Who’s writing your story? When not to go with the flow

By Janet Lane

At a recent group writing session, a fellow author told us about changes in her work in progress.  Like me, she’s a plotter as opposed to a pantser, meaning she has determined her protagonist’s character arc and has planned scenes from the beginning to the end of the novel.

One of her characters was scheduled to reveal a Deep Dark Secret in the middle of the novel.  In writing a scene for chapter four, however, her chararacter spilled the Deep Dark Secret ten chapters early.

She has written and published enough novels to trust her instincts, so she didn’t protest , even though it meant she’d need to re-invent her next twenty-something scenes.

So, who’s writing her book?  Have her characters taken over?

Jenny Crusie would say she’s listening to the “girls in the basement,” the creative subconscious that knows more than our conscious, plotting minds do.

In a recent blog Agent Jessica Faust of Bookends, LLC asks if you plot for yourself or for your story. During a pitch appointment, Faust made suggestions to an author about how she could strengthen her story, but her suggestions put the author in panic mode and she refused to make any changes.  Faust calls this a “common mistake many authors make: writing for themselves and not the story.”  No matter how much you plot in advance, you can’t always control how the book plays out.

I’m a dyed-in-the-wool plotter, but I, too, have found myself at a crossroads with my plot.  As characters develop on the page, changes occur. Refinements are made.  As the story reveals itself to me, more of the character’s history, instincts and weaknesses are revealed.

I carefully plotted Traitor’s Moon, book three in a series of historical stories, and the story culminated with the discovery of a treasure.  After plotting I wrote a one page, then a three page, then a five page synopsis.  I fleshed out my story board, including turning points.

At around chapter six I hit a brick wall.  My research revealed a significant battle in the War of the Roses that occurred just a hundred miles from my setting.  How I wished I could ignore it and proceed merrily on my plotted way!  But it was not realistic.  This battle took thousands of lives on both sides. My characters would have been drawn into the drama and tragedy.

I stopped, dismantled my plot, abandoned the treasure discovery, and literally re-plotted my novel based on that single historical fact.  I wove the battle into not only the plot line but also their character arc growth.

Who’s writing this story?  Because I write historical romance, history intervened.

Characters can grab the steering wheel of your plot and abruptly change its  rhythm and pace.  Reality or facts can take control.  A third possibility is that your critique partners can question motivations or plot.  This, too, can be good or bad.

If a critique partner points out a flaw that, if fixed, will significantly change your plot, we call it an RSS – Radical Story Suggestion.  With RSS comments, avoid a knee-jerk plot overhaul that could ruin your story. A good course of action would be to…

Wait.  Time – a week or two – will take the sharp edge off the RSS.  Give it over to your subconscious, and it will work for you.  Time also gives you the distance you need to consider changes to something you have already created.

After waiting, play with the idea in your mind.  Study your synopsis, avoid getting lost in individual scenes, and listen to your gut.  If you have misgivings about the person proposing the RSS, resist dismissing it and consider the idea, not the person.  Answer questions:  Is the suggestion valid?  Is your character inconsistent with his goals, for example?  Does your plot fail to make sense or hold the reader’s interest?

Wait another week.  Your novel depends on careful thought, not impulsive, hasty changes.  If it feels right, these thoughts will stand the test of time.

Finally, should you write to the market?  Should the best-seller list, or agents’ or editors’ comments be allowed to drive your novel?  There’s a wealth of information written about this topic, and here’s my take.  If the market is currently hot on ghosts and you happen to love ghosts, good for you.  Write for the market.  If, however, you can summon only ho-hum passion for the trials, if you hold no wonder or love of ghosts, do not attempt to write a novel about them.  Three or four hundred pages demand passion and commitment from a writer.  Writing a passionless novel will produce a bland book.

Ultimately, you are the one who makes the decisions about your novel.  Be open to ideas, but be protective of your work and honest when considering change.  You are in the driver’s seat.  Buckle up, keep your eyes on the road and enjoy the ride.

Have you ever hit a major speed bump that forced you to let your characters tell their story?  

How to reach the “Writing Wheel of Fortune”

To get published, climb the pyramid and with luck you'll land on "The Wheel of Fortune." Level 1: I think I can. Level 2: Finish a manuscript. Level 3.: Learn craft. Level 4: Get published. Level 5: Reach "The Wheel" and get lucky. Do you agree with Bell's take on achieving best-seller success?

James Scott Bell’s take on the writing life              

By Janet Lane

Crested Butte’s breath-taking mountains and wildflowers tempted me to stay outside during last month’s writing conference, but the workshops and discussions lured me into Grand Lodge instead.

RMFW member Elizabeth Roadifer won first place in the Fantasy/Sci Fi category for her story, Fairy Tales.  HUZZAH!  RMFW Member and Mistwillow author Sally Clark won honorable mention for her story, The Color of Silence.  Congratulations, ladies!

The conference’s keynote speaker, James Scott Bell,  former actor and trial lawyer, is the author of The Whole Truth, No Legal Grounds, Presumed Guilty, and several more legal thrillers.  A former fiction columnist for Writer’s Digest magazine, Bell wrote two books in the Writer’s Digest series, Write Great Fiction: Plot and Structure and Revision and Self-Editing.

Like many of us, Bell struggled to get published in his early writing years.  His “light bulb” moment was made possible by Jack Bickham and his Scene and Sequel discussions about how they related to the story question. 

Bell uses a vivid image to dramatize the capricious nature of literary success.  He drew a pyramid on the grease board that represents  the types of writers who want to write a book.

At level one reside the people who believe they can write a book.  They may have written a first chapter.   At level two , writers have studied and perhaps written a full manuscript.  Level three writers persevere and continue to learn the craft of writing, and may have started their second manuscript.  The dedication of level four writers helped them finally get published.  Level five authors are multi-published. They continue to grow and learn from each book and keep getting better, more polished.

When the pyramid of writers had been identified, Bell drew a wheel at the top of the pyramid. This, Bell said, is the Wheel of Fortune.  There, for no predictable reason, certain books gain momentum over other, equally brilliant and well-written books, and they spin out into the sky.  Bell described this with dramatic flair as he drew the spokes of the wheel , slashing fast brush strokes with his Sharpie:  “And they just start shooting out.  Harry Potter.  Whirrrrr.  Whirrrr.  Twilight.  Whirrrr. Whirrrr.” If we can make it to the top level of the pyramid, we have a chance.  “Get it (your book) on the wheel, and maybe it will come up.”

Is this cynical, or serendipitous?  Is getting published really all about luck?  If not, what other factors play a significant role in holding your first published book in your hands?  How can we improve our odds?

“Free Range Characters” featured on Victoria Dixon’s blog

Victoria summarizes my "Free Range Characters" workshop on her blog today - Take the test - how "free" are your fictional characters?

Good morning.  I just had the pleasure of reading my characterization workshop, “Free Range Characters,” summarized on Victoria Dixon’s blog. 

I met Victoria at the Crested Butte Writer’s Conference.  Since then, we have been blogging about the excellent workshops and panels there.  She enjoyed my workshop and presented an excellent summary of it.  For those of you who have enjoyed my summaries, drop by Victoria’s and read about my workshops and others.  Makes for great summer reading, and maybe a little writing inspiration, as well.  Thanks, Victoria!

Click here or on the Ron Empress red logo to read the craft workshop summary.

Editor-Agent panel at Crested Butte, part 2 of 2

More today on the Crested Butte Writer’s Conference, when a panel of editors and agents met with writers and readers to discuss today’s market.  The panel consisted of Ginger Clark, Literary Agent at Curtis Brown Ltd.; Joanna Stampfel-Volpe, Literary Agent with Nancy Coffey Literary & Media Representation; Christine Pride, Editor at Broadway Books (div. of Random House, Inc.) And Anne Bensson, Assistant Editor at Thomas Dunn Books.

CHRISTINE PRIDE pointed to the economic downturn as one of the biggest reasons for the business down-sizing.  With as much as a 10 to 15% decrease in staffing, it has become even more competitive.  “The pressure is on to have every book become a best-seller.”  Publishers are taking less chances They want the big sell, and we as writers need to find a way to make our stories as good as they can be, and in our queries, as attractive as they can be.  Christine has a friend who’s active in social media, and her friend will occasionally point out an active blogger or tweeter, for example, and she’ll check out those writers.  When asked whether it’s better to query editors directly or get an agent, Christine recommended getting an agent.  On the topic of classifying your own book’s genre, she said to not worry about that.  When they read your query and pages, they will know where it fits.  Don’t limit yourself.

ANNE BENSSON enjoys working with authors to make their stories better.  She acknowledges that, with a beginning author, there is less of a promotional budget, and that the author must do a lot of that in the beginning of his or her career. During an open discussion about the challenge of distribution when self-publishing, Anne spoke of the publisher’s connections, established and nurtured over the years, that help them get their books in the stores.

Did you attend the Crested Butte conference?  If so, are there other gems you discovered about these agents and editors?  Are one of these ladies your agent or editor? I invite you to add your comments, and I wish you the best of luck and success with your writing.

Plotting your fiction novel a la Avatar

Cameron's characters, Jake and Neytiri have vastly conflicting goals that create good conflict in Avatar.

This is the third of a three-part blog about what you can learn from James Cameron’s hugely successful film, Avatar.

 In parts one and two, universal theme, high stakes, and new twists were discussed. Today, we’ll look at the tried-and-true concept of GMC .. or GMCD (Goal-Motivation-Conflict-Disaster).

Solid story, good old GMC. Cameron’s stories are character-driven, his characters highly motivated and invested in their stories. This engages the reader and makes him or her care about the characters’ fates, as well, creating memorable, satisfying stories.  Because character-driven plotting makes for seamless, compelling stories, it’s my favorite workshop to present.                                                    

See Avatar.  Use it for the colorful, fantastic inspiration it is to create your own best work.  I’ll leave you with the delicious tidbit that inspired this column.  It’s taken from James Cameron’s February, 2010 TED talk.

Cameron says:   Take risks.  NASA has this phrase that they like to use: “Failure is not an option.” But failure has to be an option in art and in exploration because it’s a leap of faith.  No important endeavor that required innovation was done without risk. You have to be willing to take those risks. So that’s what I’d leave you with, is that, in whatever you’re doing, failure is an option–but fear is not.

 

Strengthen your writing using Avatar

Cameron added high stakes and new twists to proven plotting staples to create his record-breaking movie, Avatar.

In yesterday’s blog, we studied James Cameron’s Avatar and how he used tried-and-true universal themes in this futuristic, dazzling story.  Because I refer to material from yesterday’s blog, you might want to read that first.

Think of a universal theme that has proven to resonate with huge audiences, and strengthen it with the following story elements. 

Stakes. Stakes. Stakes.  Dust off your Donald Maass workbook about the breakout novel.  Create high public stakes, high personal stakes, and keep raising them. I can still hear Donald’s mantra from RMFW’s May workshop in 2002, I think. He would have us turn to a scene we had already written, and he asked us to write down what was at stake in that scene.  Once we answered that, he would ask, “How can you make it  worse for your protagonist?” then “How can you make it even worse?” In Avatar, the Na’vi’s entire world is at stake.

Take your universal theme and ask these questions until you have a theme with high stakes.

New twists. Why change a uniform when you can create a living, breathing body to inhabit? Why tell the story of a sinking ship when you can weave an unforgettable love story within its decks?  Cameron topped his Terminator with a newer, more powerful villain made of liquid metal and polymorphic abilities.

 What can you do with plot, character, setting and/or style that will present this universal, high-stakes theme in a new, refreshing light?  Cameron chooses a unique setting, and the plot twist is that Sam … oops, spoiler material. Another twist is what happens to Sam.

Another brilliant twist in Avatar: the protagonist is handicapped, but finds himself in a world and time when his physical impediments can be instantly erased.

Tomorrow we’ll look at GMC (Goal-Motivation-Conflict-Disaster) because, no matter how fantastic, futuristic or ancient your setting, no matter how horrific, romantic or mysterious your story, good story needs this critical spine.

What you can learn from Avatar

Cameron's Avatar plot offers classic examples of universal theme, high stakes, and strong GMC.

Have you been enchanted yet by Avatar? James Cameron directed this film, which has become the newest, highest grossing film of all time, knocking off Cameron’s last major film, Titanic, which has enjoyed that exalted position for lo, the past thirteen years.

 Avatar became the first movie to earn over $2 billion worldwide, and it was nominated for nine Academy Awards. Cameron has enjoyed major box office and Academy Award success with a string of movies – Terminator, Alien, True Lies, Titanic. How can he so consistently hit a home run? 

 The story is involves a fish-out-of-water protagonist in a new world, and features eye-popping special effects.  In the future, Jake Sully, a paraplegic Marine war veteran, is brought to another planet, Pandora, where the Na’vi, a gentle humanoid race, leave in idyllic harmony with other species and their world.

 When his brother is killed in a robbery, Jake takes his place on a mission to the distant world of Pandora. There he learns of greedy corporate plans to claim the natives’ rich woodland, thereby gaining access to the precious mineral below.  In exchange for the spinal surgery that will fix his legs, Jake assumes an “avatar” identity to gather intelligence for the military unit, lead by Colonel Quaritch. In a plot development reminiscent of “Pocahontas,” a romance develops between Jake and the beautiful alien Neytiri, as she teaches him the way of the Na’vi.  Ultimately, the ruthless Colonel advances his extermination plan, forcing Jake to take a stand and fight back in an epic battle for Pandora.

 What can you learn about Avatar that can strengthen the appeal of your next novel?

 Universal theme.  In order to defeat the enemy, the protagonist, Sam Worthington “joins” the Na’vi enemy by donning the “uniform” of the enemy. This is a frequent theme in literature, where the protagonist eventually learns enough about the enemy that he or she “turns coat” and joins the enemy, attacking his home team.  Other examples: Paul Bettany in “Legion.” Ethan Hawke in “Daybreakers.” Arnold Schwarzenegger joining the humans in “Terminator 2.” Kevin Costner in “Dances with Wolves.”  Think of a universal theme that has proven to resonate with huge audiences, and strengthen it with the following story elements.

 From the general themes in literature – bravery, loyalty, friendship, good v. evil; historical, cultural, and social – select the top-selling novels in your genre and isolate the theme.  It should be a universal theme, transcending race, gender, sexual preference, and creed.  Select the one that resonates most to you.  Tomorrow, I’ll post more about Avatar, including raising stakes and maximizing good old GMC.

Jefferey Deaver’s Novel Editing Process

 

Jefferey Deaver shares his extensive revision process

There’s a Youtube video circulating from Jefferey Deaver, in which he explains his writing process.  He may spend months on concept and write an almost 200-page outline.  Even after all that work, he performs thirty to forty rewrites on his finished manuscript.

Watch me run. 

Screaming.

A 182-page outline?  30-40 rewrites?  My count is much less than that, but not anemic, either.  I use Story Magic (thank you for the 1,000th time, Laura Baker and Robin Perini and my dear fellow MagicMakers), so by suffering brain damage at that level, it helps avoid many of the rewrites. 

 I revise as I receive my chapter critiques from my CPs, too. This is less overwhelming to me because I’m looking at it from a scene-by-scene lens instead of a whole-book lens, and weaknesses early in the book can be corrected, wrong paths taken adjusted, etc. so the whole book isn’t so overwhelming. 

 But that’s just me.  Every writer must develop the process that works best for them, the one that keeps them enthusiastic about the story and determined to write the best story they can. 

 Thanks to my fellow RMFW writer, Peg Brantley, for sharing this.  I applaud Jeffrey Deaver for his success, and his willingness to share his process with us.  He makes an excellent point about airplanes and quality assurance, and how we should build our stories with the same care as an airplane is built. 

Made to soar. Wow.  I know, I know, I haven’t had anywhere near his success, so I’ll listen to him, even though it gives me nightmares.  Maybe I’ll even add another two or three whole-book re-writes to my process.  

 How many rewrites do you devote to your WIP before you start marketing it?  I’d love to hear from you.

Discover your characters with a dating questionnaire

Image compliments of lovetoknow.com

Do detailed character worksheets intimidate you? They do me. I’m fine for a half dozen questions, but when we get into two pages, single spaced, I start thinking about Tweeting, checking Facebook, or even [gasp] cleaning the top of my desk.

I write both romance and women’s fiction, and in getting to know my characters, I’ve found it useful to use a dating questionnaire similar to what the on-line dating services provide. You know, ten quick-and-simple questions that will get you into the skin of your character quickly. After all, when you’re seeking love, you consider your most basic needs. You can quickly by-pass the mundane info about hobbies and favorite topics and colors of shoes and get to the heart of the matter, revealing basic needs can illuminate the soul of your character.

Try my method. Please let me know how it works for you, and thanks for stopping by!

CHARACTER “DATING” QUESTIONNAIRE

 1. It’s Saturday night. In a perfect world, Mr. Perfect would pick you up for a dream date. What time of day would it be, and what would you do?

2. Have you ever had a near-death experience? Or one that simply terrified you? What is your worst nightmare?

3. Do you remember laughing so hard you cried? What made you laugh?

4. What was the name of your favorite pet, and what do/did you love most about him/her?

5. If you were to direct a movie about yourself, what actress would you have portray you, and why?

6. If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be?

7. When your best friend does this, it drives you crazy: __________________

8. In the heat of an argument, what do you most want to walk away with when it ends?

9. Your best friend loves this about you: _________________________

10. What makes you so angry/determined/outraged that you would speak publicly before a hundred people and try to make them care/move them to action?

Did this help your character work? If so, please add a comment!

Do you know the secret to getting published?

Is the secret so simple? Dr. Seuss thinks so.

The holidays are over and editors and agents are bracing themselves for the deluge of queries that follow the holidays.  What strategies can help make 2010 the year you get published, or published again?

Many say The Secret, Rhonda Byrne’s motivational book, can change your world for the better. Byrne suggests that, by thinking positively and changing the way you see the world, the world will change for you.  Publisher’s Weekly calls the book a “New Age self-help book on the law of attraction … that one’s positive thoughts are powerful magnets that attract wealth, health, happiness…and did we mention wealth?”

Can positive thoughts trigger the law of attraction and make us published authors without any toil on our part ?  Hmm.  Perhaps the “secret” is that positive thinking is so powerful that everything falls into place once we start changing the way we think.

The concept of changing our lives by changing our thinking has been around for centuries, in many cultures.  Dr. Dwayne Dyer used the teachings of an ancient Chinese philosopher to hone in on thoughts in his July release, Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life – Living the Wisdom of the Tao. Dyer shows us that better thoughts can lead to richer, fuller, more joyous  lives.

The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale was first published in 1952, and it stayed on the NYT best-selling list for 186 consecutive weeks. Similar books have followed.   Even Dr. Seuss explored the topic in Oh, the Thinks You Can Think.

Eventually the self-help books made a connection between the Law of Attraction and Creating Affluence, as in Deepak Chopra’s 1998 release, Creating Affluence, and again in 2002 with his Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.

Can we really “think” ourselves published?  “Think” ourselves rich?  Are Chopra and Byrne talking about the same kind of “affluence?”  Perhaps we are “thinking” the wrong way, and some thought adjustments can bring joy and affluence to our lives … and a publishing contract.

What we focus on becomes our reality. Over 50,000 thoughts ping through our minds every day.  Think about this: we all have choices, and what we think is a choice.  Do you really like that nagging inner voice, complaining about everything, being judgmental and bitter, criticizing your friends, your family, you?  This, I think, is the spirit behind these “positive thinking” books.

We can change what we think, make it more positive, be more grateful and hopeful.   That will create a new joy in us, a new excitement, a new energy to develop work habits and strategies that increase our odds for success.  What a terrific way to start the new year!

What strategies work best for you?  Please share with us.  Meanwhile, I’m wishing you New Year Joy filled with promising, supportive thoughts.