TECH: Backstory for Nanowrimo?

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Original Posting Nov. 2, 2016

Over here, K. M. Weiland talks about backstory for Nanowrimo! It's part of her series about How to Outline for Nanowrimo.

https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/nanowrimo-outlining-how-much-backstory/

Let's see. She starts out with a bit of peptalk, pointing out that while people often think backstory just kind of happens, you don't have to explore it before you start writing, that approach often leads to missed opportunities and a lot of revision. Backstory influences everything, plot, motivation, theme… So how do you figure it out ahead of time?

This is all that stuff that happened to your character and everybody else before the story. So how do you pick out the important parts? You want the things that influence the main story, right? Take a look at these questions.

1. What brought your character to the beginning of your main story? How did he get here? From two different points of view. First, what's his purpose or reason for being here? Was it intentional? If so, what got him to that point? Second, how'd he get there physically? Intentional or not, how did the character get into this place? What goal, what delivery mechanism. This is where you might use your one major coincidence. But it's better to have a good solid cause-and-effect.

2. What is your character's motivation? What do they want? Why? The backstory is the cause for this! Sometimes the motivation comes from inside the story (e.g., the inciting incident, when someone gets kidnapped, or whatever), BUT if the backstory supports it, it gets even better. Or, the primary motivation for the main story goal may be straight out the backstory. But in that case, why did they set their heart on this goal? What pushed them into it? What changed dreaming into action plan?

3. What is the Ghost that's driving your character? It's the wound in the character's backstory, something that happened and is pushing your character. A deep, dark secret, or maybe something seemingly superficial and normal, but it's the driver.

4. Which revelations about the backstory advance the plot? Having juicy bits from the backstory it is nice, but how can you use them – discoveries, revelations, flashes of insight – to push your plot? Make a list, and think about how to use each item for mystery, building tension, and revelation.

Don't get carried away with the backstory. You don't want to get buried in it, nor do you need to put every little bit of it into the story. It's context and support, but do the iceberg thing – 90% out of sight, only 10% flashing in the sun. Only get into backstory to advance the main plot or to make sure readers understand.

And may your nanowrimo stories be wonderful!

tink

TECH: A Quick Reminder...

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Original Posting Nov. 6, 2016

Over in the book Steal This Plot by William and June Noble, they suggest a set of

Plot motivators

Vengeance
Catastrophe
Love and hate
The chase
Grief and loss
Rebellion
Betrayal
Persecution
Self-sacrifice
Survival (deliverance)
Rivalry
Discovery (quest)
Ambition

Take a story idea, add a motivator, and more than likely, you've got at least the nucleus of a plot. It will need filling in, with characters, setting, and all that, but... these are good places to start your brainstorming.

Story spicers

Deception
Material well-being (increase or loss)
Authority
Making amends
Conspiracy
Rescue
Mistaken identity
Unnatural affection
Criminal action (includes murder)
Suspicion
Suicide
Searching
Honor and dishonor

So along the way, you may need to add in some seasoning to help things along. That's the role of the story spicers. Again, consider this as a list to help kick your brainstorming. This scene needs a bit more oomph. What if I added dose of suspicion, or authority, or... there you go, that adds a dash of spice!

So, for the fun of it, consider mixing in a little motivator and a bit of spice. And keep those nanowrimo words boiling!

tink

EXERCISE: Where's Your Nanowrimo?

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Original Posting Nov. 8, 2016

Let's see. November 8? So in theory, if we're pounding out 2,000 words a day, we're hitting around 16,000 now? Aiming to leap over tall buildings, or at least rumble past that 50,000 word goal with words to spare?

Although... One week in? So about a fourth of the way? And more than likely heading into the dry gulch known as the middle, where so many caravans have come to an end, sputtering and gasping as the initial steam ran out?

How about this? Here's some points along the way that you might want to check off? From the Hero's Journey.

1. Ordinary world
2. Call to adventure
3. Refusal of the call
4. Meeting the mentor
5. Crossing the first threshold
6. Tests, allies, enemies
7. Approach to the inmost cave
8. Supreme ordeal
9. Reward (seizing the sword)
10. The road back
11. Resurrection
12. Return with elixir

Just consider. What might that look like in your story? Where are you right now? Have you crossed the first threshold (aka the doorway without any return)? Starting into the complications, the try-fail cycles of tests, allies, and enemies?

Or you could go with the full-blown Blake Snyder's 15 beats:

1. Opening image
2. Statement of the theme
3. Set up -- who are the characters, and what's the hero missing?
4. Catalyst -- What kicks off the action?
5. Debate -- wait a minute?
6. Break into act two -- The hero takes that step
7. The B story -- changeup
8. Fun and games -- let's try it out
9. Midpoint -- raise the stakes, hit a false victory
10. The bad guys close in
11. All is lost! The mentor dies, friends turn away
12. The dark night of the soul.
13. The break into act three. Aha! There is hope!
14. The finale. The climax. The hero wins.
15. The final image

Again, consider which of those landmarks you want to try to fill in, and then write it in!

Heck, if you get bored, try The Big List of RPG Plots available at http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/blueroom/plots.htm and see if one of those sparks your thoughts.

The point, of course, being to keep writing! Only 34,000 words to go (more or less, depending on how many you've gotten down now).

And the world, will be better for this, that one writer, alone with a computer, wrote a nanowrimo tale so true... alright, blue. What color is your tale, anyway?

tink

TECH: Is it Nov. 10 already?

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Original Posting Nov. 11, 2016

Nanowrimo! Here we go! Let's see. 1,667 per day means about 16,667 knocked out? Or if you set your sights on 2,000 per day, about 20,000 words piled up? Somewhere around a third of the way, right? Or higher? YEAH!

Keep those words rolling! Just consider, five senses -- what do they see? What do they hear? What do they smell? What do they taste? What do they... feel? Did I miss something? Oh, your character has supersenses? Cool!

And characters! Major, minor, even walk-on bit parts. As the actors like to say, "There's no such thing as a small part." So make sure that even the waiter and the bus driver get a little attention, okay?

Don't forget the settings! Floating around in the fog exchanging great dialogue may work for angels, but you want your characters to be down to earth, gritty real folks, good guys and bad guys, wrestling hard with each other and with their consciences, so... put them in a coffee house, put them in the OK Corral, put them on a mountainside, put them on a beach, put them on ISS, just make it a real place that is clinking and purring around them.

Last, but not least, make that plot roar! As one of the old-time writers said, "If it's getting boring, have a guy with a gun walk in." Throw some obstacles and unexpected encounters in there!

Mostly, keep churning out the words. One nano, two nano, three nano, more!

One third of the way in, and that means? Yes, we have two thirds to go. So go, go, go!

Oh, now you're going to put your characters into a flashback to the go-go era? Well, okay. White boots, mini-skirts, what the heck did the guys wear? Bellbottoms? Do the monkey!

Keep writing!
tink

TECH: Lester Dent Pulp Master Fiction Plot

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Original Posting Dec. 2, 2016

Let's see. Someone was talking about pulp fiction recently, and I pulled out Lester Dent's plot. They seemed surprised to learn of it, so... what the heck, let's review!

http://www.paper-dragon.com/1939/dent.html has a copy, if you want to follow along.

First off, Lester recommends brainstorming about four different things. They are:
1. A different murder method for the villain to use
2. A different thing for the villain to be seeking
3. A different locale
4. A menace which hangs like a cloud over the hero
You need at least one, two is better, and three is great! Okay? So do some thinking about what's going to be your unique points.

Next, divvy up the story into four parts. Lester was doing 6000 word stories, with 1500 word parts, but adjust to taste.

First part.
1. First line, or as near as possible, introduce your hero and hit him with a bunch of trouble. Hint at a mystery, menace, or problem that the hero has to deal with.
2. Make the hero pitch in to deal with the bunch of trouble.
3. Introduce all other characters as soon as possible, bringing them on in action.
4. Near the end of the first part, let the hero's efforts get him into an actual physical conflict.
5. Also, near the end, drop in a complete surprise twist in the plot.
Suspense? Menace to the hero? Logical sequence of events? Make sure that your action does more than just move the hero around in the scenery. Let him learn things, and surprises.

Second part
1. Load more trouble on the hero.
2. The hero keeps struggling, leading to
3. Another physical conflict and
4. Another plot twist!
Make sure we have more suspense, increasing menace, and the hero is getting in more and more trouble. Also, we still need that clockwork logic progression.

Show! Make the reader see things.
Try to put at least one minor surprise o each page.
Use tags to keep your characters easy to remember.
Continuous action!

Third part
1. More trouble for the hero!
2. Hero begins to make some headway, and corners villain or someone in
3. (You guessed it!) a physical conflict
4. And yet another surprising plot twist.
Whoosh! More suspense, that menace is turning solid black, and the hero is really in trouble! All in logical lockstep, right?

Feel free to make the physical conflicts different, just to avoid monotony.

Action: vivid, swift, make the reader see it.
Atmosphere: all the senses.
Description: scenery and details.
Make each word count.

Fourth part!
1. More troubles for the hero!
2. Get the hero almost buried in trouble.
3. Let the hero pull himself out using his own skills!
4. The big mystery gets cleared up during the final confrontation.
5. Final twist, a big surprise.
6. Punch line ending!
Keep the suspense going to the last line. Keep the menace there until the ending. Make sure that everything is explained, and that the events all happen logically. Use the punch line to make the reader feel warm and fuzzy! And, make sure that your hero kills or defeats the villain, not someone else.

There you go. Simple, right? Get the character in trouble, keep them fighting and finding out new twists, build it up to another fight and twist, build it up to one more fight and twist, and then kaboom! Let the hero fight their way out, with a final big twist.

Got it? Now write it!
tink

TECH: Outlining Your Novel (part 9)

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Original Posting Dec. 5, 2016

I'll bet you thought I forgot about this! Outlining Your Novel by K. M. Weiland.

Chapter 9 is titled "The Extended Outline: Creating a Story." So now we're going to get into it! Just in case you lost track, so far we've talked about...

Chapter one was about should you outline?
Chapter 2 was about before you begin.
Chapter 3 delved into crafting a premise.
Chapter 4 was connecting the dots in general sketches.
Chapter 5 taught us about key story factors and general sketches.
Chapter 6 was Character Sketches, part one, about backstory.
Chapter 7 was the second part of the character sketches, about character interviews.
Chapter 8 was about settings.
Now we're about to do Chapter 9 on extended outlines.
Chapter ten takes on the abbreviated outline, aka roadmap.
And then we'll hit the conclusion, in chapter eleven, that talks about using the outline.

Whew! Lots of stuff. Okay...

K says that this is mapping out, in as much detail as possible, every road stop in your story. She suggests that this may take several months, but it's also very highly creative. She provides an example of how she does part of her extended outline, which she writes in her notebook. Dated and numbered, these are very much brainstorming, thinking pieces, where she considers different options and ideas. I would call these scene sketches, trying to work out the plot, but with lots of room for later work.

But before you dive into that, exploring the options and having all that fun, K suggest you should think about:

1. What kind of story are you writing? What about tone, pace? She suggests a simple approach. Think about what would you most like to read. Now write that! Look at the books, movies, or whatever that you enjoy. What elements do you really like?

2. Who is your audience? Age, gender, ethnicity, beliefs. Of course, one of the easy methods is to pick out a person, and write for them.

3. What point-of-view will you use? First, third, and of course there are the variations of third, limited and so forth. Some things to think about include how many POV's are you going to use? Who has the most at stake? Who has the most interesting voice? You may want to try playing with voice and tense.

4. Structure your story. Basically, K talks about three parts, beginning, middle, ending.
Beginning: introduce the main character, show the normal world, maybe a characteristic moment? Don't forget the action! Why should the reader care and empathize? What is the main characters desire/goal? Make sure the inciting incident changes the main character's life forever. Oh, let the main character react to the inciting incident.
In the middle: build that spiral of events that are outside the main character's control. Push the goal further out of reach. Let the main character set new goals. Finally, give the new character a decision that shifts them from reaction to attack.
Ending: let the main character achieve a new understanding of themselves and what they are trying to do. Stretch the main character's resolve, make it hard for them. The last-minute recovery is practically required here. Make the main character a hero. Give them a unique response. You may want to show the defeat of the opponent. Let the main character reach their goals. And make sure you have a memorable ending.

5. Consider the three fundamental elements. K says that's relationships, action, and humor. You want to include some of each, with a good balance for your book.

6. You might want to try framing. Often there is a starting and ending that are bookends, with the story in between.

7. The domino effect! Make every scene matter. They should follow each other like dominoes falling.

8. Try reverse outlining! The easiest way to layout dominoes falling is to start at the end. Then work your way backwards.

Finally, with all of that in your mind, scene by scene, bit by bit, lay it all out. There is your extended outline.

And, contrary to rumors, you still have room to maneuver. Yes, you now have a good understanding of the main points in each scene, how your plot is going to work out, but there's still a lot of detail to describe the background, the action, the dialogue, and all the other parts. With the overview in mind, it's a lot easier to do that.

So, outline! We'll write soon!
tink

EXERCISE: It's beginning to look a lot like…

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Original Posting Dec. 19, 2016

It's late, I know, but… Walking around the mall the other day, I was reminded that it's Christmas! Enormous bright colored boots filled with who knows what, racks of Christmas and New Year's cards, there was even a Santa Claus having lunch in the food court. So…

Your job, should you choose to accept it, is to take a song, story, or whatever else you like, and fit it to the season! Christmas, solstice, Kwanzaa, bah humbug, whatever you like. Feel free to take the drummer boy, and make him a rock guitarist. Or perhaps you want to redo A Christmas Carol? Sure, why not? Let's see.

https://osr.org/blog/tips-gifts/20-famous-christmas-stories/ has a list of some great stories you might want to consider. Or perhaps you prefer this list? https://americanliterature.com/christmas Wow! 100 or so?

Something for the holidays! Go ahead, give us your best cheer.

And a Merry Christmas to all. Or as Tiny Tim put it, "God bless us, every one." Not to be confused with "Tip toe through the tulips..." okay?

tink

TECH: Outlining Your Novel (Part 10!)

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Original Posting Dec. 20, 2016

Okay. We're still talking about Outlining Your Novel by K. M. Weiland. Chapter 10 has the title Abbreviated Outlining: Drawing Your Roadmap. The key point here is that when you finish outlining, you should make an abbreviated or perhaps condensed version. That lets you see the whole picture at a glance. It's the highlights.

But, why not use the extended outline from chapter 9? Well, K gives us several reasons:

1. Skip the rambling. Remember, the extended version has all the options and pondering, questions, and just about everything else in it. The abbreviated outline is just the key points.
2. Make it legible. K does her extended outline by hand, so turning it into something a little more easy to read is worthwhile.
3. Distill the pertinent points. Pick out those highlights, the key parts that you want to keep in mind while writing.
4. Save time. Getting this all straight before you start writing makes the writing easier.

K gives a couple of examples. One is a straightforward set of one sentence summaries. Another is somewhat more in-depth scene descriptions, but still focused.

So besides boiling it down into a roadmap, K points out that another benefit is that this is a time to really analyze and organize things. Cut out the extra stuff, strengthen what's needed, and go ahead and rearrange if you need to.

Finally, K points out that you can at least begin to divide your material into scenes and chapters. This is a good time to look for dramatic high points and breakpoints. You can start working those into cliffhangers, or other transitions that keep your readers going. K recommends 11 different possibilities:

1. A promise of conflict
2. Keeping a secret (hinting that there is a secret!)
3. Making a major decision or commitment
4. Announcement (Revelation) of a shocking event.
5. A moment of high emotion
6. A reversal or surprise that turns the story upside down
7. A new idea (or new plan)
8. Raising an unanswered question
9. A mysterious line of dialogue
10. A portentous metaphor
11. A turning point (a big change!)

The point is that this is a good time to start to decide your pacing. Short sentences, paragraphs, scenes, chapters – and lots of them! – Probably means a fast pace. Longer, more leisurely development, and perhaps less scenes and chapters, most likely implies a slower pace. In any case, don't forget to cut out the fat!

So, K summarizes this as really doing three things. First, pick out the highlights, the pertinent notes that show the way your story is going to go. Second, check out your scenes and ideas to get rid of extra stuff and organize it all. Finally, at least begin to set up your scenes and chapters. In particular, start working on those transitions! What kind of hooks, cliffhangers, or other tools of suspense are you going to use to keep the reader going?

All right? So now we've got our extended and abbreviated outlines in hand! Time to put it all to work, and start writing? We'll see, in Chapter 11!

tink

EXER: Part of a line...

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Original Posting Dec. 27, 2016

One fine morning recently, I woke up with this line running through the little grey cells...

The steeplechase that day killed three of them, and...

Go ahead. Finish the line, or perhaps just use the line as is? Beginning of a tale, or perhaps embedded in it? Heck, even just a seed for you to think about, and then write your own tale.

Just write, okay?
tink

TECH: Four Ps? (Moldy Oldie!)

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Original Posting Dec. 29, 2016

Digging into the stack of slowly browning sheets, I find… Writer's Digest, June 1996, pages eight, 10, 11 or thereabouts, had an article by Nancy Kress with the title "The Four Ps" subtitled how to keep your fiction effectively dramatic – and keep your readers from snickering in the wrong spots. Drama, melodrama, parody? How do you get the emotion and the drama without going too far.

Well, Nancy starts out by reminding us that these three categories often are quite close. "Drama means a scene depicts events that evoke strong emotions in the characters, the reader or both. Melodrama means the events and emotions are exaggerated past the point of real credibility. And parody means everything has become so exaggerated that the only emotion now evoked is laughter."

So how do you control this? How do you control the emotions, making them dramatic, but not overdone? Four Ps! Placement, preparation, point of view, and precision. Here you go...

Placement. Nancy reminds us "no passion on the first date, please." At the very beginning of your story, we don't know the characters well enough to have a very emotional scene. Give us some time to understand the situation and the characters, and the scene might very well play. "Save your emotionally juicy scenes for placement in the last half of your short story. Or at least the last two-thirds."

Preparation. Here we're going for ripeness! Prepare us for the emotional reactions. Foreshadow that the characters are capable of strong dramatic reaction, and convince us that the trigger event, the thing that they are reacting to, really would push them into that strong a reaction. "To earn the right to a dramatic scene… Concentrate on foreshadowing. Both characters and situation must have demonstrated the capacity for losing control."

Point of view. Carefully pick who we are witnessing the drama through. An observer, standing outside the dramatic explosion, may help us feel balanced. Even a participant may be more rational and thoughtful than the characters who are exploding. A calm point of view can be an anchor in the midst of the storm.

Precision. Finally, tone down the melodrama with careful word choice. Avoid clichés, use fresh and original phrases to convey the emotion without slipping into parody. Details, precision, sincerity can help make your drama dramatic without going overboard.

Nancy ends with a warning. Some readers are going to find parody and melodrama in everything. After all, the reader interprets, and they may simply not want to invest themselves that deeply. But, do your best, put it in the right setting, foreshadow it nicely, use the best point of view, and pick your words carefully.

Let's see. This is kind of an interesting one to try to dream up a good way to practice it. Perhaps the easiest is to take a scene, from your own work or someone else's, that you consider dramatic, that has that emotional punch that Nancy is talking about. Now, try rewriting it, at least two different ways. First, push it over into melodrama. Yes, let the villian twist his black moustache, and let the cliches fall where they will! Second, try turning it into a parody! Can you make us laugh at the ridiculous lengths that this scene is going to? Then, of course, you might want to try a rewrite as a pure and simple dramatic highlight, with the words and emotions intended to work with the reader.

All right? Write!
tink

EXERCISE: Happy New Year!

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Original Posting Dec. 31, 2016

Watching the New Year's Eve show here in Japan. The theme this year was yume no uta (song of dreams? Or maybe dream of songs?) Anyway, I was thinking you might take that as a writing seed. Or perhaps just the change -- we're headed into the year of the chicken, if you feel like twisting that ancient notion. A bird, at least, although you might prefer the Phoenix or peacock or some other more elegant bird. Chickens, well... when the rooster crows?

No matter what, take a few moments and think about what you want to do with your writing this year. Not great vows of undying effort, but just set your own goals.

And, as I tend to say, write!
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