TECH: Hah, a genre by any other name would...

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Original Posting Oct. 8, 2016

Be as hard to write? Anyway, as we're heading into Nanowrimo time, here comes Sarah Hoyt with a quick guide to genres. It seems appropriate to think about using this as a brainstorming tool. What kind of a story do I want to write? Or even what kind of subplot do I want to mix in? So, take a look at the original over here

https://madgeniusclub.com/2016/10/05/romancing-the-genre/

Or consider this list (summarized and commentary by me!)

Erotica – sex and kinkiness!
Romance – relationships. The plot is about the relationship and the emotions.
-- Sweet romance. No sex scenes.
Mystery. Crime and its solution. Murder is the biggie, but... you can have others, too.
-- Gritty or Noir. Dark, tough guys, action in the grime.
-- Police procedural! NCIS?
-- Genius Private Investigator. Rex Stout, Holmes. Intellectual puzzles.
-- Cozy. Milieu and relationships. Miss Marple.
Thriller -- The Chase!
Science Fiction -- What if? Future possibilities.
-- Hard. New Tech!
-- Space Opera. How do people handle this brave new world?
-- Military SF. You're in the Army/Navy/Space Force now...
-- Post Apocalyptic SF -- the world as we know it has ended. What y'a gonna do?
-- SF Romance. Sex and robots?
-- SF Erotica? You must be kidding.
Fantasy. Impossible, but... what if magic?
-- High Fantasy. Tolkein and many, many others. The lost heir?
-- Contemporary fantasy/Historical fantasy -- realistic, but…
-- Urban fantasy -- Set in the city (or at least suburbia), with a character handling magic and evil.
-- Paranormal Romance. Whoops! Magic or evil is sexy? Hum... Rule 34!
Historical -- set in some time, some place, almost anything.
-- Steam Punk? Gears and steam, Victorian sort-of?
Main Stream -- now, with the guy next door, doing every-day stuff.
Literary -- language and other problems.
Horror! Can you scare us! Subtle, or just splatter gore?

Whoosh! Quite a list. Oh, yeah. Don't forget the Young Adult markup.

Most of us know quite well what kind of stuff we like to read, and we often stick with that for our writing. After all, you know the tropes. If you want to switch genres, you're going to at least have to go to TVtropes

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage (Warning! This site can consume hours and hours of browsing, and... what were you looking for, anyway?)

and see what they say about that genre. Even better, plan on spending a little time reading some of the classics.

Okay? So... what kind of a story are you going to write for Nanowrimo? And are you mixing in subplots of some kind? Oh, one of those?

tink

TECH: 6 Steps Storytelling Workout for Nanowrimo (moldy oldie time again!)

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Original Posting Oct. 10, 2016

All right! While you probably won't want to use this as a way to revise your story during Nanowrimo, you can certainly use these ideas to help get yourself set and ready, and even to spark some excitement while writing, writing, writing during Nano! Sound like a plan?

Writer's Digest, March 2003, pages 38-41, had an article with the title Your 6-Step Storytelling Workout by Steven James. He suggests that using these six steps will give your story punch, power, and poignancy! Oooo... Ready?

1. Crystallize characters!

Steven starts with a short anecdote about an acting conference, where a director said, "Every time a character steps on stage, he wants something. To develop your character, figure out what he wants while he's onstage."

Simple, right? Why is this character here? What they want? How far will they go to get it? MOTIVATION! Yes!

What does this character want?

Hum... Steven says "At the heart of every story is a character who faces a struggle and makes a discovery." So... who is that character?

2. Intensify struggles.

Steven talks about teaching children to write. He doesn't ask them to write about their vacations, that's boring. He tells them, "You don't have a story until something goes wrong. Tell me about something that went wrong over vacation." And stories pour out!

What is the struggle of your main character? What are they trying to achieve, overcome, or accomplish?

Note, Steven recommends struggles, intimate and personal, rather than conflicts, external and distant. Make the struggle deeper, richer, don't just add conflicts. Then show how facing that struggle transforms the character.

Personal, emotional, hard to overcome. Escalate those problems, make the setbacks serious, and the dangers bad and closeup.

3. Hint at emotions.

Here's where you need to be subtle. Don't worry, an interesting character busting themselves in an intriguing struggle is going to bring out emotion. But you, as writer, don't want to be bashing the reader over the head with telling them about it. Hint!

Get the reader to identify with the characters, get them to feel the struggles, then let them ride along. Action, dialogue, and body language, don't just tell us about it.

4. Clarify discoveries.

Beginning, middle, end? Well, how about origination, muddle, resolution? The beginning originates everything that follows. The middle is the central struggle. And the ending? That's the culminating event, the big climax, surprising and yet inevitable.

"What makes a story worth telling is the causal relationship of events that produces a change in the condition or circumstances of the main character.… Stories reveal the transformation of characters or situations."

Make the revelation or discovery by the character clear!

5. Muddy the choices.

Choose the right thing or the wrong thing? Too easy. Make your character choose between two right things! Dilemmas, situations that demand the character be in two places at once, choose between two promises, or otherwise figure out which pile of straw to go to.

Internal struggles with all the choices there, and external struggles with tasks. Play them off against each other, and look for "a moment of realization when a choice from the outer story helps the main character overcome her inner struggle."

Highlight those moments of decision! Raise the ante! Life or death consequences! Make your reader wonder what's going to happen!

6. Ratchet up the action.

"The more personal the struggle and the more impending the danger, the more suspenseful the story." Make sure you introduce the central struggle early.

Keep the pace moving. Watch for long flashbacks, dialogue that doesn't move the story forward, and getting stuck in one scene for too long. Movement, contrast, action, suspense… Keep the reader interested.

Rising tension, more and more action. Always add a new struggle before you resolve an existing one.

Motivate your characters, make them struggle, hint at emotions, bring out those decisions and discoveries, make the choices hard, and crank up the action! Keep your stories working!

There is a sidebar on page 40 labeled creativity starter. It's got one exercise for each of these points! Here we go!

1. Characters. Select a character from your story. Write a scene that shows your character's personality through his actions.
2. Struggles. Take a key external conflict in your story and make it more personal. Brainstorm possible internal struggles that the characters affected by the conflict could simultaneously face. Make a list. Consider both the antagonist and the protagonist.
3. Emotions. Word choice is key to expressing how your characters feel. Practice the art of subtlety. Describe your character waking up in the morning. Do not tell us how she feels. Show us through descriptive words.
4. Discoveries. Stories shouldn't just end, they should reveal. Whether you've completed your story or not, you should consider the final resolutions – for the conflict and the characters. Articulate what transformations your ending will unveil.
5. Choices. The difference between right and wrong is often a fine line. List the pivotal choices that occur in your story, and brainstorm elements you could add to gray the distinction between right and wrong.
6. Action. Peruse your story and find a long section of boring exposition. Spice up the action by rewriting the scene as dialogue or having it take place in a new location.

There you go! Obviously some of this is aimed at revisions more than initial writing or preparation for writing, but I think there are parts of it that can help you get ready for nanowrimo, or even add some spice during Nanowrimo. I mean, can you imagine getting stuck during nanowrimo, and running down this list of ideas or creativity starters, just to get your writing going again? I certainly can!

tink

EXERCISE: Three things?

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Original Posting Oct. 18, 2016

I have no idea why, but I have a slip of paper here that says:

Habit
Mushrooms
Cardboard boxes

There you go! Let those seeds of inspiration (well, seeds of something, anyway) sink into your thoughts, and see what sprouts! Is it a story? Is it a poem? Is it...

Your writing!

tink

TECH: Getting Ready for Nanowrimo with K. M. Weiland

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Original Posting Oct. 19, 2016

Oho! Over here on her website, K. M. Weiland talks about getting ready for Nanowrimo! Just what we all need, right? Now, she's got three weeks worth of articles already, so let's catch up.

Oct. 3

http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/should-you-outline-your-novel/

K. asks the poignant question, should you outline your novel? Well, first, let's make sure we all understand what an outline is? First, it isn't really a list of scenes (which comes straight out of English classes where they said "Outline this story/book" and meant list the scenes). Second, it isn't necessarily about working out a viable story structure. This is kind of the improved version of list of scenes, but instead of doing scenes, you're focusing on major plot points. Better, but still not quite there. So, what is outlining? BRAINSTORMING! It's the process of discovery, of considering and exploring possibilities. So, yes, you may very well produce a story structure and list of scenes. But that's not the point, that's just a by-product. The process, the thing you are doing, is exploring what your story is going to be. Okay? So stay tuned, and we'll look at four questions to ask yourself.

Oct. 10

https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/start-your-outline-with-these-4-questions-nanowrimo/

K. continues by tackling the question of where to start the outline! Not the linear beginning. Nope, start with the big picture. What is your story about? Who are the characters? What themes are in this conflict? Where are you going to end? What obstacles will there be in reaching that endpoint? So, we're going to do a general sketch.

1. What do you already know about the story? You probably have some ideas or even impressions. Write those down.

2. What are the existing plot holes and questions? Dang, there are things you don't know yet? What are they? What questions do you have about this story?

3. Ask the 3 important "what" questions? What if ...? What is expected? What is unexpected? That's right! Have some fun filling in the edges.

4 questions to get you going:

1. What general conflict does your premise provide? Write a premise sentence for your story. Now, what is the main conflict in there? Premise: situation, protagonist, objective, opponent, disaster, and conflict, in a nice pithy statement.

2. Who/What is your story's antagonistic force? What kind of global, international, national, public, and personal stakes are there? What is the goal, motivation, and plan for each kind antagonist?

3. What are the protagonist's goals and motivations?

4. What secrets are your characters hiding? For each character, think about what they are hiding.

Go for it! Get the big picture of your story down. Then come back, and we'll talk about the heart of the story.

Oct. 17

http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/nanowrimo-guide-outlining-find-heart-of-your-story/

K. now turns to making sure that you've got the heart of your story, not just the skeleton. Plot, events and mechanics, are important, but what is the heart of your story? Theme! And... here are the questions to help you find that.

1. Plot: What is the external conflict of the story? What is the protagonist trying to achieve? Why? What is the antagonist up to, and why? What are the stakes for all this? How does the protagonist have to change?

2. Character: What is the internal conflict in your story? What is the character arc? What does the character want? What do they need?

3. Theme: What is the theme of the story?

Whoo! So we're going to lay out the plot, in big pictures, and take a crack at the theme.

And we still have a week or so before Nanowrimo clobbers us. So get cracking!

Sounds like a plan to me!
tink

TECH: Outlining for Nanowrimo?

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Original Posting Oct. 28, 2016

A quick review

K. M. Weiland, over on http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/ has a series of posts about getting ready for Nanowrimo. Basically, it looks like

1. What do you already know about your story?
2. What are the plot holes and questions you already have?
3. Kick your brainstorming with What if ...? What is expected? What is unexpected?

Now, add in a dash of
1. What is your premise? (situation, protagonist, objective, opponent, disaster, and conflict! Start with the situation, protagonist, objective, and opponent. Then toss in the disaster and conflict.) What is the main conflict?
2. Who/what is the antagonist? What are the possible stakes? What the goal, motivation, and plan for each of those kinds of antagonist?
3. What are the protagonist's goals and motivations?
4. What secrets are your characters hiding?

Next, push that brew through these three filters:
1. Plot: What is the external conflict of the story? What are the characters trying to do? What are the stakes in all this? What needs to change?
2. Character: What is the internal conflict? Character arc? What do they want, and what do they need?
3. Theme: What's the theme, pussycat?

Let that cool for a bit, then look for PLOT HOLES!
1. What don't you know about your story? What are the motivations? Do you need some filler scenes to link things? What about relationships?
2. What specific questions need answers? Got any blank spots -- make them into questions.
3. Subplots? Take a look at the minor characters' goals, the links between major and minor characters, and how those minor character relate to each other.

When you find a plot hole, check out the what if's that can point to a good solution, and other questions.

Ready? Set! And...

tink