Ansha's Blog

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This week in the How I Write series is about the Resources we use.  These are the tools I use often.  But it’s important to remember this is what works for me.  In order to find what worked for me I had to try out about 10 books for every one that worked.  About 5 online classes for each class that worked.  And several additional online writer groups.  So it’s important to keep searching for something new and different that might broaden your creative toolbox.

Great Writing Books:

Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook -Donald Maass

20 Master Plots and How to Build Them- Ronald Tobias

The Writer’s Journey – Christopher Vogler

The Marshall Plan Workbook – Evan Marshall

Plot and Structure – James Scott Bell

Goal, Motivation, Conflict – Debra Dixon

Online Classes:

Empowering Character Emotions – Margie Lawson

Rhetorical Devices and the EDITS system – Margie Lawson

Online Writer’s groups and newsletters:

www.romancedivas.com

Verla Kay’s message board for Children’s Writers and Illustrators

Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators

Candace Havens’s Write Workshop yahoo group.

Randy Ingermanson’s Advanced Fiction Writering e-zine

Next week in the How I Write blog series is an open post.  I’m happy to announce that next week I’ll have an interview with the wonderful writing instructor Margie Lawson.  So be sure to stop by and leave a comment and check out the great classes that Margie offers.

Remember to check out other contributing authors in today’s talk about Revision! Click the banner above for links!

So now you’ve given your brain some distance from your manuscript.  It’s now time to sit down and read through your creation.

Try to give yourself enough time to read through the manuscript in as few sittings as possible.  Have your single subject notebook handy with your black pen.  Take notes.  Right now you want to focus on some of the issues I mentioned last week.

• Continuity
• Word usage
• Pacing
• Voice
• Conflict
• Spelling and typos

I threw in conflict this time around.  It’s vitally important to create a good read.  Something that keeps readers reading.

So as you read look for any continuity issues that need to be resolved.  Things like your character starts  school but then in the next scene is heading home for the day.  Or the music teacher is brunette then bald.  One of my own issues is talking heads.  My first drafts are full of characters having conversations in a void.  Keep setting in mind as you revise.

Next keep an eye out for pet words.  We all have them.  One of my favorite functions of yWriter is that it has a function to look watch for pet words.  It lets you know how many times you use certain words and you can add words to the list as you become aware of them.  Some of my pet words are walked, smiled and looked.  Bland, bland, bland.  It’s time to grab the thesaurus and get cracking!

Pacing is a tough one but something you want to keep an eye on while you read.  This is also why taking a break from your work helps to target this.  Keep in mind the 3 act structure.  And use some math.  How many pages is your draft?  Your First Act should include an introduction to your protagonists ordinary world, the call to adventure and the crossing of the first threshold (see Vogler’s book The Writer’s Journey for more detail) and should encompass ¼ of the page count.  The Second Act should include the road of trials, the ordeal and the reward and should encompass the next ½ of the pages and finally the Third and final act should include the road back and becoming master of the two worlds and consist of the last ¼ of the pages.  I have a tendency to rush through the last part of the Second Act and the jump to the end.  So I need to make sure I keep my pacing consistent with what is expected by the reader.

Voice is a tough one to revise.  Maybe because I’m still learning what my voice is.  But I try to keep the tone of the words I use consistent with the tone of the story.  Anyone out there have good pointers on revising for Voice?

Conflict.  This is the big one.  I reference Donald Maass when it comes to conflict.  He has some wonderful examples and direction in his book Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook.  His list of things to look for in your manuscript is overwhelming but encompassing.  It’s definitely worth a read.  Each scene you have needs to have conflict.  Every scene needs to challenge your characters in some way and push the story forward.

Finally during this first read through fix any typos you notice.  You’ll find more in the next pass, and more after that.  It’s amazing how many typos pop up out of nowhere.  So just snag them when you can.

So now you’ve read your entire manuscript.  Now it’s time to get to work.  Look over your notes in your notebook.  Figure out which scenes need to be rewritten or added to, or trimmed.   When you’re finished you’ll have something that can be shared with critique partners or beta readers.  And you can get down to the fine tuning of the manuscript. We’ll talk  about critique groups, beta readers, writing classes and books, all those important resources for writers next week.

Happy Writing!

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I’m sorry I’m late posting this week. I’ll probably be late responding to comments too. I’m on vacation in Central PA and I have limited access to a computer.

I also decided to take a vacation from working on my WIP this week too. Sometimes you need a little break so you can come back with fresh eyes.

But the blog must go on!

So the discussion this week is how we start a new work in progress.

Prior weeks we discussed how to get the ideas, how to plot and how to research to make sure we’re on the right track. This week it’s how to do the actual writing.

I have to say the best motto for writing the first draft I take from Nike, JUST DO IT. You really have to set aside your misgivings and fears and just do it. Get that first draft written. Most, if not all writers will tell you the real writing comes during revision.

I personally love the first draft phase though. I love the wondrous discovery of the beginning.

I start as you know by outlining using Christopher Vogler’s book The Writer’s Journey.

But during the initial writing phase I use a different word processor designed by a programmer/writer, called yWriter

Ywriter allows the writer to write out of sequence and for me this is the most important aspect of the application. I realized I was one of those zany writers who cannot write in a straight line. I do have to plot but then my first thoughts go to those high moments in the story. Sometimes I even write the ending first! Granted all of these scenes are subject to change as the story progresses and as I revise but as my creative brain works I need to write out those big scenes first. Ywriter lets me do this easily.

The next step is to set a schedule for myself. I have 2 little kids so I have to be flexible. But I do try to stick to the rule of writing everyday while I’m drafting. You need to do it everyday to keep your brain thinking about your story. Taking a break during the drafting process causes more delay than you want, trying to get your mind back up to speed drives me crazy.

My favorite way to draft the first one is to do something called Fast Draft. A term coined by Candace Havens who started a yahoo group to give back to other writers. I can credit her solely will getting me over that first big hurdle when it came to actually sitting down and doing the work. Fast Draft forces you to committ to write 20 pages a day or about 5000 words a day.

As a writer I now understand that 2500 words is a high number for daily writing, 5000 is insane. But there’s a wonderful catch to it.

You only write this way for 2 week. 14 days. Your order out, you get a sitter, you create 2 weeks of writing heaven/hell. But you commit to it.

The first 3 days of it are rough, you don’t know your story very well, writing 20 pages is physically and mentally draining. But by day 4 you’ve immersed your brain, you’re thinking about your story 24/7 and you have breakthroughs, you have flashes of brilliance and you get into the flow. It’s enlightening. It’s creativity at its best. And you’re pushing out the page count in record time.

At 20 pages a day you can’t even begin to worry about editing, and you must learn to push through or work through ’stuck’ points and move on. It’s quite liberating. I highly recommend it. It’s only 2 weeks, and you’ll have 50k words when you’re done.

This is how I start my new works in progress. I hope this gives you some ideas on what might work best for you! Happy Writing!

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The devil is in the detail when it comes to writing fiction.  Small tidbits of detail can add much needed depth to your story.  I’m all about making each and every detail relevant to your story.  If my hero is drinking a can of soda, I have to mention which brand.  And understand WHY he is drinking a Mountain Dew instead of Coke or Pepsi.  But there’s a catch, you must research why… you must have some basis in fact or you’ll push your reader right out of their suspension of disbelief.

For the love of Pete and all your other readers please do not use movies as a source for information. Directors and screen writers use creative license to tweak facts in order to create a story people will want to watch on the big screen.  Writing fiction is a bit more subtle. Those little details need to be accurate or they can break the spell that binds the reader to your book.

Examples of how poor research lost a reader:

A couple of years ago I picked up an Oprah’s Book Club book.  I’ll be nice and not mention the name, but that’s also because I can’t remember it or the writer. You don’t want this to happen to you.

The book was historical fiction set in the late 1800’s about a poor girl in Appalachia.  I had read about half the book at this point. It was a good story, not great, but good.  Until I got to the part where the girl is making homemade Christmas ornaments out of aluminum foil*.  Now I’m not a history buff.  But somewhere in my brain I remembered reading about a medal that was given to Abraham Lincoln that was made of aluminum. Because at that time aluminum required so much energy to produce it was considered a precious metal.

When I read the about the girl and the tin foil stars I was immediately jarred out of the story.  Like someone cutting holes in my mental movie screen. Not only could I not pick the book up again but I couldn’t read anything by that author again.  I felt that they hadn’t done their homework**.  And it was something so small.  She could have made rag doll angels instead and the story would have been fine.  But the author chose a detail that didn’t fit and it ruined the story for me.  Obviously it didn’t ruin the story for Oprah.  I have other examples*** of similar research gone awry.  Please don’t include yourself and your writing with this group.

Take the time before your story**** to research the subject/history/location you are writing about.  And use multiple resources for accuracy.  For parts of your story that require a depth of knowledge, seek out experts in the field. Many are more than happy to share their knowledge.

Research also has a catch.  Don’t let it eat up all your writing time.  Do some initial research but then write your story. Get that draft out.  You’ll find areas where you’ll need more info.  Make a note of it and conduct additional research when you’re done with the first draft.

Do you have examples where a lack of research (um, besides this blog post) has pushed you out of a story?

Next week: How to start that new WIP, see you then!

* Since writing this article I decided to do some research on aluminum foil which came into wide production around 1926.  Prior to this Tin foil (a different metal, easier to process) was in wide use around the turn of the century.  As some of you may be aware tin foil is a commonly used term for aluminum foil even though it’s not really accurate.  If the author used the word tin foil in her writing she would be accurate (although I still wonder if the underprivileged in Appalachia would be able to purchase tin foil at the time the story takes place).  And so, I have proved the importance of researching BEFORE you write.  As an example, my blog post, although well intended, is completely void.

** The writer obvious DID do her homework.

*** Which I should have used!

**** And your blog post!

This week’s we’ll be touching on Character development, Plot or Arc building and World Building which I realize now is overload for a single blog post.  So we’ll touch on a few aspects of each and how I do it.  When you write you’ll probably have your own way or use some of what I do.  It’s totally up to you and what is the easiest most effective way for you to be creative and get the work done.

I’m a plotter.  I’ve learned over the years that there are 2 different types of writers. Plotters and Pantsers.  Pansters usually (but not always) start with a character.  Meaning their ideas show up as characters and they follow that character by writing about them and seeing where it takes them.

I’m going to use a car driving analogy here.

Pantsers write like they’re driving at night with the headlights on.  They write as far ahead as they can see and move forward.

A Plotter’s idea usually (but not always) shows up as a plot idea or string of events, or a specific character along with those series of events.  That’s how it works for me.  But I can’t start writing about that character until I know where I’m going.  I need a map.

Plotters write like they’re driving at night with the headlights on but with a map in their hand watching for signposts and land marks, all the while, moving forward.

First I come up with the idea. Then I sit around and think about the major plot points this idea needs to have.  This is where Christopher Vogler’s book comes in super handy.  He has 13 guideposts in his book that walk me through my potential story.  His style of story-telling is the type of story I like to read and write about and that’s why I use his methods.

This is where character and character arc show up for me.  I have to ask myself WHO would be the best person to carry out this heroic journey?  I start to develop some type of character at this point.  Someone with issues… problems of his or her own that they need to face. It’s important that the journey I send them on test their beliefs in themselves and their world.

I have to admit I am very aware that my character development is weak when I begin a new work in progress (WIP).  My characters grow deeper as I write about them, as I put them through their trials in the story.  At the end of my first draft I review my character arc and make sure it follows the plot line as it should.  But this I’ll cover when we get to Revisions!

I feel like I’m being very vague about everything.  I think that’s because there are so many details at this creative point that I can’t enumerate them all.  Perhaps I’ll start another series of posts that will delve deeper into each aspect, let me know if you’d be interested!

To sum up, after I come up with the idea, I sit down and outline my plot and come up with my main character and subsequent characters that I’ll need.  This outline is very much like a synopsis.  It’s a couple of pages long (single spaced) with Vogler’s plot points labeled and ideas written in paragraph form for each of the big scenes.  Including the last and final scene.

Yes, I like to know my ending.  It does not, as some suggest, make me bored with the story.  On the contrary, it excites me to know where I’m headed.  I love building up my story to the final climactic conclusion.

Next week we’ll discuss Research, which is the final thing I do before starting the FIRST DRAFT.  No matter what you write, from SF to Romance, you’ll need to know details about the world and characters you plan to create.  Happy Writing!  See you next week!

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