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!

Sailing on the big OCEAN?

Pounding away on those nanowrimo words? Okay, this will be reasonably quick. You might want to think about your characters, right? And over in the psychology section, one of the notions is that you might use the big five personality traits as a way to look at personality. So what are these five factors?

Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism

OCEAN! Or if you feel so moved, you can also make canoe out of it? And just what are these odd little words?

Openness is the desire for change, for a variety of experience. "Appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, imagination, curiosity, and variety of experience" is how Wikipedia defines it.

Conscientiousness is the planning and discipline. "A tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement; planned rather than spontaneous behavior."

Extraversion is the outgoing person. "Energy, positive emotions,surgency, and the tendency to speak stimulation and the company of others."

Agreeableness is friendliness. "A tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards others."

Neuroticism is emotional edginess. "A tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger, anxiety, depression, or vulnerability; sometimes called emotional instability."

There's lots more details over here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits including some specific items for each and every trait. But for right now, while madly tapdancing to the nanowrimo beat, keep it simple. How much does your character like new things? Does the character prefer planning or spontaneity? Are they outgoing, or would they prefer a quiet night by themselves? Do they want to help others or are they a bit more standoffish? And what is their emotional temper? Cool, simmering, or ready to boil over?

And if you're looking for instant complications, consider having a couple of characters with different views about one of the traits. Someone who wants to go to a new restaurant every time and the person who wants to go to Mom's Home Cooking diner every time are going to have a difference of opinion. The spontaneous dancer and the insurance salesman are likely to find some differences in how they look at the world. The handshaking goodfellow and the quiet observer, the volunteer and the cynic, the angry person and the rational thinker -- pair them up and watch them go to town. Five dimensions of conflict? One way to look at it.

Another twist might be to consider which of the factors has priority. Someone who likes to plan but also really likes new things, different experiences, may have a real internal conflict going on. What happens when anger runs into agreeableness? Or when vulnerability pairs up with outgoing habits?

Okay? Take your characters on a trip in the OCEAN. Openness -- desire for variety. Conscientiousness -- self-discipline. Extraversion -- reach out and touch someone today. Agreeableness -- can I help? And neuroticism -- the emotional pot boils over. Put them all together, and add some richness to your characters.

tink
(about 500 words)