Shanna Swendson's Blog, page 177
June 4, 2014
Researching a Novel
I've got yet another reader question on writing (and I'm running out, so if there's something you want to know, ask). This question was about researching a book.
In my process, there are two kinds of research. There's the research I do before I start writing to help build the world and shape the plot and characters, and there's the research I do during writing or after the first draft to fill in the details.
Before I start writing a book, I like to do a lot of research on the setting and anything that might be appropriate for the situation. At this point, I have a vague idea of what the story's about and who the characters might be, and this research helps me firm it up. This is usually when I do any research that involves travel. Before I started writing my Enchanted, Inc. series, when I had just a general sense of what the story was about, I took a trip to New York and did a ton of walking just to soak up the atmosphere and to narrow in on where I was setting it. Buildings seemed to jump out at me as places where things might happen. Once I figured out approximately where the characters lived and where they worked, I took the subway routes and I walked it and timed it. As I walked around the city, the story and the characters really took shape in my head, so I was ready to start writing when I got home.
I also read a lot of books on topics that might come up in the story. Since I was basing the general idea of the magical corporation on the software industry, I read memoirs by people who worked in that industry and books on the various corporations. I don't use everything I read. I'd had this general idea of a difficult environment where a woman would struggle against the old-boy network and read some books about that topic, but it ended up not fitting when I started writing. I may also read things that might help me get into characters' heads. One of the characters in my upcoming new series is a police detective, and I read a lot of cop memoirs in preparation for this book. I wasn't looking for specific facts, more the general mindset and the way that kind of job might shape the way someone thinks, and that then influenced the character I developed.
Then once I have a more detailed plot and more specific characters, there may be things I need to research more directly that are good to know before I start writing. I've seen a lot of writers tripped up by legal system issues, for instance, or something like what's required to get a marriage license in that particular state. If you know your plot is going to have your characters get married, you need to know that. I've known of at least one romance novel that fell apart because much of the plot revolved around finding a sneaky way to get all the requirements for the marriage license in secret, only it turned out that most of those things weren't required in that jurisdiction. If the author had looked that up before she started writing, she wouldn't have had to rewrite most of the book.
Once you're writing, there may be things that pop up along the way that you need to know or figure out. You may need a specific idea for a restaurant for the characters to visit or a dish they might eat. You may need a train or airplane schedule to see if it's physically possible for them to get from point A to point B or to properly strand them. This is where you have to make a judgment call. Do you absolutely need to get this straight before you can continue writing, or can you fill in the blanks later, once you've finished a draft?
That's because research makes an excellent procrastination tool. If you aren't sure what happens next and you're feeling stuck or if you're just tired of writing and want to play on the Internet, then research allows you to take a break and still feel like you're working. Never mind that you're getting increasingly sidetracked down the Wikipedia rabbit trail. But research can also help with the good kind of procrastination, allowing you to work things out in your head before you plunge into writing. I've found that if I just jump into writing the moment I come up with an idea, it tends to fizzle out. The more time I spend in pre-book research, simultaneously absorbing information relevant to the story and letting my subconscious play with the idea, the more successful the book seems to be. The trick is in knowing when you're just stalling and when the research is actually necessary, and that's a fine and very fuzzy line. For during-the-book research, the deciding factor is whether that detail will affect the plot. If it's just about the color of the bellman's uniform at a particular hotel, I can flag it and look it up between drafts. If it's whether or not it's possible to get a train from point A to point B at that particular time, then that will affect the way things happen, so I need to know before I write that part and then either have to change plans or change the set-up.
Research really is important because it's often factual errors that make readers give up on a book. It's hard to make readers believe the stuff you make up if you don't get the "real" stuff right or if you don't manage to make things feel real. We all know it's fiction, but while we're reading a book, we like to have the illusion that it could really happen.
In my process, there are two kinds of research. There's the research I do before I start writing to help build the world and shape the plot and characters, and there's the research I do during writing or after the first draft to fill in the details.
Before I start writing a book, I like to do a lot of research on the setting and anything that might be appropriate for the situation. At this point, I have a vague idea of what the story's about and who the characters might be, and this research helps me firm it up. This is usually when I do any research that involves travel. Before I started writing my Enchanted, Inc. series, when I had just a general sense of what the story was about, I took a trip to New York and did a ton of walking just to soak up the atmosphere and to narrow in on where I was setting it. Buildings seemed to jump out at me as places where things might happen. Once I figured out approximately where the characters lived and where they worked, I took the subway routes and I walked it and timed it. As I walked around the city, the story and the characters really took shape in my head, so I was ready to start writing when I got home.
I also read a lot of books on topics that might come up in the story. Since I was basing the general idea of the magical corporation on the software industry, I read memoirs by people who worked in that industry and books on the various corporations. I don't use everything I read. I'd had this general idea of a difficult environment where a woman would struggle against the old-boy network and read some books about that topic, but it ended up not fitting when I started writing. I may also read things that might help me get into characters' heads. One of the characters in my upcoming new series is a police detective, and I read a lot of cop memoirs in preparation for this book. I wasn't looking for specific facts, more the general mindset and the way that kind of job might shape the way someone thinks, and that then influenced the character I developed.
Then once I have a more detailed plot and more specific characters, there may be things I need to research more directly that are good to know before I start writing. I've seen a lot of writers tripped up by legal system issues, for instance, or something like what's required to get a marriage license in that particular state. If you know your plot is going to have your characters get married, you need to know that. I've known of at least one romance novel that fell apart because much of the plot revolved around finding a sneaky way to get all the requirements for the marriage license in secret, only it turned out that most of those things weren't required in that jurisdiction. If the author had looked that up before she started writing, she wouldn't have had to rewrite most of the book.
Once you're writing, there may be things that pop up along the way that you need to know or figure out. You may need a specific idea for a restaurant for the characters to visit or a dish they might eat. You may need a train or airplane schedule to see if it's physically possible for them to get from point A to point B or to properly strand them. This is where you have to make a judgment call. Do you absolutely need to get this straight before you can continue writing, or can you fill in the blanks later, once you've finished a draft?
That's because research makes an excellent procrastination tool. If you aren't sure what happens next and you're feeling stuck or if you're just tired of writing and want to play on the Internet, then research allows you to take a break and still feel like you're working. Never mind that you're getting increasingly sidetracked down the Wikipedia rabbit trail. But research can also help with the good kind of procrastination, allowing you to work things out in your head before you plunge into writing. I've found that if I just jump into writing the moment I come up with an idea, it tends to fizzle out. The more time I spend in pre-book research, simultaneously absorbing information relevant to the story and letting my subconscious play with the idea, the more successful the book seems to be. The trick is in knowing when you're just stalling and when the research is actually necessary, and that's a fine and very fuzzy line. For during-the-book research, the deciding factor is whether that detail will affect the plot. If it's just about the color of the bellman's uniform at a particular hotel, I can flag it and look it up between drafts. If it's whether or not it's possible to get a train from point A to point B at that particular time, then that will affect the way things happen, so I need to know before I write that part and then either have to change plans or change the set-up.
Research really is important because it's often factual errors that make readers give up on a book. It's hard to make readers believe the stuff you make up if you don't get the "real" stuff right or if you don't manage to make things feel real. We all know it's fiction, but while we're reading a book, we like to have the illusion that it could really happen.
June 3, 2014
Frustrating Reading
I've had a rather frustrating reading week, with books that were almost good but that ended up being disappointing. I'm not going to name names or get into specifics (too much potential awkwardness from ending up on convention panels with someone who's been the target of snark), but I think there might be some big-picture lessons here.
One book was the first in a fantasy trilogy. I liked the world building -- it seemed like a different world with different cultures that weren't so obviously Not!Asian, Not!Middle Eastern, Not!European, etc. They were just cultures that didn't seem based on earth cultures, and in traditional fantasy, that's pretty rare. I liked the characters. There were four main viewpoint characters whose stories converged through the whole book, until they were all present during the climactic scene. I love that kind of storytelling, where you can imagine how various characters might interact, and then actually get to see it. However, the book had a serious pacing problem in that the entire book seemed to mostly serve as the set-up for the series. The main conflict in this book was easily brushed aside with the revelation of something potentially bigger, and most of the action really should have been the first three chapters of a novel -- the entire book was the "refusal of the call" part of the hero's journey, with the heroine not actually crossing the threshold until the end of the book.
But I liked the characters enough to be curious about what happened next, now that all the characters were finally together, only it turns out that the library doesn't have the rest of the series, and I'm not sure I liked it enough to pay full price for the rest. The Amazon reviews made me doubt because they brought up some things that would really bother me. For one thing, the rest of the series doesn't involve all these characters working together now that they've been brought together. They're scattered entirely, and my favorite apparently only gets a cameo in book 2 and a minor role in book 3 that has nothing to do with the rest of the plot. And then there were a number of mentions of an unsatisfying ending to the series.
I've discovered that one thing that will generally make me lose interest in a series is when a group is split up with little hope in being reunited. That may be why I have that three chapters into book three problem with epic series, because that's often where the core group gets scattered. I'll only really stay interested if there are at least a few character combinations that work in the new configuration. If each character is going off alone, then they need to meet someone interesting really quickly. I'll be really annoyed if we've spent a whole book getting a good group of people together, finally, and then they're immediately split up in the next book. I guess I like teams (funny, considering what an introvert I am and how much I hate teamwork).
Then I read a new book by a classic chick-lit author who can be hit or miss with me. I actually kind of enjoyed it and definitely turned the pages fast, but at the same time I wanted to throw one of the characters against the wall. The plot of too many of these books requires that the heroines be too stupid to live. If they weren't getting really drunk and making very bad decisions, there wouldn't be much of a plot, I guess, but it's still frustrating to read. Then again, I've had friends and co-workers who were capable of making decisions that bad, so it's not all just exaggerated for fiction. It is possible to have one of these stories work with someone who makes good decisions (or decisions that seem good given the information available at that time), but it's much harder to write than someone drinking too much and falling in bed with someone inappropriate and then taking too long to realize that he's not Mr. Right.
Reading two books in a row that I found mildly annoying has put me in a hyper-critical mood that's making it hard to choose the next book. I'm reading the last book in the current library stash and having a hard time getting into it, not because of the book but because of that "show me" attitude. Then I may try a few things from the to-be-read pile.
One book was the first in a fantasy trilogy. I liked the world building -- it seemed like a different world with different cultures that weren't so obviously Not!Asian, Not!Middle Eastern, Not!European, etc. They were just cultures that didn't seem based on earth cultures, and in traditional fantasy, that's pretty rare. I liked the characters. There were four main viewpoint characters whose stories converged through the whole book, until they were all present during the climactic scene. I love that kind of storytelling, where you can imagine how various characters might interact, and then actually get to see it. However, the book had a serious pacing problem in that the entire book seemed to mostly serve as the set-up for the series. The main conflict in this book was easily brushed aside with the revelation of something potentially bigger, and most of the action really should have been the first three chapters of a novel -- the entire book was the "refusal of the call" part of the hero's journey, with the heroine not actually crossing the threshold until the end of the book.
But I liked the characters enough to be curious about what happened next, now that all the characters were finally together, only it turns out that the library doesn't have the rest of the series, and I'm not sure I liked it enough to pay full price for the rest. The Amazon reviews made me doubt because they brought up some things that would really bother me. For one thing, the rest of the series doesn't involve all these characters working together now that they've been brought together. They're scattered entirely, and my favorite apparently only gets a cameo in book 2 and a minor role in book 3 that has nothing to do with the rest of the plot. And then there were a number of mentions of an unsatisfying ending to the series.
I've discovered that one thing that will generally make me lose interest in a series is when a group is split up with little hope in being reunited. That may be why I have that three chapters into book three problem with epic series, because that's often where the core group gets scattered. I'll only really stay interested if there are at least a few character combinations that work in the new configuration. If each character is going off alone, then they need to meet someone interesting really quickly. I'll be really annoyed if we've spent a whole book getting a good group of people together, finally, and then they're immediately split up in the next book. I guess I like teams (funny, considering what an introvert I am and how much I hate teamwork).
Then I read a new book by a classic chick-lit author who can be hit or miss with me. I actually kind of enjoyed it and definitely turned the pages fast, but at the same time I wanted to throw one of the characters against the wall. The plot of too many of these books requires that the heroines be too stupid to live. If they weren't getting really drunk and making very bad decisions, there wouldn't be much of a plot, I guess, but it's still frustrating to read. Then again, I've had friends and co-workers who were capable of making decisions that bad, so it's not all just exaggerated for fiction. It is possible to have one of these stories work with someone who makes good decisions (or decisions that seem good given the information available at that time), but it's much harder to write than someone drinking too much and falling in bed with someone inappropriate and then taking too long to realize that he's not Mr. Right.
Reading two books in a row that I found mildly annoying has put me in a hyper-critical mood that's making it hard to choose the next book. I'm reading the last book in the current library stash and having a hard time getting into it, not because of the book but because of that "show me" attitude. Then I may try a few things from the to-be-read pile.
June 2, 2014
Yaawwwwnnnn
You'd think from the way I was dragging around this morning that I'd had one of those weekends with one activity after another, so I was seldom home at all other than to grab a few hours of sleep before rushing off to do something else -- one of those "I need a weekend to recover from the weekend" weekends. Except it wasn't. I didn't leave the house from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning. I did stay up a little late Saturday night (the "I'm not leaving until they turn off the servers" Television Without Pity wake) and got up early Sunday morning, but I took an hour and a half nap on Sunday afternoon, went to bed early Sunday night (though I turned the light out at about the usual time because I was reading), and still slept late -- and that was without waking up earlier and deciding to close my eyes for a moment, only to wake up again an hour later, or even a middle-of-the-night insomnia spell. I'm not sure I even moved from the time I fell asleep to the time I woke up.
I guess my body needed the rest. Or maybe my brain did.
I spent much of Friday figuring out the big, climactic part of the book, and I came up with one of those "oooooooh!" twists that I didn't see coming and that definitely falls into the category of "think of the worst thing you can do to your characters and then do it to them." Then while I was writing I came up with yet another element for this sequence. It's going to be sooo much fun!
If I can wake up enough to write it. But since my primary form of time wasting is no more (sniff), I'm hoping to be more productive this week.
I guess my body needed the rest. Or maybe my brain did.
I spent much of Friday figuring out the big, climactic part of the book, and I came up with one of those "oooooooh!" twists that I didn't see coming and that definitely falls into the category of "think of the worst thing you can do to your characters and then do it to them." Then while I was writing I came up with yet another element for this sequence. It's going to be sooo much fun!
If I can wake up enough to write it. But since my primary form of time wasting is no more (sniff), I'm hoping to be more productive this week.
May 30, 2014
So Misunderstood
Day One of my writing retreat was rather successful. I managed more than 5,000 words. I'd like to top that today, but I have some thinking/brainstorming to do. I've reached a part of the story where I know what the outcome needs to be, but I'm still fuzzy on the details of exactly how it will happen. Now I need specifics, both in actions and in the sense of what it will look like. I've been looking forward to this part of the story for ages, so I'm eager to see it play out, while also a little nervous about it living up to my expectations.
I've already done the grocery shopping, and I resisted the urge to buy snack foods. I don't need that, even if it is fun. Instead, I can make popcorn if I need food for thought. If I'm really desperate, I can make brownies.
This kind of productivity as I near the end is pretty much my process. I can spend months on the first half of a book, then write the last half in a week.
However, I may not be entirely coherent at the end of that week.
I was slightly tempted by the opening of Maleficent this weekend, but the newspaper review used the word "misunderstood," and that dampened my enthusiasm. I'm so tired of the villain who's really just misunderstood. Yes, that does sometimes happen, where people fear things they don't understand, and that worked very well in Frozen. But is there possibly any good but "misunderstood" motivation for cursing a newborn infant? I really, really hate it when they make it so that it's the good guy's fault that the bad guy is evil, and often the writers are so unaware of what they're doing that they undermine their own premise, so that the good guy suffers just as much as the bad guy without turning into a psychopath, and yet we're supposed to feel sorry for the bad guy for making really bad choices in response to his/her suffering.
Any writer who claims that the villains are more fun/easier to write and that writing good characters is boring is a lazy writer. The good characters can be far more interesting and complex if you're doing it right because it's easy to have someone respond badly to bad events. To me, there's a lot more meat to work with in exploring how and why someone uses a bad event as an opportunity to turn things around and get even better. I read an interesting psychology book a couple of years ago about how the emphasis on PTSD has had some backlash because now people expect to have problems after trauma. But it's actually more common for people to use trauma as a means of getting better, stronger or more compassionate, and yet no one hears about this. When they started talking about this possibility with combat veterans, their outcomes improved significantly because they realized they didn't have to be victims of their experiences. Yes, there's trauma, and that needs to be acknowledged and treated, but the outcome doesn't have to be negative. So, to me, exploring the psyche of a person who's had negative experiences and made positive choices in response to them is more interesting than delving into someone who uses negative experiences as an excuse for bad behavior.
Now to go figure out what happens next.
I've already done the grocery shopping, and I resisted the urge to buy snack foods. I don't need that, even if it is fun. Instead, I can make popcorn if I need food for thought. If I'm really desperate, I can make brownies.
This kind of productivity as I near the end is pretty much my process. I can spend months on the first half of a book, then write the last half in a week.
However, I may not be entirely coherent at the end of that week.
I was slightly tempted by the opening of Maleficent this weekend, but the newspaper review used the word "misunderstood," and that dampened my enthusiasm. I'm so tired of the villain who's really just misunderstood. Yes, that does sometimes happen, where people fear things they don't understand, and that worked very well in Frozen. But is there possibly any good but "misunderstood" motivation for cursing a newborn infant? I really, really hate it when they make it so that it's the good guy's fault that the bad guy is evil, and often the writers are so unaware of what they're doing that they undermine their own premise, so that the good guy suffers just as much as the bad guy without turning into a psychopath, and yet we're supposed to feel sorry for the bad guy for making really bad choices in response to his/her suffering.
Any writer who claims that the villains are more fun/easier to write and that writing good characters is boring is a lazy writer. The good characters can be far more interesting and complex if you're doing it right because it's easy to have someone respond badly to bad events. To me, there's a lot more meat to work with in exploring how and why someone uses a bad event as an opportunity to turn things around and get even better. I read an interesting psychology book a couple of years ago about how the emphasis on PTSD has had some backlash because now people expect to have problems after trauma. But it's actually more common for people to use trauma as a means of getting better, stronger or more compassionate, and yet no one hears about this. When they started talking about this possibility with combat veterans, their outcomes improved significantly because they realized they didn't have to be victims of their experiences. Yes, there's trauma, and that needs to be acknowledged and treated, but the outcome doesn't have to be negative. So, to me, exploring the psyche of a person who's had negative experiences and made positive choices in response to them is more interesting than delving into someone who uses negative experiences as an excuse for bad behavior.
Now to go figure out what happens next.
May 29, 2014
Another Day of Distractions
I was going to criticize myself for getting very little done yesterday, but while I didn't add words to the manuscript, I did a more detailed map for my other book and sent it to my editor (which involved a lot of yelling at my scanner because it only wanted to give me part of the map), and I planned out the next two or three scenes (one scene is going to end up merged with an earlier scene, so while I planned three, the result will be two).
Otherwise, it was a day of distractions. I found out that our choir director is leaving us at the end of the summer. It's one of those things where it's a great opportunity for him but a sad day for us that we kind of knew was coming eventually. He started as a fill-in when our previous director left in the fall, since there was no way we'd find someone during the build-up to Christmas. He'd been our tenor soloist and was doing this kind of work while he was working on a doctorate in another field after deciding to make a career change. Then after Christmas, he decided to stay until Easter, because it's hard to find someone to change jobs during the build-up to Easter. And then he decided to just stay, so he's been here several years. He finished the doctorate last year and was teaching a few classes as a second job. But now he's been offered a tenure-track faculty position and the chance to build a program -- and have just one job instead of trying to do it all. I teased him that once he got me over my stage fright, he figured his work here was done. I've probably been closer to this director than to any other I've had, in part because he's geeky enough to discuss Doctor Who and Firefly at Wednesday-night dinners and in part because you tend to bond when you spend a week together traveling across the country in a bus full of teenagers. Now I'll have to train someone new. I wonder if I can trick the new person into not realizing I can sing second soprano.
Then there was a surprise baby shower for my ballet teacher. It's weird seeing ballet people in "civilian" clothes, so it took me a while to recognize my classmates, and they really didn't recognize me. In class, I always have my hair in a tight bun, wear contact lenses and usually don't wear makeup. Last night, I had my hair loose, so it was curls to my waist, I wore glasses (since I went straight to choir afterward and it's easier to read the music that way) and had on makeup. I got to play with one classmate's baby, whose pictures I've seen but hadn't yet seen in person.
And then choir ran long because we had to discuss what was happening, and the pastor came to rehearsal to reassure us that they'd tried everything to keep the director but finally had to face that this was the right thing for him. There were a few tears. I suspect I'll say the things I need to say in e-mail because I don't want to get soppy in person.
But today is going to kick off that writing "retreat." I'm determined to make real progress over the next few days. I'm coming up on some of the meatiest content in the book, and that means I'm simultaneously excited about writing it and afraid of writing it. I want it to live up to what's in my head.
Otherwise, it was a day of distractions. I found out that our choir director is leaving us at the end of the summer. It's one of those things where it's a great opportunity for him but a sad day for us that we kind of knew was coming eventually. He started as a fill-in when our previous director left in the fall, since there was no way we'd find someone during the build-up to Christmas. He'd been our tenor soloist and was doing this kind of work while he was working on a doctorate in another field after deciding to make a career change. Then after Christmas, he decided to stay until Easter, because it's hard to find someone to change jobs during the build-up to Easter. And then he decided to just stay, so he's been here several years. He finished the doctorate last year and was teaching a few classes as a second job. But now he's been offered a tenure-track faculty position and the chance to build a program -- and have just one job instead of trying to do it all. I teased him that once he got me over my stage fright, he figured his work here was done. I've probably been closer to this director than to any other I've had, in part because he's geeky enough to discuss Doctor Who and Firefly at Wednesday-night dinners and in part because you tend to bond when you spend a week together traveling across the country in a bus full of teenagers. Now I'll have to train someone new. I wonder if I can trick the new person into not realizing I can sing second soprano.
Then there was a surprise baby shower for my ballet teacher. It's weird seeing ballet people in "civilian" clothes, so it took me a while to recognize my classmates, and they really didn't recognize me. In class, I always have my hair in a tight bun, wear contact lenses and usually don't wear makeup. Last night, I had my hair loose, so it was curls to my waist, I wore glasses (since I went straight to choir afterward and it's easier to read the music that way) and had on makeup. I got to play with one classmate's baby, whose pictures I've seen but hadn't yet seen in person.
And then choir ran long because we had to discuss what was happening, and the pastor came to rehearsal to reassure us that they'd tried everything to keep the director but finally had to face that this was the right thing for him. There were a few tears. I suspect I'll say the things I need to say in e-mail because I don't want to get soppy in person.
But today is going to kick off that writing "retreat." I'm determined to make real progress over the next few days. I'm coming up on some of the meatiest content in the book, and that means I'm simultaneously excited about writing it and afraid of writing it. I want it to live up to what's in my head.
May 28, 2014
Retreating to Write
I made some really good progress yesterday, so I feel like I'm on something of a roll. Since I don't have any scheduled activities tomorrow, I may do a fake "writing retreat" for a couple of days. I'm always seeing other writer friends talking about making big progress on a book by hiding out in a hotel for a few days and writing non-stop. I don't see much point in the hotel, since I live alone and would have the same distractions in a hotel as I have at home (Internet and cable). Just figuring out what to bring and packing would eat up valuable potential writing time.
But maybe if I put myself in that mindset and shut out the outside distractions, I can move ahead. I'm a bit more than halfway through the book, so this is the home stretch. I don't need to cook because I cooked over the weekend and have a lot of leftovers, and for once I don't seem to have a lot of events or activities scheduled. However, it is the last few days of the Television Without Pity forums, so there needs to be some time online to say goodbye. After that ends, I imagine I'll have a lot more free time. Tonight's the last choir rehearsal for the summer, so until summer ballet starts in a couple of weeks, I won't have evening activities anymore. Still more time I could spend writing!
Maybe my productivity has something to do with activity levels. I've gone walking every day this week and stretched afterward. Today was a tea run to the Indian market, but otherwise I've been just taking at least a 20-minute walk every day. Studies do show that physical activity enhances creativity. It also helps that it's been kind of rainy the past few days, and I always work better on rainy days. That may be why it's really hard for me to write during the summer. Maybe I need to rig a garden hose to spray on my window to trick me into thinking it's a rainy day, with the right kind of awning to create that cloudy effect.
And now I need to go wish my dad a happy birthday.
But maybe if I put myself in that mindset and shut out the outside distractions, I can move ahead. I'm a bit more than halfway through the book, so this is the home stretch. I don't need to cook because I cooked over the weekend and have a lot of leftovers, and for once I don't seem to have a lot of events or activities scheduled. However, it is the last few days of the Television Without Pity forums, so there needs to be some time online to say goodbye. After that ends, I imagine I'll have a lot more free time. Tonight's the last choir rehearsal for the summer, so until summer ballet starts in a couple of weeks, I won't have evening activities anymore. Still more time I could spend writing!
Maybe my productivity has something to do with activity levels. I've gone walking every day this week and stretched afterward. Today was a tea run to the Indian market, but otherwise I've been just taking at least a 20-minute walk every day. Studies do show that physical activity enhances creativity. It also helps that it's been kind of rainy the past few days, and I always work better on rainy days. That may be why it's really hard for me to write during the summer. Maybe I need to rig a garden hose to spray on my window to trick me into thinking it's a rainy day, with the right kind of awning to create that cloudy effect.
And now I need to go wish my dad a happy birthday.
May 27, 2014
Reading Influences: How-to Books
I'm going to be having one of those "what day is it?" weeks. There was the holiday Monday, during which I did some work, but then there was also a Memorial Day concert/service at church, and being at church on Monday makes it feel more like a Sunday, which makes today feel doubly like a Monday. I don't have ballet class this week, so there goes that "it must be Wednesday because my thighs are sore" reminder. TV's in summer mode, so I can't go by that schedule. I guess it doesn't matter as long as I remember when Wednesday is so I can go to choir practice.
I managed to finally break through on the scene that had me blocked. Normally, I end up being able to fix the problem in about five minutes after days of procrastination and dread. This time, it took more than an hour and a couple of false starts. I've figured out that one problem I'm having is that my main characters may be too smart and capable. It's really hard to get them in trouble because if I go by what these people would do, they'd see the trouble coming and come up with a way to avoid it, or they'd be able to get themselves out of trouble easily. So I have to make their enemies smarter and more powerful, or I have to pile on enemies until it gets overwhelming. So now I've got lots of factions up against them, and they aren't aware of the internal politics to know that there are lots of factions, so they make choices based on bad information, and that gets them in trouble.
I'm starting to see why so many authors are guilty of writing Too Stupid to Live heroes. It's so much easier to get them in trouble and have conflicts. And I'm now seeing what a brilliant move in my last series it was to make my heroine be the one with absolutely no magic. When your heroine is a smart, powerful magic user, plotting is so much more challenging.
I don't really have any new books to discuss today (since it is Tuesday, the day I usually talk books), so I'll do another reading influences tale. This is a weird one, and thinking about it is giving me a burst of nostalgia. When I was in elementary school, in addition to reading novels, I really liked reading non-fiction how-to books. There were all sorts of fun things in the kids' section of the library, things like how to put on a circus in your backyard with your friends, how to put on a play (with several play scripts provided, along with costume and scenery suggestions), how to make a family newspaper, plus lots of craft books on stuff like batik and tie dye (this was the 70s). I also read the Girl Scout handbook cover-to-cover.
The weird thing is, I didn't actually do any of these things. I'd plan them all out in my head and imagine how they would go, but it seldom went further than that. For one thing, I didn't think my friends would be on board with acting out plays or putting on a circus. For another, I've always enjoyed planning things -- the planning is the most fun part, so I was doing the thing I enjoyed most in just reading the books and planning. I may have done a couple of craft projects I read about. There was some sewing and embroidery. And I made recipes from cookbooks I checked out. I still even have some of them carefully copied out on cards and in a recipe box.
I'm not sure where or how this influenced me as a writer, other than it being an excellent exercise for my imagination to have all these details planned in my head and then to envision how it might play out. Putting on mental productions of plays was probably a very good exercise in imagining scenes and dialogue. I learned a lot about a lot of odd things that may come in handy at some point. All this is probably also a good checkpoint of "you know you're an introvert when …" if it's more fun to read about stuff you could do with friends and imagine what it would be like to do it than it is to actually do it. Not that I was a total loner. During that phase, I was spending a lot of time outdoors, running around with my friends. We were just not structured enough to want to do something so organized as put on a play or a circus. We did what I guess you could call live-action roleplaying fan fiction improv. We'd each take a role in whatever TV show or movie we wanted to play, and then we'd have adventures that we made up as we went along.
I managed to finally break through on the scene that had me blocked. Normally, I end up being able to fix the problem in about five minutes after days of procrastination and dread. This time, it took more than an hour and a couple of false starts. I've figured out that one problem I'm having is that my main characters may be too smart and capable. It's really hard to get them in trouble because if I go by what these people would do, they'd see the trouble coming and come up with a way to avoid it, or they'd be able to get themselves out of trouble easily. So I have to make their enemies smarter and more powerful, or I have to pile on enemies until it gets overwhelming. So now I've got lots of factions up against them, and they aren't aware of the internal politics to know that there are lots of factions, so they make choices based on bad information, and that gets them in trouble.
I'm starting to see why so many authors are guilty of writing Too Stupid to Live heroes. It's so much easier to get them in trouble and have conflicts. And I'm now seeing what a brilliant move in my last series it was to make my heroine be the one with absolutely no magic. When your heroine is a smart, powerful magic user, plotting is so much more challenging.
I don't really have any new books to discuss today (since it is Tuesday, the day I usually talk books), so I'll do another reading influences tale. This is a weird one, and thinking about it is giving me a burst of nostalgia. When I was in elementary school, in addition to reading novels, I really liked reading non-fiction how-to books. There were all sorts of fun things in the kids' section of the library, things like how to put on a circus in your backyard with your friends, how to put on a play (with several play scripts provided, along with costume and scenery suggestions), how to make a family newspaper, plus lots of craft books on stuff like batik and tie dye (this was the 70s). I also read the Girl Scout handbook cover-to-cover.
The weird thing is, I didn't actually do any of these things. I'd plan them all out in my head and imagine how they would go, but it seldom went further than that. For one thing, I didn't think my friends would be on board with acting out plays or putting on a circus. For another, I've always enjoyed planning things -- the planning is the most fun part, so I was doing the thing I enjoyed most in just reading the books and planning. I may have done a couple of craft projects I read about. There was some sewing and embroidery. And I made recipes from cookbooks I checked out. I still even have some of them carefully copied out on cards and in a recipe box.
I'm not sure where or how this influenced me as a writer, other than it being an excellent exercise for my imagination to have all these details planned in my head and then to envision how it might play out. Putting on mental productions of plays was probably a very good exercise in imagining scenes and dialogue. I learned a lot about a lot of odd things that may come in handy at some point. All this is probably also a good checkpoint of "you know you're an introvert when …" if it's more fun to read about stuff you could do with friends and imagine what it would be like to do it than it is to actually do it. Not that I was a total loner. During that phase, I was spending a lot of time outdoors, running around with my friends. We were just not structured enough to want to do something so organized as put on a play or a circus. We did what I guess you could call live-action roleplaying fan fiction improv. We'd each take a role in whatever TV show or movie we wanted to play, and then we'd have adventures that we made up as we went along.
May 23, 2014
A Ballet Ache
I took the beginning ballet class last night, and I'm even more sore than I usually am after a class. I think it's because the beginning class moves very slowly, and that really works the muscles. Since I'm not learning the moves, I focus on being very precise, and that also works the muscles. I think just about everything below the waist is mad at me right now. However, I did double pirouettes for the first time. I can only do doubles on one side, and the second one isn't entirely pretty, but still, that was an achievement.
Now I have a few weeks off before the summer session starts. I'll be in a class with a lot of ex-dancers (people who danced a long time at a fairly high level and who are coming back as adults) with a different teacher, so I'm a little nervous. I'll likely be the oldest person in the class -- even older than the teacher. So I need to exercise between now and then to stay in some kind of shape.
I started today with a walk to the library. Stretching may be required later in the day.
I hope today's batch of library books will have better success for me than the last batch. One thing I've learned is that it's okay to put a book down if it's not working for me instead of forcing myself to slog through it.
And I hope to get more work done today. Yesterday did not go as planned because there were distractions, but when I gave up and just did some business stuff and some housework and listened to music, ideas started coming to me, so I think I can get back to it today. After a brief shopping trip. There's a sale at Half-Price Books, and there are some out-of-print things I've been looking for. There's a shoe store next to the bookstore, and I need to replace a critical pair of shoes that died last summer.
Now I have a few weeks off before the summer session starts. I'll be in a class with a lot of ex-dancers (people who danced a long time at a fairly high level and who are coming back as adults) with a different teacher, so I'm a little nervous. I'll likely be the oldest person in the class -- even older than the teacher. So I need to exercise between now and then to stay in some kind of shape.
I started today with a walk to the library. Stretching may be required later in the day.
I hope today's batch of library books will have better success for me than the last batch. One thing I've learned is that it's okay to put a book down if it's not working for me instead of forcing myself to slog through it.
And I hope to get more work done today. Yesterday did not go as planned because there were distractions, but when I gave up and just did some business stuff and some housework and listened to music, ideas started coming to me, so I think I can get back to it today. After a brief shopping trip. There's a sale at Half-Price Books, and there are some out-of-print things I've been looking for. There's a shoe store next to the bookstore, and I need to replace a critical pair of shoes that died last summer.
May 22, 2014
Finding the Bad Spot
I was very good today and took care of all my errands in the morning (though I spent WAY too much money at Target). Now I can spend the afternoon writing. I hope. I've been pretty stuck for the last couple of days. I figured out what needed to happen in the middle of the book, got it outlined, realized I'd need to cut a scene, then still couldn't come up with what happens next.
After a lot of fiddling around all afternoon, including revisiting my soundtrack for this book and realizing that I had no songs that applied to this section of the story (a potentially bad sign), I finally figured out that the problem was a little further back, that the previous scene ends at the wrong place and goes in the wrong direction. So cutting one more paragraph should do the trick. Unfortunately, I had this realization right before it was time to get ready for choir. So maybe today I can move forward.
I'm already planning on a Saturday write-a-thon. I'll do my socializing on Friday, work Saturday, rest Sunday and then on Monday I've got a Memorial Day concert Monday evening, but I can also work during much of that day. I kind of pity the alto I was sitting next to last night. The Battle Hymn of the Republic ends with a high B-flat, and now that I've been working my upper range, that's easy for me to hit, so instead of straining and coming out with it shrill, it's full-blast. She said she was worried her eyeglasses would shatter. I have to work on some music for another piece because I need to learn both first and second soprano parts and decide which one I need to sing based on who shows up. I switched to first for part of last night because it was sounding a little anemic, but I think one of the bigger-voiced people will be there Monday.
I'm going to have to hit the library tomorrow morning because the last batch of books was hit-or-miss. There was one I really liked, a couple that were okay, and two I didn't finish. One I think I might have liked, except it was written in second person (you did this, you did that), and there was no dialogue, just indirect quotes (he told you this), and I just couldn't get past that to get to the story. The other involved the "hero" shooting up heroin early in the book and I had a "no, just no" moment because I don't need that kind of edgy. Yeah, he's an immortal being and it has a different effect on him, but I also don't need a hero so dark and angsty that he needs drugs. I have one book that was on hold ready to pick up, but I'll need to find some other fun stuff to read.
After a lot of fiddling around all afternoon, including revisiting my soundtrack for this book and realizing that I had no songs that applied to this section of the story (a potentially bad sign), I finally figured out that the problem was a little further back, that the previous scene ends at the wrong place and goes in the wrong direction. So cutting one more paragraph should do the trick. Unfortunately, I had this realization right before it was time to get ready for choir. So maybe today I can move forward.
I'm already planning on a Saturday write-a-thon. I'll do my socializing on Friday, work Saturday, rest Sunday and then on Monday I've got a Memorial Day concert Monday evening, but I can also work during much of that day. I kind of pity the alto I was sitting next to last night. The Battle Hymn of the Republic ends with a high B-flat, and now that I've been working my upper range, that's easy for me to hit, so instead of straining and coming out with it shrill, it's full-blast. She said she was worried her eyeglasses would shatter. I have to work on some music for another piece because I need to learn both first and second soprano parts and decide which one I need to sing based on who shows up. I switched to first for part of last night because it was sounding a little anemic, but I think one of the bigger-voiced people will be there Monday.
I'm going to have to hit the library tomorrow morning because the last batch of books was hit-or-miss. There was one I really liked, a couple that were okay, and two I didn't finish. One I think I might have liked, except it was written in second person (you did this, you did that), and there was no dialogue, just indirect quotes (he told you this), and I just couldn't get past that to get to the story. The other involved the "hero" shooting up heroin early in the book and I had a "no, just no" moment because I don't need that kind of edgy. Yeah, he's an immortal being and it has a different effect on him, but I also don't need a hero so dark and angsty that he needs drugs. I have one book that was on hold ready to pick up, but I'll need to find some other fun stuff to read.
May 21, 2014
Writing a Series
I've got another writing question from a reader: How do you sustain a series?
I think the biggest factor in making a series work is planning. If there's even the slightest possibility that your book could have at least a single sequel, it helps to be thinking about it up front, since if your book is successful, the publisher will likely suggest a sequel, and a series is a good way to build a readership.
One thing to think about is the kind of series that might work best for this world/cast/story.
There's the serial saga kind of series, with one big story broken up into multiple books, like the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin (known on TV as A Game of Thrones). Each individual book may not follow any of the structure of a novel and may not have a resolution. In fact, it may even have a cliffhanger ending. This kind of series might be considered to have a closed ending because when the story's over, it comes to a definite conclusion. But if your characters are still alive, it's possible to start another saga in the same world or to tell more adventures. Readers pretty much have to start with the first book and continue to the last one to get the whole story. Otherwise, it would be like reading a few chapters from the middle of a novel.
There's the more episodic kind of series, in which each book is a self-contained story, but there may be character and plot arcs that stretch across books. You see this a lot in mystery series, where each book covers a particular case, but the personal life, character development and relationships of the main character build and grow across books. A reader could pick up any book in the series and follow the main plot, but readers who start with book one will appreciate the character parts of the story more, and readers will keep picking up each book not so much for the main plots but to see what's going on with the characters.
You can also do a hybrid of these, as in the Harry Potter series or the first five books of my Enchanted, Inc. series, where there's one main villain with the same big-picture goal, but each book tells a mostly self-contained story about a particular facet of the villain's scheme, and that story is resolved in that book, while the villain lives to scheme again.
Or there's the series model common in the romance genre, where there's a large cast of recurring characters and each book focuses on a different pair of characters. The best friend of the main characters in book one may be the hero of book two, with the characters from book one taking a supporting role. We get to see what's going on in the lives of characters from earlier books while focusing on someone else. This has been done with a group of friends, a military unit, a family, or a town. I had a friend writing a family series who ran out of family members she'd established and started having to dig up long-lost cousins.
Depending on the genre, it is possible to switch series modes -- start with an episodic series that becomes more of a serial saga as the big-picture plot starts to eclipse the "case of the week" story, or close out the saga and then tell episodic adventures. I haven't seen it done that I know of, but it may even be possible to do the romance-style series until you reach the point that a particular character wants to take over, and then to continue the series focusing on that character. Still, it helps to know up front if you're going to need to have more of the main story to tell, a reason for this character to keep getting into trouble and having adventures, or if you're going to need to find the story for a secondary character. What further development does each character need to go through? Are the relationships set at the end of book one or evolving? What is there in this world that could continue to cause problems?
If you're doing a saga, it really helps to plot it in advance as though it was a novel -- who's the big bad, what's his goal, what's his plan, what are the major turning points, where will everyone end up, how will you break it into books. It would be really hard to write this kind of series as a seat-of-the-pants writer since you're essentially publishing your earlier chapters before you've written the rest of the book, and that means you're stuck with what you've established.
If you're doing an episodic series, you need to make sure you've set up a reason for your characters to keep having adventures. Not only does their situation need to lend itself to things happening, but the characters need to have a motivation to keep getting themselves in trouble. It's easy if it's their job -- they're a sword for hire, a cop, a detective. It's harder if it's an ordinary person who keeps getting swept into trouble.
In the romance model, make sure there are other characters you want to work with who will intrigue readers. You can always introduce more people along the way, but there needs to be someone in book one who's ready to have a story told in book two.
Some other hints for working with a series:
* Keep a master list of your characters, their roles and their major traits, both physical (eye and hair color) and otherwise (tics, quirks, interests). This really, really comes in handy later. For some weird reason, it's easier to keep track of all this stuff in something you're obsessed with as a reader than in something you're writing, and it helps to have an easy reference.
* I've heard of writers who set themselves a challenge for each book -- like using a different genre model, focusing on a particular aspect of the main character's personality, developing something in the key relationship. Readers may not even notice that this is going on, but it's something that keeps the writer interested and makes the writing fresh.
* Really dig to explore various aspects of the main characters or the story -- what would they never do? Find a way to make them do it. What could never happen? Find a way to make it happen. What do they value most? Take it away. What do they think they value least? Take it away and see what happens. A lot of readers get frustrated with a series character who never seems to grow or learn anything, in spite of everything she's been through.
* Put the characters in different settings -- make your main character a fish out of water, or if your character is already a fish out of water, move her to her home turf and switch roles with the other characters. Take everyone out of their comfort zone occasionally.
* Beware the exploding cast. It's easy in a long-running series to have so many recurring characters that it's hard to fit them all in. Sometimes it helps to change the setting or find a situation that allows you to focus on one smaller group of people while the others sit on the sideline. Then in the next book you can find something for that group to do while the others get a break. This all gets really tricky in a saga with a big cast of key characters rather than one main hero because readers have their favorites and will lose interest if their favorites are offstage too long.
* Finally, don't be afraid to end it. If you've been doing it right, your readers will beg for more, but don't keep going if you're getting tired of it, if you don't really have any good ideas or if there's something else you'd rather be writing. It will show in your work, and then your readers will be disappointed. As they say in show biz, leave 'em wanting more, and unless you killed everyone, you can always revisit that world if you find yourself inspired.
I think the biggest factor in making a series work is planning. If there's even the slightest possibility that your book could have at least a single sequel, it helps to be thinking about it up front, since if your book is successful, the publisher will likely suggest a sequel, and a series is a good way to build a readership.
One thing to think about is the kind of series that might work best for this world/cast/story.
There's the serial saga kind of series, with one big story broken up into multiple books, like the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin (known on TV as A Game of Thrones). Each individual book may not follow any of the structure of a novel and may not have a resolution. In fact, it may even have a cliffhanger ending. This kind of series might be considered to have a closed ending because when the story's over, it comes to a definite conclusion. But if your characters are still alive, it's possible to start another saga in the same world or to tell more adventures. Readers pretty much have to start with the first book and continue to the last one to get the whole story. Otherwise, it would be like reading a few chapters from the middle of a novel.
There's the more episodic kind of series, in which each book is a self-contained story, but there may be character and plot arcs that stretch across books. You see this a lot in mystery series, where each book covers a particular case, but the personal life, character development and relationships of the main character build and grow across books. A reader could pick up any book in the series and follow the main plot, but readers who start with book one will appreciate the character parts of the story more, and readers will keep picking up each book not so much for the main plots but to see what's going on with the characters.
You can also do a hybrid of these, as in the Harry Potter series or the first five books of my Enchanted, Inc. series, where there's one main villain with the same big-picture goal, but each book tells a mostly self-contained story about a particular facet of the villain's scheme, and that story is resolved in that book, while the villain lives to scheme again.
Or there's the series model common in the romance genre, where there's a large cast of recurring characters and each book focuses on a different pair of characters. The best friend of the main characters in book one may be the hero of book two, with the characters from book one taking a supporting role. We get to see what's going on in the lives of characters from earlier books while focusing on someone else. This has been done with a group of friends, a military unit, a family, or a town. I had a friend writing a family series who ran out of family members she'd established and started having to dig up long-lost cousins.
Depending on the genre, it is possible to switch series modes -- start with an episodic series that becomes more of a serial saga as the big-picture plot starts to eclipse the "case of the week" story, or close out the saga and then tell episodic adventures. I haven't seen it done that I know of, but it may even be possible to do the romance-style series until you reach the point that a particular character wants to take over, and then to continue the series focusing on that character. Still, it helps to know up front if you're going to need to have more of the main story to tell, a reason for this character to keep getting into trouble and having adventures, or if you're going to need to find the story for a secondary character. What further development does each character need to go through? Are the relationships set at the end of book one or evolving? What is there in this world that could continue to cause problems?
If you're doing a saga, it really helps to plot it in advance as though it was a novel -- who's the big bad, what's his goal, what's his plan, what are the major turning points, where will everyone end up, how will you break it into books. It would be really hard to write this kind of series as a seat-of-the-pants writer since you're essentially publishing your earlier chapters before you've written the rest of the book, and that means you're stuck with what you've established.
If you're doing an episodic series, you need to make sure you've set up a reason for your characters to keep having adventures. Not only does their situation need to lend itself to things happening, but the characters need to have a motivation to keep getting themselves in trouble. It's easy if it's their job -- they're a sword for hire, a cop, a detective. It's harder if it's an ordinary person who keeps getting swept into trouble.
In the romance model, make sure there are other characters you want to work with who will intrigue readers. You can always introduce more people along the way, but there needs to be someone in book one who's ready to have a story told in book two.
Some other hints for working with a series:
* Keep a master list of your characters, their roles and their major traits, both physical (eye and hair color) and otherwise (tics, quirks, interests). This really, really comes in handy later. For some weird reason, it's easier to keep track of all this stuff in something you're obsessed with as a reader than in something you're writing, and it helps to have an easy reference.
* I've heard of writers who set themselves a challenge for each book -- like using a different genre model, focusing on a particular aspect of the main character's personality, developing something in the key relationship. Readers may not even notice that this is going on, but it's something that keeps the writer interested and makes the writing fresh.
* Really dig to explore various aspects of the main characters or the story -- what would they never do? Find a way to make them do it. What could never happen? Find a way to make it happen. What do they value most? Take it away. What do they think they value least? Take it away and see what happens. A lot of readers get frustrated with a series character who never seems to grow or learn anything, in spite of everything she's been through.
* Put the characters in different settings -- make your main character a fish out of water, or if your character is already a fish out of water, move her to her home turf and switch roles with the other characters. Take everyone out of their comfort zone occasionally.
* Beware the exploding cast. It's easy in a long-running series to have so many recurring characters that it's hard to fit them all in. Sometimes it helps to change the setting or find a situation that allows you to focus on one smaller group of people while the others sit on the sideline. Then in the next book you can find something for that group to do while the others get a break. This all gets really tricky in a saga with a big cast of key characters rather than one main hero because readers have their favorites and will lose interest if their favorites are offstage too long.
* Finally, don't be afraid to end it. If you've been doing it right, your readers will beg for more, but don't keep going if you're getting tired of it, if you don't really have any good ideas or if there's something else you'd rather be writing. It will show in your work, and then your readers will be disappointed. As they say in show biz, leave 'em wanting more, and unless you killed everyone, you can always revisit that world if you find yourself inspired.
