." List ideas, fill in plot holes, and fill out your story arc. This is general outlining, not detail.

Basically, we're going to work on putting down all the ideas you already have. Exercise the "what if's" and "why's" to try to get a good solid start on your outline.

1. Make a scene list. What do you know already? Don't worry about when (is this backstory? Or part of the plot? Don't worry, get it down!). Don't fret too much about format, either. K. Gives examples of notes based around characters, and also about a list of scenes. Depends on what is lurking in your brain.
2. Highlight problem areas. Every time you hit something that isn't quite there, whether it doesn't make sense yet or needs to be fleshed out, just make a note and keep going.
3. Connect the dots. What have you got? What's missing? Look at your questions and try sketching out some possible answers. Free write a bit! Dream! Oh, and don't forget to get emotional. Make sure that you resonate with what you are writing. So ask questions, rephrase and try again, and push for a little extra.

Basically, we're going to list bits that we already know, highlight what needs development, fill in by asking questions, free write, get emotional... And then ask more questions, especially if you're stuck.

Now, you may be saying, "Wait a minute, this sounds a lot like pantsing, except instead of writing whole chunks, we're writing bits and pieces, notes, and short sketches." Yep. The scene list can be very skimpy, or it might be longer. But again, the idea is to try to get a grasp of the whole story.

Got it? The next chapter continues with General Sketches, so don't be surprised.

And it sure doesn't sound anything like the nasty formal outlines that your high school teacher insisted on, does it?

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TECH: Outlining Your Novel (Part Five!)

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Original Posting July 15, 2016

Once more, from Outlining Your Novel by K. M. Weiland. This time, I'm looking at Chapter 5, General Sketches, Pt. 2: Key Story Factors. Chapter 4 was about making a scene list, and in this chapter, K recommends looking at five key factors: motive, desire, goal, conflict, and theme.

K starts with a discussion of three that are closely tied to characters: motive, desire, and goal. Why is this person doing these things? What are their intentions? What do they want to do? Why? Motives, or as the actors put it, what's my motivation? Motive fuels desire, desire sets goals, and then... The character acts. (Go read the book, there's a whole section that I'm shortcutting discussing these three factors).

K suggests:

1. Get a clear idea of who the character is at the start.
2. Usually, open your story with a character imperfect or incomplete, so that they can grow.
3. Give concrete examples of their behavior and what's behind it (motives, desires, beliefs) that needs to change.
4. Give the character tools to improve, such as a mentor's advice, or an unstable situation.
5. Save the revelation to coincide with the emotional and physical climax.
6. Prove their inner change through external actions.

All right? So think about the character arc, and how the character thinks about what is going on.

Next, K tackles conflict. Conflict is fundamental to a good story. So take that motivation, desires, and goals (MDG) of your character and start putting obstacles in the way. Keep it difficult for your character by:

1. Look for lags. Times that are happy and relaxed... Are good times for a problem to crop up!
2. Make a list of the 10 worst things that could happen. If that's not enough, go for 20!
3. Vary the intensity. Make your obstacle course a real pain, with water over here, hedges over there, and maybe a rock wall climb for fun.
4. Evaluate the scenes for frustration. Make sure that every scene has obstacles for your character to overcome.

Some options for obstacles? Sure! Personality clashes. Unexpected situations. High stakes, such as a tight timeline. Inner and outer battles. Look for a balance and increasing conflict. Use foreshadowing and tension to build.

Last, but not least, think about theme. You don't want to be heavy-handed, but let your theme shine through. Use your characters to show us theme. Consider some of these: what is the main character's internal conflict? How does the main character change in their views? Can you demonstrate that change? Do you want to use symbolism? What subtext, that strange implicit writing, can you use to support the symbolism and theme?

All right? So now K has opened up the outline, or the process that is building an outline, to cover thinking about what makes your characters do things, where is the conflict, and what do you think the theme is?

"Every so often, take a mental step back from the creative whirlwind you’re scribbling onto the page and evaluate these elements."

You might have been expecting a fairly linear, make up this outline and then start writing, approach. However, it seems to me that K is actually making sure that we think through our story from various directions, with scene lists, MDG of characters, conflict, theme...

Your exercise, should you chose to try it out, is to take this sketchy description of key story factors and give it a whirl! Take a story, your own or someone else's, and walk through this list. What is the main character's MDG? How about the conflict? And what's that elusive theme?

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EXERCISE: Visions of the Future?

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Original Posting July 18, 2016

Okay! Over here, you'll find a page full of posters from JPL. Fun and games, the Grand Tour, Mars, Earth, Venus, Ceres, Jupiter, Enceladus, Titan, Europa and beyond! Where do you want to go on your vacation?


http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/visions-of-the-future/

However, it struck me that these might make a great writing exercise. See, the idea would be to take one of these (randomly chosen? Sure, three rows, 14 posters, figure out how to pick one?). Now, write a story. Hot air ballooning on Jupiter, and enjoying the mighty auroras? Or perhaps you like one of the other ones? Be aware that clicking on a poster will get you a poster and a short description, to help you along!

Okay? So, take a trip into the future, and out to another planet. Feel free to tip your hat to Edgar Rice Burroughs along the way!

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TECH: Outlining Your Novel (Part 6)

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Original Posting July 24, 2016

So we've got our premise, worked through a scene list, dug a little deeper into the key story factors, and now... In Chapter 6, K. M. Weiland turns to Character Sketches, Pt. 1: Exploring Backstory. So we've worked through the scene list, story arc, and filled plot holes and it's time to consider characters. How? Character sketches? Yep. No, we are not pantsing, just exploring ideas as part of the outlining process.

So what's backstory? Sure, what happened before the story. Knowing it gives your story more body. But how do you fill in the backstory? Well, K recommends:

1. Start with the inciting event and work backwards from there. What led up to it? Why does the character respond like this? What unresolved issues from the past crop up?
2. Make sure your inciting event is strong! It should be an irrevocable change to the world of the character. It should directly influence the rest of the story. It should create conflict. It needs to grab the reader's attention. And, of course, it should end in action.
3. Tackle backstory by starting with a general statement about each of your main characters. Then expand those. Who or what influenced them? What's their education, jobs, travel? What are the catalysts and notable events in their lives?
4. Don't let backstory swamp your story. Sure, give hints, but wait for the right time to reveal key bits. When you do reveal it, don't stretch it out, present it quickly.

Okay? So we're invited to think about the backstory of our characters, even to write short sketches of important parts. This is another exploratory, almost prototyping step in K's approach. It's a strong tool, built right into the outlining process.

It is interesting to me to see that while we are outlining our novel, so far K has had us doing a lot of brainstorming and exploration, not just sitting down and making an outline. I think this might help reconcile those who are concerned that the mechanics of outlining will squash the excitement of writing.

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EXER: A first line?

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Original Posting July 28, 2016

I was poking around at some writing exercises, and it struck me...

How about proposing a first line? That's right, suggest a first line! I'd avoid "Call me Ishmael" but otherwise, sure, whatever you would like to suggest.

The fun, of course, would be if others here on the list took that first line and expanded it into a scene or something. You know, start with the line that someone suggests, and feel free to spend a couple hundred or more words helping us enjoy where it leads.

So, go ahead. Suggest a first line, and see what we make of it!

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