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Original Posting 3/22/2020

Just contemplating. One of the things that almost every book on writing, whether it's about setting, character, plot, or whatever, seems to do is lay out a list of questions. They may suggest you answer them before writing (plotters! And outliners!) or sometimes they just say you'll want to think about these as you're writing (aha! Painting... no, pantsing, that's it!). But they have a list of questions.Now, one clue to your own writing might be what questions you try to answer before or while writing? What are the questions that start the words flowing? Is it just "What is this guy (or gal) going to do when the skeleton jumps out of the garbage can in front of them?" (Which is probably kind of specific, but I could see someone asking themselves that as they write happily along). Or maybe it's just something like "What is the event that kicks off the second act?"Anyway, stop a moment and think about what the list of questions is that you use to kick your writing into gear. Do you use a checklist ahead of time, craft them as you go, maybe take a look at that old hero's journey during revision?What are the questions that you use to guide your writing?Go ahead, ask them!

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original Posting 29 October 2011

I know Nanowrimo actually doesn't start for a couple of days. Still, I think it's fair to do some preparation. For example, you may want to think about how you're going to do your writing. Personally, I set up a folder for Nanowrimo 2011. One thing that's in it is a spreadsheet. Yes, I know that Nanowrimo provides a tracking facility, so that you can put in your daily word count and see the graphs they make up. But... I find it worthwhile to keep my own. I've actually done it as a Google spreadsheet, so it's available to me anywhere there is a browser.

There's a public copy available over here if you'd like to get your own copy. I'm pretty sure it's set up to allow you to grab a copy -- let me know if it isn't?

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlXxRgbVerJHdDViM0psNkdzU2t5b3p6T2JoREdlb0E&hl=en_US

Depending on your writing style, you might want to do some thinking or even outlining. Think about questions like these:

1. Who hurts? This helps you figure out your characters.
2. What can go wrong? This helps you with plot.
3. Who's going to pay, and what will they pay? That's often the driver for the climax.

I actually got those from someone who suggested that was enough. Pretty clearly they're mostly going to write by the seat of their pants.

There is the old four points from the definition of a story:

1. A likable character
2. Overcomes Opposition and conflict
3. By his or her own efforts
4. To achieve a worthwhile goal

Pick a character, set them up with opposition and conflict, have them work to achieve a worthwhile goal. Simple, right?

I often use the 10 questions from Barry Longyear's Science Fiction Writer's Workshop 1. I group them this way:

Background

1. Where are we? (Setting)
2. Who is involved? (Characters, strengths, flaws)
3. Where are they headed? (Goals, motives)
4. What stops or blocks them? (Obstacles)
5. What are they going to do about it? (Plans to overcome problems)

Story

6. What hook(s) or bait for the reader will I use? (Where will it start) What story question do I pose for the reader?
7. What backfill is needed? (Background that needs to be filled in)
8. What build up do I want? (Scenes)
9. What is the climax?
- How does the character change? (Overcome weakness, etc.)
- How is the plot resolved? (Problems overcome and goals achieved)
- What answer does the reader get to the story question?

Higher level

10. What purpose, moral, or theme am I writing about?

Another useful list of points that I have used is:

1. What is the main character's self-concept?
2. What is a significant event that threatens that self-concept?
3. What is the moment of change to start with?
4. What intentions or goals does the character have?
5. What do they plan to do?
6. When, where, and how are you going to answer the story question?

I have to admit, I think that last one is interesting because they didn't mention the story question before that. I suppose in order to answer it, you have to figure out what is.

I've also got a little table, where I've put down various notes about the three act format. For example, act one usually starts with a hook, or inciting incident. Someone suggested that this needs to present the character, the problem, and the crucible -- why are they sticking around to face this problem? Sometimes this is one of the problems with bad horror -- someone or something is killing everyone around this lake. So why doesn't the hero just leave? The other end of act one is the first doorway of no return. This is where the hero makes the commitment to deal with the problem. Fairly often, before that they might turn away. But once they take this step...

Act two begins. Act II is conflicts and complications. Struggles, actions, worry and hope, and getting the hero locked in. The end of act two is the second doorway of no return. This is where the hero gets up, decides they're going to take one more swing at it, and frequently has realized what is going to take and decided to do it.

Act three is the climax. This is where we get our resolution. Everything gets tied up, and we see what it all means.

What about you? Do you have some idea who your characters are, what the main plot is all about, what the problem is? What about the general genre? Are you on your marks? Ready?

Current Mood: Reviewing

mbarker.livejournal.com

[I know, it's long, but... I thought you might want it for your Halloween writing pleasure! Don't forget, we've got a contest running! So you might just be in the mood to write a story -- and Blake has some advice about how to do that.]

Blake Snyder, in his book on screenwriting with the title "Save the Cat!" describes a process for writing that you might find useful. This is my summary. For more details, of course, read the book. I think you'll find it worthwhile.

1. What's it about? Summarize your story in one line. Blake suggests that great loglines -- one line summaries -- have four key qualities. They're ironic, meaning they hook your interest. They create a compelling mental picture. They tell you who the audience is. Finally, they have a killer title. That's right, a one line summary plus a killer title!

2. What genre is it? Audiences want the same thing only different. The way you do that is figure out what it's like. Now Blake doesn't recommend the standard genres -- romance, western, and so on. He's got 10 that he thinks covers things pretty well. You're welcome to come up with your own, or use his.

1. Monster in the house: a confined space, somebody did something wrong, and there is a monster loose!
2. Golden fleece: the quest! A hero, their search, and their internal growth.
3. Out of the bottle: a wish fulfilled, and then...
4. Dude with a problem: an ordinary guy in extraordinary circumstances.
5. Rites of passage: growing up and other crises at any age
6. Buddy love: the odd couple learns to like it (romance fits in here!)
7. Whydunit: crime and digging into the hidden side of ourselves
8. Fool Triumphant: the underdog beats the institution
9. Institutionalized: the group versus the individual
10. Superhero: the extraordinary person in an ordinary world

3. Who is the main character? What is their primal goal? Who's the bad guy? What do they want? Use adjectives to let us know who these people are.

4. Fill out the beats. Blake uses 15 steps as the structure. I know, I know, that's so mechanical. But you can always start with these 15 points and then change it to suit yourself. Again, you'll need to read the book to get the details, but here's a short list:

1. Opening Image: the starting point
2. Theme Stated: someone poses a question or makes a statement that is the theme.
3. Set up: introduce the main characters, show what's missing, get ready
4. Catalyst: the life-changing event that makes things happen
5. Debate: the hero waffles. Do I really want to do this? Ask a question.
6. Break into two: the hero takes the step across the threshold
7. B Story: the love story, the other line.
8. Fun and games: the good stuff. Show off the idea and enjoy it.
9. Midpoint: up or down, the hero is at an extreme. Raise the stakes, and get set for all is lost a.k.a. false defeat.
10. Bad guys close in: the bad guys start to win.
11. All is lost: opposite of the midpoint, false defeat, everything has gone wrong. Often with a whiff of death, even in comedies.
12. Dark night of the soul. The main character really struggles.
13. Break into three: but maybe... The B story, the hero thinking it through, there is a solution.
14. Finale. The hero triumphs, the bad guys lose, and the world is changed.
15. Final image: usually the opposite of the opening image, shows that things have changed.

5. If that's too complicated, try this one. Blake suggests using a cork board and cards. 4 rows -- act one, act two, act two, and act three. Yes, act two gets split into two pieces, before the midpoint and after the midpoint. And there are five key parts -- the opening set piece, the break into two, the midpoint, the all is lost point near the end of the second act two, and the break into three. Aside from that, you can put about 10 cards on a row, 40 cards altogether. That's for a two-hour movie. Obviously, for short stories, multivolume epics, and other variations, you might have fewer or more cards.

Oh, and on each card besides a short description of the scene, you need two notations. One is the +/- notation. This is the emotional change in a character that happens in this scene. Second is the >< notation which is where you indicate the core conflict of this scene -- how are two people butting heads in this scene.

6. With those five, you're ready to write. So go ahead and write it out. Now in Blake's chapter 6, he suggests some helpful rules to consider:

1. Save the Cat: early in your story, have the hero do something so that the audience likes him and wants him to win.
2. The pope in the pool: exposition, infodumps, backstory are boring, so bury them in something funny or exciting.
3. Double mumbo-jumbo: audiences only accept one piece of magic. One incredible coincidence. Two times is too much.
4. Don't lay too much pipe: too much set up before you turn on the water
5. too much marzipan: too many great ideas spoil the broth
6. watch out for that glacier: slow danger is
7. covenant of the arc: every character must change
8. keep the press out: keep it cozy, not a worldwide mess

7. Last, but not least, revise your draft. Take a look at these questions

1. Does my hero lead? Strong goal stated, works to get information, active, tells people what to do?
2. Do I "talk the plot" or do the actors do things?
3. Is the bad guy bad enough? Does he challenge the hero?
4. Turn, turn, turn -- do things go faster and more intense as we move along? Are there more and more revelations, changes, and twists?
5. Emotional rainbow: mix it up!
6. Do you have flat dialogue? Take the names off and see if you can tell who's talking.
7. Take a step back: does the hero grow? Start far enough back to let the hero change.
8. A limp and an eye patch: even minor characters should be memorable. Speech, look, manner -- make them stand out.
9. Primal urges. Do your characters act out of primal, basic desires? Love, survival, protecting family, revenge?

That's it. Simple, right?

Now sit down and start writing.

Current Mood: furry

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 13 Nov 2010

Oh, drat. Over here http://community.livejournal.com/writercises/144276.html the aged nano notes are all about giving your characters some complications with health -- like coughing, sneezing, and all that. I finally gave in this morning, since we were joining friends for lunch, and dosed myself with my favorite allergy nostrum. Dried things up, but of course I've also got ringing ears, and will probably fall over later. Anyway... I don't particularly want to think about coughs and colds and other health issues (or are those unhealthy issues?). So let's just toss that tissue (we don't call them by trademarked names, right?) into the trashcan and move along.

One of the things I've particularly noticed during this round of nanowrimowing is my own need for at least a minimum bit of organizing, of scribbling and thinking through some frameworking before or during the writing. I tend to use bullet lists, especially for non-fiction writing -- just lists of points, often in short phrases, sometimes in questions. Scribble down the three or four points, arrange or rearrange quickly, then sit down and expand them out. And sometimes I do hand-written notes, which I find makes the dictation much smoother. If I sit down without anything, well, I kind of end up making lists on screen, which is okay, but somehow hand-written ones are better for me. I feel more productive if I scribble the notes on paper, then dictate -- and tearing up and tossing the notes is a nice feeling.

Which brings me back to my favorite checklists and such. I hadn't really used them to prepare, and I'm thinking that was a mistake. Now I'm going back and filling in... oh, some background and such... that I might have been reminded to think through if I had used my little checklists. Might not, and indeed, the rush of nanowrimo helps focus my attention on what I really need at this point to write the next chunk, instead of letting me get lost in worldbuilding and other delights of non-productive diddling. But still, I think there's a little balance needed, perhaps thinking through the checklists briefly while preparing, then doing some freewriting (a la nanowrimo) to expand and explore, then go back to the checklists sometimes to see how we're doing on figuring it all out?

While I'm wondering around (isn't it nice how that word and wandering can overlay?), take a listen over here (it's a podcast) http://www.writingexcuses.com/2010/11/07/writing-excuses-5-10-john-brown-and-the-creative-process/ where they talk about getting ideas. John Brown talks about creativity as a process, finding a problem, asking questions, and answering them. And, of course, the questions in the writing process turn around issues such as characters, setting, problem, and plot. Find something around you that excites you, then start asking questions about how to frame that with characters, setting, a problem for the characters, and a plot for them to try to resolve it. And John talks about using lists, writing down multiple possibilities, multiple solutions, until you've got a couple that sound good -- and then exploring those in writing. Fun stuff! And again, there's that notion that you need some thinking time, perhaps organizing it in lists, notes, and so forth, in between the wordmill time. But I have to admit, I think part of the lesson of nanowrimo is that doing it a little bit at a time, as you need it, may be a better way than spending a lot of time trying to figure it out ahead of time. You just don't know what you need until you try a bit, so more of an on-the-fly approach works well.

Last, but definitely not least, over here http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2010/11/brain-rewards.html there's some discussion about the idea that we prefer feeling certain -- our brain rewards us for being convinced that we're right. If so, this helps to explain confirmation bias (we look for evidence that matches our beliefs, and discount, avoid, and ignore evidence that doesn't fit). Which kind of makes that notion of pushing for a quota of ideas really important. Heck, even the idea of looking for at least a couple of good answers, not stopping with the first thing that you think of, starts to look like a good way to fight our own inherent bias to stop and ignore any other possibilities.

Well, that's enough mumbling for today. Back to the wordmill!

Write!

Current Mood: subdivided

mbarker.livejournal.com

Originally posted 29 Oct 2010

Let's see. We're coming into the final warmup before November 1 (which is when it all starts). And it's time to take a deep breath and think about where you're going before you start the run. Personally, I think Anthony had the right of it -- do it for fun! 2,000 words (roughly) a day, for 30 days? Come on, that's about what a lot of people do on a regular basis just for blog posts, email slips of the Freudian type, and so forth. All you need to do is put it in a file and push it through the counter at nanowrimo, instead of letting all those bits and pieces slip past without noticing them!

But if you really want to tackle a novel, go for it. Personally, I think having some plans helps, even if you draw them up this weekend. Here, let's take a look at some questions...

First, what do you want to write? What kind of story, what attracts your attention? Put down some kind of idea.

Now, consider.

1. Who gets hurt by this? That should help you figure out characters.
2. What can go wrong? There you go, that's a plot!
3. What larger issue is at stake? There's a theme lurking in there.
4. Who pays for this? What do they pay? That's a part of your climax.

Might as well consider the big three acts and the doorways that link them.

1. What's the inciting incident? This is where your story starts.
2. What's the first doorway/ This is where the hero chooses to go on, to take on the quest, to fight, or whatever.
3. What are the conflicts and complications you are going to use to fill the middle?
4. What's the second doorway? What is the choice that really puts the hero to the test?
5. What's the climax?

I always like to reflect on Marion ZImmer Bradley's definition of a "short" story. Simple, really. "A likable character overcomes almost insuperable odds by his or her own efforts achieving a worthwhile goal." from http://www.mzbworks.com/what.htm So we need four parts.

1. A likable, interesting character
2. Significant opposition (CONFLICT!)
3. His or her own efforts
4. A worthwhile goal

Feel free to beat around the life events. 10 stresses? Losing job, death, marriage, illness, accident, leaving home, graduation, retirement, changing jobs, changing homes? Or what about this list (I got to playing with grouping things):

1. Job changes: start job, change job, lose job, retirement (and lots of smaller changes)
2. Health changes: growing up, illness, accident, disability, death
3. Home changes: change location, change people, lose home, leave home
4. School changes: start school, grade changes, flunk out, graduation
5. Family changes: proposal, marriage, divorce, birth

Hah! A kickoff list...

1. What is the main character's self-concept?
2. What is a significant event that threatens that self-concept?
3. What is the moment of change to start with?
4. What are the character's intentions and goal to fix the threat?
5. What is the plan of action?
6. When, where, and how are you going to answer the story question?

Drat. Where's my handy-dandy list of 10 questions? Wait, I've got it over here somewhere.

Background

1. Where are we? (setting)
2. Who is involved? (characters, strengths, flaws)
3. Where are they headed? (goals, motives)
4. What stops or blocks them? (obstacle(s))
5. What are they going to do about it? (plans to overcome problems)

Story

6. What hook(s) or bait for the reader will I use? (where start)
What story question do I pose for the reader?
7. What backfill is needed? (background that needs to be filled in)
8. What buildup do I want? (scenes)
9. What is the climax?
- how does the character change? (overcome weakness, etc.)
- how is the plot resolved? (overcome problems and achieve goals)
- What answer does the reader get to the story question?

Higher Level

10. What purpose, moral, or theme am I writing about?

Those came from Barry Longyear's Science Fiction Writer's Workshop 1, but I think they work pretty well for any genre.

Too many questions? You just want to get in there and write? Okay. But... just in case...

What about plot, outline, characters, all that stuff? Well, if you have it, it probably helps, but don't despair if you don't. Here's a thought -- take a look at the news or candid camera or whatever source of unusual scenes you like. Put some characters in that scene and write it up. Now, back up -- how did they get into that fix? Write up a couple of scenes to get them into that pickle. And let it roll on. Now that Henry has been pried out of the car that got smashed into the guardrail over the bridge, what happens next? Tell us about the scene where his friend turns up at the hospital and asks what happened to his car. Tell us about going to work and being asked about those strange bruises.

I think that's probably one of the best ways to tackle Nanowrimo if you don't have a plan. Write candy bar scenes -- the fun ones, with the characters breaking into the house, having a fight, blowing up the bank, getting married, running the car over the edge of the cliff and into the river, or whatever. Then think about what must have led up to the scene, and write up some of those. And think about what happens after that, and write up some of those.

Don't fret too much if the scenes don't all tie together, or there are inconsistencies. Nanowrimo is all about getting words out there, getting the rough drafts started and letting that momentum build. Later (like January or February) you can go back and straighten things out, rewrite the scenes and smooth it all out. Right now, just keep making rough drafts, tossing those scenes out.

Heck, write the same scene from each character's point of view, just to see what it looks like from over there!

Or if you want, take a character. Let him or her or it talk for a while. Where did they go to school? What was their graduation like? How about home life? Work? Play? Run through those kinds of dialogues, those kinds of scenes. Show us a day in their life, or maybe a trip to the zoo, or whatever. Just put the person (and friends, enemies, etc.) in various places, and play! Somewhere along the way, you'll probably find something that you want to explore more. What about their love life? How do they deal with loss, with opposition, with competition, and so forth?

So, are you ready?

WRITE!

(1,100 words? Eep! Gotta get those words out!)

Current Mood: reruns

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original Posting 23 August 2010

Writers Digest, December 2007, pages 77 and 78, has some notes on short stories. There's several different pieces, by Simon Wood.

It starts with a two paragraph description under the title, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff." This points out that short stories are hard. They're concentrated, streamlined, storytelling. You have to focus on key elements, without wasting words.

So how do you write a better short story? Simon Wood offers six points:

1. Get to the point. Begin with a crisis or conflict, weave backstory in and keep going. In novels, by the end of Chapter 1, you've established the story's conflict. In short stories, you need to do that by the end of the first page. Action, dialogue, provocative statements by characters... get to the point.

2. Scope. Short stories are limited in size. Think of a play -- limit the set changes, and the characters. Short stories are intimate snapshots of a handful of key characters.

3. Think small. Not in terms of theme or complexity, but in execution. You can have big conflicts, but the resolution needs to be fast.

4. Short stories need beginnings, middles, and ends. They may be snapshots, but they need to start with a conflict and end with a resolution. You need a series of actions that the characters take to get to the resolution. Take readers on a journey with a destination. Conflict, obstacles, and resolution -- make sure they're all there.

5. Too much information. Short stories don't need long character histories. Keep the story moving. Snappy descriptions, simple yet elegant sentences. Hint, don't go into details.

6. Show, don't tell. Actions -- characters doing things -- show the readers everything they want to know.

And Simon Wood provides a questionnaire that can help guide your short story.

1. When is the story's conflict introduced? (On the first page?)
2. What action starts the story's conflict? (Dialogue or physical action)
3. How many major characters are in the story?
4. What are the pivotal plot developments for the beginning, middle, and end?
5. Does each sentence push the story forward or show readers something about the characters? (If not, delete it)
6. Does each word move the story forward? (If not, get rid ot it)
7. Is the story focused or are there irrelevancies and redundancies in characters or plot?
8. Are descriptions simple, but effective? (Do they make people and places seem vivid without a lot of words?)
9. Is the dialogue tight, and sound genuine? (Read it aloud)
10. Do we see how the characters act?
11. Is the story's conflict resolved?

There's even an exercise. Pretty straightforward -- first try using the questionnaire on a short story of your own. Are there things you can improve? Next, take a favorite story written by someone else and try out the questionnaire again.

Write?

Current Mood: soggy

mbarker.livejournal.com

Writer's Digest, December 2006, pages 46 to 49, has an article with the title, "All Mapped Out" by Daniel Steven. Basically, this is another look at outlining, especially for those who really don't want to do those old English class outlines.

Let's take a look. Daniel points out that "outlining allows you to think creatively about plot and plot lines, while freeing you from wasted effort, backtracking, and rewriting." He also points out that mystery, thriller, and suspense stories depend on twists and turns that are easier to keep straight with an outline. Finally, the point isn't to make a Roman numeral monstrosity of a hierarchy. Instead, use a simple template focusing on your concepts, characters, and plot points, and let it evolve as you work on your story. So here's the steps that Daniel suggests:

1. Develop and refine your concept. You need to be able to summarize the plot in a sentence or two. It should be original, imaginative, and have an interesting character in trouble. Start by sketching that out.

2. Develop your characters. How many characters do you need, what are their roles, and who are they? A lot of people use character sheets. The key is what's important background for this character -- education, family, experiences, appearance, problems, strengths, weaknesses. While you're at it, pick the viewpoint character or characters. Decide on first or third person, and present or past tense.

3. Develop plot points. What are the major events and conflicts in your story? What are the pivots -- the scenes where the direction of the novel changes. Short novels probably have about six plot points, longer novels might have up to 15. Plot points, pivots, and the grand climax. Make a simple chart of these.

4. Make your outline. Daniel suggests a four column table. Each row is one scene -- a setting and a time. Column 1 is the scene number. Daniel puts checkboxes in here, so that you can check things off as you go along. Column 2 is chapter number, filled in later when you're assigning scenes to chapters. Column 3 is the point of view and plot line for each scene. Who is the viewpoint character, and is this part of the main plot or a subplot? Column 4 is going to be the scene description. Leave it empty for now.

5. Develop and expand the outline. Now fill in the outline, putting scene after scene into the fourth column. Just a brief summary, phrase, sentence, but no more than a paragraph. If you're not sure -- skip it, or put a placeholder. Fill in as much as you can. Don't worry if you can't fill in the whole thing.

Your choice -- you can start writing with a partial outline, or you can try to fill in more of the outline before you start writing scenes. And then as you write, feel free to modify.

When the outline is starting to feel pretty final, that's when you group the scenes into chapters and fill in the second column.

Incidentally, by adding transitions between scenes and chapters in the outline, you've got a pretty good synopsis.

If you want to practice this, take your current work in progress, a favorite story, or maybe something coming up -- are you planning to do Nanowrimo? Whatever, go ahead and try it out. What's the concept, who are the characters, what's the high-level plot? Then sit down and work out the scene-by-scene details. After that, of course, you've still got writing to do :-)

Current Mood: splotch

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 28 July 2010

Huh...

The Subject line in the mail said: "Top 10 Pitfalls Writers Should Avoid."

The article, over here, http://writersdigest.com/article/productivity-pro has the subject "Top 10 Productivity Pitfalls for Writers to Avoid." An extra word "productivity" and a bit of grammatical tinkering, I guess?

Just for fun, here are Sage Cohen's pitfalls (note that his text seems to say this is his personal list, and the focus is on making good use of time. aka commentary is from tink...).

Unclear big-picture vision. aka know where you are going!
Lack of short-term goals. aka set intermediate milestones.
Fear. aka To grow, you have to take risks and sometimes fail. Fear can keep us from taking that leap into the unknown.
Trying to force productivity. aka learn to do it your way, at your own pace and time.
Shabby systems. aka get organized!
lack of awareness of time. aka keep track, so that you know what you've done.
Transition turbulence. aka beware of getting lost in interruptions and shifts.
Perfectionism. aka waiting for perfection means never finishing. aim for professionalism -- do your best, learn as you go, and use mistakes and failures to push you on.
Isolation. aka social, professional, community support can encourage, guide, and bring openings your way!
Negativity. Pessimism is easy. Pay attention to what worked, and appreciate the good in each moment.

Y'a know, I think the best way to use this article is as a prod to make your own list of best 10. What problems do you face? Or what practices do you want to make sure you use? What kind of best 10 list do you want to make -- and hang over your workplace?

Go ahead, feel free to make your own!
Write.

Current Mood: deadfall?

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original Posting 20 May 2010

A.k.a. where to put the background

Writer's Digest, February 2007, pages 91 and 92 have an article by James Scott Bell with the title, "The Basics of Backstory." The sidebar is by Nancy Kress and provides a worksheet to help you build the backstory. Let's take a look at what they have to say.

James Scott Bell starts out with the story of a screenwriter pitching his action opening to a producer. "The young scribe goes on and on about the chase, the shots, and the car going over a cliff and exploding at the bottom of the gorge. The producer sits back, puffs on his cigar in a bored manner and says, 'But who's in the car?' ... This opening had too much plot and not enough story -- backstory."

So what is backstory? It's the stuff, the events that take place before the main narrative, the current story. And it needs to be carefully considered -- too much of it can bog down the story, but too little makes it hard to understand who the people are and why they are in the middle of all this. You need to balance between starting with action and providing essential backstory.

Too much background. Many pieces in the slush have a little bit of action, followed by page after page of backstory, whether it's in infodumps or flashbacks or reflections by the main character. And sometime after that the story returns, but most of the readers have left. All that backstory killed the main story instead of building interest.

James Scott Bell recommends opening chapters by leading off with characters in motion. People involved in the present. You need some interesting, troubling circumstances and readers will follow right along, waiting for fuller explanations. Along the way, you can drop in some backstory elements. Small bits and pieces, not whole pages!

You can do a bit of deeper backstory. Start with a character in action, then give us a more extensive piece of backstory. Make sure it's essential, and that it makes us as a reader more involved with the character and the action. Keep it focused and sharp.

The key here is balance. The reader wants to know what's going on, but they don't want to be buried in history.

OK? The worksheet by Nancy Kress, looks at what happened before the story opened. Here are the questions:

1. What's the conflict in my story?
2. When did it start, and with whom?
3. Will my story consider one of these forces to be innocent victims and one morally guilty?
4. What major events occur in this conflict before it begins to affect my protagonist?
5. Who are the major players in this backstory, and what's the motivation of each?
6. When will my protagonist first become aware of this problem or conflict?
7. When will he first began to suffer from it personally?
8. How will my protagonist become aware of it? If the answer is, "Someone tells him," can I think of a more dynamic way to show my protagonist being affected?
9. When will the reader become aware of the conflict or problem?

It seems simple, but taking a few minutes to think about what happened before the story began and how the protagonist and the reader are going to find out about it can help smooth out the story. You need to weave the backstory into your story, to give it depth and motivation and drive. At the same time, you want to make it invisible, not huge chunks of backstory that crop out and block the reader.

So write!

Current Mood: simple simon

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original Posting March 16 2010

Writer's Digest, May 2006, page 41 has a sidebar suggesting that we think about some of these questions concerning the ancestors and descendents who influenced the life and motivations of your characters. Feel free to expand on these with your own ideas.

Extended Family

who was your characters' most eccentric relative?
which aunt or uncle is the one every cousin avoids? (tink wonders -- why?)
what heirlooms have been passed down?
who's the most famous family member?
who's the black sheep?

Beyond the nuclear family, there's all those fringes. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, who knows how they're related people? And the stories about them, who stands out, who should be standing outside, who got great grandma's sugar bowl? All that stuff...

Current Mood: tracking

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 28 February 2010

Writer's Digest, May 2006, page 41 has a sidebar suggesting that we think about some of these questions concerning the ancestors and descendents who influenced the life and motivations of your characters. Feel free to expand on these with your own ideas.

Military Service

during World War II, did any women in the family go out into the workforce for the first time? How did that affect their families?
did anyone find a way to avoid service -- dodging the draft or pledging conscientious objection?
was there a family member who never made it back from the war? What were the circumstances?
where any of the women of the family war brides and, if so, how did the groom's family greet them?
did your character's family have any ties to the enemy?

Feel free to modify this for the appropriate wars and so forth that fit your story. For example, these questions seem focused around World War II, but perhaps you would prefer to use more contemporary wars? Vietnam, the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, or pick your war. The Falklands?

Current Mood: tick tock

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 24 February 2010

Writer's Digest, May 2006, page 41 has a sidebar suggesting that we think about some of these questions concerning the ancestors and descendants who influenced the life and motivations of your characters. Feel free to expand on these with your own ideas.

At Home

was there equality between the mother and father, or was there a definite head of the household?
were children expected to follow in the family occupation -- farmers, doctors, police officers, bankers?
what was the role of education in family? Were children expected to go to college?
what were the favorite family activities -- sailing, hunting, playing basketball in the driveway?
were there any divorces, resulting in stepparents and stepchildren?

Just what kind of a household did your characters come from? How does that influence them? Incidentally, those of you who are doing science fiction and fantasy or historical works may want to consider what changes in the background of your world.

What was their home life like? What do they expect or want because of it?

I have to admit, I find the questions kind of interesting in their assumptions. E.g., we're talking nuclear family, just mom, pop, and the kids...not an extended family, as was common in many regions. Family occupation? I guess Dad did the same thing all his life? Education, with the question about going to college -- some parts of the world, high school is unusual? Family activities... And apparently if you divorce, you remarry. None of those single parents, or other arrangements. And no orphans, abandoned children, and all that stuff.

Anyway, somewhere to start thinking about your characters...

Current Mood: Expansive

mbarker.livejournal.com

original posting 8 January 2010

Writers Digest, October 2007, pages 79-80, have an excerpt from What Would Your Character Do? by Eric Maisel and Ann Maisel, along with a short sidebar about choosing your character's career by Nancy Kress. The main article suggests that you create a character notebook, with your notes organized around 12 categories. I prefer to think of them as questions that you might want to use to provoke thinking about your character. In any case, here are the 12 categories:

Basic Headline. This is a one line, short summation that says how this character is likely to react. Edith Bunker in All in the Family "would react as Jesus Christ might have reacted." Is there a principle, a core that defines this character?
Basic history. Everyone has a history, extended family, social cultural and religious roots, family myths and secrets, family rules and customs, pivotal childhood and adolescent events, etc. You don't need to sketch out their entire history at first, but keep track of these as you work. What's behind them?
Archetypal, categorical, or stereotypical resonance. Archetypes like Aphrodite, Hercules, or whatever? Categorical roles -- the beat cop, the sniveling clerk, etc.? How about a stereotype like the best friend, Watson, or other? Identifying those resonances lets you add features and behaviors aligned with or opposed to the base. Who or what is this character like?
Actions and reactions. Every scene, you see the character acting and reacting. Put notes on circumstances or triggers, and how the character acts/reacts to them. What makes them jump, and what's the character do?
Moral Valence. In the crucible of your story, what is the core of this character? Good-bad, trustworthy-or-not, sober-impulsive, principled-a rat, kind-cruel? Are they light or dark? Is this character a hero or a villian?
Dreams and ambitions. What do they wish for, what do they want, where would they like to go?
Inner life. Each character has a rich internal life, which may or may not be explicit, depending on the pov and such. But you can still record what the character is thinking, hoping, intending. What is this character thinking? What is the internal monologue going on? Is the character an optimist or pessimist? In each scene, imagine what the character is thinking as they act/react. What's the character thinking?
Shadow sides and difficulties in living. Everyone has flaws, angry moments, and irritations. What are the difficulties that this character has with life?
Consequences of upbringing. In real life, we may never know how upbringing ties to behavior, attitudes, beliefs, and actions. But in fiction, ah, you are the boss, and you can choose to connect the dots for the reader. So, what difficulties of growing up are linked to problems and actions of today? Was it really father's criticism that led to our hero's fits of rage today? What seeds of today's life were planted in this character while growing up?
Power, sexual potency, and alphaness. Characters tend to be considered powerful, sexy, leaders or not. Keep track of the alpha drive of your character.
Cultural component. "Each character is a representative of culture." Lots of niches, of course, from the political party to the music that the character listens to. Food, entertainment, and so forth help define who a person is in a culture -- and who a character is. So, how does this character relate to their society and culture?
Meaning web, beliefs, opinions. How does your character see the world around them and make sense out of it?

The key, of course, is figuring out who this character is in your story, and how they will act. What makes them act like that? Who is this person, and how can you show that to the reader?

And the sidebar -- choosing a career for your character. Most people have to make a living somehow. Even when it doesn't come up in the story, knowing what your character does can help understand them. So, when you are choosing a career for your character, think about:

What aspects of their personality does the job demonstrate? Sure, some of the reaction will be stereotypes, but scientist, janitor, doctor, actor, etc. are expected to think and act differently.
Deepen characterization by showing how the person feels about their job and how well they do it.
Think about how the job links to plot. Perhaps the job put the character in the right place and time to observe critical events? Or, problems with the job drive the plot? And, of course, the job situations can help or hinder other plot problems.
Use occupations that you understand or want to learn about. Details from experience or research can make the job, and the person, come to life.

So -- characters need to be more than just cardboard cutouts.
Write?

Current Mood: resonating

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original Posting 31 Dec 2009

Writers Digest, February 2008, pages 79 to 80 has an article by Steve Almond with the title, "Master Your Metaphors." Steve doesn't seem to like metaphors very much, so let's look at what he's got to say.

He starts out by defining metaphors -- direct comparison of two seemingly unrelated subjects. Not to be confused with simile, which makes the comparison explicit by adding in "like" or "as."

The reason for using metaphors is to make the prose more vivid. It's a tool. Unfortunately, Steve points out, metaphors often are assertions of the author's talents, instead of ways to immerse us in the characters' world. They're distractions more often than aids.

Realistic short stories need simple, concrete physical details -- not metaphoric overloads. An untucked shirt might well be a metaphor -- or at least a clue -- to the mental state of the character, but it seems too mundane. So writers toss in storm-tossed feelings, train wrecks of emotions, and jungles of misunderstandings... and readers can't see the characters for the metaphoric mess.

Steve's other objection to metaphors is that they distract readers from verbs. Too often, they are added around perfectly well-chosen verbs, and the reader gets lost in the metaphors (again!). Cut the metaphors, and let the verbs stand on their own. Make the reader focus on the action, not the writer's fancy metaphorical comparison for the action. The right verbs don't need the extra words.

Finally, Steve recommends that if you want to use a metaphor, be precise. Yes, metaphors are figurative. But you still need to make them accurate. Check your metaphors against this list:

What work is this comparison doing?
Is it essential to the story or optional?
Does directing readers away from literal truth point them towards deeper truths?

And Steve provides three exercises! Yeah...

1. Consider the physical and emotional connotations of comparing your protagonist to:

a hummingbird
a walrus
a leopard
a dung beetle

2. Their bodies met like a _______ and a _______. Consider what the right comparison might be based on the following settings:

a funeral
a bordello
a battlefield
a family reunion
a space station

3. Take a look at your most recent story or chapter. Underline every single metaphor or simile. Force yourself to articulate what essential work each is doing on behalf of your fictional world. Now cross them out, one by one. What have you lost? What have you gained?

Metaphors and similes. They're a part of our language, and we often use them without really thinking it through. And like most cliches (notice the simile there?), they can drag our writing into the dirt (metaphorically, of course). So we need to pay attention to them, and choose carefully when to use these tools of the writer.

Write?

Current Mood: storm-tossed

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 18 Nov 2009

Writer's Digest, March 2004, page 42 to 49, has a bonus section with the title, "Novel Writing Boot Camp," by Bob Mayer. I'm probably not going to summarize all of the bits and pieces, but let's pick out some of the odds and ends.

Another sidebar on page 46 talks about Building Your Character's Personality. Bob suggests that when you're trying to understand your character, you can sit down with a pen and paper and answer these questions:

What does your character look like? How does she talk? How does she act? Any mannerisms?
What's her background? Where was she born? What were her parents like? How was she raised? Where did she go to school? What level of education?
What's her job like? What special skills does her job require, and how will they affect her role in the story? What are her hobbies and talents?
Who's in her family? Does she have a husband? How's their relationship? Does she have children? If not, why not?
Where's she from? Did she grow up in a city? On a farm?

That's the list. Obviously, you may need to adjust things depending on gender, age, culture, etc. but that's the general idea. What does this person look like? Some people find it useful to go through magazines or other sources and pick out pictures. Then think about background -- where are they from and how did they grow up? How do they make a living -- jobs are a huge part of everyone's lives? Family or friends -- who are the people around this character? And last, what's the society or culture that this character came from? New York City, a farm in the mountains of Kansas, or a yurt on the plains of Mongolia -- or even an orbiting habitat around Circes 4? -- are going to give you different kinds of characters.

As for how much you need to do before starting to write or during writing -- it's really up to you. Some people feel more comfortable with extensive character sheets and biography notes before they start writing. Other people invent their characters as they write, perhaps making the notes as they go or even going back and revising to deal with the fact that her hair changed color in every scene. Whatever works for you.

Current Mood: speckled

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 13 August 2009

[psst? Working on those contest stories? a quest, a quest, my kingdom for a ...]

Over on her blog, Jacqueline Lichtenberg takes a strong stance about scenes. Basically, she considers scenes to be the fundamental building block for writing. And while she admits that they may be hard to see in polished professional work, she recommends working on making building blocks and then learning how to mesh them into a larger story.

She identifies six key characteristics of scenes. Let's take a look at her six fundamentals.

Beginning, middle, end. Start with a narrative hook, at the midpoint raise the stakes and have something change, and end with a cliffhanger/setup/foreshadowing of the next scene. Drag the reader into the scene, make something happen, and link to the next scene.
Every scene needs to provide character arc. Emotional tension needs to rise or fall in the scene. Change is caused by conflict, as we move towards resolution.
Every scene advances the plot. There must be at least one plot moving event in the scene. (Elsewhere Jacqueline says that plot is the sequence of events)
Every scene needs to advance the story. Something needs to change in how the main character sees things. An event, learning, dialogue, figure it out -- somehow the character sees the world differently. (Elsewhere Jacqueline says that story is how the character interprets events -- what they mean to the character.)
Every scene needs conflict and resolution. There's a chain: hook->conflict->resolution->handoff (cliffhanger with implied action/tension).

Okay? She points out that the purpose of the scene is four-fold. First, to grab attention. That's the job of the first characteristic. Second, to hold attention. That's what the character arc does for us. Third, to deliver a message. This is done by a combination of the plot moving event (3) and its meaning or story (4). Fourth, to make the reader want more. That's what the fifth characteristic, especially the cliffhanger at the end does for us. A little reward -- the resolution -- and a tease to keep us coming back.

The sixth characteristic is probably the hardest to swallow. Basically, scenes are a standard length in most genres. According to Jacqueline, this works out to be 750 words -- or about three minutes of reading. Longer scenes are possible, but they run into readers and publishers who like them short. This size is based on the market, and Jacqueline suggests it may be shrinking.

It's kind of an interesting notion. The concrete blocks of writing... one scene at a time. Stack them up, clunk, clunk, clunk...and there's a wall!

What do you think? Are those basic characteristics of every scene? What about that length notion? Hum?

I have to admit, I haven't read any of this author's writing -- I just saw these blog postings listed somewhere and took a look at them. Alien romances? Science fiction romance, futuristic or paranormal romances?

Jacqueline Lichtenberg

6 Tricks of Scene Structure
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2009/07/6-tricks-of-scene-structure.html

6 Tricks of Scene Structure - Part 2
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2009/07/6-tricks-of-scene-structure-part-2.html

Current Mood: sprigs

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original Posting 6 August 2009

Writer's Digest, February 2008, pages 46, 48, 49, have an article by Jordan E. Rosenfeld with the title, "Novel Revision for the Faint of Heart." Jordan lays out 10 steps to relatively pain-free rewriting. Yes, revision can be your friend!

1. Let your work breathe. Before you start revising, set your novel aside. Take some time off. Go ahead and think about how you would like your novel to change, just don't dive right into the details. Step back, take a deep breath, and think about what's important to you about your novel.

2. Deep cleaning. There's a temptation to try to do things with little fixes -- add a little bit of backstory in dialogue, maybe a bit of language tuning here and there, tack in a little explanation, and other superficial changes -- instead of really delving into the restructuring, a real flashback scene, and cutting that may be necessary. You don't have to do everything at once, but take a look. If you need to do major surgery, don't put it off.

3. Take inventory. Sometimes it's hard to see the forest for the trees -- even if it is a cliche. You've written a lot of details, and now you need to know the key points for consistency. You may have made notes while you are writing, but you will need to check them and make sure that you are consistent. Focus on the big critical pieces of information and important characters. Go through each chapter and list the key points. Watch out for inconsistencies.

4. Seek high voltage. As you're re-reading, you'll find passages that are really good. "They sparkle with life, clear writing or lyrical beauty. They make you feel excited, glad or hopeful that you actually wrote them." Highlight those passages. Pay attention to why they work, and try to bring everything up to that level.

5. Purge. A big part of revision is helping to get rid of the clutter. Identify and then reshape or junk

adverbs and similes that are over the top
overt explanations, infodumps, and other descriptive backstory
scenes that don't contribute anything new for plot or character
melodrama!
verbal diarrhea

Just the story.

6. Point of view. Doublecheck the point of view. First person, third person, omniscient? What's the best for each and every scene?

7. Make a plot promise. You promise your readers that you are going to take them somewhere meaningful and lead them carefully. There will be some surprises, but no deliberate misleading. To do that, you need to make sure the plot is solid and that everything contributes to it. Funny scenes, beautiful scenes, but not part of this plot? Kill them. Tie up the plot points, make sure major characters' storylines are resolved, and fill in any plot holes.

8. Deepen your characters. Check for flat characters. Anybody lurking under a simple label? Do all the major and most of the secondary characters have layers, flaws, seem like someone who could walk around the corner and shake your hand tomorrow? Make sure that everyone is a real character.

9. Write scenes. Check for narrative summaries. Replace them with scenes. Remember, you want your reader to experience your story, not just listen to you lecturing. So put in the action, setting, dialogue, plot information, and physical movements that bring your story to life.

10. Be concrete. Floating heads talking against an indistinct setting? Bring in the details. Put your story in a specific place, with specific characters. Vagueness, abstraction, ambiguity -- stick their feet in a bucket and pour in the concrete. Bring them down to earth.

Key point: set up a plan and do your revision an aspect at a time. Trying to fix everything all at once is guaranteed to be overwhelming. So fix one kind of thing at a time.

And remember, you don't have to make it perfect. You just have to make it good.

Current Mood: checkered

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 25 July 2009

Writer's Digest, August 2006, pages 46-47 and 104-105, have an article by Jerry B. Jenkins with the title Beyond Basic Blunders. Jenkins admits that we all make these errors, but we can learn to recognize and avoid them. So here they are.

1. Morning routine cliche.

It seems like such a good idea -- start with the early morning, and then go on from there. The problem is the main character rudely awakened from a sound sleep by an alarm clock, or even a phone ringing, is just kind of cliche. Waking up with a hangover is just about as bad. Consider a fresh way to start your story and describe your character. If early morning routine is part of your plot, consider what's unique about your character. Don't just start your story with a morning like a million other mornings -- make it special.

2. Answering the phone cliche.

Pay attention to how people actually answer the phone. And then consider skipping the back-and-forth hello dialogue. Make your phone dialogue grow your characters.

3. The clutter of detail

Somehow when phones ring, authors are tempted to toss in a big blob of background. In between each ring, we get more description of the house, the clothes, and so on. Or we could just say, "Mary phoned." Honest, readers will fill in all the little details of the ringing phone and so forth.

4. Skip the recitals of ordinary life.

If readers know how to do things, you don't have to tell them step-by-step with all of the gory details. Just the exciting parts, the parts that need to be there.

5. Don't spell it out.

Authors get caught up in explaining to the reader. Let the reader figure it out -- they enjoy that. And especially, don't explain it more than once. Show us the character, let them talk, and let the reader draw their own conclusions. Show, don't tell.

6. Pass on the preaching.

Sermons and other pointed lessons about habits and lifestyles you don't like will make readers run. Strawman points and plots contrived to prove a point don't really work. Again, give the reader credit as a reader and a thinker. Let them draw their own conclusions.

7. Setting the scene

People are very conscious of visual media now. Novelists need to write with visual settings in mind. Don't do too much description, but do provide suggestions that allow readers to visualize the scenes.

8. Coincidences

In real life, we love coincidences. It's fascinating how weird real life can be. But in fiction, you need to be very careful. One coincidence, early on, handled with some care... OK. But if you add more, people get concerned. Readers won't buy it. They see the hand of the author arranging affairs. Make it plausible, add some motivation and foreshadowing, and you may be able to use the same event or a similar one that isn't coincidence anymore.

Those are the ones that Jenkins lists. Feel free to add your own pet blunders, along with ways to detect them and repair them. You'll find them in things you are reading, and I surely know that I add them to the things I'm writing from time to time. As someone almost said once, at least if you're making blunders, you're writing. And you can fix blunders. It's a lot harder to fix something that you haven't written.

Sooo...
WRITE!

Current Mood: buss

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 23 July 2009

A quest, a quest...

The basic building blocks of a story are scenes and sequels. But what do we mean by that? Jim Butcher explains over here at http://jimbutcher.livejournal.com/

A scene is one interaction between a point of view character trying to achieve a specific goal and someone else blocking him, producing conflict. Will the point of view character succeed? Basically, until the end of the book, the answer is no.

What are the pieces that you need to figure out to build a scene?

Who is the point of view character? Who has the most at stake emotionally?
What is their goal in this scene? Needs to be a specific goal that they are actively trying to achieve.
What is the conflict? Usually a specific person tries to make the character fail or tries to achieve a goal that blocks the character. The conflict is the scene question -- what is happening in this scene?
What is the result? The character tries to accomplish a specific goal, and doesn't get there. Disaster. There are three possibilities:

yes, but...: they accomplish the goal, but there are complications
no: they simply fail
no, and furthermore: they fail, and make things worse

Those are the key points about a scene. Who is trying to achieve what, what gets in their way, and what's the outcome.

Sequels are the tails that wag the doggy scenes. The character goes to do something, runs into opposition, and fails. They have to drop back and think about what to do next. This is where the thoughts and feelings of the character are revealed, and it's really what makes readers connect with the character. So what is the peanut butter that you need to spread here? Basically, there are four steps in a sequel:

Emotional reaction. How does the character feel about what happened?
Thinking. Review, logic, reasoning. How does the character interpret what happened?
Anticipation. What could the character do next? What do they think is going to happen next?
Choice. Make a decision, choose a direction, let's do it.

Another way to think about it is that scenes are where we put together the plot -- the events and actions. Sequels are we put together the characters, showing the reader how the character reacts, thinks, and makes decisions.

Now, a quest is normally thought of as an action story. Sequels tend to be fairly light, focusing on making a choice and getting back into the action. You don't have to do that, you can do a full blown sequel, but you might want to think about what works best for your story.

So between the inciting incident that starts things off and the climax, you've got some stepping stones. What are the scenes? And in between scenes, you've got sequels where the character reacts to what happened in the scenes.

Write!

Current Mood: block
Current Music: I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I'm Going to Be a Diamond Someday), John Anderson

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 17 July 2009

Okay. So let's say you've got some notions, there's a goal, maybe a bit of an inciting incident, some characters, all that stuff swirling around in your head. How do you organize it?

Let's take a look at a website that might help. Jim Butcher writes a very popular fantasy detective series (the Dresden Files) and others, and he's been blogging about his process over here. http://jimbutcher.livejournal.com/ I thought it was a little odd -- he seems to have written the blog postings in order, which means the ones for starting are at the bottom... (psst? Anyone else recognize that Scene-Sequel structure? Yeah, James Bickham's Scene & Structure http://community.livejournal.com/writercises/tag/sequel ) Anyway

Jim's story skeleton is this:

*WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS*, *YOUR PROTAGONIST* *PURSUES A GOAL*. But will he succeed when *ANTAGONIST PROVIDES OPPOSITION*?

Okay? Pretty simple, right? Plug in

What happens to kick things off? (the inciting incident)
Who's the protagonist?
What's the goal?
Who's the antagonist? How do they oppose the protagonist?

Go ahead. Take the ideas you're playing with, and plug them into Jim's skeleton. (Oh, the foot bone's connected to the ankle bone, the ankle bone's connected to the shin bone, the shin bone's connected to the knee bone, keep on moving up the line...)

When Jim finds a treasure map in his dead uncle's sea chest, he decides to recover the fortune. But will he succeed when the Bloody Hand Gang finds out that there's a treasure out there?

Current Mood: bony

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