Brian Yansky's Blog, page 23
October 22, 2011
JG rules
The Rule of John
John Gardner is one of the kings of writing about writing. He had a lot to say. He also wrote several very good novels. Two of my favorites are told by monsters, one is Freddy's Book and the other is Grendal. You've got to love a story from a monster's POV. They are certainly underrepresented in fiction.
"Good writers may 'tell' almost anything in fiction except the characters' feelings. One may tell the reader that the character went to a private school…or one may tell the reader that the character hates spaghetti; but with rare exceptions the characters' feelings must be demonstrated: fear, love, excitement, doubt, embarrassment, despair become real only when they take the form of events—action (or gesture), dialogue, or physical reaction to setting. Detail is the lifeblood of fiction" John Gardner.
Thank you Mr. Gardner.
Notice he says "good writers may tell"—you still have to find a way to make your telling interesting.
Notice "rare exceptions" because sometimes you will break even John Gardner's rules. This may happen more frequently when writing humorous scenes and you describe feelings for a laugh.
But these and other exceptions only prove the Rule of John.
John Gardner is one of the kings of writing about writing. He had a lot to say. He also wrote several very good novels. Two of my favorites are told by monsters, one is Freddy's Book and the other is Grendal. You've got to love a story from a monster's POV. They are certainly underrepresented in fiction.
"Good writers may 'tell' almost anything in fiction except the characters' feelings. One may tell the reader that the character went to a private school…or one may tell the reader that the character hates spaghetti; but with rare exceptions the characters' feelings must be demonstrated: fear, love, excitement, doubt, embarrassment, despair become real only when they take the form of events—action (or gesture), dialogue, or physical reaction to setting. Detail is the lifeblood of fiction" John Gardner.
Thank you Mr. Gardner.
Notice he says "good writers may tell"—you still have to find a way to make your telling interesting.
Notice "rare exceptions" because sometimes you will break even John Gardner's rules. This may happen more frequently when writing humorous scenes and you describe feelings for a laugh.
But these and other exceptions only prove the Rule of John.
October 14, 2011
more mad science
Mad Science 21
So I've now been through the whole manuscript again. It's getting closer. I've added more to it and clarified the narrative somewhat. Most importantly, I think I've given the characters more depth. Getting into each character a little more has caused me to see the relationships between some of the characters more clearly: Ash and Frank and Frank and his father, in particular.
When I'm in the draft I'm engaged by it and I'm always walking around thinking about it—at this stage I mean. It's the nature of this place in the manuscript that there are many things that need to be worked out and worked through and, like most writers, I mull over ways to work through them.
BUT , also, there's the struggle to make it more—more believable, more compelling, more interesting, more emotional etc… at this point. I'm looking for places where the interaction between characters in a scene isn't quite right—that can be for a number of reasons. Wrong motivations maybe or I lose the momentum of a scene or I give into abstractions rather than finding the specific words that will reveal what the scene is about or a failure of language in some way.
This is why most writers rewrite so much. There are many, many things to be done in revision.
Mad Science 22
I think I might be at the place where I'll print the manuscript up and take a look at it that way. It helps me look at it differently when I see it on the page so I think that's the next step. Depending on how this goes, I might then go into my set-the-manuscript-aside for a few weeks mode. For the last few novels this has been the point where I try to get a few readers—my agent who is kind enough to read and give back comments and my wife for sure and maybe another person. Depending on the timing, I might try to get my critique group to look at part of it or all of it.
Just to be clear—I've had my agent for five or six years and I'm not trying to get an agent or I wouldn't show it to one until I had the book in the best shape I could make it. But since I have a working relationship with my agent I find it's helpful to get her feedback when I feel like I have a manuscript that's in good shape but not ready to submit shape. She can give me some perspective and she's willing to do it and it can be very helpful to have at a certain point when I'm heading into the homestretch with the manuscript.
So I've now been through the whole manuscript again. It's getting closer. I've added more to it and clarified the narrative somewhat. Most importantly, I think I've given the characters more depth. Getting into each character a little more has caused me to see the relationships between some of the characters more clearly: Ash and Frank and Frank and his father, in particular.
When I'm in the draft I'm engaged by it and I'm always walking around thinking about it—at this stage I mean. It's the nature of this place in the manuscript that there are many things that need to be worked out and worked through and, like most writers, I mull over ways to work through them.
BUT , also, there's the struggle to make it more—more believable, more compelling, more interesting, more emotional etc… at this point. I'm looking for places where the interaction between characters in a scene isn't quite right—that can be for a number of reasons. Wrong motivations maybe or I lose the momentum of a scene or I give into abstractions rather than finding the specific words that will reveal what the scene is about or a failure of language in some way.
This is why most writers rewrite so much. There are many, many things to be done in revision.
Mad Science 22
I think I might be at the place where I'll print the manuscript up and take a look at it that way. It helps me look at it differently when I see it on the page so I think that's the next step. Depending on how this goes, I might then go into my set-the-manuscript-aside for a few weeks mode. For the last few novels this has been the point where I try to get a few readers—my agent who is kind enough to read and give back comments and my wife for sure and maybe another person. Depending on the timing, I might try to get my critique group to look at part of it or all of it.
Just to be clear—I've had my agent for five or six years and I'm not trying to get an agent or I wouldn't show it to one until I had the book in the best shape I could make it. But since I have a working relationship with my agent I find it's helpful to get her feedback when I feel like I have a manuscript that's in good shape but not ready to submit shape. She can give me some perspective and she's willing to do it and it can be very helpful to have at a certain point when I'm heading into the homestretch with the manuscript.
October 6, 2011
Importance of situation and teen book festival
"http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/48968-readers-flock-to-austin-teen-book-festival.html"
I was at the Austin Teen Book Festival last weekend (see above). That was a great place to be. Over two-thousand excited teen readers. Yes, they are out there. It was amazing to see them and I was honored to be part of it. One of the many questions asked to the panel I was on was how do you get started writing? I think, for me, writing often starts with a situation. I began my novel ALIEN INVASION & OTHER INCONVENIENCES thinking about the topic of alien invasion but narrowing it to the situation of an invasion that only takes ten seconds. That pretty much forced me to write about what happened after the invasion, which was what interested me most. Writers start in all kinds of ways, but for me the ideas and characters begin in some kind of situation.
I was at the Austin Teen Book Festival last weekend (see above). That was a great place to be. Over two-thousand excited teen readers. Yes, they are out there. It was amazing to see them and I was honored to be part of it. One of the many questions asked to the panel I was on was how do you get started writing? I think, for me, writing often starts with a situation. I began my novel ALIEN INVASION & OTHER INCONVENIENCES thinking about the topic of alien invasion but narrowing it to the situation of an invasion that only takes ten seconds. That pretty much forced me to write about what happened after the invasion, which was what interested me most. Writers start in all kinds of ways, but for me the ideas and characters begin in some kind of situation.
September 30, 2011
great expectations/mad science
So what did I do? I read, or actually am reading GREAT EXPECTATIONS. As so often happens when I'm reading or watch something, it inspires something in my work. Coincidence? Kismet? Or more likely I just am looking for ways to fit my experiences into my manuscript because I'm at that point when it's on my mind a lot when I'm not writing.
Dickens makes you care about his characters. He draws them so compellingly that you are emotionally engaged with them. True, some characters, mostly minor, are caricature or almost caricature. Often they are funny in some way but not always. But the main characters are flesh and blood and you want to know what will happen to them.
I was inspired to go back and work on my characters, particularly Ash, the girl my main character cares about. Each draft, for me, gets longer. I'm an adder, I guess. I'm like a painter who keeps adding layers of paint. Some people are cutters. They start off with the big piece of stone and do the Michelangelo thing of cutting away the excess stone. But me, I'm an adder, and that's what I'm back to doing. I can't seem to keep away from the manuscript so I don't try. There will come a point when I need to give it a break but I'm not going to force myself to do that now. I'll know when the time comes and the manuscript seems worked enough that I NEED the distance to work it more.
Dickens makes you care about his characters. He draws them so compellingly that you are emotionally engaged with them. True, some characters, mostly minor, are caricature or almost caricature. Often they are funny in some way but not always. But the main characters are flesh and blood and you want to know what will happen to them.
I was inspired to go back and work on my characters, particularly Ash, the girl my main character cares about. Each draft, for me, gets longer. I'm an adder, I guess. I'm like a painter who keeps adding layers of paint. Some people are cutters. They start off with the big piece of stone and do the Michelangelo thing of cutting away the excess stone. But me, I'm an adder, and that's what I'm back to doing. I can't seem to keep away from the manuscript so I don't try. There will come a point when I need to give it a break but I'm not going to force myself to do that now. I'll know when the time comes and the manuscript seems worked enough that I NEED the distance to work it more.
September 23, 2011
mad scientist-character
Mad Scientist 18
I need him to be more. I need to go deeper into the character. He doesn't fit in his world. He wants to know why. That's the key. He thinks he wants to fit in but that's not what he wants. He wants to know why he doesn't. ( I do constantly, in revision, try to sort out this what he "wants" question and find it has many layers and this helps me give him layers). This means he needs to feel something isn't right. He thinks it's in him that it's not right. So this needs to be more present in the novel right from the very start.
This kind of mulling over the character goes on all the time at this stage in a draft. It causes many close calls when you're driving and your loved ones often find themselves talking to themselves while you are sitting next to them. HEY, they'll say, WERE YOU LISTENING TO ME? You weren't. OF COURSE, you say. But if you've been writing a while they've seen this look before and they know.
Mad Scientist 19
I'm at the end of this draft that is draft 2 and draft 3 in some parts of it. I've done a lot in this draft and that's the best way to think of it. I know there's a lot more to do but I've done a lot.
Do I go back and start over or do I let it sit a while. At this point I might do either. It doesn't feel done enough to go for the "take a break," get DISTANCE draft. No, it doesn't seem quite right enough for that so I think I'll rework certain parts. I guess I'm uncertain what to do. I know the end needs work so I might focus on that. I'll see where that leads me. Writing is full of choices. In revision I'm making those decisions in a less intuitive way than in the first discover draft and the second first draft.
I need him to be more. I need to go deeper into the character. He doesn't fit in his world. He wants to know why. That's the key. He thinks he wants to fit in but that's not what he wants. He wants to know why he doesn't. ( I do constantly, in revision, try to sort out this what he "wants" question and find it has many layers and this helps me give him layers). This means he needs to feel something isn't right. He thinks it's in him that it's not right. So this needs to be more present in the novel right from the very start.
This kind of mulling over the character goes on all the time at this stage in a draft. It causes many close calls when you're driving and your loved ones often find themselves talking to themselves while you are sitting next to them. HEY, they'll say, WERE YOU LISTENING TO ME? You weren't. OF COURSE, you say. But if you've been writing a while they've seen this look before and they know.
Mad Scientist 19
I'm at the end of this draft that is draft 2 and draft 3 in some parts of it. I've done a lot in this draft and that's the best way to think of it. I know there's a lot more to do but I've done a lot.
Do I go back and start over or do I let it sit a while. At this point I might do either. It doesn't feel done enough to go for the "take a break," get DISTANCE draft. No, it doesn't seem quite right enough for that so I think I'll rework certain parts. I guess I'm uncertain what to do. I know the end needs work so I might focus on that. I'll see where that leads me. Writing is full of choices. In revision I'm making those decisions in a less intuitive way than in the first discover draft and the second first draft.
September 16, 2011
Keep Trying
Here's a little Ray Bradbury. All a writer can do is keep trying. You try to find ways to get better when you aren't writing and when you are. Ray Bradbury talks here about his early struggles and the turning point in his writing when he wrote a story that mattered, that he felt was beautiful. It came out of an experience he had as a child. It was a terrible and haunting experience. He was a little boy playing on a beach at a lake. A girl was playing there, too. Then she went into the lake and she didn't come out. That's what he said. It's such a haunting line. The death of the little girl is one of those memories he carries and it is the one that inspires this first story that he calls beautiful. Her going into the lake and not coming out becomes a metaphor for death in the story. Stories come from everywhere. But I think a lot of our best writing begins in memories that won't go away.
September 9, 2011
Persuading The Character to Arc
Mad Scientist 16
Connections are important whenever you're working on a manuscript. As I'm going through The Mad Scientist what I'm realizing is the connections I make seem to be different than the ones I made in the first draft.
It's coming together more now. Like I just realized a message my main character got earlier in the novel wasn't right. It needed to be more specific because it didn't really add anything to the later action.
So I went back and changed it and that changed the later section. It made it more real. These connections are so important. Everything has to come out of everything else in an organic way. Everything has to fit together, add to narrative and character.
Mad Scientist 17
I think I'm writing something into my character that is unearned. Not to say I'm stealing, you understand. No theft involved. Just that he hasn't earned the thing I'm saying he has.
We talk about character arc. Well, I don't, but I've had editors who have—as in, "Brian, this character doesn't have enough arc." BUT the character can't just arc because I want him to. I think it's right that he should change in the way I have him change in the manuscript, but now what I have to do is go back and, beginning at the beginning, change him so that later changes seem true to his character.
Writing is rewriting and rewriting and rewriting—at least for me. I need all the chances I can get.
Connections are important whenever you're working on a manuscript. As I'm going through The Mad Scientist what I'm realizing is the connections I make seem to be different than the ones I made in the first draft.
It's coming together more now. Like I just realized a message my main character got earlier in the novel wasn't right. It needed to be more specific because it didn't really add anything to the later action.
So I went back and changed it and that changed the later section. It made it more real. These connections are so important. Everything has to come out of everything else in an organic way. Everything has to fit together, add to narrative and character.
Mad Scientist 17
I think I'm writing something into my character that is unearned. Not to say I'm stealing, you understand. No theft involved. Just that he hasn't earned the thing I'm saying he has.
We talk about character arc. Well, I don't, but I've had editors who have—as in, "Brian, this character doesn't have enough arc." BUT the character can't just arc because I want him to. I think it's right that he should change in the way I have him change in the manuscript, but now what I have to do is go back and, beginning at the beginning, change him so that later changes seem true to his character.
Writing is rewriting and rewriting and rewriting—at least for me. I need all the chances I can get.
September 2, 2011
To Outline or Not to Outline?
A break in my diary concerning the way I'm writing A Mad Scientist's Son to ask:
To Outline or Not to Outline?
Whether it is nobler in the mind's eyes to scratch out an outline of short or long length or suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune without even a written hint of how you'll transcribe them onto the page before you begin? Yep, that's the question.
It seems to me that if you do not outline at all, if you're one who stumbles along through a first draft, then that's all there is to say about that. Just do it. Most writers are like this. I am like this about my first draft which is really just a discovery draft. I've been thinking about the story for some time but I haven't written anything down. I just start writing. However, there many places in the manuscript when I just write a few lines for a scene and write something like MORE LATER. This is sort of the Swiss-cheese method. There will be big gaps or holes in this draft. So it will be on the short side, but (VERY IMPORTANT) it will go from beginning to end. I know my end by the end. Next draft I write toward that end.
So in a sense my discovery draft sort of works like an outline except it's not. Some writers do outline. Some outline a lot and some a little before they begin. I once interviewed Sherman Alexie and he said he always knew the last line of his novel before he started and wrote toward that. Check out how much John Irving outlines here—amazing to me:.
As with all elements of process, you have to do what works for you.
August 25, 2011
More Mad Scientist's Son
Mad Scientist 14
Doing this blog is making me aware of how much I'm changing in this version of Mad Scientist (version number 3 if you count the discovery draft). It's not down to just language yet by any means. My changes that attempt to clarify theme earlier in the manuscript are making me think I need to cut characters and completely redo the next few chapters. It feels like I went off the path here. By theme here I'm talking about what is lurking beneath the surface story—what ideas and issues are being worked out in this story.
Mad Scientist 15
I realized some things about the main characters that I didn't understand earlier. I just kept working on adding to manuscript and finally it seemed clear.
Why oh why couldn't I see this before? I don't want to seem ungrateful to the writer Gods. After all, it was a glorious morning, seeing the way to go. I praise them effusively. But this process is so damn messy.
You know what I'm grateful for though is the ability of self-delusion. It is so helpful that I'm able to think I'm writing better than I am at each stage of the writing. Okay, I know there are problems, but I still manage to find pleasure in a good sentence, an insight into character, etc…
So today I see the motivation of an important secondary character which will effect Frank, too, and more especially another important secondary character, and it's so much better than last draft, so much more believable within the context of the draft.
But here's another thought, back to the last paragraph. Maybe it doesn't matter when I come to my insights in writing as long as I come to them. And that ability to be happy within the context of a draft, that self-delusion, is a kind of gift.
Doing this blog is making me aware of how much I'm changing in this version of Mad Scientist (version number 3 if you count the discovery draft). It's not down to just language yet by any means. My changes that attempt to clarify theme earlier in the manuscript are making me think I need to cut characters and completely redo the next few chapters. It feels like I went off the path here. By theme here I'm talking about what is lurking beneath the surface story—what ideas and issues are being worked out in this story.
Mad Scientist 15
I realized some things about the main characters that I didn't understand earlier. I just kept working on adding to manuscript and finally it seemed clear.
Why oh why couldn't I see this before? I don't want to seem ungrateful to the writer Gods. After all, it was a glorious morning, seeing the way to go. I praise them effusively. But this process is so damn messy.
You know what I'm grateful for though is the ability of self-delusion. It is so helpful that I'm able to think I'm writing better than I am at each stage of the writing. Okay, I know there are problems, but I still manage to find pleasure in a good sentence, an insight into character, etc…
So today I see the motivation of an important secondary character which will effect Frank, too, and more especially another important secondary character, and it's so much better than last draft, so much more believable within the context of the draft.
But here's another thought, back to the last paragraph. Maybe it doesn't matter when I come to my insights in writing as long as I come to them. And that ability to be happy within the context of a draft, that self-delusion, is a kind of gift.
August 18, 2011
mad scientist 13
Mad Sceintist 13
What I'm struggling with today is something that I thought yesterday and that I've been mulling over since. Mulling is the writer way. Mull while you eat your Frosted Flakes (an admission that I eat kid's cereal for breakfast), take your shower, walk your dog, exercise or avoid exercise, and so on. Mull, mull, mull. Most writers are mullers.
But back to the point. My main character changes but I don't really have my secondary character changing. She is supporting my main character but that's not good enough.
This is definitely analysis here but I am in revision stage so I need to stand back in places.
1. I need to look for places to make my main character's CHANGING more dramatic.
2. I need to look at secondary characters and make them change more.
There are two concerns here. One is with narrative structure, that arc of character that people are always going on about and how it influences the arc of the story. The other is about characters, the heart of fiction. Really. If people don't care about your characters, then, in the words of movie Mafiosos, "Forget about it."
That was why, earlier, it worried me so much when I felt my characters didn't have heart, another way of saying they didn't feel flesh and blood yet.
So for the sake of story and character I need to clarify the changes that they go through in this story. I figured out one change that wasn't there before yesterday and today I'm going to go back through the first hundred pages I've revised and see if I can make that change work.
Also, if it does then it needs to be "in" the manuscript from the beginning. Any change made on p. 80 needs to connect to p.1.
