The Place For My Writers Notes

Original Posting 25 Nov 2011

What? The last note was on the 13th? And today is the 25th? ARGH!

Hey, all. I've been sick. Believe it or not, I've had a cold, which for a while just meant arguing with the dictation software about whether sneezes really meant I wanted a line of "him" across the page (does a sneeze really sound like "him"? Oh, well...). Then I lost my voice!

Which may not sound like much of a problem, but if you quit typing to save your fingers, and have been using dictation software -- a whisper doesn't cut it. So I went back to the keyboard for a while. Even though it does hurt, some.

Anyway, I'm recovering, and still meeting and beating Nanowrimo into shape! So...

Let's see. Old bits and pieces...

ARCS! Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction. Or as I teach my students sometimes, surprise! WIIFM (What's in it for me?), Yes, you can!, and last but not least, rewards, smiles, and other treats. That's one theory of motivation, and you can pay attention to those in your writing, too. Twists and other surprises keep the reader on their toes. Getting them engaged makes it relevant. Being fair to the reader raises their confidence. And oh, do those climaxes satisfy us. Emotional rewards galore!

Bradbury's formula!  "Find a character, like yourself, who will want something or not want something, with all his heart. Give him running orders. Shoot him off. Then follow as fast as you can...." And don't forget the zest and gusto, too!

OCEAN? What's a character? Well, openness -- desire for change (or not!). Conscientiousness -- planner or not? Extravert or introvert? Agreeableness? How many friends do they have? And neuroticism, that emotional edge? Right! Make them personalties, with some warts, and see what happens.

Bradbury again? Yeah... "You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you."

Go with the flow! Writing as a burst, a torrent of words flooding out. That's nanowrimo all over!

One more Bradbury notion? Aha, yes, the lists, the lists. Bradbury adored his lists, and so can you! Stop now and then, make a list of colors, of senses afire, actions, clues or whatever... and then expand on those, tell us all about them, and watch your words roll!

Ah, the metaphoric dance of the words! Yes, your neurons and mine enjoy connecting things up, so pick a number from one to seven (what, your die doesn't go that high? Okay, roll once. Odd is zero, even is one. Now roll again, and add whatever you get to your first roll. One to seven, with a bit of weight for the middle. Okay... where were we before I got distracted. Right! Pick your number and...)

Here's what you have chosen (behind door number 1, we have . . . ):

    1. Taking a bath
    2. Frying potatoes
    3. Boiling an egg
    4. Sending a letter (you remember, those funny paper things that preceded email?)
    5. Untangling a ball of string
    6. Learning to swim
    7. Starting a car in cold weather

Now, let your mind slide. That problem, that process, the incident in your story? How would you explain it in terms of this metaphor? What relates? What doesn't relate? What if...

There you go, a metaphorical fling for the fancy!

Oh, my. Then I threw in the business metaphors? I really wanted you to scramble those metaphors, fry some words, and get cooking, didn't I? Let's see, journeys, games, war, machines, organisms, social groups, family, jungle, and the zoo. Pick a style, narrow it down a bit and pick an example, then let the correlations begin!

Filling out characters? Right! Onions have layers, ogres have layers, and even secondary characters deserve a layer or two. Goals, motivations, conflicts, some change... make those characters stand out for us!

And today's old Nanowrimo posting? All about filling in the actions. Instead of just doing a scene change to put your favorite character at the next place where they get their lumps, consider filling in all the steps of getting there. And of course, in the scene, instead of just gliding over the action with summaries, go through the actions. How does the hero fry a hamburger, anyway? With a twist of garlic? And a dash of vinegar? Huh...

These nanowrimo notes are available at length somewhere over here http://writercises.livejournal.com/?skip=30&tag=nanowrimo along with many more!

But the key right now is ... I hope you are enjoying your Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and whatever, and getting ready to slam through the finish line on Nanowrimo, coming up next week! Scribble, tap, yackity-yack!

Original posting 13 February 2009

All right! Let's try mixing a dilemma with some little questions, shall we?

Pick a number from one to six, okay? Roll that die . . .

You got your number now? Here's what you have picked:

1. You agree to buy a friend's piano. Later, you discover that the agreed price is too high. Considering that your friend has told other buyers that it is sold, do you try to renegotiate?
2. Your neighbor's teenager has another wild all-night party. His parents return from out-of-town and asked how things were. Do you say what goes on?
3. The person you have been living with hints at suicide if you carry out your intention to leave. Do you leave as intended?
4. You have an essay due in a French language course. Your typist is French. Do you write it in English and asked her to translate it?
5. You suspect the cleaning woman is sipping your booze when you're out. Do you mention it to her?
6. You are visiting an unmarried, elderly aunt. On the table is her will. When she is out of the room, do you glance at it?

There you go. Six little problems from the game A Question of Scruples.

Okay? Now the questions. Take your problem and consider:

1. Who will this hurt? Pick out your protagonist/point of view based on who has the most trouble in this situation.
2. What can go wrong? Aha, that's the conflicts! Make a list.
3. What's the larger issue? Go ahead, think about the big scope of your story.
4. Who pays? Who loses what? There's the climax.
   

Grind it out. And you might want to make a little matrix -- secrets or conflicts and characters, to help you see what all is going to happen here.

[General Motors Car? What?]

A few days ago, someone on another list mentioned being a pantser. Since I hadn't heard the term in a while, I went ahead and looked up "plotter pantser" on Google. Plotters are the people who pre-plan their work -- outlines and so forth. Pantsers write by the seat-of-their-pants. Not that everyone buys these, nor does everyone fit completely into one or the other side, but generally, there are those who work it out largely in abstract form ahead of time and then write almost mechanically and those who are improvising as they write, boldly forging ahead.

But I don't really want to get into the discussion about which approach is better. Plotters and pantsers have pros and cons, and most of us will try both roads at different times and find out which one seems to work best for us. However, in the various links, I glanced at this one http://www.hodrw.com/ppii.htm and happened to get caught on an acronym. GMC charts? What are they talking about?

A bit of poking around revealed that Goals, Motivations, and Conflicts have been reduced to an acronym. Where is the character headed? Why do they want to get there? And what problems crop up to block them from just doing it?

So, for the nanowrimowers, let me suggest -- even while grinding out the daily quota, take time to think about your characters. What are their GMCs? Then bang them into each other, and let the words flow.

tink
[counting down to November . . .]

[Off the topic, but . . . I'm feeling the weight of those feet of clay today.

Had an encounter with academic bureaucracy, and while they all seem to feel that it has worked out well, spending a half-hour on the phone and having to explain repeatedly to people that being stupid was not going to make me go away is irritating, to say the least.

(well, I put it more politely - you tell me I have to have A to get B, but I can't have A until I produce B - this is a Catch-22, folks, can you help me fix it? which was fallacious, since I had not caused the problem nor could I fix it, but I've noticed that people are more likely to help me fix it than they are to admit that they GOOFED! And in the end, they figured out a way to get me C, thus perhaps getting me B by next week, which may, in due time, allow me to do A! Which I thought was the point of the whole exercise in futility, but :-)

Bless the idjits, for they shall be with us always. Right.]

Anyway, let's ignore that. How about a writing exercise?

Hum, perhaps, oh, let's see . . .

Why not?

[get on your marks]

Pick a character. You know the kind, the sort of person who . . . well, sure, that one.

Okay? Now what do they want to achieve? Come on, you know. They want to get to the other side of town, pick up their suit from the cleaners, plant a colony on Mars, invent the next great toothpaste flavor? Whatever, get it clear in your mind. You might even like to make a list of the steps they are taking to get there.

[get set]

Now roll your die. Pick a number from one to six.

1. Bureaucratic bafflement
2. Natural disaster
3. Deliberate interference
4. Accidental animal in the muddle
5. Family demands
6. Personal confusion

So now you have something that can get in the way, right? Spend a few minutes thinking about the wonderful ways that this stumbling block can become a great mountain range between your character and their heart's desire. Ready?

[BANG! Go!]

And write. Have your character starting towards their goal, and encountering the wonders of opposition and resistance, the delights of being pushed further and further from their agenda. And then, with a roar of indignation and commitment, with the blood dripping from their head and hands, with the spare tire flapping madly on the bent rim . . .

Tell us what happens!

tink
(grumble, grumble, grumble . . . I can't believe they did that. Without telling me. And then they explain that . . . argh!)

When we write, we learn about ourselves.