TECH: A Switch in Time (moldy oldie) (650 words)

[mbarker]

 Original Posting 6/7/2019

Writer's Digest, December 1993, had an article on pages 37-39 by Hal Blythe and Charlie Sweet with this title. The subtitle says, "Is straightforward linear structure (this happened, then that happened, then…) dooming your stories to rejection? Here's how to put your characters on a time machine, and catch the attention of jaded editors."

It starts out by posing some questions. Suppose you wrote a story with 10 scenes, with the first eight building up to the climactic ninth and a denouement. Classic linear structure, but are all 10 scenes of equal dramatic value? Are they all going to get the same emotional response from your readers? No!

All right, suppose the first five scenes are necessary back story, but they're just exposition, slogging details. Do you think the reader or editor will take the time to get to that high point in the sixth scene?

Guess what. Readers want fast and early gratification. The Internet age means instant gratification. So… You gotta pay off early. Hook your audience early. One way to do this – tell the story out of chronological sequence. Pay attention to narrative time, flashbacks, and flash forwards.

Then they outline a simple story in linear scenes. It's okay, straightforward sequencing, steady pace, climax. Continuity! The problem is that often the writer puts into many details.

Okay, suppose you decide you want to try nonlinear. Start with three components. The present moment, the bridge, and the reflected upon moment. Present moment… Pick one! The bridge is when your point of view character starts to reflect or think about an event in the past or the future. Past event, flashback. Future event, flash forward. Be careful, flashbacks and flash forwards are not reminiscing or visions. You're going to dramatize, show us, that past or future scene. Establish setting, provide dialogue, describe the action.

Okay, what can you build with those components? First, a frame. Starting the present, then jumped to a long flashback. You may or may not finish by returning to the present. Most of this is linear, just with the opening and closing frame out of joint. It's clear, as the continuity and pacing of linear storytelling, and you've got that hook that makes up the frame!

Second, multiple flashbacks. Starting the present, and every now and then drop back to a scene from the past. How many flashbacks? Sometimes people say just two, some people have more, and you can always do a flash forward.

So, when do you go time traveling? First, consider your audience. How sophisticated are they, are they going to enjoy a little rearrangement of time? Second, does it contribute to your story? Third, look at your story and figure out the best place to start. The flashback lets you start wherever you want, instead of strictly starting at the beginning.

Now, don't play with time just because you want to try the technique. Sure, you're a great writer, but… Story first, technique should never be visible. Also, don't confuse your readers. Make sure that whenever you change times, you make it clear to the reader when this scene is happening. Work on effective bridges. Beware of the "had" problem. Stories are usually told in past tense, so it might seem as if a flashback should be in that nasty past perfect or whatever it is, with had jumped and so forth. But once you get over the bridge, drop back to simple past.

Finally, experiment. Try out possibilities, combine reminiscences and flashbacks. Make yourself feel comfortable with these techniques, then use them to tell great stories.

So, that's the article. It's basically a look at how you can use flashbacks and control of your time to rearrange your story to be more effective. Instead of "Once upon a time," start with, "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down..." then back up and tell us about the three little pigs building their houses…

TECH: Funny Business (moldy oldie) (470 words)

[mbarker]

Original Posting 6/21/2019

Writer's Digest, December 1993, pages 33-35 had an article by Frank Gannon talking about writing humor. He starts out by commiserating with us, pointing out that humor writing isn't fun, it's a lot of work. It's also easy to screw up, and gets very little respect. Still, some people want to make other people laugh.

Now, humor really isn't a formula. And in fact, "Humor, like frogs, can be dissected, but neither ever lives through the process." Incidentally, just to make things worse, people laugh at different things.

Now, he does suggest looking at the work of other humorists. For example, Robert Benchley who seems to write parodies, first draft sorts of pieces. Then there's S. J. Perelman, who has a more complex approach. Simple funny bits, or more baroque expositions? You may prefer one style or the other. They can both be useful.

Then he suggests several humor genres that you might want to write it. Here we go!

1. The psychotic monologue. First person voice of someone famous, or perhaps a fictitious person. Who feels strongly about something, but a little bit offbeat? Or you might do a psychotic dialogue?

2. Found humor. Something odd catches your attention? Write it up and present it. You may want to keep a file or several files of things that catch your eye.

3. Less than obvious genres. Parodies rise and fall all the time. Keep your eye out for some of the new ones. Frank mentions several that were popular at that time, including the rich person who is down-home and unpretentious, the person from a ghetto who is amazingly accomplished, and so forth. Who knows, you might start a whole new genre yourself.

4. If blank were blank… If someone were someone else. Or maybe if several someones tried to do the same thing? You're trying to take something from column a and stuff it into hole B. You may need a hammer.

5. Did they really say that? Start with an actual quote, but push it beyond whatever the original person intended. Yes, they were being whimsical, metaphorical, or just ridiculous, but what if it was literally true? What if they really believed it?

Frank starts to wrap up by saying, "So there you have it. I feel sorry for you, but please don't breathe near me. I don't want to get it."

You can chuckle at least.

He points out that humor writing, funny writing, will always have a market. As long as there are (fill in the blank with whatever group or problem you don't like), "there will always be people who want to read funny stuff."

So, it's up to you. You may not want to write humor all the time, but a little bit of humor goes a long way. We all like to laugh, so go ahead and tell us about it. Give us a chuckle at least.

EXERCISE: What did they say? Casper, is that you?

[mbarker]

 Original Posting 6/24/2019

I was skimming along in Facebook, and happened to see an ad for a kickstarter with the slogan, "The perfect way to travel with spirits..." Unfortunately, I had just skimmed an article on mythology, so I immediately thought about the fun that might ensue if we actually had to travel ... by car, airplane, boat, train, take your pick... with spirits from the great beyond, mystical spirits, haunts and ghosts and bumps in the night. So...

Your job, should you choose to accept it, is to take one or more characters on a trip! You can choose the method of travel, the destination, the purpose, and so forth, but... you must include some spirits along the way! Personally, I think if the characters are taking their friendly ghost for a trip, or perhaps accidentally picked up a haunting spirit that insists on going with them for their vacation, or... but feel free to have your characters mix and match with the spirits that best complicate their travel tale.

All right? Get on your keyboards, get ready, and... GO!

TECH: Serial Success! (650 words)

[mbarker]

 Original Posting 6/28/2019

Writer's Digest, January 1992, pages 36-39, has a piece by John Morressy with the title, "Serial Success: It's as Easy as 1, 2, 3." The subtitle suggests, "Follow this series of tips to write successful series fiction by creating one book or story that will guarantee the sale of the next one - or the next 20."

He starts by telling his own story, about having an idea for a story in 1980. A light fantasy tale about a wizard who decides to outsmart the other wizards and alchemists by learning how to turn gold into lead. That story led to a number of other short stories and novels.

"That's more than I ever expected to write about them, but they've just kept giving me material - far more than I can ever use. That's one of the nice things about writing a series."

However, John points out that a series also has some practical problems. But don't worry, John's got suggestions about that, too. So let's get right to it...

First of all, every work of fiction has a past, a background history. And John's first suggestion is #1: Build on your story's past. Ask yourself questions, and then see where that leads you. Each new piece reveals more things, introduces new characters and incidents, and it just keeps going.

Incidentally, John doesn't recommend starting out with long, detailed plans. "There was no point in planning until I knew where I wanted to go, I didn't know where I was going until I was on my way." He suggests that a series doesn't grow like a Tinkertoy, it grows like a plant, with new pieces coming out in unpredictable places. "Elaborate planning is not only unnecessary, it's probably a waste of time."

However, #2: Don't trust to memory. Make notes! With a series, you've got lots of chances to make mistakes. Make those maps, floor plans, timelines. Research, make sure you have your facts lined up. Keep track of your characters, settings, all that stuff!

#3: Do not be stingy with ideas. "Ideas generate ideas in writing generates writing." Don't get stuck planning, write! Don't fret about planting things, just see what happens.

And, one that is peculiar to series, #4: Make every work in a series stand on its own. "A book or story in a series should not be like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, unintelligible out of context. It should be like a brick: solid and whole, but capable of being part of something larger." John points out that readers don't read a series, they read one book or story at a time! So that one book or story should make sense. Now, there may be a definite order to your series. Although some series just have a shared setting, or some other connection. Which brings us to the next suggestion.

#5: There is no single foolproof right and proper way to organize a series. There are numerous ways to tie things together. Sometimes a group of stories shares an inn, or a pub, but is otherwise told by several narrators. Or you may have a single setting in a common narrator. A recurring character. "How you choose to unify your tales is just that - your choice." Start writing. Don't get bogged down in long-term plans. Write that first book or story, then grow your series from that.

There you go, 1, 2, 3... One way to write a series!

As an exercise, you might take a story that you've already written, and think about what other stories might grow out of it. Is there a background story, is there a minor character that needs to tell their own story? Or is there a sequel just waiting to be told? Think about what other stories are just waiting for you to pay attention to them, and then start writing.