Nick Travers's Blog, page 9

Writing Workshop – Plotting the Plot

This plotting method is the one I find most useful.  If you don’t like it that’s ok, ignore me and go do your own thing – do whatever works for you.

The idea for a novel can start with a character, story idea, a concept, a question, a what if?  Or a story world.  We will start with the plot, because we have to start somewhere.  If you’ve already started with another element of the story don’t worry, all these workshops are interchangeable and can be done in almost any order.

The primary function of a fiction writer is to tell a story.  At the very minimum you need a three line plot.  This consists of

A Premise – what is the story about.
Complication(s) – (But) what difficulties do the characters have to overcome and how do they overcome these complications
A Climax – How your characters over the complications and resolve the story.

How your character(s) overcome the complications of the plot forms the main body of your story.  Without complications, objections, and hurdles for your characters to overcome, your story will fall flat, because all stories are about how humans overcome conflict.  Stories are so hard-wired into human nature, that even stories we think are about something else are ultimately about humans.

In fact, the more difficult you make it for your characters, the more their personalities will be exposed and the more interesting your story will become.  Plotting is really all about storytelling and storytelling is all about conflict.

For instance:  a Princess is born, grows up, meets the Prince of her dreams, gets married and lives happily ever after is not a very interesting story (unless you are three years old).  A Princess grows up overcoming the eccentricities of her parents, meets the Prince of her dreams who turns out to be a monster, but the Princesses’ pure love helps the Princes overcome his Monstrous traits – Beauty and the Beast – is more interesting.  Add that the two families are monstrous and compare that against the forbidden pure love of the prince and princess and you have Romeo and Juliet, turn pure love into obsession and you have Twilight. It’s all about what your characters have to overcome and how they go about it that makes your story interesting.

In Gaia’s Brood, the three line plot is:

A girl goes on a quest to discover how her mother died.
But, hidden forces conspire against her quest.
Why these complications arise is answered in an unexpected confrontation with the story villains, creating the climax of the story.

In Helium3 the plot lines are:

A boy wishes to pursue his dream of racing space sleds.
But, he is a chronic outsider and the system is fixed against him.
A confrontation with injustice and the boy’s nemesis form the climax of the story.

How may complications can you have?  One.  Keep it simple, make your story about one overriding issue, one theme, and one only.  If you find you have more than one, try to split them out into separate plots – now you have two stories and you are on your way to a series.

At this stage concentrate on the overall picture, there will be plenty of time for detail later in your story arcs, sub-plots, character journeys, and story beats, all of which will be covered in future workshops.  For now, keep playing with your three line plot until you have something that grabs you or intrigues you, it’s not easy, but it pay dividends in the end:  if the plot grabs you, it will grab your readers too.

Plotting Exercises:  Try sketching out a couple of simple, three line, plots each day:  A Premise, A Complication, and A Climax.  The more you practice plot writing the easier it becomes, and sooner or later you are going to hit on that original plot that you cannot get out of your head and which turns into your next story. Let me know how you get on and please share any questions, ideas or your own process in the comments.

Tip:  If you have difficulty separating your characters from the plot, (I always seem to let the characters get in the way, which produces a kind of writer’s block when it comes to plot writing), describe the story in basic fairytale stereotypes: desperate king tries to marry off his daughter to a rich prince, but the prince is a monster, however, love conquers all and the monster is tamed by the princesses love – beauty and the beast.  Or, a lonely princess and a cursed prince fall for each other, but their love turns into obsession which threatens to destroy both of them and lead to war, however love overcomes the impossible divide and war is averted – Twilight (note that being a vampire is not part of the plot outline, but a consequence of a character trait).  Well it works for me.

Keep writing, Nick.

Plotting the Plot – Writing Workshop

This plotting method is the one I find most useful.  If you don’t like it that’s ok, ignore me and go do your own thing – do whatever works for you.

The idea for a novel can start with a character, story idea, a concept, a question, a what if?  Or a story world.  We will start with the plot, because we have to start somewhere.  If you’ve already started with another element of the story don’t worry, all these workshops are interchangeable and can be done in almost any order.

The primary function of a fiction writer is to tell a story.  At the very minimum you need a three line plot.  This consists of

A Premise – what is the story about.
Complication(s) – (But) what difficulties do the characters have to overcome and how do they overcome these complications
A Climax – How your characters over the complications and resolve the story.

How your character(s) overcome the complications of the plot forms the main body of your story.  Without complications, objections, and hurdles for your characters to overcome, your story will fall flat, because all stories are about how humans overcome conflict.  Stories are so hard-wired into human nature, that even stories we think are about something else are ultimately about humans.

In fact, the more difficult you make it for your characters, the more their personalities will be exposed and the more interesting your story will become.  Plotting is really all about storytelling and storytelling is all about conflict.

For instance:  a Princess is born, grows up, meets the Prince of her dreams, gets married and lives happily ever after is not a very interesting story (unless you are three years old).  A Princess grows up overcoming the eccentricities of her parents, meets the Prince of her dreams who turns out to be a monster, but the Princesses’ pure love helps the Princes overcome his Monstrous traits – Beauty and the Beast – is more interesting.  Add that the two families are monstrous and compare that against the forbidden pure love of the prince and princess and you have Romeo and Juliet, turn pure love into obsession and you have Twilight. It’s all about what your characters have to overcome and how they go about it that makes your story interesting.

In Gaia’s Brood, the three line plot is:

A girl goes on a quest to discover how her mother died.
But, hidden forces conspire against her quest.
Why these complications arise is answered in an unexpected confrontation with the story villains, creating the climax of the story.

In Helium3 the plot lines are:

A boy wishes to pursue his dream of racing space sleds.
But, he is a chronic outsider and the system is fixed against him.
A confrontation with injustice and the boy’s nemesis form the climax of the story.

How may complications can you have?  One.  Keep it simple, make your story about one overriding issue, one theme, and one only.  If you find you have more than one, try to split them out into separate plots – now you have two stories and you are on your way to a series.

At this stage concentrate on the overall picture, there will be plenty of time for detail later in your story arcs, sub-plots, character journeys, and story beats, all of which will be covered in future workshops.  For now, keep playing with your three line plot until you have something that grabs you or intrigues you, it’s not easy, but it pay dividends in the end:  if the plot grabs you, it will grab your readers too.

Plotting Exercises:  Try sketching out a couple of simple, three line, plots each day:  A Premise, A Complication, and A Climax.  The more you practice plot writing the easier it becomes, and sooner or later you are going to hit on that original plot that you cannot get out of your head and which turns into your next story. Let me know how you get on and please share any questions, ideas or your own process in the comments.

Tip:  If you have difficulty separating your characters from the plot, (I always seem to let the characters get in the way, which produces a kind of writer’s block when it comes to plot writing), describe the story in basic fairytale stereotypes: desperate king tries to marry off his daughter to a rich prince, but the prince is a monster, however, love conquers all and the monster is tamed by the princesses love – beauty and the beast.  Or, a lonely princess and a cursed prince fall for each other, but their love turns into obsession which threatens to destroy both of them and lead to war, however love overcomes the impossible divide and war is averted – Twilight (note that being a vampire is not part of the plot outline, but a consequence of a character trait).  Well it works for me.

Keep writing, Nick.

A Steampunk Martial Art – Girardoni Kata

Since posting my article on the Girardoni gun, ‘Steampunk Warfare – The Real Deal’, I find myself inventing a whole new martial art to accommodate the weapon.

As a writer, I love the way a simple decision can drive the development of a whole story world. In this case it is the adoption of a certain gun mechanism, but it could equally be a political, institutional, religious, technological, hierarchical or social idea, just as our response to these things change the real world around us.

A story world must hang together logically for the whole thing to feel real to the reader. To give your story an ‘other-worldy’ feel, just turn a social norm on its head and follow the logical consequences of that decision.

The other day, I took the family to see the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, UK. The Mary Rose is a Tudor warship built on the cusp of a military revolution – the introduction of cannons. She was originally designed in 1510 as a floating castle, from which bowmen and musketeers could help in the boarding and capture of enemy ships. She was refitted in 1536 with heavy cannon as a floating gun platform. The refit was only partially successful: she was so top heavy she could not turn with her gun ports open, because she leaned over so far they were under water. She tried the maneuver in battle in 1545 and promptly sank.

The museum clearly shows how the introduction of new weaponry changed the entire nature of offensive and defensive warfare during the ship’s lifetime. I highly recommend visiting the Mary Rose museum if you ever get the opportunity, it the best museum I have ever been to – 19,000 artifacts and everyone original.

I reckon, if the Girardoni gun system had continued in use, it would only have been a matter of time before a martial art was invented to accommodate the continuous reloading and firing of two Girardoni pistols used simultaneously.

I have researched the art of Gun Kata, invented for the film Equilibrium – but the moves mainly revolve around visually impressive, but totally impractical, stances for the camera. I have also researched Gun Fu, invented by the Asian cinema as a visually entertaining alternative to kung fu action films. Neither of these ‘disciplines’ serve any practical purpose other than to visually entertain – which is fine, we are all in the entertainment business, but they are particularly difficult to transpose into prose.

To satisfy literary demands, and still achieve the cool feel I’m after, I have had to invent my own martial art with which to populate my new novel, Coggler’s Brood.  This is a new departure from the weapons of Gaia’s Brood, and a fitting extension of the story world, so I am particularly excited.  I have called this new martial art, Girardoni Kata, a Steampunk Martial Art.

Based around Gun Kata, the moves are all practical ways in which to continuously reload, cock, and fire, two Girardoni pistols simultaneously, while taking on a large number of opponents in close quarter fighting.

Here are two of the basic moves:

A standing six, eight, ten, twelve, fourteen or sixteen point star, where the gun wielder aims and fires toward opposite points of the star, whilst rotating either clockwise or anticlockwise.  The practitioner reloads the breach block with parts of their upper body, killing their opponents with deadly accuracy.

A crouching six or eight point double-rate-of-fire star, where the gun wielder fires in a predetermined pattern, without accurate aiming, whilst rotating in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction.  The practitioner reloads the breach block with parts of their lower body, arms, and legs.  The objective here is to fire as fast a possible to create such a hail of bullets that the enemy are cut down and killed as they fall through the deadly curtain of lead.

All I need now is for some kind soul to make up a pair of mirrored Girardoni pistols with working breaches and cocking hammers, complete with gun holsters, so I can practice  my Girardoni Kata moves – I’m just not a good tinkerer, except with words.

Girardoni Kata – A Steampunk Martial Art

Since posting my article on the Girardoni gun, ‘Steampunk Warfare – The Real Deal’, I find myself inventing a whole new martial art to accommodate the weapon.

As a writer, I love the way a simple decision can drive the development of a whole story world. In this case it is the adoption of a certain gun mechanism, but it could equally be a political, institutional, religious, technological, hierarchical or social idea, just as our response to these things change the real world around us.

A story world must hang together logically for the whole thing to feel real to the reader. To give your story an ‘other-worldy’ feel, just turn a social norm on its head and follow the logical consequences of that decision.

The other day, I took the family to see the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, UK. The Mary Rose is a Tudor warship built on the cusp of a military revolution – the introduction of cannons. She was originally designed in 1510 as a floating castle, from which bowmen and musketeers could help in the boarding and capture of enemy ships. She was refitted in 1536 with heavy cannon as a floating gun platform. The refit was only partially successful: she was so top heavy she could not turn with her gun ports open, because she leaned over so far they were under water. She tried the maneuver in battle in 1545 and promptly sank.

The museum clearly shows how the introduction of new weaponry changed the entire nature of offensive and defensive warfare during the ship’s lifetime. I highly recommend visiting the Mary Rose museum if you ever get the opportunity, it the best museum I have ever been to – 19,000 artifacts and everyone original.

I reckon, if the Girardoni gun system had continued in use, it would only have been a matter of time before a martial art was invented to accommodate the continuous reloading and firing of two Girardoni pistols used simultaneously.

I have researched the art of Gun Kata, invented for the film Equilibrium – but the moves mainly revolve around visually impressive, but totally impractical, stances for the camera. I have also researched Gun Fu, invented by the Asian cinema as a visually entertaining alternative to kung fu action films. Neither of these ‘disciplines’ serve any practical purpose other than to visually entertain – which is fine, we are all in the entertainment business, but they are particularly difficult to transpose into prose.

To satisfy literary demands, and still achieve the cool feel I’m after, I have had to invent my own martial art with which to populate my new novel, Coggler’s Brood.  This is a new departure from the weapons of Gaia’s Brood, and a fitting extension of the story world, so I am particularly excited.  I have called this new martial art, Girardoni Kata, a Steampunk Martial Art.

Based around Gun Kata, the moves are all practical ways in which to continuously reload, cock, and fire, two Girardoni pistols simultaneously, while taking on a large number of opponents in close quarter fighting.

Here are two of the basic moves:

A standing six, eight, ten, twelve, fourteen or sixteen point star, where the gun wielder aims and fires toward opposite points of the star, whilst rotating either clockwise or anticlockwise.  The practitioner reloads the breach block with parts of their upper body, killing their opponents with deadly accuracy.

A crouching six or eight point double-rate-of-fire star, where the gun wielder fires in a predetermined pattern, without accurate aiming, whilst rotating in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction.  The practitioner reloads the breach block with parts of their lower body, arms, and legs.  The objective here is to fire as fast a possible to create such a hail of bullets that the enemy are cut down and killed as they fall through the deadly curtain of lead.

Writing Workshop – The MacGuffin

The MacGuffin is a device use by script writers, particularly in action and adventure films, to advance the action and maintain the audiences interest.

The term coined was by Alfred Hitchcock. He generally used it as a device to hold together the first part of his film. What is it? Anything which all the characters are interested in obtaining. In Psycho the MacGuffin is the $40,000 which has been stolen. The pursuit of this money provides the motivation which holds all the characters together in the first part of the film without giving away the whole plot. Hitchcock generally only used it as a device to hold together the first act. Ultimately, Hitchcock said the MacGuffin is just not important ‘It is nothing.’ Who for instance remembers the $40,000 in Psycho?

The Coen brother always use the same MacGaffin in each of their films: money, and it is always a red-herring. In their film ‘O Brother Where Art Thou’ which is one of my all time favourite movies, three convicts break out of prison to retrieve a large stash of money. We learn later that the money was a hoax, but it keeps the film moving and gives everyone a purpose until the true objective is revealed.

In the film Safe, which I watched last night, the MacGuffin is a little girl who knows something. The protagonist and most of the Antagonists have no idea why the girl is important or what secret she knows, all they know is that their enemies are pulling out all the stops to find her, so she becomes important to them too.  Not until three-quarters of the way through the film do they discover what the chase, and the rising body count, is all about.  A clever script, I thought, and a theme I would like to use in a future story.

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas also use the MacGuffin as a device in their films.  In the original Star Wars movie, Lucas says R2D2 was the MacGuffin, which he used to hold the first act together in the classic Hitchcock way.  Spielberg, on the other hand, has a different view of the MacGuffin. For him, the MacGuffin must always be the ultimate prize.  Here the device is used to motivate the characters throughout the whole film.  The best examples are from the Indians Jones Series: in Raiders Of The Lost Ark, the MacGuffin is the Ark of the Covenant; In The Temple Of Doom, the holy stones; In The Last Crusade, it is the Holy Grail; In the Crystal Skull it is the skull. In fact, Spielberg likes the MacGuffin technique so much he is happy to have more than one. Not only will he have an overall MacGuffin, but he will have minor MacGuffins in each act of the film.

A MacGuffin is normally an object, but could be a person, that all the characters are interested in and that propels the action forwards. It could be the main objective of the protagonist and antagonist which drives the action throughout the entire film. It could be a step on the way to the main objective or it could be totally unrelated to the main objective and be completely forgotten by the end of the film. It’s purpose is solely to provide focus and move the action along. It’s a technique which readily transposes to writing.

In Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows you could say that the Horuxes and the Hallows are MacGuffins. They provide the necessary focus and motivation to propel the action forwards.  In my book Gaia’s Brood, the MacGuffin is Eve Swift’s journal.

A MacGuffin can also be a useful fix if you are editing and you realise your story just doesn’t hang together. Is there an object/person already in the story which can be turned into a MacGuffin (even if it is a complete red-herring) or can you introduce one. Look for ‘shotgun’ objects. By that I mean have you focused on an object in a part of the story but not used it – like the proverbial shotgun hanging behind the bar in a western: if it is shown it must be used by the end of the film, but nothing says you need to reserve it for the end of the story. If the pursuit or desire of the object will hold together the first act, by all means use it as a MacGuffin, secure in the knowledge that you are following in the footsteps of the greats.

So when you are next planning your adventure or action story, consider whether you have a MacGuffin or whether you need one. How many MacGuffins do you need? One overall object to provide a focus for the entire story or several steps along the way, or both. How about one to propel a (sub) story along, or maybe a total red-herring?

Writing – The MacGuffin

The MacGuffin is a device use by script writers, particularly in action and adventure films, to advance the action and maintain the audiences interest.

The term coined was by Alfred Hitchcock. He generally used it as a device to hold together the first part of his film. What is it? Anything which all the characters are interested in obtaining. In Psycho the MacGuffin is the $40,000 which has been stolen. The pursuit of this money provides the motivation which holds all the characters together in the first part of the film without giving away the whole plot. Hitchcock generally only used it as a device to hold together the first act. Ultimately, Hitchcock said the MacGuffin is just not important ‘It is nothing.’ Who for instance remembers the $40,000 in Psycho?

The Coen brother always use the same MacGaffin in each of their films: money, and it is always a red-herring. In their film ‘O Brother Where Art Thou’ which is one of my all time favourite movies, three convicts break out of prison to retrieve a large stash of money. We learn later that the money was a hoax, but it keeps the film moving and gives everyone a purpose until the true objective is revealed.

In the film Safe, which I watched last night, the MacGuffin is a little girl who knows something. The protagonist and most of the Antagonists have no idea why the girl is important or what secret she knows, all they know is that their enemies are pulling out all the stops to find her, so she becomes important to them too.  Not until three-quarters of the way through the film do they discover what the chase, and the rising body count, is all about.  A clever script, I thought, and a theme I would like to use in a future story.

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas also use the MacGuffin as a device in their films.  In the original Star Wars movie, Lucas says R2D2 was the MacGuffin, which he used to hold the first act together in the classic Hitchcock way.  Spielberg, on the other hand, has a different view of the MacGuffin. For him, the MacGuffin must always be the ultimate prize.  Here the device is used to motivate the characters throughout the whole film.  The best examples are from the Indians Jones Series: in Raiders Of The Lost Ark, the MacGuffin is the Ark of the Covenant; In The Temple Of Doom, the holy stones; In The Last Crusade, it is the Holy Grail; In the Crystal Skull it is the skull. In fact, Spielberg likes the MacGuffin technique so much he is happy to have more than one. Not only will he have an overall MacGuffin, but he will have minor MacGuffins in each act of the film.

A MacGuffin is normally an object, but could be a person, that all the characters are interested in and that propels the action forwards. It could be the main objective of the protagonist and antagonist which drives the action throughout the entire film. It could be a step on the way to the main objective or it could be totally unrelated to the main objective and be completely forgotten by the end of the film. It’s purpose is solely to provide focus and move the action along. It’s a technique which readily transposes to writing.

In Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows you could say that the Horuxes and the Hallows are MacGuffins. They provide the necessary focus and motivation to propel the action forwards.  In my book Gaia’s Brood, the MacGuffin is Eve Swift’s journal.

A MacGuffin can also be a useful fix if you are editing and you realise your story just doesn’t hang together. Is there an object/person already in the story which can be turned into a MacGuffin (even if it is a complete red-herring) or can you introduce one. Look for ‘shotgun’ objects. By that I mean have you focused on an object in a part of the story but not used it – like the proverbial shotgun hanging behind the bar in a western: if it is shown it must be used by the end of the film, but nothing says you need to reserve it for the end of the story. If the pursuit or desire of the object will hold together the first act, by all means use it as a MacGuffin, secure in the knowledge that you are following in the footsteps of the greats.

So when you are next planning your adventure or action story, consider whether you have a MacGuffin or whether you need one. How many MacGuffins do you need? One overall object to provide a focus for the entire story or several steps along the way, or both. How about one to propel a (sub) story along, or maybe a total red-herring?

Steampunk Book Launch – Ta Da!

Today is publication day for my new book, Gaia’s Brood.  It seems to have taken forever to set up all the individual elements of the book launch.  From the automated emails, to the free gifts, to the avalanche of twitter advertising (I promise I will publish a free crib-sheet soon of everything I did).

The first review I have seen, from KAZ at Geek TFO, is insanely positive.  In fact, I have made a copy for future reference. Thanks, Kaz, much appreciated.  Hope you claimed your free box set of Helium3.

I have done everything possibly to give Gaia’s Brood the best boost I can on launch day.  Even so, I know I could, and probably should, have done more.  Everything has taken far longer to achieve than I anticipated.  All I need is another month to get everything set up just perfect.

Emotionally, I am hopeful of big results, even though I know, intellectually, that without the essential big emailing list, the launch will probably go with a whimper.  The key to self-publishing is in the longtail and the mailing list of fans – I know that, it is written into my marketing plan (I will blog about te marketing plan at a later date if anyone is interested).  Still, I cannot help feeling excited about a book launch.

In many ways I will heave a big sigh of relief once the launch is over.  Then I can return to my usual schedule of writing and longtail advertising.  It will be a relief to get back to the serious business of character creation and storytelling after months of relentless preparation for the book launch and endless marketing.  In fact, I am itching to get going again – my character are calling me.

Anyway, wish me luck, here goes the final marketing bit for the launch of Gaia’s Brood:

Order day offer – only available on the launch day of the book.  If you order an ebook copy of Gaia’s Brood, from Amazon, on the 25 April 2015, not only will I give it to you for the special discount price of 2.99 (saving you 1.50), but I will give you a copy of the Helium3 Box Set completely free of charge.

You can order Gaia’s Brood in the Uk from here.  £2.99 inc vat

And in the US from here.  $2.99 before sales Tax

And you can claim your free copy of the Helium3 Box Set by filling in your email and name below. (I will automatically send you a 100% discount code for the Box Set).  Fill it in now, because it is only active for today.

Happy reading,

Nick Travers

25 April – Gaia’s Brood Launch Day

Only a few days until the official publication day of my dystopian steampunk adventure, Gaia’s Brood. I am unbelievably excited.

Now for news of a pre-order give-away: Books pre-ordered on Amazon before the official publication day help push the title up the Amazon popularity charts on the day. This makes the book much more visible, which means more people check it out and purchase it if they like what they see.

So in return for pre-orders of Gaia’s Brood I’m happy to give something back.  Tweet this!

Here’s the deal: If you order an ebook copy of Gaia’s Brood, from Amazon, before the official publication date of 25 April 2015, not only will I give it to you for the special discount price of 2.99 (saving you 1.50), but I will give you a copy of the Helium3 Box Set completely free of charge.

You can pre-order Gaia’s Brood in the Uk from here.  £2.99 inc vat

And in the US from here.  $2.99 before sales Tax

And you can claim your free copy of the Helium3 Box Set by filling in your email and name below. (I will automatically send you a 100% discount code for the Box Set)

Happy reading,

Nick Travers

Writing Workshop – The distracting Steampunk Gadget

Isn’t this the most awesome steampunk gadget ever?  I have no idea what it is, but that’s half the beauty – my imagination can run riot.

Let’s face it, some steampunk gizmos are fabulous, and beautiful, and just desperately need to feature in that steampunk novel you are writing.  Don’t do it; resist the temptation.

Warning:  Include a wealth of information about a cornucopia of steampunk inventions and you kill your story.

There are rules and conventions to storytelling.  Yes, we need to push the boundaries, but push them beyond what your audience can bear and you lose them.

In film making there is a foreshadowing rule which cannot be pushed too far, called the ‘Proverbial Shotgun Technique.’  Audiences and readers are so familiar with this technique that omitting it becomes as big an error as over using it and in some steampunk novels I have read, it is definitely overused.

The shotgun technique is best illustrated by reference to the cowboy western film where it originated..  The camera zooms in from a general view of the bar to highlight a shotgun hung on the wall behind the barman.  The existence of this weapon has now been raised in the viewer’s consciousness.  Not using the shotgun to resolve a plot conflict, by the end of the film, is to leave the audience feeling deprived.

On the other hand, if a shotgun is suddenly produced to resolve a critical plot-line, without having been foreshadowed first, viewers/readers may feel cheated, because they never had the opportunity to anticipate this scene (technically called a ‘deus ex-machina’, ‘God out of the machine’: a cheep story device introduced to rescue a failing plot line).  So if your character is suddenly going to win a fight by producing, a spring loaded knife from up their sleeve, you had better have introduced at some earlier part of the story.

Similarly, if you explain in fine details the workings of say a steam driven car or the beautiful device featured at the top of this article – no, I have no idea what it is, but isn’t it fantastic – that device then has to play some part in the plot line of your story.

There are some nerds and geeks who will want to immerse themselves in detailed descriptions of how your story world works, but save that for your website, because most readers want a character driven plot and an exciting story.

Think of your gadgets and gismos as characters in your story:  the stranger walking past the window will receive only a passing description, whereas a character who drives the plot is described in a lot more detail.

If you are writing a thriller/crime/mystery, where your reader knows the villain is killed, you could highlighting a gun, a knife, and a rock.  This will increase the anticipation as the reader tries to work out which weapon is used.

Except in the above scenario, it is best not to use the shotgun technique to create red-herrings.  For that, it is better to use a MacGuffin, but more about that in a later post.

In short:  If you show it, use it. If you have used it already, but not shown it, edit it in earlier.Tweet this!

Writing – The distracting Steampunk Gadget

Isn’t this the most awesome steampunk gadget ever?  I have no idea what it is, but that’s half the beauty – my imagination can run riot.

Let’s face it, some steampunk gizmos are fabulous, and beautiful, and just desperately need to feature in that steampunk novel you are writing.  Don’t do it; resist the temptation.

Warning:  Include a wealth of information about a cornucopia of steampunk inventions and you kill your story.

There are rules and conventions to storytelling.  Yes, we need to push the boundaries, but push them beyond what your audience can bear and you lose them.

In film making there is a foreshadowing rule which cannot be pushed too far, called the ‘Proverbial Shotgun Technique.’  Audiences and readers are so familiar with this technique that omitting it becomes as big an error as over using it and in some steampunk novels I have read, it is definitely overused.

The shotgun technique is best illustrated by reference to the cowboy western film where it originated..  The camera zooms in from a general view of the bar to highlight a shotgun hung on the wall behind the barman.  The existence of this weapon has now been raised in the viewer’s consciousness.  Not using the shotgun to resolve a plot conflict, by the end of the film, is to leave the audience feeling deprived.

On the other hand, if a shotgun is suddenly produced to resolve a critical plot-line, without having been foreshadowed first, viewers/readers may feel cheated, because they never had the opportunity to anticipate this scene (technically called a ‘deus ex-machina’, ‘God out of the machine’: a cheep story device introduced to rescue a failing plot line).  So if your character is suddenly going to win a fight by producing, a spring loaded knife from up their sleeve, you had better have introduced at some earlier part of the story.

Similarly, if you explain in fine details the workings of say a steam driven car or the beautiful device featured at the top of this article – no, I have no idea what it is, but isn’t it fantastic – that device then has to play some part in the plot line of your story.

There are some nerds and geeks who will want to immerse themselves in detailed descriptions of how your story world works, but save that for your website, because most readers want a character driven plot and an exciting story.

Think of your gadgets and gismos as characters in your story:  the stranger walking past the window will receive only a passing description, whereas a character who drives the plot is described in a lot more detail.

If you are writing a thriller/crime/mystery, where your reader knows the villain is killed, you could highlighting a gun, a knife, and a rock.  This will increase the anticipation as the reader tries to work out which weapon is used.

Except in the above scenario, it is best not to use the shotgun technique to create red-herrings.  For that, it is better to use a MacGuffin, but more about that in a later post.

In short:  If you show it, use it. If you have used it already, but not shown it, edit it in earlier.Tweet this!