Diving into process

I still haven't quite found a novel writing method that reliably works for me. I inevitably end up pulling apart huge chunks of my first drafts because they make no sense, structurally speaking. My characters do things that make no sense and apparently I'm unable to see that in the outline or while I'm writing. So I'm still tweaking.

I wrote the first draft of the novel I'm currently editing, The Avatar Legacy, using Cathy Yardley's Rock Your Writing method and while it's significantly better than what I had at the start of editing the novel I'm currently querying, Familiar Phantoms, I'm still going to have to rip out the entire middle of the book, which I'm frankly not too happy about. Which is not to say that it's the fault of the process at all. Regardless, for my revision outline, I'm trying out a different approach. Libbie Hawker's book Take Off Your Pants looks like an interesting take on story structure. It's largely based on John Truby's The Anatomy of Story, although Hawker presents her method in a much more approachable way.

Hawker describes her method as a three-legged stool. The three legs are character arc, theme,and pacing. Without any one of them the story will not stand, or it will be wibbly wobbly. The story's core has five elements; a character (1) who wants something (2), something that prevents them from getting what they want easily (3), leading them to struggle against that force (4) leading to either success or failure (5). That's the very basics of the method, but the book goes into more depth and is absolutely worth reading.

This is the third process I'm trying out for novel writing. Well, fourth, to be completely accurate, since I pantsed my way through the first two novels that I wrote that will never see the light of day, at least not as they are now. My first was the one covered in Rachel Aaron's 2k to 10k, parts of which I'll be likely to use pretty much always since they really help me focus in on what I want to say with the book I'm writing. I used Cathy's Rock Your Writing method to revise that book and write the next one, the one I'm now using Hawker's method to revise. I'm planning to use Hawker's method to write the next one (a project with no name about a fairy godmother temp agency).

What do I want off my noveling process? I want to be able to identify possible problems earlier. I want to be able to consistently and fairly easily create an outline that helps me get through the book faster. Part of this is most likely a matter of experience too, but anything that can help me get there faster is a-okay in my book. I keep getting these vague concepts that I can't figure out the actual story to and from what little I've seen from Hawker's method, I think it might get me closer to that than my previous ones. I doubt that this will end by being the last time I tweak my noveling process, but at least it's a step forward. The idea is to keep tweaking until I manage to find a process that consistently works for my needs. Take the things that work and discard the ones that don't.

What is your novel writing process? Are you happy with it? If not, what are you using to develop it further?

How I Outlined Funny Tragic Shadowed Magic By Accident.

It took me eight years to write my first four novels. In that time I had three kids, so I guess that makes sense.

 My fourth novel Funny Tragic Crazy Magic was the best novel I knew how to write at the time, and I published it. It did really well, especially for a first novel. It spent eight weeks in the top 10,000 on Amazon, the lowest it got was 3,450 something. And it's still selling, that's the exciting thing.

The number one feedback I heard from everyone who read it,  was my favorite question-- Are you going to write a sequel?

When I wrote it, I was very satisfied with the ending, and felt it was a stand alone book. However, publishing has taught me a lot, and the number one thing, is that if the reader isn't satisfied, then you can't be either.

So I looked into it, and they were so right. HOLY COW, THERE IS SO MUCH STORY THERE. I even started writing the sequel, got a few thousand words into it, but I knew it was the wrong path. It was stressful too, I guess. I didn't know how to write a sequel. I didn't want people to be disappointed, and I wanted a sequel I could be proud of, that FTCM deserved.

And I had different stories pounding on my head.

In the year and three months since publishing FTCM, I've written four novels. Granted I three of those novels were Prophecy Breakers, (whazup ladies!) so I didn't do it alone. But I've learned a lot in that time. I've learned from Sabrina and Melanie. I've learned from Waxling. I've learned from my amazing betas, and mostly I've learned from my  AWESOME readers. I love that feedback the very best. I love seeing what they want, what they need from the story. And I've studied, practiced, and written about 250,000 words all on my own. Kinda crazy when you add them all up. I've been working really hard this year.

About a week ago I was on Pintrest (obviously working hard) and one pin I pinned almost a year ago had a comment by a reader I've never met.  (Hi Madison!)

 Well, that comment got me thinking... just one more time. Since the last time I approached FTCM's sequel, I've written a sequel (with help). But I know more now. So now, Sheena, what are we going to do for the sequel?

Yes, I talk to myself in third person.

Anyway, an idea fell out.

Not just an idea, the right idea. I knew it the second I thought it. This was the idea I was waiting for.



I tried to catch it on the closest piece of paper I could find (a junk mail envelope). My husband took a picture with his phone and then posted it on my author page, and people got excited. (I don't know why, it is not a flattering photo) I had more page views for that goofy picture than I've had in months, and a couple of my amazing readers started sending me private messages, responding, encouraging me.

The next day I was scrolling facebook (again being really productive) and one of my writer friends posted this link, a simple novel outline-9 questions for 25 chapters.

I could do nine questions. I could do simple outline. I know the idea, so I could totally do this.  I got out my envelope and opened a file, and started answering the questions and filled out my simple outline. It helped that I had figured out my 8-character-archetypes on that envelope, and that I knew my hero, and my hero's goal, and set up the whole story idea around those goals. It was easy, took maybe ten minutes to answer those questions and figure out all the chapter headings. Simple.

 At the bottom of that article, there was another link to an article,Quick Overview of The Heros Journey, and it said that this simple outline works really well with the Hero's Journey. SO... simple. Quick. Easy.  I could do that. I clicked the link, and made a few simple adjustments and amplifications of my simple outline so it fit within that Journey. This took another ten minutes, but it was fun and simple.

There was another link on the side of that blog about the snowflake method, but it wasn't super helpful to me, so I googled it, found this snowflake-method link, and before I knew it, (okay, so it took three days and several hours of work), I'd filled out the first eight steps of the snowflake method, until I knew the story backwards and forwards. I could fix story structure before I wrote. CRAZY CONCEPT for me, and I knew all the characters, and why they did everything they are about to do. I had a list of necessary scenes, and chapters. Before I knew I had done it, I wrote 10,000 words of a detailed outline.

So that's kinda crazy.

And my betas, my beautiful amazing betas haven't finished reading Pyromancy yet, so I can't really work on the next one, and Waxling is tricky because of story structure problems that an outline would have fixed, and I have stressful things coming up and needed to escape, so I kinda sorta started writing Funny Tragic Shadowed Magic. I'm five chapters in, and it's the right beginning. It's going to be awesome.

It's weird though writing from an outline. It's weird knowing all the details, and the twists and turns of the story that are coming up. But it's given me so much more confidence in the details of the story. I know these people already, and I know that their story line will make sense, so I get to sit behind their heads and play there. It's cool, because since I know all the settings, all the characters, I don't have to use my mental energy to create them at the time, so I find I can write more in a sitting, and really enjoy the language, and the voice of the character.

Outlining is actually fun. Who knew? I'm loving being able to creating twists and turns without risk of failure. I can throw out any plot twist or do any twisted thing my broken brain can come up with and see where it leads. I know no one will ever read that outline, so I don't have to work on the language, don't have to work on making it sound pretty, or think about the weight of an audience on my shoulders while I make the major decisions, and it makes writing easier. There is no block, because I know what comes next. If I'm in the mood to write an action scene, or an angsty scene, or a kissing scene, I know right were they go, and I can just write what I want, and know where the characters are in their journey.

Which will be SO helpful to battle against the obsession that is the world of Prophecy Breakers. Once the betas get Pyromancy back to us, I can jump back in and play, and know exactly where to go next when I come back to it. All this work in one paper, so I won't forget it.

So this is what I've learned this week. I'm putting the pants away. Perhaps for good.

And one more thing...a sequel is coming. I'm working on it as we speak.

Thank you, Madison, for commenting. You never know the power of one kind word.
~Sheena

Plotting

Picture from stock xchange

In gearing up for NaNoWriMo fellow proser Trisha blogged last week about plotting.   It's a brilliant post about how to determine when to deviate from that all so sacred outline.  Check it out if you haven't read it yet.

Anyway, her post got me thinking about plotting.  I've been wanting to write a post about plot for a while now since it is a crucial element in story-telling, but the problem is that I don't really know how I plot.

I come up with a story idea, and I think about different directions the story could go.  Most of the time, the ideas get stashed away and are pulled out every once and a while until a solid story starts forming and becomes really interesting, then I think about it more and more until I have a vague idea of where I want the story to go. Only when I have a crude outline of the major plot points in my head can I start writing.

But I've only just begun plotting.

I've heard that there are two different types of plotting. A panster or discovery writer who comes up with an idea and just starts writing with little or no idea of where the story is going, and an outliner who drafts a meticulous outline of the whole story before the writing begins. I’m sure that there are some writers who fit these extremes, but my guess is that most fall somewhere in the middle.

I'm a half-outliner, half-panster. I know where I'm starting and where I want to go, and maybe even a few stops on the way, but I have no idea what roads I'm going to take, and I'm pretty flexible. I may discover a better destination along the way. But I can't just get into the car and start driving. I have to have some idea of where I'm going before I can even write one sentence.

It is figuring out which road to take on my journey that most of my plotting takes place.  And things change and develop many times in ways I couldn’t predict before I started, but I always keep my eyes on the ending, and the story moving forward.  So plotting a story is a journey for me, and while it isn’t easy, I do enjoy the ride.

I’m not sure if how I plot is helpful, but I have learned a few things through my plotting that I’d like to share.

1.  Plot, characters, and setting are all intricately connected.  

Like I said above, I start out with a story idea.  Then I develop the plot and character and setting all at the same time.  I start with a scenario and then think about what kind of world would this happen in and what of person would do this, and I start world-building and characterization which feeds into plot which affects the world-building and characterization, and eventually, they are all so intertwined that I have no idea what came first.    For me, developing the story this way ensures that characters, setting, and plot all integrated  and, hopefully, all fit perfectly into the story I want to tell.

2.  Small plot points are key.  

In my experience, the large plot points are the easy part, not that it's all that easy, but deciding that I want my character to get from point A to point B is much easier than actually getting her there.  Those small plot points are what I struggle the most with, but in the end, that journey the characters go on is much more important than destination.  But figuring out those small plot points, those pathways, are what I struggle with most in writing.  The only I get through them is spending a lot of time thinking real hard, going for a run helps too.

3.   Listen to the characters. 

I don’t know how long it will take for me to learn this.  I’ve ran into this problem a few times, when my characters want to go one direction and I want them to go another.  I fight them every time because I have a plan and they are ruining it, but I’ve learned (slowly) to listen to them.  Whenever I fought them, I’ve had to go back and rewrite huge sections of the story.  So listening to the characters is vital.

4.  Keep up the tension.  

Most of the problems I've had with my plotting was lack of tension or falling tension.  The conflict and tension need to keep rising to keep the story going.  There can be breaks and moments to regroup, but even then there needs to be forward momentum, but mostly, the tension needs to keep rising towards the climax.

5.  Plotting is like a puzzle.    

I actually love plotting even though it is hard for me.  It's like a puzzle, that you shouldn't be afraid to play around with and try new angles.  But once you get over some huge hurdles things just start falling into place, and that feels like magic when everything just starts to click together and just feels right.  It's awesome.

So those are my plotting tips.  What are some of yours?

~MaryAnn

My Secret Ingredient

I made clam chowder last week.  Clams are not my favorite food on the planet, and chowder doesn't appeal to me, but my husband loves it so I figured I'd give it a shot.  I found a recipe, got my ingredients together and started chopping vegetables.  When it came time to saute them in the pan, I stopped.  "You know what this needs?" I said to my husband.  "Bacon."

I pulled out the bacon, fried it, set it aside, and cooked the vegetables in the grease.  I followed the rest of the recipe to the letter, but just before serving I crumbled the bacon into the chowder.  What I ended up with was chowder that immediately topped my family's list of favorite dinners.

So what does this have to do with writing?  A lot, actually.  Last week I wanted to talk about outlines, but with family visiting, I ran out of time.  Outlines are fantastic.  They are like recipes.  Our characters get their background from them.  They give us a step-by-step guide to keep our plots on track.  The trouble for me is knowing when to stick with the recipe, and when to switch it up.  When to add a little bacon.

I wrote my first story without an outline.  What I turned out was a 120,000 word monstrosity.  There were entire chapters that never should have made it into the story, but I was so lost that I needed that chapter to act as a buffer, to give me time to figure out where I was going and why.  I will probably never go back and fix that story, because it's more mess than usable material.  It taught me that I'm not one of those organized people that can keep things straight in my head.  After that, I started outlining.

The next story I wrote was better.  It had a clear beginning, middle and end.  What it didn't have was room to branch out.  I stuck to the outline so completely that the story ended up boring the pants off of me.  There were no exciting twists, no fun scenes where I went, "Wow, I can't believe I came up with that!"  It was so painful to write, in fact, that I started to question what the heck I was even doing.  Maybe writing wasn't for me.  What's the point in writing if you aren't having fun?

Over the years, I've had to find a middle ground.  It's still hard to figure out where that line is between following the recipe I wrote for myself, and adding a secret ingredient.  I give myself a loose guide, and fill in the blanks as I go.  I still struggle when it comes time to break away from my outline and make a major plot change, but I'm getting better.  I think this is my greatest defect as a writer, and probably something I'll struggle with for the rest of my life.  But understanding the problem is half the battle, and that makes me feel pretty good about my future as a writer.

What's your biggest challenge, and how do you compensate for it?

500 Billion Words

I have been doing my own version of an outline, and getting a sense of my characters for the NaNoWriMo story I'm writing next month (I've changed stories 3 or 4 times in the last 7 days) and to top it all off, I've got family visiting from out of town.  So while I'd love to write an elegant, lengthy post about the pros and cons of outlining, it's not going to happen.  In place of that, here are some links that put into words the gist of what's been on my mind this week.  Hope you enjoy!

The Writing Place: Prose and Cons of Outlining a Story

Writer Revealed: To Outline or Not

The last thing I want to share with you is another TED talk, one that I really enjoyed when I first came across it.  You've probably already seen it, but for those that haven't, here is a glimpse at what we've learned from 5 million books.

Have a great week everyone!