Mark Henrikson's Blog, page 5
February 4, 2013
Writing Process – The First Draft
Writing the first draft of a novel has the unique challenge of the author staring at a blank page. There is just no getting around it, it’s extremely intimidating and turns away a lot of good writers before they even get started.
I find having an outline with a sentence or two for each chapter is invaluable for getting over the terror that is a blank page. Having just that little starting point puts my analytical mind at ease and allows the creative side to come out of hiding. Once I get going I try to make sure I’ll have at least an hour or two of uninterrupted time (10:00 to midnight for me usually) so I can stay in that flow until before I know it an entire chapter appears from my fingertips.
If you have writers block a good way to get over it is to read the preceding chapter you just wrote the night/week before. Clean up the wording, rewrite some clunky sections. Pretty soon you get to the end and move right on into the new chapter like the blank void wasn’t even there.
I actually find writing the first draft very liberating. I don’t have to get the description or dialogue just right, I simply need to get it down and move on to get it all out as quick as possible before the ideas slip away from my mind. If a particular idea or story line doesn’t work right I can just blow it up or change it all around without concern in subsequent drafts. I would rather have the idea there and delete it later than not at all.
My books usually consist of three or four separate story lines to them. I take each plot line one at a time in its entirety rather than trying to write them all jumbled up as they will eventually appear in the book. Along the way I make notations of tie-ins with the other stories, but I like to keep my head in one story and set of characters at a time if at all possible.
Also, many times you will reach a point in your story where you need to make a change to something you wrote several chapters earlier to foreshadow the event, remove an inconsistency or whatever. Just go back, make a note inside these [] brackets and then go back to the chapter you are currently working on. Don’t take yourself out of the moment. For the second draft all you need to do is perform a text search for an [ and it will take you right to the spot for you to make the change.
Next up: The Second Draft
I find having an outline with a sentence or two for each chapter is invaluable for getting over the terror that is a blank page. Having just that little starting point puts my analytical mind at ease and allows the creative side to come out of hiding. Once I get going I try to make sure I’ll have at least an hour or two of uninterrupted time (10:00 to midnight for me usually) so I can stay in that flow until before I know it an entire chapter appears from my fingertips.
If you have writers block a good way to get over it is to read the preceding chapter you just wrote the night/week before. Clean up the wording, rewrite some clunky sections. Pretty soon you get to the end and move right on into the new chapter like the blank void wasn’t even there.
I actually find writing the first draft very liberating. I don’t have to get the description or dialogue just right, I simply need to get it down and move on to get it all out as quick as possible before the ideas slip away from my mind. If a particular idea or story line doesn’t work right I can just blow it up or change it all around without concern in subsequent drafts. I would rather have the idea there and delete it later than not at all.
My books usually consist of three or four separate story lines to them. I take each plot line one at a time in its entirety rather than trying to write them all jumbled up as they will eventually appear in the book. Along the way I make notations of tie-ins with the other stories, but I like to keep my head in one story and set of characters at a time if at all possible.
Also, many times you will reach a point in your story where you need to make a change to something you wrote several chapters earlier to foreshadow the event, remove an inconsistency or whatever. Just go back, make a note inside these [] brackets and then go back to the chapter you are currently working on. Don’t take yourself out of the moment. For the second draft all you need to do is perform a text search for an [ and it will take you right to the spot for you to make the change.
Next up: The Second Draft
January 28, 2013
Writing Process – Characters
Now you have your story and plot. Next you must get to know your characters. How do you do that? Well you write about them of course.
Take a page or two and write about what they look like, what they are good at, their personality, etc. Most important, write about what made them the way they are. Don’t just say they grew up poor, dive into it, get specific. Did their parents die causing the poverty, were they abandoned, did their best friend get molested. You name it, the sky is the limit. They are your characters so be creative, and remember the more exotic the better.
For example, think of a pirate. A bloodthirsty thug with an eye patch will fill the role, but consider how interesting it could be. Jonny Depp’s character Jack Sparrow, from Pirates of the Caribbean ,was over the top outlandish. He stumbled around acting drunk and gay with eye shadow on. He was weird, but also interesting (unforgettable actually) and discovering the reasons for his eccentricities made for great plot development too. The pirate from Peter Pan had a hook which made him unique. Captain Ahab from Moby Dick had a peg leg which provided the quintessential conflict in the novel. Unique characters with deep and colorful backgrounds hold a reader’s interest and can often times dictate where the plot of a book goes.
Don’t short change them because they will help carry your novel. If the prospect of writing a 500 to 1,000 word back story on a character seems excessive or a waste you should just stop now. You don’t want to be an author because you can’t shortchange them. If a character will appear in more than just a chapter or two, take the time to get to know them before telling their story.
Next up: The First Draft
Take a page or two and write about what they look like, what they are good at, their personality, etc. Most important, write about what made them the way they are. Don’t just say they grew up poor, dive into it, get specific. Did their parents die causing the poverty, were they abandoned, did their best friend get molested. You name it, the sky is the limit. They are your characters so be creative, and remember the more exotic the better.
For example, think of a pirate. A bloodthirsty thug with an eye patch will fill the role, but consider how interesting it could be. Jonny Depp’s character Jack Sparrow, from Pirates of the Caribbean ,was over the top outlandish. He stumbled around acting drunk and gay with eye shadow on. He was weird, but also interesting (unforgettable actually) and discovering the reasons for his eccentricities made for great plot development too. The pirate from Peter Pan had a hook which made him unique. Captain Ahab from Moby Dick had a peg leg which provided the quintessential conflict in the novel. Unique characters with deep and colorful backgrounds hold a reader’s interest and can often times dictate where the plot of a book goes.
Don’t short change them because they will help carry your novel. If the prospect of writing a 500 to 1,000 word back story on a character seems excessive or a waste you should just stop now. You don’t want to be an author because you can’t shortchange them. If a character will appear in more than just a chapter or two, take the time to get to know them before telling their story.
Next up: The First Draft
January 22, 2013
Writing Process – Plot Outline
You have this idea for a book and you want to get going on it. That’s great, but before you type even a single word you need to create a plot outline. Nothing fancy, just a few sentences or bullet points detailing what will happen in each chapter.
This will ensure each chapter is meaningful by progressing the plot or revealing something about the characters. There is nothing I hate more than reading a chapter or watching a scene in a movie where at the end of it all nothing really changed (I’m looking at you Peter Jackson, director of The Hobbit, and that scene with the mountains fighting).
Having a plot outline will do much more than just save you from pointless chapters. It will also flesh out gaps in your storylines, and believe me there will be many. When this happens I will usually write the start and end point of the gap and then brain storm what could happen to resolve it. Nothing is too dumb or outlandish at this point, you will evaluate the merits later.
For example. I had the conundrum of my main character Hastelloy alive today telling his therapist about time he spent in ancient Egypt building the pyramid. Was he immortal, was he an alien with an extremely long life span, is he just plain crazy? Sometimes a solution presents new gaps like if he was an alien, how does he pass himself off as human on earth. It is truly an exercise in unfiltered stream of consciousness.
In the end I went with Hastelloy being an alien with a piece of technology that allowed him to transfer his life force into a new body. Solves the long time span required and how he can look human. It also gave lots of unique character and cultural issues to dive into as the story progressed about the ethics of altering form, assisted suicide, etc. It was outlandish and crazy, but it was also interesting and worked. I never would have put it all together had I not taken the time to draw the plot out and throw every solution I could think of at it. Take the time and create your plot outline. Hours spent here will save you weeks and months down the road.
Next up: Characters
This will ensure each chapter is meaningful by progressing the plot or revealing something about the characters. There is nothing I hate more than reading a chapter or watching a scene in a movie where at the end of it all nothing really changed (I’m looking at you Peter Jackson, director of The Hobbit, and that scene with the mountains fighting).
Having a plot outline will do much more than just save you from pointless chapters. It will also flesh out gaps in your storylines, and believe me there will be many. When this happens I will usually write the start and end point of the gap and then brain storm what could happen to resolve it. Nothing is too dumb or outlandish at this point, you will evaluate the merits later.
For example. I had the conundrum of my main character Hastelloy alive today telling his therapist about time he spent in ancient Egypt building the pyramid. Was he immortal, was he an alien with an extremely long life span, is he just plain crazy? Sometimes a solution presents new gaps like if he was an alien, how does he pass himself off as human on earth. It is truly an exercise in unfiltered stream of consciousness.
In the end I went with Hastelloy being an alien with a piece of technology that allowed him to transfer his life force into a new body. Solves the long time span required and how he can look human. It also gave lots of unique character and cultural issues to dive into as the story progressed about the ethics of altering form, assisted suicide, etc. It was outlandish and crazy, but it was also interesting and worked. I never would have put it all together had I not taken the time to draw the plot out and throw every solution I could think of at it. Take the time and create your plot outline. Hours spent here will save you weeks and months down the road.
Next up: Characters
January 17, 2013
Writing Process – Taming the Chaos
Ever since I came out of the literary closet last year by publishing Origins and the follow-up Centurion’s Rise I get asked quite often about my writing process. Apparently I lit a creative fire under some friends of mine. Since I am going through it all again while penning book 3 in the Origins series, I decided to take notes along the way for posterity. I am by no means an authority on the subject, but I know what works for me. Here goes.
It all starts with a simple idea. Everyone, no matter how stoic or straight laced at some point has a great, creative idea strike them. Almost everyone just lets it go. A few dive right in with unbridled enthusiasm only to find themselves stuck after a few chapters with nowhere else to go with the idea and give it up. That’s because the big idea is usually just the climax or lead in of the story, which when you think about it only takes place over a handful of chapters.
Authors on the other hand write the simple idea down and give it a lot of thought before even typing a single word. They work forward from the idea to create an ending. They work backwards to establish a beginning. They dream up characters to live the story and conflicts. All this will generate gaps and plot holes that need to be resolved and filled. Pretty soon that simple idea evolves into a living breathing world that is almost too much to visualize in your head and you just have to start writing about it. This is how my writing career got started.
Next up: Plot outlining
It all starts with a simple idea. Everyone, no matter how stoic or straight laced at some point has a great, creative idea strike them. Almost everyone just lets it go. A few dive right in with unbridled enthusiasm only to find themselves stuck after a few chapters with nowhere else to go with the idea and give it up. That’s because the big idea is usually just the climax or lead in of the story, which when you think about it only takes place over a handful of chapters.
Authors on the other hand write the simple idea down and give it a lot of thought before even typing a single word. They work forward from the idea to create an ending. They work backwards to establish a beginning. They dream up characters to live the story and conflicts. All this will generate gaps and plot holes that need to be resolved and filled. Pretty soon that simple idea evolves into a living breathing world that is almost too much to visualize in your head and you just have to start writing about it. This is how my writing career got started.
Next up: Plot outlining
January 14, 2013
Origins Book 3 Update
Over the weekend I finished the first draft for one of four story lines taking place in book 3 of the Origins series. It's still rough of course, but I really like the way the characters and story are shaping up.
This story arch will be the longest and took quite a bit of researching and back story construction so I have hopes the other storylines will go quicker. No promises, but I am optimistic book 3 might be out by midsummer rather than late fall like I originally expected.
For you fans of the Origins series, here is a little nugget to tickle your curiosity. You didn't think that Alpha engineering section blown off by Hastelloy and his crew would float through space for all eternity now did you?
This story arch will be the longest and took quite a bit of researching and back story construction so I have hopes the other storylines will go quicker. No promises, but I am optimistic book 3 might be out by midsummer rather than late fall like I originally expected.
For you fans of the Origins series, here is a little nugget to tickle your curiosity. You didn't think that Alpha engineering section blown off by Hastelloy and his crew would float through space for all eternity now did you?
January 7, 2013
Writing Process - Finding a Theme
Which do you think comes first for most writers, the story or the theme?
I always pictured the great novelists who crafted stories that made deep and impactful social commentaries starting with a theme they wanted to drive home and then crafted a story and set of characters to fit that selected theme. As I sit here today having written two books and working on a third, I no longer think that is the case.
With Origins and Centurion’s Rise I got the story all down in the first draft and then found opportunities to add my themes in on the second pass. I am still in the first draft of my third book, but I am discovering the themes are bubbling up to the surface through the writing as I go. I am altering plans for later chapters and going back to make notes of changes to make a theme I just touched on in a later chapter connect.
I still can’t see starting with a theme and working backwards into the story, but I am evolving as a writer where it is a collaboration as I go now rather than step 1 – write it, step 2 – strap some themes to it. I am really anxious to see if it results in a deeper story for book 3; only time will tell.
I always pictured the great novelists who crafted stories that made deep and impactful social commentaries starting with a theme they wanted to drive home and then crafted a story and set of characters to fit that selected theme. As I sit here today having written two books and working on a third, I no longer think that is the case.
With Origins and Centurion’s Rise I got the story all down in the first draft and then found opportunities to add my themes in on the second pass. I am still in the first draft of my third book, but I am discovering the themes are bubbling up to the surface through the writing as I go. I am altering plans for later chapters and going back to make notes of changes to make a theme I just touched on in a later chapter connect.
I still can’t see starting with a theme and working backwards into the story, but I am evolving as a writer where it is a collaboration as I go now rather than step 1 – write it, step 2 – strap some themes to it. I am really anxious to see if it results in a deeper story for book 3; only time will tell.
January 2, 2013
The Hobbit - One Suck Ass Movie
During the week between Christmas and New Years I got to see both wonderful and brutally awful examples in storytelling to bring back to my writing.
I finally got to see the musical Wicked on stage which was really well done. Musically it was good but not out of this world, but the story and character development it portrayed was just breathtaking. There were fun tie-ins with the original Wizard of Oz, you understood why characters turned from good to bad and bad to good, the main surprise element was foreshadowed well yet did not give it away, and it all got wrapped up into a satisfying ending.; storytelling at its very best and I shall strive to emulate it in my own writing since my stories take place inside historical events everyone is familiar with.
Then I decided to press my luck and see The Hobbit at the theater and it was just plain awful on almost every level. Fanboys flaming me to commence in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1
Honestly, if you take off your Tolkien collored lenses for two seconds you will see the story told was not any good. When the credits start rolling and you look around and ask what was the point of all that, it was a bad story. The retort I hear over and over is, “You must not have read the book to not get the movie.” If the story was told right I shouldn’t have to read the book to get it.
First problem I had was motivation. Other than the main character being a little bored with his daily life, there was no reason given for him to go on the dangerous quest or for the travelers to want him to come along. Second issue was that nothing of any lasting value happened in the three hours of screen time. Swords clashed and lines were spoken, but nothing changed: no characters died, no profound character growth occurred, and in the end they were not much closer to accomplishing their goal. Okay, they could actually see the destination mountain in the final scene as giant birds that could have flown them there in minutes dropped them off. Seriously?!?
Talk about plot gaps. If the wizard could summon giant birds to rescue the group and fly them to safety, why not call them right away and just fly to the mountain. Oh wait, we can’t do that, we can squeeze three movies out of these guys walking there instead. And don’t even get me started on the numerous instances of deus ex machina . Problems and solutions just popped up out of the blue without any foreshadow or reason other than it made for a nice action sequence to pass the time. At least The Hobbit reinforced what not to do in my writing.
I finally got to see the musical Wicked on stage which was really well done. Musically it was good but not out of this world, but the story and character development it portrayed was just breathtaking. There were fun tie-ins with the original Wizard of Oz, you understood why characters turned from good to bad and bad to good, the main surprise element was foreshadowed well yet did not give it away, and it all got wrapped up into a satisfying ending.; storytelling at its very best and I shall strive to emulate it in my own writing since my stories take place inside historical events everyone is familiar with.
Then I decided to press my luck and see The Hobbit at the theater and it was just plain awful on almost every level. Fanboys flaming me to commence in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1
Honestly, if you take off your Tolkien collored lenses for two seconds you will see the story told was not any good. When the credits start rolling and you look around and ask what was the point of all that, it was a bad story. The retort I hear over and over is, “You must not have read the book to not get the movie.” If the story was told right I shouldn’t have to read the book to get it.
First problem I had was motivation. Other than the main character being a little bored with his daily life, there was no reason given for him to go on the dangerous quest or for the travelers to want him to come along. Second issue was that nothing of any lasting value happened in the three hours of screen time. Swords clashed and lines were spoken, but nothing changed: no characters died, no profound character growth occurred, and in the end they were not much closer to accomplishing their goal. Okay, they could actually see the destination mountain in the final scene as giant birds that could have flown them there in minutes dropped them off. Seriously?!?
Talk about plot gaps. If the wizard could summon giant birds to rescue the group and fly them to safety, why not call them right away and just fly to the mountain. Oh wait, we can’t do that, we can squeeze three movies out of these guys walking there instead. And don’t even get me started on the numerous instances of deus ex machina . Problems and solutions just popped up out of the blue without any foreshadow or reason other than it made for a nice action sequence to pass the time. At least The Hobbit reinforced what not to do in my writing.
December 24, 2012
Inspiration Found
I've been struggling to resolve this plot gap in Origins book 3. What I wanted to do conflicts with a timeline already set in prior books; this is a whole new layer of complexity I didn’t have to contend with in the first two novels. Fortunately I am up to the challenge thanks to my children watching the TV show “Mythbusters.”
The episode revolved around proving the Baghdad Battery design dating back to about 100 AD could conduct electricity and what it might have been used for back then. My kids about wet themselves when I shot up from the couch like it just electrocuted me, ran downstairs and started typing away on the computer. I had the solution to the plot gap I’d been trying to solve for about a week and needed to get it all down.
It sure is odd where inspiration originates sometimes. Thanks to Mythbusters I am off writing my story again.
The episode revolved around proving the Baghdad Battery design dating back to about 100 AD could conduct electricity and what it might have been used for back then. My kids about wet themselves when I shot up from the couch like it just electrocuted me, ran downstairs and started typing away on the computer. I had the solution to the plot gap I’d been trying to solve for about a week and needed to get it all down.
It sure is odd where inspiration originates sometimes. Thanks to Mythbusters I am off writing my story again.
December 17, 2012
Why oh why do I write?
As I sit at the keyboard night after night until midnight I have to question if I am all together sane. Writing a novel is tedious, lonesome, and exhausting (add frustrating and utterly infuriating if you hit a patch of writers block). Seriously, when I finish writing a novel I am completely and thoroughly spent, so what keeps me coming back?
“It’s not like the writing has made you rich or famous,” the devil on my left shoulder says.
“That’s not the point,” the angel on my right shoulder fires back. “He has a story and characters that he loves inside his head demanding to be told.”
The devil throws his hands up. “Oh fine have it your way, but I still think playing a video game would be easier.”
The angel does a back flip and I am back at it again. Wait, did I seriously just have a conversation with devils and angels on my shoulders? Maybe I should get to bed pick it up tomorrow.
“It’s not like the writing has made you rich or famous,” the devil on my left shoulder says.
“That’s not the point,” the angel on my right shoulder fires back. “He has a story and characters that he loves inside his head demanding to be told.”
The devil throws his hands up. “Oh fine have it your way, but I still think playing a video game would be easier.”
The angel does a back flip and I am back at it again. Wait, did I seriously just have a conversation with devils and angels on my shoulders? Maybe I should get to bed pick it up tomorrow.
December 10, 2012
WARNING!!! Plot Hole Ahead
Last week I was exceptionally pleased with myself. I finished the outline for book three and jumped right in and penned four chapters of the first storyline. Then it happened, I hit a Plot Hole. Not one of those gentle bumps mind you. Oh no, this is one of those the earth opened up and swallow the car whole kind of holes. Fortunately I can use what I have written so far, but am headed back to the plot drawing board. If the first two books were any indication, this won’t be the last time either. That’s just how this all works, it is such an iterative process.
Believe it or not, this is the fun part of writing for me. Word smithing is not much fun, final proofing totally blows, and promoting the novel once finished is something created by satin himself. Working through plot holes is just good fun. It’s like solving that Expert Sudoku puzzle that just taunts you. The answer is there, you just need to use your mind and put it all together the right way.
Bring it on Plot. You sucker punched me in the jaw so now it’s time to fight dirty.
Believe it or not, this is the fun part of writing for me. Word smithing is not much fun, final proofing totally blows, and promoting the novel once finished is something created by satin himself. Working through plot holes is just good fun. It’s like solving that Expert Sudoku puzzle that just taunts you. The answer is there, you just need to use your mind and put it all together the right way.
Bring it on Plot. You sucker punched me in the jaw so now it’s time to fight dirty.
