Joshua P. Simon's Blog, page 39

The Writing Process - Outlining

This is the third installment of my series on the writing process. Part 1 can be read here; Part 2 can be read here.

There are two kinds of writers, those who sit down to write and figure things out as they go along and those who outline. George RR Martin often calls the first group Gardeners and the second group Architects. The most extreme Gardener I've heard about is Stephen King who if I remember correctly keeps very little notes on most projects. The most extreme Architect I've read about is Peter V. Brett who often has an outline in the 200 page range (the size of some books). Most everyone else, like myself, falls somewhere in the middle.

When I first started writing I tried the "just sit down and write" approach and failed miserably. I ended up trashing about 10,000 words, saving only the names from a few characters and half a scene that I then carried over into my first book Rise and Fall (*cough* due to be released on December 1 *cough*). As much as I hated throwing away those words, it wasn't a complete waste because I did learn that I needed to have some form of outline to work from when working on a story.

Here is my approach on how I outline:
1. Start with the main ideas – I do almost all of preliminary outlining with pen and paper so I can draw arrows as needed to move things around as I organize my thoughts. This is especially important in this stage as I'm often writing down tons of random thoughts about character personalities, character backgrounds, character relationships, conflicts, the world, major events I want to happen, random cool scene ideas, pieces of dialog, and so on. In this stage, few ideas are off limits since I haven't fully solidified my story based on the original idea.

2. Determine how long the story is going to be – Is this a short story, novella, stand-alone book, or series? Now is the time to decide. If I decide on a series like my current Blood and Tears trilogy, then I have to roughly break up which events need to occur in which book.

3. Who are my major and minor characters – This is important because if the story doesn't have focus (especially early on), it's going to fall flat. Therefore, I need to determine who is going to "tell" the story (my point of view characters). There may be some changes during the writing process but generally speaking they aren't huge.

4. Start organizing the order of events into chapters – At this point, I open Word and type out the main points, copying and pasting as I need to so the order of events make sense. I'll usually add and expand my original main points during this stage as I'm starting to get a better idea of how the story is going to unfold. Therefore, I might realize that it will take 3 chapters rather than the 2 I originally planned for a character to believably go through a certain change I want to happen.

5. Organize the events into multiple scenes if necessary – Once all the main chapters are in place, I'll go back and start working in the details. For example, on step 4, a bullet point might simply state Character A and B need to have a discussion about the events of the previous chapter. Or I've already been as vague as "Insert awesome battle here." Ha.

So, on this pass I make notes about what Character A & B are going to actually discuss and how to better set up the later part of the story. Or, I will fine tune where the battle will take place, who the POVs are going to be, troop placement, how I want the battle to affect my characters and so on.This stage will also include a quick listing of all characters (major and minor) involved in the overall story. Then I write a paragraph which lists the main things that will happen to them in the book and how they will change from beginning to end.

6. Make sure everything makes sense – I then go through one last read through to ensure that a cool idea or thought in the third act is properly foreshadowed earlier in the book. It's obviously much better to set this up now rather than after the first draft is done.

Conversely, I want to make sure that anything I start in the first third of the book isn't forgotten and never addressed in the later part of the book. Granted I don't always catch everything but I do the best I can.

So, that's the general idea. When all is said and done, my outline is roughly 30-40 pages. Generally, there will be a couple of paragraphs and bullet points per chapter. The outline can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to get through, depending on the size of the story.

That being said, it is important to remember that this is an 'outline', something to guide you along. It is not meant to pigeonhole you into doing something you realize isn't working. I can almost guarantee that it will change on some level.

For example, in Rise and Fall, a major event occurs at the end of the first book that I originally planned to conclude the second book with. However, as I neared the end of the first book I realized that if I left things as they were, the first ending wouldn't be as strong as I wanted it to be and also, too much would have to happen in the third book. Therefore, I made the decision and moved that event up in the story. As a result, Rise and Fall is a much stronger novel.

So, are you a Gardener or an Architect?

Music Monday - Deep Purple

Deep Purple is one of those bands who I feel is grossly underrated in the US. Sure, most people know Smoke on the Water and Highway Star (thanks to Rock Band), but few know more than that. Oddly enough, they are huge elsewhere in the world and within the hard rock/heavy metal community they are often cited as huge influences on many of the artists/bands that followed them.

Here are a couple of my favorites. Especially pay attention to the last video of Child in Time if for no other reason than to watch the lack of animation in the audience. I don't know how anyone can appear so indifferent to a band rocking out like that. It cracks me and Leah up every time we watch it.

The Writing Process - Ideas

Question: Where do you get your ideas from?

Answer 1: I don't know. They just come to me.

Answer 2: Everywhere.

Neither answer is satisfying, I know, but in most instances they're pretty accurate.

Most authors, including me, find it nearly impossible to pinpoint the moment an idea hits them because it is usually nothing more than a fleeting thought. As an author with ADD, I'm usually bombarded with many fleeting thoughts at the same time. Therefore, it's hard to figure out when and how I get my ideas. Still, I have noticed a few trends for where I find inspiration.

Books and, to a lesser degree, movies and other forms of fiction, generate the most ideas. It's not difficult to take a general concept, keep what I like, discard what doesn't appeal to me, and then make it my own. The train of thought is something like this:

"Wouldn't it have been cooler if the hero used an ax instead of a sword and rather than being young and dashing he was old and on his last leg? Yeah, then he could kill the queen because he was bitter about his life instead of saving her for simply a pat on the back. But why would he do that? Well, something dramatic happened to him as a child that only resurfaced as his sister died on a quest to rescue the queen and because of this…."

Before long, the original scene, character, or story that inspired my idea will be nothing like the idea/story I've created once all the parts have been properly developed.

Events and people in our own world, whether the present or past, are another great source of ideas. The world is full of awful, heroic, and interesting people. Ever heard of Vlad the Impaler?  He inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula. War of the Roses and the Hundred Years War? It inspired George RR Martin to write A Song of Ice and Fire. In both instances, the writer took a thought or concept and made it his own. I've had several ideas for characters and stories that came to me while watching the History Channel.

Like I said, ideas can come from anything. For me, many ideas come from simply asking a question. Wouldn't it be cool if…? What would someone do if…?

Wouldn't it be cool to write a fantasy story that explores the relationship between siblings and how they grow/develop based on the outside forces influencing them?

The idea for my Blood and Tears Trilogy started off with that basic question. From there, I simply asked more questions and then answered them to create a world, characters, etc.

Where do you get your ideas from? What inspires you to create?

Writing Process - Ideas

Question: Where do you get your ideas from?

Answer 1: I don't know. They just come to me.

Answer 2: Everywhere.

Neither answer is satisfying, I know, but in most instances they're pretty accurate.

Most authors, including me, find it nearly impossible to pinpoint the moment an idea hits them because it is usually nothing more than a fleeting thought. As an author with ADD, I'm usually bombarded with many fleeting thoughts at the same time. Therefore, it's hard to figure out when and how I get my ideas. Still, I have noticed a few trends for where I find inspiration.

Books and, to a lesser degree, movies and other forms of fiction, generate the most ideas. It's not difficult to take a general concept, keep what I like, discard what doesn't appeal to me, and then make it my own. The train of thought is something like this:

"Wouldn't it have been cooler if the hero used an ax instead of a sword and rather than being young and dashing he was old and on his last leg? Yeah, then he could kill the queen because he was bitter about his life instead of saving her for simply a pat on the back. But why would he do that? Well, something dramatic happened to him as a child that only resurfaced as his sister died on a quest to rescue the queen and because of this…."

Before long, the original scene, character, or story that inspired my idea will be nothing like the idea/story I've created once all the parts have been properly developed.

Events and people in our own world, whether the present or past, are another great source of ideas. The world is full of awful, heroic, and interesting people. Ever heard of Vlad the Impaler?  He inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula. War of the Roses and the Hundred Years War? It inspired George RR Martin to write A Song of Ice and Fire. In both instances, the writer took a thought or concept and made it his own. I've had several ideas for characters and stories that came to me while watching the History Channel.

Like I said, ideas can come from anything. For me, many ideas come from simply asking a question. Wouldn't it be cool if…? What would someone do if…?

Wouldn't it be cool to write a fantasy story that explores the relationship between siblings and how they grow/develop based on the outside forces influencing them?

The idea for my Blood and Tears Trilogy started off with that basic question. From there, I simply asked more questions and then answered them to create a world, characters, etc.

Where do you get your ideas from? What inspires you to create?

The Writing Process - Intro

As you can see by the list of all the blogs I follow (look down on the right), I enjoy reading other authors' blogs. One thing I like to read about is an author's unique approach to the writing process. I'm sure a big reason for that enjoyment is because of my own interest in the subject. However, many people who find out I'm an author but are uninterested in writing themselves, have been asking me questions about the actual process I use to create a story.

With that in mind, I've decided to start a series of posts about my current writing process. I figured this would be a good (and hopefully enjoyable) way to break up the other continuing blog posts such as "What Makes a Great Story?" and Music Monday.

So expect several posts in the future covering topics such as getting ideas, outlining, rough drafts, revisions, alpha-readers, beta-readers, professional editing/copy editor, proofreading, etc.

Friday's post will be about ideas!

Music Monday - Halloween Edition

Since its Halloween today, I thought it would be a good idea to post a spooky sort of song. Right away, I knew I had to pick a Black Sabbath song. Over 40 years and the title track of the band's first album is still the scariest metal song out there. Guitar, bass, drums, vocals, lyrics are all unbelievable.

What Makes a Great Story - Characters

Over the last sevearl weeks, I've been looking at "What Makes a Great Story?" The first post in this series examined the importance of the first sentence or paragraph. The second post delved into hooking a reader by having a strong first chapter. Last week, in the third installment of the series, I looked into how an author's description defines a story's setting.

Today's post will consider the importance of a story's character(s).

I don't care how many twists and turns you have in a story or how vivid your description is, without strong characters you've got nothing.

All stories are about people, even if you don't realize it. Ask someone what their favorite movie or book is and I guarantee the character(s) play a large part in their opinion. No one says they like George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series because they like his ability to describe food and clothing. What makes the series so memorable are the characters. And the more relatable your characters, the better story will be.

Oddly enough, a perfect character is the worst thing you can have. Weaknesses, imperfections, quirks, and vices humanize a character and give us someone we can relate to. The reason why everyone cheers for the underdog is because at some point in our lives we've felt something similar. We can better understand someone as we watch them cope with problems involving love, family, work, honor, success, failure, past mistakes, future worries, and dragons because we've all been there. Well, maybe not the dragons part, but you get the idea.

It's even possible to watch a despicable person make terrible decisions and still sympathize with them on some level if we understand their motives and feel their pain.

In fact, the more flawed a character is, the more we tend to love them. Staying with the George RR Martin theme from above, Jaime Lannister is a great example of this. Everyone hates the guy in the first couple of books, but then we see the story from his point of view. And we feel the same things that he feels while in some cases, watching him suffer. After some time, he becomes one of the best characters of the series (definitely one of my favorites). The transformation is handled so well that many authors call it "pulling a Jaime Lannister" when they try to duplicate the character's growth in their own works.

One of the hardest things in storytelling is showing this development in character. The last thing you want your character to do is abruptly change. You can't have the character pull a 180 from one chapter to the next. That's not the way life works. Just use your own life as an example. Everyone has gone through pivotal moments that, looking back, helped define the person they are now. How long did it take for those events to fully change who you are? I'm willing to bet months and years (with several setbacks along the way), not hours or days.

A good book will show the character change little by little, evolving their personality from one thing to sometimes something completely different. The best writers out there can do this so deftly that the reader often doesn't even notice it until they stop and remember where the story started. Writers such as Martin, Cook, Kearney, and Abercrombie are all capable of doing this within the fantasy genre.

Strong characters will help mask a minor plot hole, weak description, or, in some cases, even poor grammar. But a great plot, great description and perfect grammar will do little to strengthen a weak character.

Who is your favorite character and what do you like about him/her?

The Great Pumpkin

Charlie Brown has a special place in my heart. As a matter of fact, "Good grief!" is a phrase I use pretty frequently and I'm sure it has to do with my love of the character from when I was a kid.

The reason why I bring this up is it's the holiday season and that means that all of those great cartoons I grew up with get their annual showing. The best are around Christmas but there are still plenty of gems at Halloween. Most notable is "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!"

Who's the Great Pumpkin you ask? Well, let Linus explain it.



Make sure you spend time watching all of the great Halloween cartoons such as these:





…and many more.

But when all is said and done, don't forget Charlie Brown. He could use a little love.

Music Monday - The Blues Brothers

Growing up, The Blues Brothers was one of my favorite movies. I'm pretty sure I watched it every time in came on TV (and it was on a lot). Last week while eating dinner with 22-month old son, I pulled out my laptop and started pulling up videos for him to watch. He loved them. It's pretty awesome watching a toddler not only rock out to the songs of your youth but also beg to watch them again.

The movie is highly quotable and full of memorable moments. However, today is Music Monday so I wanted to highlight the two best musical moments of the film in my opinion. Enjoy!

Minnie the Moocher


Everybody Needs Somebody


Maybe this will help you forget that Blues Brothers 2000 was ever made.

Works in Progress Update

Today's blog post is a general update on what I've been doing the last few weeks.
Warleader: A Blood and Tears Short Story – The short story went live a little over two weeks ago and since then my focus has been trying to do what I can to get the word out about it. I appreciate all those who have bought the story and especially those who have told others about the work. Word of mouth is always the best form of advertisement!

I've submitted the story to a few review bloggers but unfortunately not many people review short stories (especially fantasy). Thankfully, I'll have a much wider pool to submit to when Rise and Fall, my novel, goes live later this year.

In order to generate more interest in Warleader, I'm holding a giveaway at www.librarything.com which ends November 1st.  This is a great way to get reviews (often cross-posted on various sites) and expose new people to your work. If you're interested in participating, log on or create an account, click here, then scroll down about halfway and look for Warleader.
Rise and Fall: Book One of the Blood and Tears Trilogy – I received comments back from my editor last Saturday and started work on them this Tuesday. Lots of great points/advice, most of it on the first few chapters of the book. That isn't surprising since I know I improved as the book progressed.

My goal is to finish the edits by November 15. That would then give me (really, my wife Leah) about two weeks to format Rise and Fall. Then we'll both do one last proofread of the text before uploading it. Obviously, things can change at any moment but it's my goal to have this available by December 1st. Keep your fingers crossed!
Walk Through Fire: A Blood and Tears Novella – This is another prequel story that focuses on Jonrell (one of the main characters from Rise and Fall) and the mercenary outfit he commands. I'll give more information about the story long before the release date (shooting for April 1, 2012).

I recently made another pass through the text and cut a little over 4000 words (mostly fluff). Right now it is about 40K words and I expect to reduce it a bit more once Leah does a line edit for me. Then, it will go to my beta-readers around early December. After I incorporate their feedback, I'll send it off to my editor.
Divide and Conquer: Book Two of the Blood and Tears Trilogy – I'm about 56K words into the first draft and I expect it to end up around the same size as Rise and Fall (180K or so), give or take a few thousand words.

My approach to writing this book is different than how I wrote the Rise and Fall. I've decided to write one entire storyline first before going back and writing the chapters relating to the second storyline.

I'm not quite as far along as I would like to be at this point, but there's only so much time in the day.

The last thing I did before putting the manuscript aside to edit Rise and Fall was to spend a couple of weeks performing some surgery on what I had already written. There were a couple of problems I knew about and originally planned to fix after the first draft was done, but they were nagging at me too much, so I decided to clean them up now. Before I dive back into writing the first draft again, I'll probably need to spend a day or two tweaking my outline as I've changed a few things I originally planned to do because it just wasn't working.

Still, I'm happy with the changes. There is a lot of cool and exciting stuff happening in those early chapters.Any questions?