Writing ER

Yesterday I sat down to read the next few scenes for my rewrite.

They stunk.

To be honest, the scenes weren't as stinky as the writing. I must have been ten when I wrote them.

To be even more honest, amateur writing aside, the scenes were still pretty horrible. {heavy sigh}

Enter Grand Intervention in the form of The Fire In Fiction by Donald Maass. I'm reading a little bit every day while I eat lunch. Feeding two needs at once. Yesterday, I was a wee bit unhappy as I sat at the table and opened Fire at my bookmark. I read:

Authors, as they plow through the middle portion of their manuscripts, tend to write what they think ought to come next; furthermore, they write it in the first way it occurs to them to do so. In successive drafts such scenes tend to stay in place, little altered. Unsure what to do, an author may leave a scene in place because . . . well, just because.

And then:

To re-envision a scene, look away from the page and look toward what is really happening. What change takes place? When does that change occur (at what precise second in the scene)? In that moment, how is the point-of-view character changed? The point of those questions is to find the scenes' turning points (note the plural).

And I'll leave you with:

To put it plainly, scenes work best when they have both outer and inner turning points.

Thanks to a bit of direction by Donald Maass, I was able to fix one scene yesterday. Today, I plan on writing a new scene for a sub-plot and then move on to perform additional surgery on the next couple of seriously ill sections.

The Doctor is in.

CR: Love & Respect by Emerson Eggerichs.

It's all better with friends.

Novel Logs

I've been reading about keeping a novel log. It doesn't require anything more than a notebook and a pen. Oh, and that commitment thing.

It's kind of like a diary of your book, starting with your characters and setting. Plot points and other notations. Then you decide how many words you're going to write each day for two weeks. Be realistic. Be specific. What scene will you write that day? What are the key elements? Date your daily entries so you can easily find your newest thoughts and progress made.

When you start the detailed character part of your novel log, use words to describe them. Is there another fictional character they're like? Are they a combination of real people you know?

I already keep a list of my scenes. It's helpful to know which one I have to tweak because I've changed something somewhere else. Or a read-through has pointed up a loose thread or weak plot line. A type of scene list would be a wonderful addition to your novel log from the very beginning.

A quick reference area for research sources would be handy. Anything else?

All in one little notebook.

But then there's that commitment thig. I've been working hard trying to keep one of those 10-year journals. This is my first year and I already missed quite a few days after my mom died.

I want to try this novel log thing, but will I? It feels a little late for the one I'm working on now, but . . .

It's all better with friends.

The Science of Scenes

Science? Blick. What we create is art, right?

Well, yeah. Sorta.

But just like the formulas we learned in our science classes, there are formulas that work like magic in writing.

If you feel like your scenes are coming off like trying to ride a bike with square wheels, consider trying a proven technique that will round out those straight edges and give your writing momentum. Even if you don't feel you have a problem, there's a good chance your scenes don't all have the health they could. Pull on a white lab coat for a few minutes, and let's see if we can run a few diagnostic tests.

All of the ideas presented here are rooted in Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight Swain. If you don't have this book in your craft library, you'll want to remedy that situation pronto. Another valuable online resource is Randy Ingermanson's site. He's got lessons for writers up the wazoo.

What are the books you've enjoyed the most? (For additional thoughts, see an earlier post based on Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass.)

I love books that put me in the action. Whether it's falling in love, or ferreting out the murderer, or chasing down terrorists, or finding the magic potion to save the realm, I want to experience the emotions. I want to Be There.

The most proven authors put me there by putting on their lab coats and taking care of business. Artfully.

Scenes are either the originating scene, or they are a sequel (also a scene, but for the sake of diagnostics, we call it something else. A lot like stuff in medicine). An instigating scene, if you will, and then the aftermath sequel.

Instigating scenes have three distinct parts:

• Goal: Just like in real life, your POV character's goal must be specific. She's after something and everyone knows exactly what it is. She may be after something good or something bad—doesn't matter. What matters is her goal is clearly understood by the reader.

• Conflict: Life for fictional characters is never easy. That's why we don't get bored. Give them obstacles that get in the way of them achieving their goal. Your readers will love it.

• Disaster: In real life you would never do this, but in fiction you must. Make something awful happen to your POV character. Never, never be nice. Give your reader a reason to turn the page.

Aftermath sequels conveniently have three distinct parts:

• Reaction: Your POV character just went through a disaster. She's bound to have some kind of reaction to that, right? Pour the emotions on. She's reeling. She's hurting. The trick here is to use strong verbs (well, you should ALWAYS use strong verbs) but don't wallow. No one likes to hang out with wallowers, and that includes readers. She needs to reflect and get a grip. But she runs into a problem . . .

• Dilemma: She is in a dilemma. There is no clear answer to her disaster. The choices are awful. Let her chew on her worry for a bit. Let your reader worry with her. It's all part of the emotional roller coaster. Which is what your reader's love.

• Decision: You want a strong POV character, right? Strong people make decisions. Let her make a good decision. One that makes sense to your readers, as perilous as it may be (and it should be perilous), but one she could pull off . . . maybe.

Do you get the page-turning thing here?

And now, your POV character has a new goal. Amazing, huh?

Since we are responsible and thorough, like our favorite medical counterparts, we have a few more details to check—those lovely "Motivation-Reaction Units." Without MRUs, your lovely scene could end up in ICU. (sorry)

Here's how MRUs are supposed to work in a healthy scene:

The motivation is external. What does your POV character see? What does EVERYONE see? It's objective. Everyone sees the same thing. There is nothing internal going on when you create the motivation.

Example: The shadow split and a gun barrel glinted under the streetlight.

Clear. Simple. On-screen.

The reaction is internal. How does your POV character experience what just happened—emotionally? This is completely subjective . . . within the mind of your POV character. Here's your opportunity to bring your reader into the skin of your character. Awesome.

There is a timing thing to consider with reactions. A motivation happens. It's there. It's immediate. A reaction takes time to develop. And it ALWAYS develops in this order:

With a reaction, there's an immediate feeling. How does your POV character feel when she sees the shadow split?

Second, there's a reflex. What is the instinctive spin-off? This takes a split-second longer than that first feeling.

And third comes some kind of believable action and speech. Usually in that order.

Motivations and reactions are always separate paragraphs. This keeps things clear.

Here's the deal: keep the pattern going. A motivation. Then reaction. Another motivation and its reaction. When you're done, so is either your instigating scene or your aftermath sequel.

Every scene and every sequel is nothing but a series of well-connected MRUs. If you've written something that isn't either a motivation or a reaction, introduce it to the Delete key. Be hard. Be ruthless. Be a good practioner of your craft.

One more thing about scenes . . . come in late and leave early.

And one more thing about our art. Lay the diagnosis aside. Turn the internal editor off. Write with abandon. Feel the wind beneath your wings. Soar. Dive. Slice the air and ride the currents. When you're finished, let it rest.

Then put on your lab coat.

It's all better with friends.

Seat-Of-The-Pants Plotting

Sounds kind of like an oxymoron, doesn't it? Actually, it's a pretty good description of the way I've learned to put a manuscript together.

This is how I stumbled onto something that works for me. You will find your own way. It could be very simple--you plot. Or it could be you'll develop your own blend of things that get your from Point A to Point Z in a logical and orderly way.

For what it's worth, here's my input.

I can think an idea to death. One will come into my head with so much promise and excitement and potential. But if I push it too much by planning and plotting, I kill it. I sit around with this dead thing stinking up my office and wonder why I can't pick up a fresh scent.

Other writers can plot like crazy from the very beginning and still love their projects--and it shows in their writing.

When I first started writing seriously, I had a story idea and a few characters brewing around in my head. I planted my behind in the chair, put my hands on the keyboard and began typing away. Thank goodness it wasn't suspense--which requires clear, concise direction. My initial effort didn't have much of any of those qualities. Thanks to some gentle coaching by my critique partners, my writing improved enough to win an award, but the story left me lifeless. Like cookie crumbs in the bottom of a glass of milk. Blick.

Now what?

I took my major characters, tweaked them a bit and threw them into a suspense story that energized me and kept me interested. Phew! What a relief to be excited again.

Now what?

I began with a general idea and coaxed it along. The slightest massaging without heavy-duty plotting. I knew a couple of plot points and a twist or two. Fun. But that's all I knew. What I ended up with, for my first draft, was not much more than a fat outline--mostly dialogue and scene titles. I had created an outline without knowing it. That works for me.

Now what?

I needed clarification. Tight pacing and focus. Some . . . er . . . suspense stuff. Creating a detailed, traditional outline didn't excite me. I figured I had one I could work with--why do two? But I needed to also keep things straight. I'd played a little with 3x5 cards in the past, and they were okay, but not visually stimulating. After all, I'm a product of television and movies. Tactile is good, visual would be better. I heard about using colored sticky notes to help the plotting process. My first attempt was a mess:

It was pretty, but a mess nonetheless. I felt productive and creative while I was putting the little pieces of colored paper up, but in the end I couldn't keep them straight. Or move them around very easily.

Susan Lohrer shared the idea with me to have a little more color-coded consistency in my approach. The top photo shows my timeline in blue, different scene POV's in their own character-colors, with the plot points for each scene listed on purple. You can see a couple of little "adds" (and now there are more of those), that represent things I need to make sure and incorporate because of changes I've made elsewhere.

By jove, I think I've found something I can work with.

It's all better with friends.

Delicious and Devious

Do any of you have motion sickness?

Before my husband and I took our first cruise, I got those little wrist bands with buttons in them that you place over the pulse-points in your wrists. People have always asked me whether or not they work. All I can say is, I didn't get seasick. (Well, not as much as my history has shown.) Whether that's based on physical science or psychological phenomena, I really don't care. I had a great cruise.

That leads me to brainwaves.

I ordered the CD from Writer's Mind on January 30th. It arrived in my mailbox on February 2nd. Talk about fast. I decided it was an omen.

Here's what happened on Sunday between our regular Sunday Brunch and heading out to watch the Super Bowl with friends. I played with my brainwaves.

. . . (and the raging question is, "Would this have happened anyway?")

Broken Bones's (my work in progress) next scene is an inserted one and not a re-write. My planning process called it "Bond and partner discuss deaths" a scene culminating in Bond deciding to investigate on her own.

I sat looking at a blank computer screen (save for my scene title) and feeling icky. Zonked. Incapable of moving forward and decidedly short of any imagination. I recognized a complete lack of conflict (my critique partners have trained me well), which would undoubtedly lead me to poor scene structure and forced results. I needed help. I needed a jolt of creativity.

Determined, or at least desparate, I plopped the headphones onto my head and put my new CD on Track 1. Track 1 is called "Inspiration" and is supposedly designed to use Alpha waves to kick both sides of my brain into "relaxed mental awareness, reflection, visualization, and creativity." I threw on a jacket and pulled on some gloves (winter in Colorado) and kicked myself out the door for a little walk with mental exercise as my goal.

I started trying to force myself down the planned route of a discussion between partners. I mean, it must be in my plot plan for a reason, right? I'd gone maybe a block when I finally allowed myself to look at other options.

Voíla.

Bond is gonna come upon her partner doing something suspicious (I haven't quite figured that out yet--but it will implicate her) which will spur her to look into what's going on, increasing her personal danger. No boring discussions. Just subterfuge, pure and simple.

Science or psychology? I really don't care.

Delicious and devious.

It's all better with friends.