A.M. Jenkins's Blog, page 15

Yesterday I chopped and moved things, and have some scene...

Yesterday I chopped and moved things, and have some scenes lined up in an order that might work.* I didn't think they were very interesting, though, until this morning while walking Tyson I was trying to figure out how to get started on this one particular part. I haven't been able to get into my head what kind of place this is (the setting for a certain scene), so I was mulling that over, trying to get something that felt workable--a good combination of what's best for story and what seems most realistic--and thinking about who would be in the scene and why.

The basic reason for this scene existing is for the MC to get some information. In other words, it's just a plotting thing. That means I'm bored to tears by the whole scenario and it's also probably why I haven't already written it. But as I thought about the layout of the place, I realized that it would be laid out in the same way as the MC's childhood home. The place is walled and guarded, and they'd keep the area around it cleared of trees and brush, so the guards would have a clear view of anyone approaching. And they'd shoot anyone who disobeyed their directions and tried to approach without permission.

I have a backstory scene already sketched out that I really like and have always intended to use--the MC's first time to kill somebody. It took place in those exact circumstances, when he was a child--he shot somebody from the defensive walls, somebody who didn't listen when the guards didn't clear the person to approach. I wrote that before I really thought much about this present-day place, but now I see that this is where that backstory scene goes. As the MC and his girlfriend go to the place where they'll get the plot information, I'll of course have to describe where they're going, and that will be a natural spot to put that backstory because he'll automatically be remembering that, and it also brings up the dangers of the present day scene. And it neatly ties back to the basic ideas that are driving me to write this book, thoughts about mercy and empathy. So that was a good morning's work, even though I haven't written a thing and probably won't till later today, if at all. I have to get some other things done first.


*or might not. There's only one way to find out.

Looks like I need to abandon my skipping-ahead idea for t...

Looks like I need to abandon my skipping-ahead idea for the dystopian ms and try to muscle my way through the saggy part.* I printed out the first five or whatever chapters and looked at them, but they're still pretty much etched on the inside of my eyeballs. So I guess what I'll have to do is reason my way into a faster-paced arrangement of the many scenes and pieces I have on hand (any of which could go in that part), then ask around for readers who can tell me what I'm not seeing. I already know everything that's going on in the story, so I don't have a clue what the reader wants or is most curious about at this point.



*Why? E-mail from agent, that's why.

Yesterday I skipped ahead and wrote a scene where my MC i...

Yesterday I skipped ahead and wrote a scene where my MC is suffering emotional torment. That was a lot of fun.

I need to figure out how to keep this ms simmering on a front burner over the next month or so, and not let it get pushed completely aside.

And I need to figure out what to do about that &%$@! saggy part. It's driving me insane. I just want it to be fixed so I can move on. Is that too much to ask? I don't think so.

Am trying to get a grip on larger picture of ms using sti...

Am trying to get a grip on larger picture of ms using sticky notes on the inside of a cardboard box, because a poster board wasn't large enough. I've got the end idea I need to come around to* written in front of me so I don't lose sight of it. I've got a different color of sticky note for each thread I'm trying to deal with. Each sticky note contains one scene I'm pretty sure I want to write.

It looks like there are two main threads to be woven together. One follows a certain secondary character and mostly appears to be plotty stuff. Another follows a different secondary character and mostly appears to be character-theme-ish quiet scenes. Hmm.

It looks to me like there's a turning point, and after that there won't be room for much of anything except plotty stuff. That might be the last third or so of the book. Not sure. But once that turning point happens, the MC is going to be obsessed and unable to think of anything else.

However, if there's mostly only quiet stuff for a huge chunk of the ms before that, I've got a problem: sagging story.

One thing I've wanted to do since I started this ms was to use the idea of six bullets as a ticking-clock device to pull the reader through. However, the way it stands now, four of the six bullets are fired in the last third of the book, which is already going to be moving quickly (if the story really does go this direction). So...I think I can move one of the bullets up somehow, and not lose anything. I think it can go in a third colored thread, which belongs to yet another character/storyline. Except I don't know how this third thread/storyline fits in with the others yet. However, I do know it's part of the middle, and it's not quiet, so that's good.

So, hmm, hmm. Right now I could write out a couple of scenes to feel out some stuff, or I could freewrite a secondary character's backstory, because I'm going to need to have that firmly in the back of my head in order to write the middle.

Oh, yo. Revisions on w-f-h just popped up in my inbox. Well, there's no way I'm going to put all my lovely different-colored sticky notes aside just yet, mere hours after I got them out. I've skimmed the e-mail, and will digest its contents while proceeding on dystopian ms for the rest of today's writing time. Tomorrow I will look at the commented-on w-f-h ms itself, egad. By then my loins should be fully girded.

Okay, so anyway. Not to put too fine a point on it, I need to figure out when my MC has sex with a certain character before I can understand how the third colored thread weaves in with the other two. And the problem I'm having there is that my MC needs to visit the same place twice, when he doesn't actually go there very often, and only one of the visits is exciting, plot-wise. The other's boring...except for the sex. Only he won't know he's going to have sex till he gets there, so there's nothing to compel the reader. Therefore: sagging story.


*Or rather, two ideas: mercy binds the group and strengthens it; mercy to oneself is necessary as well. These are the things that drive the book, underlie all the character arcs, and pull everything together.

No actual writing today, but I've been scribbling notes a...

No actual writing today, but I've been scribbling notes and trying to work out a plan of attack. I want to work on the middle, which has got preplanned plot stuff to it. But I don't want to get off track and end up with an unusable mess, like I have with some of my other WIPs. I'm trying to come up with an approach to plot that can work for me; obviously the straightforward approach that some other people use isn't my thing.

What I'm going to try now is to look at the overall character arc and keep one eye on where I'm heading--the ending change or realization that takes place in the MC. At the same time I want to look at the plot stuff I have (these are individual scenes where things happen) and try to make sure I can also see each piece in terms of how it affects or shows something along that arc. Then maybe, when all is said and done, the plotting stuff will consist of scenes that do something emotionally as well as story-wise--thus making for a successful read.

I also have a bunch of scenes in mind that are pretty much all emotion--not much going on in terms of action--and I'm not sure how to work those in yet. I don't know if there needs to be a rhyme or reason to it.

I finally had time to take a very close look at some books I'd been hoping would offer some clues about ways to look at plotting vs. that emotional trajectory. I was disappointed to find nothing helpful. It looks like some people have the opposite problem from me, is all I figured out. I guess it was good to get that opposite problem nailed down in detail, though. And maybe I should take another look and see if I can learn something about pacing.

No writing yesterday; got caught up on e-mail and worked ...

No writing yesterday; got caught up on e-mail and worked on 2 of 3 outstanding writing-related projects. Will write today, though.

I'm going to try to pick apart a problem I'm currently working on, because I caught myself starting to drone on about it in a private e-mail, which is unkind to those I am corresponding with.

Problem: when you need a character to do or say something. You can't just make them act or put words in their mouth, because that can mess up the book. They have to really do or say it, all on their own.

In my case, what I need from my MC is more of an internal change, and it's interwoven with other problems that need solving, but all I'm going to look at right now is me trying to get the character to fall in line with what the story needs.

Some of the things I've tried:
Write through, step-by-step, the MC's considerations as he reasons his way toward doing/saying what I need him to do/say. Go through the scenes from other characters' POVs to see if fleshing out the scene helps.Let the characters talk about the situation in scene to see if one of them influences the MC. Rethink who's present. Rethink when they're present (i.e. coming in, leaving). Rethink what everyone's doing in the scene.
Break down the MC's considerations into smaller scenes; in other words, take him through the steps required to bring him to doing/saying what I need him to. None of that quite works. Now I'm going past these types of changes to change the deeper structure of the story. I'm actually making these changes in an attempt to address other problems, but it may solve this one as well (the problems are all interrelated anyway; I'm not sure which is causing which). By changing the time of day, I don't have to account for the characters' interactions because they'll be asleep as soon as I'm done with them in scene. I can move straight into action the next morning, and story problems will come in more quickly, thus changing my MC's mindset. I'm also, er, thinking about drugging a character so he'll stay quiet while my MC works things out. Or giving him greater injuries than he's had in previous versions (again, so he won't be an active presence in the story for another scene or two).

Anyway, after I get all this worked out, I'll forget the process I went through--I may even think the story came out right the first time--so I wanted to get it down while I'm in the messy middle of it.

Line of thought re. dystopian ms:1. It slows and sags by ...

Line of thought re. dystopian ms:

1. It slows and sags by the end of chapter 5. (I think it's chapter 5; still haven't looked at it.)

2. I could make stuff happen quicker; i.e. let the new people show up and introduce the new problems.

3. But I already just brought new people in--3 of them at once.

4. Therefore, switching out the sagging part for more new people and problems feels "off" to me, pacing-wise. It just seems like too much to take in, as a reader. It seems too crammed.

5. I'm trying to ...

Okay, where was I? I'm finally down to only three things ...

Okay, where was I?

I'm finally down to only three things on my writing-related to-do list. This respite will only last a few days, but with any luck I can do better at keeping up when the pile increases again. This past couple of months has been hellacious, what with family stuff going wrong, and a serious misjudgment on my part re. the w-f-h novel. I thought that since I'd written an 80K word novel in two months, pounding out a 40K one in the same amount of time would be a piece of cake. Her...

Note to self: look at pacing in Hunger Games

Something seems different about the way some of the chapters end. Like maybe they're cut at a slightly unusual place in the scene, or the last line is atypical for a cliffhanger? Maybe those last lines aren't concretely set in scene? The chapter ends are working, but something seems different about them.

Family and other things are very quickly piling up, so I ...

Family and other things are very quickly piling up, so I need to get into gear for the next few weeks. Will be restricting myself from internet. Starting NOW.