NaNoWriMo Perspectives and Helps

Just picture it: you are your newborn
(novel).

Hello, Scribblers and Book Bandits,

If you are considering doing NaNoWriMo this year, welcome to a smorgasbord of perspectives on the matter! Every year, as October comes to an end, I post about this month-long literary celebration. Here are a few old posts and a few new ones for Wrimos to digest.

Last year, I posted a pre-NaNo roundup of great resources. They are still helpful, so feel free to check them out. The post by Mary Kole gives the positives and negatives of the exercise.  Nathan Bransford offers helpful resources in his post, such as his "NaNoWriMo Bootcamp." The experienced story consultant Lisa Cron talks about how to avoid the pitfalls inherent in a month-long noveling stint. Martha Alderson tells us how we can pre-plot our novels in preparation for the event.

This list of genre descriptions from Agentquery.com can help you discover and decide the genre of  novel-to-be.

Lisa Cron writes on the subject of NaNo once again, this time advising writers about how to prep your characters.

And, finally, young adult author and illustrator Ingrid Sundberg gives her own five tips about how to prepare.

So far, most of these posts have been supportive, if realistic, perspectives. But not everyone feels that way about NaNo, which is something important to consider. Maggie Stiefvater, who has tried NaNo in the past, 1.) rants about it (hilariously) in her annual "Dear John" letter, and 2.) explains why she dislikes it and why no one needs it.

As with everything else, we have to decide for ourselves whether NaNo can be a helpful part of our writing process. I'm in the midst of trying out the insane-outline approach to noveling, so I will not be taking part, at least in the traditional sense. What have you decided?

Photo Attribution:
Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1981-076-05A / Höss / CC-BY-SA [CC-BY-SA-3.0-de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons

Story Notes, Story Words & My 86 Seconds of Fangirly Fame

Scribblers and Book Bandits,

If you watch the first 1 min and 26 seconds of this video , you will see me being fangirly famous (sort of); I promise it will be useful to you, if you do, because we'll be analyzing the writing style of Lauren Oliver based on the info she shares about her writing process.



Yeeeah, did you hear? Christy Luis!

Okay, onto the real subject of this post.

Lauren Oliver writes enormously popular Young Adult and Middle Grade fiction (Before I Fall, The Pandemonium series, The Spindlers). I've only read the first novel, but its unusual structure and skilled plotting drew my attention--it was a very impressive debut. Oliver also runs an innovative e-publisher called Paper Lantern Lit. She and other "story architects" find writers with a strong voice and teach them about the higher order writing skills involved in structuring story. The architects provide the structure; the writers provide "the talent."

All this talk about structure is what interested me in Lauren Oliver. She obviously has a strong writing method that works for her, so I decided to ask her about it.

What she shares in this video is a mix of planner/pantser writing style. I want to talk about it with you and compare it to 1.) a strict planner's process, and 2.) a strict pantser's process.

I asked emailed this question to Oliver: "You said you write 1,000 words a day. Are all of these words 'story words?' Or do outlining and brainstorming count?" A writer-friend and I had recently discussed the benefits of writing "story notes" along with story drafts. She and I have both wondered if story notes really "count" towards daily word quotas when one is working on a novel. In order to truly understand this concept and its relevance to our own processes, it will be helpful to compare the "panster" method, which uses very few "story notes," versus the "planner method" with its targeted story notes (outlines, brainstorms, etc.). The key for each individual writer is to discover her own happy medium, as Lauren Oliver has. We will analyze her method after looking at first the pantser, then the planner method.

"Story Words" are written “in the moment” --they are short sighted because they come from deep a character's point of view; in contrast, Story Notes are good for long range planning and following several idea strands to see where they could end. Story notes and story words come at the problem in two different ways. These two approaches are also known "pantser" versus "plotter."

Sometimes writing a scene is the only way to discover bits of a story. Quick example: I was trying to outline my first few novel chapters and the plan wasn't clicking very well, but I had to write the chapters anyway for a school deadline. As I wrote, I realized my main character was actually an orphan working as a prison guard as payment for his room and board in the prison's training wing. I may never have found this knowledge, which solved several of my story snarls, simply using story notes and outlining. I had to write in the character's prison-issued shoes in order to understand his sad existence.

In writing NaNoWriMo novels (50,000 words in 30 days during National Novel Writing Month, which is November), I learned some of the benefits of "just writing" without listening to my "inner editor"--the pantser method. Extreme versions of this method have worked well for some authors, such as, say, Ray Bradbury. Pantsers write first drafts, or even multiple drafts, of the story in lieu of outlining and story-notes. Bradbury advised his students to write 4 pages a day. "Most of that will be bilge, but the rest will save your life.” He would think about the work and organize its structure after writing it. These types of writers often say, "Once I've got words on the page, it's much easier to 'fix' them."

But as far as I can tell, I don't work well writing 1670 words a day (average for a NaNoWriMo day) off the cuff. NaNo gave me a few nifty plot twists, a bit of lovely prose and a giant mess of a first draft. In attempting to revise two (and a half) NaNo novels, I learned that writing that way is simply too fast because I literally don't have time to outline, write story notes and discover all the options I could take. I have no time to explore and ruminate. Each time, I ended up throwing out the entire story draft because it's structure is too much of a mess. It doesn't matter how much I love the lovely bits if there is no real useable story.

I think my stories turn out this way because my natural story choices aren't usually the best. I have to explore all of my options in order to find the perfect one (at least on the structural and outer-character-arc levels). Juliet Marillier is an example of a professional author who explores extensively before actually writing. You can read two great breakdowns of her process, here and here, in her own words. And I know I've probably mentioned this about a thousand times on the blog and elsewhere, but John Truby offers a thorough and effective array of structural techniques in his book The Anatomy of Story. I am still mining this "planner method," because I didn't even know about it until after I wrote my first novel NaNo style (which is probably a good thing. I would have run away screaming before I had a chance to get hooked). For my second NaNo, I outlined a little bit in preparation, but I still didn't know what I was doing. Bradbury did say that plotting should happen  after the first draft. So there is a planning, organizing and plotting phase that a writer must go through. Why not do it before actually writing?

It seems to me that story notes and first drafts accomplish much the same thing, even if they go about it a bit differently. I try to solve as many problems as I can using story notes because it’s much quicker for me than spending days on a sequence of scenes which I must promptly throw out because, well, the structure was unstable/a character took an entirely wrong turn/should have been the antagonist instead; etc. So story notes should count at least somewhat towards a daily word goal. (I will address that "somewhat" in a bit.)

Let's get back to Lauren Oliver for a sec, because she falls right in the middle of this planner/pantser debate. Oliver's process is a bit more of a "pantser" method than I am able to work with, at least at this point in my journey. She writes 1,000 words a day, and 90% of days, she's writing "story words" not "story notes" like brainstorming and outlining.

I researched Oliver a bit and found other insights into her process that contextualize this tidbit. In a different video, Oliver also says that she begins novels impulsively by writing about 10,000 words of her story without slowing down. If the story seems to be jiving, she sets it aside and compiles a working outline before continuing on with her word count. Perhaps the "working outline" is a very SMALL working outline, or perhaps she only takes a few full days to write it. At any rate, she does not take months to do so because, as we know, she writes 1,000 story words a day.

Oliver also offers that she started trying to write novels at a very young age and it took her many years to actually finish one. When she finally did finish one in college, it had no plot. So if young writers just blast out ginormous word quotas from the beginning, most of it the writing be structural miasma. I believe this is why Oliver also often says that it takes time to build up the discipline of meeting a word quota everyday. The quotas may be time quotas, fifteen minutes a day, in the beginning (as she said in another video). I believe by this she means that beginningish writers can meet some sort of quota and raise the quota as they grow in skill enough to properly meet it every day.

And in another video, she mentioned that her first drafts are, let's say, what Hemmingway calls first drafts. This means that she does what many pantsers do and basically uses her first draft as an outline. Her guest author friend essentially answered the question the same way as Oliver, but allowed that sometimes she "cheats" by letting "planning" into the word count.

So what I'm getting from all of this is "What you put into the words is what you get out of them." If you just let loose and write thousands of words a day, you will probably have to snip a lot of lousy and a lot of wonderful writing because it simply doesn't fit the end product. But that does not mean we have to write as Juliet Marillier does in the posts I linked above, outlining every paragraph, practically. In fact, that may be taking too much control and losing creativity, for some people. 

But truly, for several reasons, writing "story words" and "story notes" go hand in hand. When one or the other isn’t helping, I switch.

Eventually we need to recognize when it's time to begin. We cannot just write story notes forever, obviously--we must hone our skill and gradually work towards the confidence that we can begin our stories. I've come to the conclusion that it's important to "write write" at least a little bit during every writing session, be it character exercises for your novel, actual scenes, or even writing on another project that is past the planning stage (I'm preaching to myself, here, but feel free to take it to heart).

I think the NaNo method of a first draft can work wonders if I outline it significantly first. I'm working on a big 'ole outline right now, and I hope to blast out the first draft during a NaNo stint(perhaps next month, perhaps during Camp NaNo), outline in hand. I'm using John Truby book that I mentioned earlier in order to write my outline.

This is my opinion based on trial and error, and it will probably change in my growth as a writer. We all must discover through trial and error what works and what doesn't for our unique processes. It’s time-consuming to really search out and understand my own process, but I guess that’s why they say it takes a million words or a decade to learn how to write well!"

Hopefully you find something helpful in this mess of methodology comparison, whether you're a pantser or a planner or something in between. Should you write story notes? Or should you press on with your word count? It's up to you to find out.

Photo Attribution:
Different kinds of Kings of Clubs. By Tired time (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

 

How I Write Essays in 16 Steps (Which can also be how YOU write essays in 16 Steps!)

If I've learned how to do one thing as an English major, it's how to write a solid essay. This process took a long time to refine, though, starting way back in Junior Year of high school. (Well, before then, my teachers tried to teach me. Thank you, Ben Sombs. But I was not very receptive at that time, I guess! :) Many of the teachers at Regent University online have been particularly helpful in giving me personalized feedback about what wasn't working in my essays. Gradually, this and writing stories have helped me develop a good process. (The processes of essay-writing and story-writing actually don't differ a whole lot, as I'll note along the way.) I don't always use every step because each essay is a little different; but I wanted to share all the tools I have used. This post will share everything I wish I knew back when I first started writing essays.

1.) Before I begin read my source (if the essay requires one) and subject or prompt, I find some good study materials to ponder along with my reading; if the essay requires no source, I carefully examine the prompt. Study questions are particularly helpful for research or analysis essays: I find them on websites like Sparknotes.com, or get them from a teacher. If I can, I find some sort of introduction or context for the source, as well. I also make sure to study my prompt very carefully; my AP English teacher always said "'AP' stands for 'Address the Prompt.'"

2.) Then I begin reading my source and taking notes on themes or anything that could possibly be useful.* For longish research essays, this step could take up quite a bit of time. But...I shut up and eat my peas. That's just how writing goes, sometimes! Hence why I like to get started on this a week or two before my essay is due.

*If I don't need a source, I just brainstorm about my topic and thesis. When I finish brainstorming, I skip to step 4 on this list.

Notes are like mind mulch. Good seeds come from mind mulch. (To see how I make mind mulch for stories, check out this post.)

3.) Once I'm finished reading, I just write about the material for a while in an effort to pin down topic ideas. Actually, sometimes I'm not finished reading everything, yet, if this is a research essay; but I make sure to constantly ask, "What is the author of the source trying to tell me?" as I do read and after I finish a source. As I observe main points and themes (for which the study questions come in handy), I keep asking myself what might be useful for my thesis. Throughout this step and the rest, I ask myself question after question about the material and my own notes so I can begin to understand it all and make connections. I describe this process in this post, if you are curious about it. Although I describe it there in terms of story-writing, it works exactly the same way in essay-writing.

4.) When I've brainstormed everything I can possibly think of to say on the sources and topics, I go back over my notes and highlight the best stuff I find there. This mysterious "best stuff" will often be made up of conclusions I've drawn from the rest of the mass. Sometimes I'll spend a whole page or more just coming to one conclusion. Most teachers never tell you that lots of "eh-but-necessary notes" happen before the good stuff happens. Once in a while, the study questions yield good stuff immediately. But by the time I finished my last essay, an analysis of Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders, I ended up with a whopping six pages of messy notes on top of the four pages of my essay. And each note brought me closer to "the end."

5.) I compile the "good stuff" onto a new page or word document, separating it from the leftovers.  Typically, by this point, some sort of central idea is beginning to percolate in the back of my mind, so I pick the notes that fit that idea. But I make sure to save the old leftover notes in case I change my mind later.

6.) At this point, I might need to take a break. Emptying my brain is usually exhausting, if I do it right.

7.) Next, I make connections between my ideas by scanning and sorting my good notes (and, if necessary, my leftovers). I write s'more, beginning to form ideas for the introduction that will lead me and my readers through the mass of information (though the introduction will not truly take its final shape until later). If I need to, I riffle amongst those old notes I saved. Perhaps I find that I need to expand or change the central idea, or perhaps my exhausted brain picked the wrong central idea at first. Whatever the reason, old notes sometimes come in handy. Because I'm a visual learner, I use strikethrough text to cross out old ideas when they may have become irrelevant, and I use the highlighter tool to pick out new "good stuff." Actually, I don't know what the heck a visual learner is, or if I am one, but these two tools sure help! At this point, I am still asking and answering any questions about my own essay or my source the way I described in that post I mentioned in step 3.

8.) After I've picked some good ideas out of my notes, I develop a thesis. I refine the central idea I've been pondering. It may be tough to find amidst all the possibilities, so I keep them all, for now. My thesis may begin to come to me even before I've finished all my research. And even at this point, my central idea/Frankenstein monster thesis may completely change. I usually panic at this step because it's hard, but I'm sort of learning to skip that and just keep looking for the best option.  The best kind of thesis will not have lots of directions--it will be fairly concise. It will state a firm claim about my topic, one I think I can prove. Everything else I write in this essay will depend upon this one little sentence. Again, highlighting and strikethrough text come in handy.

The thesis is a lot like the premise of a story. Or like God. It is the Alpha and the Omega of your essay.

9.) Once I have my thesis, I move it onto a brand-spankin'-new page. This is a new beginning, because I finally have a focus point for my essay. But I keep my notes in a separate document in case I need them again.

10.) I use my notes to figure out what points to make in support of my thesis. These are called "supporting points," and they will form the backbone of my essay though the body paragraphs. It may take some time to find these main points. I compile all the major ideas I've discovered into the all important introductory paragraph, which is still messy. I compare them with my thesis and pick the best ones.

11.) Once I  have some possible "supporting points," there's nothing to do but try them out. I start filling in the spots between the supporting points to see if they actually lead anywhere (they don't always, but there's no way to find that out until I explore them). Yep, more notes! But these notes will eventually become my body paragraphs. I make sure to quote directly from my source to support each of my points. Even supporting points need support.

12.) Once I've filled out my body paragraphs, I start connecting them with transitions. If I can't connect one of my supporting points/body paragraphs, that's alright. I just paste it right near the top of my "notes" documents so I know where to find it, in case I change my mind. I may even erase it using "track changes" if I can't bear to simply remove it (another useful crossover from my story-writing process). Usually, by the time I've finished my essay and I check back on these track change deletions, I have no problem removing them because I've realized they just don't fit. This is how I trick myself into "killing my darlings."

13.) I tie everything up into a conclusion. I may form the conclusion at any time during the essay, not just at the end. Creating the conclusion helps me see my essay as a whole for the first time. It also forces me to see whether or not all the parts of the essay (introduction, body paragraphs and transitions) fit together. I summarize all of my main points and tie them into my argument, the thesis. And once I've finished with all these parts of the essay--thesis, body paragraphs, transitions and conclusion--there's only one essay component left to write.

14.) I write the introduction of the essay. This may seem backward, but let me explain. My introduction shows the reader the main points I will make and the order I will make them in.* If I don't know those things myself yet, how can I introduce them to my reader? I tinker with my introduction throughout the essay because it gives my essay both form and focus. It shares the "designing principle" (a term from John Truby's wonderful book The Anatomy of Story) of the essay with my readers--meaning, what will I cover and in what order? For example if I decide I'm going to argue how Moll Flanders changed after each of her (five) marriages in the essay, I might let them know the order: first marriage to last. Readers need to know this. So, to recap: once I've figured out my supporting points and tied them together using the transitions and conclusion, I can officially write "the" perfect intro to my creation because I finally have all the parts. That's what I write it at the end. Then I've finished my rough draft! The process gets easier from here on out.

*The introduction also interests the reader in my essay so they'll keep reading. This is called "hooking" the reader. A "hook" can be a quote, a question, a startling statistic or claim...anything that will interest them, really.

15.) I clean up the draft by clarifying rough spots, fixing typos and making it all-around prettier. This usually involves taking a step back and letting the work sit for a short time. If I have a few days (I usually don't), I'll come back to the essay and probably be glad I did. Oftentimes I'm too "close" to my work to catch all the typos. I almost always read my paper out loud to myself before turning it in, because that helps even an overloaded brain find the weak spots. Some people print papers out to spot more typos, but that doesn't do much for me. Save a tree. Once in a while I will change the font as I do a final read-through. This helps catch those final typos because, rather than skimming through all that Times New Roman again, I have to actually look at the words. And then? Then I'm finished.

16.) And I go celebrate. Seriously, that was hard work.

This process is extremely fluid, which can make it stressful. Every essay works out a little bit differently. I always use certain steps, but other steps I only use once in a while. And there is no set time period for writing an essay--often, it takes me at least a full day of slogging to complete a rough draft. But even sledding, an essay takes hours of diligent work. But once you learn to trust the process (your own process, I mean, not necessarily the one I've laid out here), then it will become a bit less stressful. We Scribblers must simply keep pressing on if we're going to write worth-while essays!


Photo Attribution
By Dbxsoul (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Letting Critiques "Marinate"

Viewing our stories from the perspective of another person can teach us a lot about writing. Most serious fiction writers make friends with other writers and exchange critiques with them.* Critiques give us vital perspective on our creations.

*You can also exchange work on this great site, called Critiquecircle.com, where I learned how to self-edit by editing the work of others. Besides this, I learned many basic writing skills from the critiques of others, such as "showing" versus "telling." The website is essentially a free, online critique group.

However, we writers won't be able to understand that perspective, at first. It can be difficult for our minds to adjust to the lens of our critique partner's view. A partner's critique on my story often contains all sorts of hidden gold, if only I could mine it. In order to do that, I need to let the critique marinate in my mind alongside my story.

Then something magical happens (Magical, I tell you!). I suddenly see tons of ideas in the critiques that I never noticed before. It's like getting thoughts from several writers, instead of just one.

I used to read a critique once, maybe twice at most, before assuming "I got it."

No. No more.

Now, I have a process.

1. I read the original critique and let it sit for a day or two or more, depending on how it strikes me. I may or may take some notes on it, at this point.
2. Later, I read it again. I take notes on what I think is true, or what I think merits serious consideration. It's important for me to type it out the critique, or explain it out loud in my own words. As I do this, new insights from the critiques pop out at me.
3. I come back to the critique multiple times and reread it, eventually transitioning from the critic's words to my own digested version. I run through my story with them fresh in my mind, taking notes on revision ideas as I go (but not necessarily implementing all the changes I see). As I do this for a time, more things make sense and connect. This part is especially exciting when I have two or more critiques because the advice often overlaps in areas.
4. Finally, I implement the ideas from the critique (or ideas the critique inspired), starting with structural issues and ending with the nitty gritty. I can't say I stick to a list because sometimes new ideas pop up and I follow those. It's a haphazard, yet strangely, chaotically ordered process. (Sometimes it drives me a little insane because I like order. But writing is essentially ordering, so getting it done feels great.)

So, what can you learn from this, Scribblers? I don't know--maybe you'll want to try paying lots and lots of attention to the words of your own critics.

I was inspired to let critiques marinate by Kristin Cashore's wonderful blog post about how tedium and revision go hand in hand. (Kristin Cashore is the author of Graceling, Fire and Bitterblue, all of which are award winning female-driven YA Fantasy that I LOVE.) I highly recommend Cashore's craft post.

Photo Attribution:

By SJ Yang (Ganjang gejang  Uploaded by Caspian blue) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

An Investigation: How to Identify Your Story's Problems

Scribblers,

I ran across a problem in one of my stories, recently. That's not bad or even unexpected. A problem can be dealt with.

But I couldn't figure out what the problem was, exactly.

Have you ever experienced that? You can't put your finger on it, but something about your story is out of place?

Part of writing is learning how to deal with this. There are probably a million ways, as there are for every other step of the writing process. I'll tell you how I do it, though:

I transform into an investigator. An investigator refuses to be discouraged by puzzling clues or the general unpleasantness of bad writing. We Scribblers must be inquisitive folk. When a story of ours has a problem, we must be all up in its business. Nosy. Investigative.

Asking questions is the best technique I've found to discern the nature of a problem.

Lately, I've been revising a piece of historical fiction. I researched lots of period details, carefully formulated a unique story structure and mapped out what my main character wanted and needed.

But something was missing. The story felt dead. I sent it around to a few friends and got some great feedback, but even as I revised it, I just didn't like it very much.

So I turned to questions. When trying to solve a hazy problem in revisions, I have to push past my natural comfort zone and persistently inquire about my story's problems. I have to ask,

"Which areas feel wrong?"

I follow my intuition to areas that just don't feel "right." Typically, these are areas that I've been avoiding because they're uncomfortable and I don't feel like digging in to assess the damage.

This questioning process frequently takes me down tangents that may seem unrelated to each other, but I pour every thought out onto the page. I explore every misgiving or uncomfortable vibe via multiple smaller, more specific questions. Any one of them or all of them combined could be "the" problem, or a symptom of "the" problem, or at least an opportunity to improve my story. Exploring and questioning can be time-consuming, but they are necessary for me.*

*Lots of writers do this "exploring." As always, I would direct you to John Truby's The Anatomy of Story and Chris Baty's No Plot? No Problem! (Chris Baty is also the creator of NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month).



This is an example of what story notes, questions and exploring can
sometimes look like. The red is what I'm unsure about. Other times,
I highlight, make comments, or use strikethrough text to sort.

When you go on revision-brainstorming tangents, your subconscious is trying to point out what feels wrong about your story.

After I've exhausted my tangent, I've typically exhausted my brain, too. I take a break for a bit. Then I come back and organize the mess of "story notes" that usually looks like words, words, words without meaning. I have to fight off a headache and lots of distractions every time I begin to sort and evaluate this mess because it can be tedius and discouraging.* It's hard to deal with intangibles, especially if you are an indecisive sort of person, like I am. But I have to explore my options.



This is an example of a more "sorted" section. I've organized my
thoughts into labeled lists of ideas, such as the character's "Desires"
or the story's "Premise." But tangents still butt in throughout the
entire process, as evidenced by the gigantic comment to the right.

*I also begin to question myself: Exactly how short is my attention span? Am I really cut out to be a writer? How could I possibly write such a dead boring story? If you hear these voices in your head as well, don't worry. Once you push past the madness in your first few stories, you'll start to develop the confidence that you'll eventually like the end results. (Note: Your housemate(s) might try to comfort you at this stage. What nice friends. Tell them you'll be okay, you're just dealing with the voices.)

All these tangents and miniature questions may show you an overwhelming amount of work to be done still (it did for me: the side characters, the main character voice, and the themes). And/or, you might find that all these smaller problems are a symptom of one larger problem. My problems stemmed mainly from writing the end of my story all wrong. Don't worry, your story will be better for your revisions. But before implementing them, you can always save the old draft, in case you don't like the result.

I have one more technique that helps me form questions, if I'm struggling to sift through my masses of notes. Or perhaps I am perplexed by some seemingly unrelated feedback from my online critique group, and my investigation isn't helping.

I usually take a day off from my brainstorming page and open up an email addressed to no one.

I imagine I know a recipient who has all the "answers" to my story story questions. But this person is  extremely busy, so I don't want to waste her time. Like a professor, for example (uh oh, my technique development is showing).

I then form my incomprehension into a few perfect, succinct questions in the clearest possible manner. If I don't have an answer to my question by the time I form it (often, I do), I save it in my "drafts."

Then I do something else for a day, such as reading a writing manual or something else I think might help me answer the question. I may even give my brain a break and read for plain old fun.

Later, I return to the query and revise, revise, revise. Tighten it up even more. Did I really word the question right the first time? Or is my focus slightly off?

Then I take another day off from the question and read some more, or work on another project. (Letting the problem sit can be a great way to solve writing snaggles, as long as you come back on time to make your deadline. I do this constantly with blog posts, school papers or story problems. The only thing is, you have to start the project early in order to have time for rumination.) Then I come back to it again. After a few edit-then-research sessions, I always manage to find an answer.

If this doesn't work, you can do as I do and ask this wonderful agent/author/editor for advice! But you'll have to be able to form a general question about it, rather than asking for specific feedback on your work.

Before you try asking the agent/author/editor, though, try questioning yourself. You might be surprised what these organic techniques will yield in you. More than once, I've drafted an email to the agent/author/editor and discovered the answer to my question during the process. Yes, this is how I discovered the technique for myself. Somehow, trying to explain the issue to someone else with respect to their time and attention helps me find, ask and answer the right questions.

So, get in touch with your inquisitive side, Scribblers!

 

Photo Attribution: By Sidney Paget (1860-1908) (Strand Magazine) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The Maze Runner Trilogy & Killing A Reader's Friends

              The Maze Runner.                                  The Scorch Trials.

The Death Cure.

And I just have to say..."Good that." These book were my favorite Young Adult fiction of the year, as I said in my 2013 Summer Reading List and Recommendations. I gushed about them there and in my reviews of the three books, which you can find by clicking through these links: The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, and The Death Cure.

But this whole series by James Dashner also taught me some lessons about killing off a reader's friends: the characters.

In my experience, male authors of Young Adult Fiction don't hesitate to break a reader's heart for fear of reader displeasure. Nope. They go there. I wouldn't call them "insensitive" to the reader's emotions, but they aren't entirely "sensitive" either. Perhaps that's a bit of a generalization, but I've noticed it with a couple of them*, including James Dashner.

*Scott Westerfield in his Uglies series is one, and John Green seems to have the same idea, although, I admit I haven't ever finished one of his books.

One particular character in this series stole my heart (typically, if I like a book, it's because a character stole my heart). And then Dashner killed said character. This is something I can understand, even though I hate it. Sometimes, a character must die to keep the integrity of the plot, to teach another character a lesson, or to add another layer of meaning to the message of a novel.

It's a risky move. After all, you want to leave your readers with some happy feelings intact by the end of the story. If you kill off their favorite character, they might just stop reading. Would I have done it what Dashner did? I don't know! He didn't pull any punches with this character--brutal death, very tragic. Still, he did it well. The situation met all of the criteria I mentioned--it kept the integrity of the plot, taught a character (and the world of the book, and a reader) a lesson, and it added layers of meaning to the novel. It still sucks, but I understand.

But then he killed off an interesting character when he could have instead killed off a less interesting secondary character. Granted, I was not even very fond of the interesting character (and from the reviews, I see that most aren't), but the death still shocked me. It was so unexpected and, well, detrimental. Whatever point Dashner was making with that kill, it was fairly lost on most readers. Why kill the interesting one, the one the readers know and understand better?

So overall, Dasher killed off not one but two major characters--one a major favorite, the other a more interesting character than her competitor. I felt like hosting a funeral after reading this series. For days, poor Kevin had to deal with Snivelly Christy asking, “Why? Why did Dashner do it? It’s not fair!” Both kills were very risky moves. On one hand, you don't want your book to be forgettable, and Dashner's work certainly isn't that. On the other hand, you want your readers to care about the resolution. If you lose them when you kill off their favorite characters, or your ending falls flat because you killed off the more memorable or interesting ones...well, you lose readers.

One risk paid off, one didn't. I learned from this, and you can too, Scribbler.

What I learned:

1.) Be in touch with your readers. Give them something to be happy about at the end. Dashner gave a psychologically satisfying ending, but the emotional satisfaction took some time to show up. At first, I just felt like a friend died. I actually had to take a break from reading for a bit and get back some perspective.  I really had to let the novels sit on me before I "got over it" and realized what an unforgettable story they told. I know for a fact that Dashner was sad about killing the first character (my favorite) because he said as much on Twitter. He was in touch, he knew the cost and he paid it.

2.) Be careful who you decide to kill and who you decide leave behind. When Dashner killed off the other interesting character, I thought, "Well, how boring for the survivors!" I'm sure he measured the cost, here, but I think he made the wrong decision.

But this is truly great entertainment, Bandits- 4.25/5 stars, I'd give it. Great "boy" appeal, too. There are few Young Adult books so perfectly geared to male teenagers.

These books are on ebook and audiobook at the library through Overdrive Media Console. They're also available through the free mail order system from nearby libraries (for Lake County Book Bandits). Read them before the movie comes out!!!

The movie is set to open on February 14, 2014 (thanks to GreenBeanTeenQueen's blog for the news).

P.S. Check out this adorbs pic of The Maze Runner actors on set. It's entitled "Maze Life." "Thomas" is the farthest actor to the right.

P.P.S. There is a prequel to this series...and I didn't really like it. It feels sort of irrelevant to the whole series. If you would like to read my review of it, here 'tis.

So You Want to be an Artist?: An Interview With Poet and Visual Artist Mary Dixon

Greetings Scribblers and Book Bandits,

Recently I was honored and blessed to interview Regent University professor Mary Marie Dixon. She is both a poet and an artist with degrees in both fields (and in theology to boot. Smart cookie!). If you want a succinct description of her many qualifications, click here. After you read her interview below, you can check the bottom of this page for links to her work.

 

1.) “Professor Dixon, you studied in several disciplines. Why did you choose to study Theology, Creative Writing, English, Art and Teaching?”

·         “I was a naturally curious person! I’ve always done visual art, and I earned a Bachelor's in Education to teach it in elementary school. As I wrote poetry, my writing was naturally spiritual, so I wanted to ground it in theological study. So I studied Theology in order to understand my own writing.”

2.) “Wow! So when did you know you wanted to be a poet? Artist?”

·         “I knew I wanted to be an artist from a young age. I liked writing poetry in high school, but I just dabbled back then. I recognized early on that poetry is a kind of cleansing and healing process. It’s both expression, relief, and a method of sharing.  I was a preschool teacher for twenty years and finally went back to school for my Master’s Degree and began writing.”

3.) “You pair together some of your poetry and art. Is that usually a conscious decision, or does your work naturally begin to flow like that?“

·         “When I started at Notre Dame, I intentionally created some of my pieces together. Later on, some it naturally meshed with my poetry, but most often it is by design.”*

*Scribblers and Book Bandits, this is an interesting point by Dixon. Sometimes inspiration will hit us, but usually we must purposefully design our work for a certain effect.

4.) “I'm sure any of the readers looking at your art will wonder about your medium. What is it and how did you start using it?”

·         “Wallpaper primarily. In college, I liked to paint with watercolors, but after my twenty year break, I lost some of that skill. That was frustrating. I would like to get back to it, but I just don’t have the time right now. So instead of painting, I picked up some wallpaper scraps that were going to waste and started making pictures with my preschoolers. It was so much fun and I liked what I could do with it. Then I ran across this book about ‘scherenschnitte,’ which is German paper-cutting. That inspired my own work.”

5.) “How do you actually create your art?”

·         “I just use scissors to cut it out. I sketch a design first, then trace and cut it out, often making lots of mistakes and having to redo it. I kept working at paper cutting originally because it was easy to get materials. I just have to have paper, basically, but painting takes a lot of equipment and set up. It’s very time-consuming."

6.) “How did you first get published and for how many years did you write before you were?”

·         “When I was first in college, I published one thing in an anthology. When I went back to school in 2003, my professors told me I had a gift, so I started thinking ‘Well, maybe I should try publishing.’ My professors told me to keep working at getting published: ‘You can be an excellent writer, but if you don’t put in enough effort to get published, you won’t.’  I understand, now, why they said that. Getting published takes a lot of effort! If you don’t work at it, you won’t get published. My advice on the matter is that if you write a significant piece you think is publishable, keep sending it out there and eventually you will find someone to publish it. It’s about diligence. There are lots of great writers out there better than me (Yeah, right Professor Dixon! You’re awesome.) who aren’t published because they aren’t as diligent at submitting pieces.”

7.) “Your writings are often so spiritual. How do you find places to publish them?”

·         “I subscribe to Duotrope Newsletter*, which is very cheap and helpful, and I scour their listings once a month. They send out a huge list of publishers who are looking for themed work. They’ll say they need something on beauty and I’ll know I’ll have something, etc. There’s a lot of newer, obscure or fledging publications that provide good ways to get your feet under you. I have published a lot of stuff because of Duotrope. It’s worth the fee. It used to be very difficult to find journals that would publish overtly religious work, but it’s gotten easier. As far as overtly religious journals, one is “Relief.” Oh- and “Rock and Stream.” But you don’t have to be blatantly spiritual to be a minister. Not everyone is religious, but many wonder about religion. I believe that poetry and art are ministries of beauty- people aren’t always ready for it, but God ministers through beauty. We should use these talents that God gives us. I feel like publishing is something I have to do, though not everyone has that drive. I always have trepidation in sharing my work because, like most writers, I wonder, “Is this relevant to another person?”

*Scribs and Bandits, Duotrope.com charges $5 by month, or $4.17 per month if you buy a full year subscription. You can also follow the site on Twitter for some free info.

8.) “Do you have an opinion about self-publishing?”

·         “I know some people who self-publish. The thing is, it can cost a lot of money. There are a few places that you can do it cheaply- Smashwords, Createspace, etc. But, then, it takes a whole new level of energy. You have to do all the marketing yourself, and that’s a lot of work. Still, ‘self-publishing’ isn’t such a negative term anymore. I belong to the Nebraska Writer’s Guild, and I recently heard a speaker on it there. People used to call it ‘Vanity Publishing,’ and there are still Vanity presses, but there are also legitimate self-publishers and self-published authors.”

9.) “Who are your influences or favorite artists? Authors?”

·         “My favorite art is impressionism because of the combination of colors and vibrancy. I love how the sweeping color makes an image. Monet is one of my favorites, but I like Michaelangelo, classic art, and women’s art. The shapes of Monet and the woman form from Greek and Roman sculpture inspire me. I like the nobility in women’s features. As for poetry, I love Emily Dickinson and David Jones. Jones is kind of difficult to read, but it’s very deep theological material. Gerard Manley Hopkins, Hildegard of Bingen and Theresa of Avila also influence my work.”

10.) “Your influences show in your sophisticated poetic language. It holds up to several rereadings. How did you develop this style?”

·         “When I write, I have a purposeful approach. Sometimes I read poetry to get inspired, then I start freewriting, like stream of consciousness. Then I go back and think on it, and most of the time I’ve written some kind of spiritual perspective to pick out and develop. I usually layer more into the poem. The imagery I use in the beginning is usually set, and the spiritual emphasis comes after that. Sometimes my direction completely changes because revelation is part of poetry. It’s a spiritual exercise for me. It can take me years to finish a piece of poetry!”

11.) “Your work also reflects some agricultural influence.”

·         “Yes, I grew up on a farm picking and plucking and planting and harvesting everything you can think of. In the morning we milked the cows, then we harvested and did chores. The ecology of farm life is very important to me. Work ethic and spirituality come together in my poetry. When I wrote “Odysseus,”* my professor at Notre Dame thought it was weird that I combined those two elements. There is a disconnect, today, for most people about the food they buy from grocery store shelves and how it gets there.”

*Scribs and Bandits, “Odysseus” is one of my favorite poems by Dixon. You can check out the link below these questions!

12.) “What does a typical work day look like for you?” 

·         “I answer all my email, teach my classes, grade papers, and I might have a little time to think about planning for the next day.”

13.) “What would an ideal work day look like for you?”

·         “I would have time to think about my own self-expression. I would also have a little more time for giving feedback to students and planning for the next day. It would be nice if I had a job where I could work in these things. I like to do research—I’m doing research for a paper right now—but during the school year, I don’t have time.”

Don't forget to thank Mary Dixon in the comments section or on her Facebook page, where you can also see some of her gorgeous artwork.

Here are the promised links to her work:

-The Oklahoma Review published her nonfiction piece called "Virtue."
-The Blackbird online journal of literature and the arts published her poem, "Cinnamon Dreams," in Fall 2004.
-A Prairie Journal published her poem "Prairie Dogsology" in 2008.
-Pirene’s Fountain published her poem "Odysseus," my personal favorite, in May 2009.
-Heavy Bear published her poem "Planting Tubers" in 2010.
-Eclectica poetry published her poem "If You Are Western" in 2012.

How I Cultivate Inspiration

Scribblers!
     How do you come up with good story ideas?
     Some writers simply force themselves to write, even when they have no idea what to say. That's just how they get things done.  I call this "Forcing Inspiration" versus "Cultivating Inspiration." For me, this approach works best while I'm brainstorming a story's first outline because everything is still in flux, at that point. I need to force myself to finish the outline. But what about before the outline? What about when I'm considering what idea to begin with? Before I even hit the premise stage? I believe that if a writer cultivates inspiration, he will not have to desperately force this initial inspiration.
    My "Long-term Inspiration Cultivation" = a word document filled with headings such as "Characters," "Situations," and "Themes." There are also genre headings for ideas such as "Contemporary," "Fantasy," or "Non-Fiction" under which I can record project ideas and themes. I make these headings big and bold, and list my ideas by bullet point. Below is an example of what my page looks like right now.

Premises:

• A teenage girl races against a good friend in the dangerous "Scorpio Races" to save her family home. (Premise for The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater.)

Characters:

• A girl determined to become a knight. (Keladry from The Protector of the Small Quartet by Tamora Pierce)
• A boy with stellar instincts who can't remember anything about his identity. (Thomas from The Maze Runner trilogy by James Dashner)

Themes:

• Learning how to live in a world filled with death. (A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle.)

Contemporary Genre Topics:

• Sexual Assault. (Just Listen by Sarah Dessen.)
• Anorexia. (Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson.)

     Whenever I think of a subject, a theme, a character or anything like that, I record it on the page. When I brainstorm, I can smush ideas from this page together to create new stories. A page like this is fertile soil. When I want to write new story, I pluck a seedling from this mass of idea-material and run with it. I begin outlining. What will happen long-term in this story? What will I need to research? My process takes off from there, but I start with that initial page of inspiration. That is what I call cultivating inspiration.
     Some writers describe "forcing inspiration" as staring at the wall and coming up with something brilliant because they just keep writing. They write out of desperation. But, for me, that kind of forging ahead yields results that only sound good because...I'm desperate. I save these kinds of "desperate measures" moments for when I really have no other option--that is, when I have a story to continue and I have no ideas with which to continue it.
     To create my inspiration page, I do some freewriting and soul-searching, then I record the results all in one place. They bleed together in surprising ways. It's an enjoyable, unconscious process.
     My "Idea Page" came in handy this week in my short story class when the professor said, "Two pieces of flash fiction! Chop chop!" I had some ideas ready for digging and planting. I threw some other ideas at them, and they connected in my mind to become something better. (And let me just confirm that no story or story-process is the same, even after cultivating inspiration. One of my stories practically wrote itself in the course of 6-7 hours. The other changed theme, tone and cast several times, even switching back at times. It took me about 3 days to write.)
     Writing out of desperation is not fun. I see no reason to do it more than we have to, no matter how romantic the harried, desperate writer trope might seem. If we cultivate inspiration over time instead of grasping for it when we're desperate, we'll write better stories and we won't be as stressed about it. We'll have what we need when we need it- characters, conflict-filled situations, images, themes, whatever. It'll  be there.

Photo Attribution:
By David Revoy / Blender Foundation (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

How to Start a Story: The Premise Method

     There is more than one way to start a story. In fact, there is no "right way"--every author does it differently. Sometimes, an author even changes her methods around to keep it fresh. There are two things you can do to figure out your own method: 1) read how others do it, and 2) try each method for yourself. It's a lot of hard work to figure it all out on our own, but I guess that's why "the experts" say a writer needs to writer for 10,000 hours, 10 years or hack out a million bad words before they master the craft. And even then, a writer never stops learning!
     The good news is that there are lots of blog posts and craft books and author interviews that discuss writing methodology. With that in mind, I have a method to show you which I have recently fallen in love with. It may not be the right method for you, but until you try, you won't know, right? (You can always test it out on a short story before dragging it into NaNoWriMo with you this November :) I call it "The Premise Method."
     It makes sense to be sure the base of our story is very solid, because everything else we write will build on top of it. If we have to drastically change the base of the story...well, the story will drastically change.
     In his book The Anatomy of Structure, John Truby talks a lot about this. He starts with a thing called a "premise," which is also known as a "log line" or an "elevator pitch" (because it should be compact enough to enable a recitation during the course of an elevator ride with an editor or agent).

A premise is a one or two sentence version of your story: a sense of your main character, the first action she takes, and a general notion of the ending.

     The premise can be your story base. Here's an example of a premise of the book Holes by Louis Sachar: "A kid with legendary bad luck must survive a juvenile detention camp's secret agenda and unearth the truth about his family curse" (Kole 33). For more about writing a premise, you can either read The Anatomy of Structure's first chapter, Writing Irresistible Kidlit by Mary Kole, or this great blog post byDonald Maass.
     To write your premise, explain in one line what your main character does when faced with your story's inciting incident. Also give a vague notion of the ending. That's about it! Try to make it interesting.
     Truby says it's important to form the right premise because every other decision we make will be based on this premise.
     Freeeeeeze! The right premise? Who has the right to tell me what premise is right for my story? Well, I do. And you do for your story. But how can we tell? By doing lots of brainstorming and exploring. Usually when I write anything, the first ideas aren't what I end up polishing and submitting. I've usually narrowed and focused the original flash of inspiration to something slightly or completely different. It's very rare that I write something that stays essentially the same.
     So. Brainstorming to find your perfect premise takes a long time--Truby recommends weeks. Literally, weeks of brainstorming. This was a very freeing idea, for me, because I've always felt like I needed to get writing, bash out that word count, etc. But brainstorming is important for writing a truly unique, organic story. It may even save a writer time by brainstorming up a premise before writing because she will discover plot problems to solve before they are solidified in a manuscript. If a writer just grabs her first idea and starts writing away with it, she may have to change everything about it later.
     If you are worried about taking so long to brainstorm a story, remember that you can also be working on another story in order to keep your skills razor sharp and stories out on submission. We writers multi-task!
     Premise is not that way everyone begins their story, but it seems to be a fairly common method. It helps focus an idea if we can get those main elements--character, plot arc, general idea of ending--into one or two lines. It gives you guidance as you write.
     If writers plan during the "premise" phase, they may be able to avoid some redo-business. Everything changes drastically when a writer explores her premise over the course of a few weeks. She can solve the problems in her premise with a  bit of brainstorming, and change it if need be. That sounds like a good deal to me.

Christy Dares You

To write a premise. Right now. You can write a brand-spankin' new one out of thin air, or you can write one to a favorite book, or to your own WIP novel. Go for it! To do is to learn.

Works Cited

Kole, Mary. Writing Irresistible Kidlit. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer’s Digest Books, 2012. Print.

Maass, Donald. “The Good Seed.” Writersunboxed.com. 4 April 2012. 2 Feb. 2013. Web.

Truby, John. The Anatomy of Story: 22 steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller. New York, NY: Faber and Faber, Inc. 2007. Print.

Photo Credit

By Amusafija (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Permission to Brainstorm, SIR!

     Lately, I've been studying different processes of writing. Most of us have probably heard of the debate between "Outline People" and "No-Outline People," or "Pantsers." (Planners...plan. Pantsers...don't. In case you haven't heard.)

Whichever type of writer we happen to be, I think a little pre-planning can help us.

     Why? Because when we build a story, we want to make sure the foundation is strong. Pre-planning sets up that foundation. It's prep-work. Without a strong foundation (premise & structure), even the best technical writing won't save a story. First, I want to show you a video that helped me discover this (I learned about it in my Commercial Fiction class), then I'll give you a bit more of my opinion on the matter. This video was mind-blowing for me! If you are unsure about your position as a planner or pantser, I hope you'll stick around and watch! It is a portion of an interview with John Truby, a terrific story doctor. He begins by discussing some misconceptions about prewriting, then goes into why many writers fail at the beginning of the writing process.



     We could spend weeks on all the good stuff Truby talks about here, but let's tackle the idea of prep-work and planning from the beginning.
     Obviously, Truby recommends the "planner" method rather than the "pantser" method; he does not acknowledge that some writers plan their story while writing a first draft. If you use this latter method, you are using the "pantser" method. Writing a first draft this way is crazy and creative. Anything can happen. However, after writing that first draft, a pantser almost always needs to throw it out and start anew with the knowledge they've gained from that last attempt. Truby may be assuming that most writers would be discouraged about having to throw out all their work, or he may think the pantser method is worthless. In the case of the latter, he's wrong. After all, it is the method Ray Bradbury used. Worked for him, right? "Pantsing" is a viable method, as long as the writer knows that he'll write a lot of words he won't use.
     Some people like writing this way; not me. I don't like the pantser method because it frustrates me to throw out those masses of words. (Of course, even after planning there will be plenty of rewriting. That's different though--there won't be as many ginormous structural issues if I plan correctly.) I have tested out the "pantser" method for myself. Originally, I wrote my current work-in-progress about a prison break...then I discovered that not all my characters would condone such a thing. I ran right through the first draft (during NaNoWriMo) without realizing this. After spending six months trying to figure out what went wrong, I discovered the flaw in my premise and a whole vein of necessary research I had overlooked. I've been reworking my ideas ever since. I have not begun writing my next draft yet because I just finished researching and am coming to the end of the planning phase. I began my first draft before I was ready because I was in too much of a hurry. I should have taken time to let my ideas "ripen," as Orson Scott Card, the famous Fantasy author, recommends (he is a pre-planner, like me).You'll have to test out each method and find out which kind of writer you are.
     Orson Scott Card wrote that at some point, there will be planning stage. It may be in one form or another, before or after your first draft, with or without outlining, but it will come. Whether you are a planner or pantser, most of your ideas and work will change before you discover your true story.
     Even so, every writer will have a different writing process--two planners may plan differently--so don't be discouraged if you find you have to throw out lots of work before discovering a process that works for you. It's a part of learning! If you like this video of John Truby, I suggest you read this book by him called The Anatomy of Story. You can order it from the local library, if you live around Lakeport, CA. (If not, try your own library!)
     Now, you may be wondering how to begin this so-called preplanning. What does it entail? Remember when John Truby talks about developing a "Premise" or "Logline" in the video? The premise is the beginning. This is kind of a magical concept for me, because I didn't understand it for a while. I'll talk about it in a future post. Next week, we can journey through this drippy, murky cave together. Headlamps, everyone! We're a-goin' spelunkin'! *
     If you have any comments about all this, I'd love to hear them. Have you tried different orders of story process? Tried some preplanning before? What methods, what tools? Or have you gone on that mad dash called NaNoWriMo?

*Here is the promised post on Premise.

Works Cited:

Card, Orson Scott. How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1990. Print.

Truby, John. The Anatomy of Story: 22 steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller. New York, NY: Faber and Faber, Inc. 2007. Print.