Entries tagged with technique

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TECH: So What and Who Cares? SW2C? (270 words)

Original Posting 9/10/2019

Over here, https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/how-to-write-stories-that-matter/, K. M. Weiland has a guest posting by Daryl Rothman. Plenty of people look for the "silver bullet," the "secret formula" that will make your writing good. Well, Daryl is giving it away!"Writing's Secret Formula: How to Write Stories that Matter." WOW!Daryl starts with a little pondering about a quote from Stephen King. It starts out "Writing is magic..."Then he turns to the formula. Writing's Secret Formula: SW2C. So What and Who Cares. Make readers care about our characters and what happens to them.But when you put together all the parts, characterization, plot, setting, POV, will the readers come?Find your why! It's in that formula, So What and Who Cares.Go read the article. I think you'll find his musing thought-provoking.He ends up with five questions that he recommends to help figure out why your story matters.1. Why does it matter to you?2. Why will it matter to others?3. How can you make it matter?4. What effect do you want to produce?5. Do you want readers to feel something, and if so, what?You might want to start with his little exercise, near the end. Three steps. First, "consider what your favorite stories did for you, and how they did it." That's right, what stands out for you, and how does it work? Second, "Why do they matter to you?" Stop and think about why this means something to you. Third, "What are the things that matter most to you in life?" Oh, what are your stakes? What are your goals? Now...WRITE!

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TECH: Oh, don't do that! (230 words)

Original Posting 9/5/2019

Oh, that's so good. Go over here and read Sarah Hoyt's posting about how to break bad habits (bad fiction writing habits, okay?).https://madgeniusclub.com/2019/09/04/how-to-break-bad-habits/Here's a short summary...?1. "And the whole city rejoiced." Characters are the center of their own story, and what some other character does, is viewed from their OWN POV. Don't project too much!2. "Gaucheness equals pedophilia." Being mean to the main character does not mean they are all evil.3. "Let's bang on my deathbed" Characters need to make internal sense. Don't play "I'm the author, so I can make you do anything" with your characters.4. "Victimhood = Virtue." Just because a character is mistreated does not mean they are wonderful.And from the comments, we can add...5. Peeking at the GMs notes. Don't let your characters do something that only makes sense if they have information they couldn't have.Hum. What other bad habits should we add to that list? Give it a catchy name, and describe the problem, okay? E.g.Procrastination never finishes. Yes, it may not be perfect. Yes, you may have another idea, or even a better idea, tomorrow. BUT... go ahead and write now. Do what you can, finish it as well as you can, revise it as well as you can, and... call it complete for now. Go on. Yes, you can. DO IT!Go on, what writing bad habits have you noticed?

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TECH: 6x6? What is going on here?

Original posting March 30, 2018

For those who may have joined us lately (yes, there is at least one new member), let me explain what’s going on. It’s kind of an exercise, but mostly, it’s a fun chance for us all to stretch our writing muscles by... writing a story every week for six weeks. No particular length, no particular topics, just write a story and post it here (SUB: title and some folks have suggested word count). Now, I did suggest we might try using the fantasy topics this go around, but no one is going to complain if you don’t. The fantasy topics? Dragons, fairies, knights, royalty, unicorns, and wolves, from TVtropes.

This exercise came from an article that I summarized some years ago that suggested that it was a good exercise for writers, largely because it builds the habit of regular writing. Indeed, most of the “make a habit” guides suggest doing something for 30 days to get it set in your routine as a habit, and here we are, doing 6 weeks!

We’ve had round one (last Saturday, March 24, was the first week target), and we are about to hit the second one (tomorrow, March 31). Of course, we wouldn’t object if someone wanted to join in at some point along the way. Or you could always comment on the submissions! CRIT: is the right tag, but we all love hearing comments.

Anyway, that’s why I keep posting prompts and tech and stuff babbling about 6x6. It’s not a lumber size or something, just an easy way to remember 6 weeks, 6 stories.

And, write!

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TECH: Aarne-Thompson-Uther classification of folk tales?

Original posting March 28. 2018

Aha! Someone was talking about folk tales on Facebook, and someone else suggested looking at the Aarne-Thompson-Uther classifications. So... with a little help from google, I found this!

http://www.mftd.org/index.php?action=atu

Cool! Talk about a pile of potential sources of ideas!

Animal tales of various sorts, tales of magic, religious tales, realistic tales, tales of the stupid ogre (giant, devil), anecdotes and jokes, and various formula tales.

There you go! In case you didn’t have any ideas, yet another thought-provoker! Do set a timer, so that you don’t vanish into that listing and the stories given there. It’s almost as dangerous as TVtropes!

Just remember, a character, a problem or situation, opposition, and... what does the character want, how do they try to get it, and what happens then? Write, right, write!

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TECH: Being Smart with Magic (moldy oldie!)

Original Posting March 26, 2018

Writer's Digest, January 1991, on page 32, had a short sidebar by Piers Anthony, with the title "Being Smart with Magic." He starts out with some definitions. "Science fiction is the literature of the possible. Fantasy is the literature of the impossible.… The key impossible element of fantasy is magic."

Now according to Piers, "magic is not science, and should not be treated as such." He gives the example of a magical transformation of form. Don't bother worrying about making the mass stay the same. "Conservation of mass is science, and you don't want it polluting your fantasy." The old rules are gone. However, there are some rules you still need to pay attention to.

The rules of good storytelling. "Start with a good story and tell it well; if you do not, no amount of magic will make it fly. You are trying to encourage your reader to willingly suspend his disbelief, and he won't do that if you have obscure characters in a confusing situation inconsistently developed, with a pointless conclusion."

Another rule? Make your magic integral to the situation. "Don't take a mundane story and plug in magic and think that makes it good." Make sure that the magic is a necessary part of your story. "Apply this test: if you can remove the magic and still have a coherent story, then the magic may be extraneous."

Don't let science govern your magic, but… "The magic should be consistent. … Rules are essential, because magic is inherently as limitless as the imagination, and your story will become nonsense if reasonable constraints are not put on it." Rules are what make the game fun. If magic can do anything, there is no challenge! You need constraints.

"It isn't necessary to have special effects." You don't have to have glowing amulets, jags of lightning, and so forth. "If you believe in your magic, let it express itself in its own fashion. On the other hand, if you want to have fantastic effects, consider the magic of illusion. Since there is no substance, you can certainly have anything happen.

"In short, be smart about your magic. Don't overuse it, don't make it garish, do think it through so that it makes a genuine contribution to your story."

So there you go. A good story, where the magic is a necessary part, and is consistent. Sounds like it could be fun.

Practice? Well, obviously you need a story with some magic in it. Now consider, is the story well told? Is the magic a necessary part of it? Is the magic consistent? If you've got special-effects, do they fit?

Now, tap your heels together three times, and say, "There's no place like home."

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technique

TECH: Put Punch on the Page (moldy oldie!)

Original Posting Feb. 1, 2017

Writers Digest, March 2001, had an article on pages 32, 33, and 51, by Steven James with the title, "Put Punch on the Page." Basically it's about converting oral stories to written stories. I'm sure most of us have a personal story, a joke, an anecdote, some kind of a story that we tell people. However, when we go to write it down, somehow it just fizzles. So Steven lays out a way to go from the story we tell to the story we write.

1. Record your ideas. Brain dumping! Just get it out there on paper. Write it the way you tell it. Don't mess with it. And then take a look at what's missing.

2. Restructure your story. Find the hook, or as Steven prefers to call it, the gaff. Grab their attention. Start with action, energy, emotion, suspense, something to make the reader want to keep going. Hold off on the background and other stuff.

3. Reshape your story. Oral language tends to be immediate and informal. But now you're going for more complete sentences. Dialogue, keep it short and snappy, interruptions and all. Descriptive and narrative parts? Here you want sentences with detail, complexity, link. Be precise, make it good readable text.

4. Reveal your emotions. You've got emotion or an idea that you want to express. Show the reader through action and reaction what is happening. Remember, readers can't see your expression, so you have to give them the written hints. When you tell it, how do you convey the emotions, what do you do or say? Now, how do you translate that into text. You want the feeling and the mood, not just the same words, but through the story.

5. Reduce the confusion. Telling a story, we separate characters through inflection and expressions. Writing dialogue, you've got to add speaker tags. You may need to add new dialogue, additional transitions, details and descriptions. Don't get carried away, but do create images.

6. Remember the audience. Make sure your story is clear for the audience. Get someone else to read it, and give you a honest opinion about how it flows. Are there gaps, unanswered questions, unclear transitions? Now, reread it, and revise it until it's as exciting as the oral version was.

Incidentally, page 33 includes a "creativity starter." It's almost an exercise! So, put your writing hats on, and try this:

1. Select a personal anecdote you enjoy telling friends. Write it down.
2. Add structure. Is there extra background you should eliminate? Try making a brief outline of the story.
3. Review that outline. Do you need to revise some of the sentences so they work better together? Rewrite!
4. Add texture. Is there information about the characters or the setting that you can add to make this a richer story?
5. Check the transitions. What about those adjectives and adverbs? Can you drop some, make some more specific, or otherwise tweak them to help the story read smoothly?
6. Think about the audience. Who do you want to read this? What are they likely to have trouble understanding? How can you clarify? Go ahead, clean up your story and make it read like the wonder it is!

There you go! An anecdote, a personal story, turned into words!

Current Mood: laughing

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TECH: Four Ps? (Moldy Oldie!)

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!
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TECH: Outlining Your Novel (Part 10!)

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

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TECH: Outlining Your Novel (part 9)

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

Current Mood: pulpy

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TECH: Lester Dent Pulp Master Fiction Plot

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

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TECH: Is it Nov. 10 already?

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

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TECH: A Quick Reminder...

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

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TECH: Backstory for Nanowrimo?

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

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TECH: Outlining for Nanowrimo?

Original Posting Oct. 28, 2016

A quick review

K. M. Weiland, over on http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/ has a series of posts about getting ready for Nanowrimo. Basically, it looks like

1. What do you already know about your story?
2. What are the plot holes and questions you already have?
3. Kick your brainstorming with What if ...? What is expected? What is unexpected?

Now, add in a dash of
1. What is your premise? (situation, protagonist, objective, opponent, disaster, and conflict! Start with the situation, protagonist, objective, and opponent. Then toss in the disaster and conflict.) What is the main conflict?
2. Who/what is the antagonist? What are the possible stakes? What the goal, motivation, and plan for each of those kinds of antagonist?
3. What are the protagonist's goals and motivations?
4. What secrets are your characters hiding?

Next, push that brew through these three filters:
1. Plot: What is the external conflict of the story? What are the characters trying to do? What are the stakes in all this? What needs to change?
2. Character: What is the internal conflict? Character arc? What do they want, and what do they need?
3. Theme: What's the theme, pussycat?

Let that cool for a bit, then look for PLOT HOLES!
1. What don't you know about your story? What are the motivations? Do you need some filler scenes to link things? What about relationships?
2. What specific questions need answers? Got any blank spots -- make them into questions.
3. Subplots? Take a look at the minor characters' goals, the links between major and minor characters, and how those minor character relate to each other.

When you find a plot hole, check out the what if's that can point to a good solution, and other questions.

Ready? Set! And...

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TECH: Getting Ready for Nanowrimo with K. M. Weiland

Original Posting Oct. 19, 2016

Oho! Over here on her website, K. M. Weiland talks about getting ready for Nanowrimo! Just what we all need, right? Now, she's got three weeks worth of articles already, so let's catch up.

Oct. 3

http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/should-you-outline-your-novel/

K. asks the poignant question, should you outline your novel? Well, first, let's make sure we all understand what an outline is? First, it isn't really a list of scenes (which comes straight out of English classes where they said "Outline this story/book" and meant list the scenes). Second, it isn't necessarily about working out a viable story structure. This is kind of the improved version of list of scenes, but instead of doing scenes, you're focusing on major plot points. Better, but still not quite there. So, what is outlining? BRAINSTORMING! It's the process of discovery, of considering and exploring possibilities. So, yes, you may very well produce a story structure and list of scenes. But that's not the point, that's just a by-product. The process, the thing you are doing, is exploring what your story is going to be. Okay? So stay tuned, and we'll look at four questions to ask yourself.

Oct. 10

https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/start-your-outline-with-these-4-questions-nanowrimo/

K. continues by tackling the question of where to start the outline! Not the linear beginning. Nope, start with the big picture. What is your story about? Who are the characters? What themes are in this conflict? Where are you going to end? What obstacles will there be in reaching that endpoint? So, we're going to do a general sketch.

1. What do you already know about the story? You probably have some ideas or even impressions. Write those down.

2. What are the existing plot holes and questions? Dang, there are things you don't know yet? What are they? What questions do you have about this story?

3. Ask the 3 important "what" questions? What if ...? What is expected? What is unexpected? That's right! Have some fun filling in the edges.

4 questions to get you going:

1. What general conflict does your premise provide? Write a premise sentence for your story. Now, what is the main conflict in there? Premise: situation, protagonist, objective, opponent, disaster, and conflict, in a nice pithy statement.

2. Who/What is your story's antagonistic force? What kind of global, international, national, public, and personal stakes are there? What is the goal, motivation, and plan for each kind antagonist?

3. What are the protagonist's goals and motivations?

4. What secrets are your characters hiding? For each character, think about what they are hiding.

Go for it! Get the big picture of your story down. Then come back, and we'll talk about the heart of the story.

Oct. 17

http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/nanowrimo-guide-outlining-find-heart-of-your-story/

K. now turns to making sure that you've got the heart of your story, not just the skeleton. Plot, events and mechanics, are important, but what is the heart of your story? Theme! And... here are the questions to help you find that.

1. Plot: What is the external conflict of the story? What is the protagonist trying to achieve? Why? What is the antagonist up to, and why? What are the stakes for all this? How does the protagonist have to change?

2. Character: What is the internal conflict in your story? What is the character arc? What does the character want? What do they need?

3. Theme: What is the theme of the story?

Whoo! So we're going to lay out the plot, in big pictures, and take a crack at the theme.

And we still have a week or so before Nanowrimo clobbers us. So get cracking!

Sounds like a plan to me!
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TECH: 6 Steps Storytelling Workout for Nanowrimo (moldy oldie time again!)

Original Posting Oct. 10, 2016

All right! While you probably won't want to use this as a way to revise your story during Nanowrimo, you can certainly use these ideas to help get yourself set and ready, and even to spark some excitement while writing, writing, writing during Nano! Sound like a plan?

Writer's Digest, March 2003, pages 38-41, had an article with the title Your 6-Step Storytelling Workout by Steven James. He suggests that using these six steps will give your story punch, power, and poignancy! Oooo... Ready?

1. Crystallize characters!

Steven starts with a short anecdote about an acting conference, where a director said, "Every time a character steps on stage, he wants something. To develop your character, figure out what he wants while he's onstage."

Simple, right? Why is this character here? What they want? How far will they go to get it? MOTIVATION! Yes!

What does this character want?

Hum... Steven says "At the heart of every story is a character who faces a struggle and makes a discovery." So... who is that character?

2. Intensify struggles.

Steven talks about teaching children to write. He doesn't ask them to write about their vacations, that's boring. He tells them, "You don't have a story until something goes wrong. Tell me about something that went wrong over vacation." And stories pour out!

What is the struggle of your main character? What are they trying to achieve, overcome, or accomplish?

Note, Steven recommends struggles, intimate and personal, rather than conflicts, external and distant. Make the struggle deeper, richer, don't just add conflicts. Then show how facing that struggle transforms the character.

Personal, emotional, hard to overcome. Escalate those problems, make the setbacks serious, and the dangers bad and closeup.

3. Hint at emotions.

Here's where you need to be subtle. Don't worry, an interesting character busting themselves in an intriguing struggle is going to bring out emotion. But you, as writer, don't want to be bashing the reader over the head with telling them about it. Hint!

Get the reader to identify with the characters, get them to feel the struggles, then let them ride along. Action, dialogue, and body language, don't just tell us about it.

4. Clarify discoveries.

Beginning, middle, end? Well, how about origination, muddle, resolution? The beginning originates everything that follows. The middle is the central struggle. And the ending? That's the culminating event, the big climax, surprising and yet inevitable.

"What makes a story worth telling is the causal relationship of events that produces a change in the condition or circumstances of the main character.… Stories reveal the transformation of characters or situations."

Make the revelation or discovery by the character clear!

5. Muddy the choices.

Choose the right thing or the wrong thing? Too easy. Make your character choose between two right things! Dilemmas, situations that demand the character be in two places at once, choose between two promises, or otherwise figure out which pile of straw to go to.

Internal struggles with all the choices there, and external struggles with tasks. Play them off against each other, and look for "a moment of realization when a choice from the outer story helps the main character overcome her inner struggle."

Highlight those moments of decision! Raise the ante! Life or death consequences! Make your reader wonder what's going to happen!

6. Ratchet up the action.

"The more personal the struggle and the more impending the danger, the more suspenseful the story." Make sure you introduce the central struggle early.

Keep the pace moving. Watch for long flashbacks, dialogue that doesn't move the story forward, and getting stuck in one scene for too long. Movement, contrast, action, suspense… Keep the reader interested.

Rising tension, more and more action. Always add a new struggle before you resolve an existing one.

Motivate your characters, make them struggle, hint at emotions, bring out those decisions and discoveries, make the choices hard, and crank up the action! Keep your stories working!

There is a sidebar on page 40 labeled creativity starter. It's got one exercise for each of these points! Here we go!

1. Characters. Select a character from your story. Write a scene that shows your character's personality through his actions.
2. Struggles. Take a key external conflict in your story and make it more personal. Brainstorm possible internal struggles that the characters affected by the conflict could simultaneously face. Make a list. Consider both the antagonist and the protagonist.
3. Emotions. Word choice is key to expressing how your characters feel. Practice the art of subtlety. Describe your character waking up in the morning. Do not tell us how she feels. Show us through descriptive words.
4. Discoveries. Stories shouldn't just end, they should reveal. Whether you've completed your story or not, you should consider the final resolutions – for the conflict and the characters. Articulate what transformations your ending will unveil.
5. Choices. The difference between right and wrong is often a fine line. List the pivotal choices that occur in your story, and brainstorm elements you could add to gray the distinction between right and wrong.
6. Action. Peruse your story and find a long section of boring exposition. Spice up the action by rewriting the scene as dialogue or having it take place in a new location.

There you go! Obviously some of this is aimed at revisions more than initial writing or preparation for writing, but I think there are parts of it that can help you get ready for nanowrimo, or even add some spice during Nanowrimo. I mean, can you imagine getting stuck during nanowrimo, and running down this list of ideas or creativity starters, just to get your writing going again? I certainly can!

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TECH: Hah, a genre by any other name would...

Original Posting Oct. 8, 2016

Be as hard to write? Anyway, as we're heading into Nanowrimo time, here comes Sarah Hoyt with a quick guide to genres. It seems appropriate to think about using this as a brainstorming tool. What kind of a story do I want to write? Or even what kind of subplot do I want to mix in? So, take a look at the original over here

https://madgeniusclub.com/2016/10/05/romancing-the-genre/

Or consider this list (summarized and commentary by me!)

Erotica – sex and kinkiness!
Romance – relationships. The plot is about the relationship and the emotions.
-- Sweet romance. No sex scenes.
Mystery. Crime and its solution. Murder is the biggie, but... you can have others, too.
-- Gritty or Noir. Dark, tough guys, action in the grime.
-- Police procedural! NCIS?
-- Genius Private Investigator. Rex Stout, Holmes. Intellectual puzzles.
-- Cozy. Milieu and relationships. Miss Marple.
Thriller -- The Chase!
Science Fiction -- What if? Future possibilities.
-- Hard. New Tech!
-- Space Opera. How do people handle this brave new world?
-- Military SF. You're in the Army/Navy/Space Force now...
-- Post Apocalyptic SF -- the world as we know it has ended. What y'a gonna do?
-- SF Romance. Sex and robots?
-- SF Erotica? You must be kidding.
Fantasy. Impossible, but... what if magic?
-- High Fantasy. Tolkein and many, many others. The lost heir?
-- Contemporary fantasy/Historical fantasy -- realistic, but…
-- Urban fantasy -- Set in the city (or at least suburbia), with a character handling magic and evil.
-- Paranormal Romance. Whoops! Magic or evil is sexy? Hum... Rule 34!
Historical -- set in some time, some place, almost anything.
-- Steam Punk? Gears and steam, Victorian sort-of?
Main Stream -- now, with the guy next door, doing every-day stuff.
Literary -- language and other problems.
Horror! Can you scare us! Subtle, or just splatter gore?

Whoosh! Quite a list. Oh, yeah. Don't forget the Young Adult markup.

Most of us know quite well what kind of stuff we like to read, and we often stick with that for our writing. After all, you know the tropes. If you want to switch genres, you're going to at least have to go to TVtropes

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage (Warning! This site can consume hours and hours of browsing, and... what were you looking for, anyway?)

and see what they say about that genre. Even better, plan on spending a little time reading some of the classics.

Okay? So... what kind of a story are you going to write for Nanowrimo? And are you mixing in subplots of some kind? Oh, one of those?

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[Writers] TECH: Prep for Nanowrimo?

Original Posting Sept. 24, 2016

Aha! Over here, Janice Hardy provides a four week plan...

http://thewritelife.com/prepare-nanowrimo-4-week-success-plan/

A four week plan (October! Only one more month, and we'll be headed into Nanowrimo!) Let's take a look.

Number one, in a few sentences, describe what this novel will be about.

First week (Oct 1-7) focus on your novel's setup. What is the beginning going to look like? You need to introduce the characters, story problem, and setting, and set up the rest of the novel. So think about:

-- How are you going to introduce the protagonist? Traits and qualities? How will you show these up front?

-- What problem does the opening scene deal with? This may or may not be the big driver for the whole story. It's not unusual to use a small, interesting problem to get us involved and set up things. How can you hook the reader and lead the plot to the core conflict?

-- What is your inciting event? This is the driver for the novel. It may start things off, or it may bridge from the opening scene (which often sets up normal life) and the start of the middle. Whichever, make sure it is clear and exciting!

Second week (Oct. 8-14) how do problems get solved in the middle? This is where characters run into try-fail cycles, working away at their problems, and learning. What should you consider:

-- How does the setup lead to the middle (opening scene, inciting event, and here's the middle!).

-- What major problem or event does the middle reveal?

-- How will the middle lead into the ending? Usually, the protagonist is down and reeling, things look bleak, but... This is when the protagonist figures out how to come back. What is going to push them to make that last effort?

Third week (Oct. 15-21) how will your novel end? This is the climax, the big showdown with the antagonist. What is it going to look like? You may have started with an idea about it (many people fit useful to think about this first) but now you really need to figure it out. Things to consider:

-- How does the protagonist I plan to defeat the antagonist? What steps do they think they are going to take?

-- How will it end? What will happen to resolve the core conflict?

-- How does this experience change the protagonist? Better, worse, what changes, what are they going to do next?

Fourth week (Oct. 22-28) what are the major turning points of your story? Go ahead and walk through the whole story, fleshing out details, adding notes.

Character-driven? What is the character arc, and what is the internal journey your character is going to take?

Plot-driven? What are the major plot points, and how are your characters going to react and solve the plot problems?

You probably want at least three major points in each of the three parts (beginning, middle, end) so nine or more points.

Final days (Oct. 29-31) write a pitch! That's right, Janice recommends writing a query or pitch for your novel. There's a link to another article about how to write a one page pitch, with a template and questions to help make sure you cover everything. Doing this before write your novel will help make sure you know who your characters are, what the plot is, and can point to holes before you stumble into them.

Okay? So ... Time to get planning!

Before Nanowrimo comes barreling across the calendar!

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TECH: Preparing for Nanowrimo?

Original Posting Sept. 16, 2016

This popped up in my Google news recently, and I thought it was interesting. So here's some thoughts about it.

http://www.bustle.com/articles/183073-10-ways-to-prep-for-nanowrimo-because-november-will-be-here-before-you-know-it

Interesting. Let's see.

1. Start using a journal -- write! Notes, thoughts, bits and pieces here and there. You may like a notepad, maybe one of those nice bound journals, or even an electronic version (google docs is good almost everywhere!) The key here is to start writing and get in the habit.
2. Schedule a time to write every single day -- probably a good idea. Lots of people find a regular writing time best. That way your brain gets in the habit of writing at that time.
3. Set yourself a fun weekly writing goal. Oh, that's interesting. Try flash fiction, a specific number of words each day, drawing instead of writing, other change of pace writing challenges.
4. Join a writing club or team up with another nanowrimo participant. Support groups, people to kick you and remind you that you really want to do this, someone to gripe to about how nobody understands except your writing buddies... Social support helps. Get it?
5. Make a story outline or create an inspiration board. Outlines, if they work for you, are great. Figure out what you are going to write, then plow ahead. But some people prefer a collection of pictures, or maybe notecards (a la Save the Cat?) Heck, you could even try a ... What do they call those sketch versions of a movie?
6. Test out your novel ideas by writing a synopsis and a first chapter. Especially if you've got several ideas, go ahead and do a little test writing.
7. Get to know your main characters. Names, fears, odds and ends. Get comfortable before you and they dive into that novel.
8. Learn to shut your inner editor off. A biggie! One way or another, you need to chunk out the words and keep going when November hits. So you need to practice now telling the inner editor -- the one that wants to polish those words and go back and revise -- to sit down and be quiet. After November, sure, you can polish and revise everything. But during November, just keep going. Make notes about what you want to revise, but keep going. Words, and more words.
9. Research things now and write later. Good idea. In November, you are not going to spend time in research. So, if you want to figure out how Incan knot language worked, do it now! In November, just make a note and come back to it later. But you can certainly look things up now, find out what the back alleys of Venice smell like, check out what breeds of dog, or whatever you need now. Or do that secondary world building for the fantasy now.
10. Read as much as you possibly can. Most of us are readers as well as writers. So now is the time to stoke the reading pool. Read some books about writing, some inspirational stuff, and some goodies from your favorite genre or authors, just to remind you of what you are doing. Don't plan on reading much during November -- your time is going to be spent writing.

There you go! A preparation plan, or at least some interesting points about getting ready for Nanowrimo. Warm ups, from journal, time, and challenges. Some friends to help, shut down that editor, and prep reading. And then, more particular to your story, outlines, prototyping, main characters, and research. Get set!

Write in November!
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TECH: Outlining Your Novel (Part 8)

Original Posting Sept. 10, 2016

Hah! Bet you thought I'd lost track of this. Well, yes, it had slipped my mind for a while, but... Time for the next exciting chapter! Chapter 8, Discovering Your Setting.

K. M. Weiland starts out by reminding us that all too often, we focus on characters and plot, and kind of leave setting as an exercise for the reader. But a fabulous setting helps set everything! And take a look at fantasy and other speculative fiction, where often a lot of work goes into the setting. World building! Even if you are using "the real world" you can still use techniques from the fantasy writers to make that world stand out.

Start with making the setting intrinsic to the story. You don't want your story to be in anytown, anywhere. You want them to be in a specific place and time, with buildings, streets, forests... All that stuff that feels so real that people think they can walk there.

Consider how the character views the setting. Also, what mood does the setting convey?

Be cautious. Don't overdo the settings. You want the story to be about the people, not just a slideshow travelogue. Pick your primary settings carefully, and explore them (exploit them!). Think about combining settings, and reusing them. Then consider foreshadowing your settings, let the characters talk about where they are going beforehand!

Now, especially if you are doing a speculative fiction story, consider world building. See the book for a list of points to consider, but you probably want to know at least landscape, societies, technology, natural laws, people, and history.

Second, look for unique and pertinent points. Don't drown the reader in details, but don't be too abstract, either. Try for the Goldilocks details, just right!

As usual, I don't think this is exactly an outlining chapter. More like a think through this major part of your writing project chapter. I agree with K that this is something we need to think about as we tackle a writing project. But I don't know that the result is going to be an outline, per se.

Anyway, another great chapter! Watch for chapter 9, where K gets into the process of an extended outline! Yes, we are going to put together an outline!

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