Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
The Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass...
I'm not going to go into great detail here -- why would I, when recently I've been receiving fewer than a pageview a day on this fledgling blog? -- but I will state unequivocally that Maass is my perfect teacher, and that his two Breakout books have taught me more about writing -- in the pragmatic, truly applicable sense -- than all other writing books and courses combined. It's insane the way reading or rereading his stuff helps me to shine a bright light on my own manuscripts, identifying in stark clarity problems of character and story, from stakes to pacing, from character motives to theme.
I've spent the last two days with the Workbook, holding up my protagonist to the grueling gauntlet of character questions offered by Maass... and I'm overjoyed to be finding my weaknesses on display. Fixing these issues prior to writing the real outline will allow me to activate my protagonist in the best of ways, so that his choices and actions determine the movement of the plot, thereby avoiding the old trap of having your protagonist react to the plot.
I've blabbed too much. If you're a writer who hasn't read these books, do yourself, your stories, and your audience a favor and read the Breakout books.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
MEAT
Monday, January 7, 2013
Ass in Chair
The last couple days, I've been planning Perils of the Road. Killer days: 4000 words yesterday, 3500 words today... and today's words verged into a new first chapter, which really grabbed me by the throat. All in all, great productivity, and I can't wait to rivet my ass to the chair again tomorrow.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Finished Going Through PERILS
Yesterday, I finished my exhaustive reread and reconsideration of Perils of the Road, which I officially love again. Going back through it for the first time in years, I made literally thousands of notes, many of them extensive -- like turn the page over and fill the back of the paper with red ink extensive -- and as I progressed, I also banged out a bunch of notes on the side.
Next steps: plan the rewrite (I'm already knee-deep in this process, as a matter of course) and outline it. I'm hoping to finish these tasks prior to receiving my next assignment from the publisher. I'd feel a lot better, setting Perils aside, if the new outline was in place.
Next steps: plan the rewrite (I'm already knee-deep in this process, as a matter of course) and outline it. I'm hoping to finish these tasks prior to receiving my next assignment from the publisher. I'd feel a lot better, setting Perils aside, if the new outline was in place.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Thursday, January 3, 2013
ThrillerFest!
Just registered for my second-favorite con,Thrillerfest, this morning, and I'm so stoked, I'll probably have trouble sleeping between now and next July. Yes, it's that good...
Anyone else going?
Anyone hazard to guess my favorite con?
Anyone else going?
Anyone hazard to guess my favorite con?
Kickass Writing Day...
... or rather, a kick ass revising / planning day.
Yesterday, I mean.
I continued to reread and rethink Perils, and blah, blah, blah. Loving it even more, and both the overarching structure and the in-the-trenches small stuff are coming clearer. Also, I'm seeing pieces in relationship to one another -- characters, back story, relationships, mystery, real threats vs. perceived threats -- so that the rewritten version should have a much better shot at unity of effect.
Consider the cascade of conflict, for example. Conflicts exist on various levels -- internal, amongst friends, and externally -- but while rethinking the external threats yesterday, I realized the nature of one of the primary threats -- the seeming villain, at least during one section of the book -- was out of step with the struggles examined by the rest of the story. While rereading the "villain" sections yesterday, I thought, These are cool, but they don't fit... and shortly thereafter, I realized why. Other than the villain scenes, the internal and external struggles, though wildly different, all touch on a couple of central themes that wrote themselves into the narrative.That's why they didn't feel right.
This is the magic of the rewrite, of course. I don't think about stuff like that during first drafts -- or I try not to, anyway -- and it just writes itself in. But during planning and rewriting, it's much easier to see stuff like that, and even though it signals a lot more work (What? Rewrite the villain and all his scenes? And fit them back into the story?), it's a thrill, knowing I've uncovered what would have been a real weakness in the story.
All right. Enough blabbing. Time to get back to work. At very least, I want to finish going through Perils of the Road before I receive the editorial letter for the other book. In a perfect world, the letter wouldn't arrive until I've had time to knock out an outline for a restructured Perils. We'll see...
Yesterday, I mean.
I continued to reread and rethink Perils, and blah, blah, blah. Loving it even more, and both the overarching structure and the in-the-trenches small stuff are coming clearer. Also, I'm seeing pieces in relationship to one another -- characters, back story, relationships, mystery, real threats vs. perceived threats -- so that the rewritten version should have a much better shot at unity of effect.
Consider the cascade of conflict, for example. Conflicts exist on various levels -- internal, amongst friends, and externally -- but while rethinking the external threats yesterday, I realized the nature of one of the primary threats -- the seeming villain, at least during one section of the book -- was out of step with the struggles examined by the rest of the story. While rereading the "villain" sections yesterday, I thought, These are cool, but they don't fit... and shortly thereafter, I realized why. Other than the villain scenes, the internal and external struggles, though wildly different, all touch on a couple of central themes that wrote themselves into the narrative.That's why they didn't feel right.
This is the magic of the rewrite, of course. I don't think about stuff like that during first drafts -- or I try not to, anyway -- and it just writes itself in. But during planning and rewriting, it's much easier to see stuff like that, and even though it signals a lot more work (What? Rewrite the villain and all his scenes? And fit them back into the story?), it's a thrill, knowing I've uncovered what would have been a real weakness in the story.
All right. Enough blabbing. Time to get back to work. At very least, I want to finish going through Perils of the Road before I receive the editorial letter for the other book. In a perfect world, the letter wouldn't arrive until I've had time to knock out an outline for a restructured Perils. We'll see...
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
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