Kate Lowell's Blog, page 22

Three Dirty Birds on Plot and Structure

Plotting and structuring over on Ana’s blog. I’m really liking this book. :)

Filed under: Three Dirty Birds Talk, writing Tagged: James Scott Bell, plotting, Revision and Self-Editing for Publication, structure, writing advice

Tuesday Tickle: Kev ‘n Mo

Yep, still tanking NaNo. Really resenting the dayjob now. Fingers crossed we get a storm day on Thursday–not that I’ll have time to NaNo even if we do, but it’ll let me catch up on some of the dayjob stuff that’s hanging around my neck like a millstone.

Have I mentioned I’m not enjoying this job right now? Grrrr.

Anyway, here’s a small piece from the NaNo novel, which takes place just after Christmas break, until I change my mind about that. :P Mo proposed a ‘friends with benefits’ relationship to Kev, which Kev–of course–shut right down. Until the weekend after everyone gets back…

One busy week after he’d gotten back, Mo was having a lazy Saturday night watching videos and sipping on beer. Some of Todd’s Programming friends had dragged him out trolling for women and Mo had the room to himself.

Todd had invited him along, but Mo hadn’t felt like going out, though he couldn’t put a finger on why. Still, slightly-illegal beer and Monty Python made for a decent night.

Bzzzzzz. The vibration of his phone startled him away from a second go-round with the mosquito-hunting sketch. He picked it up with one hand while hitting pause with the other and checked the caller id.

Kev. Wonder what he wants? Mo thumbed open the message.

Were you serious the other day? About the you know what?

The you know what? That was funny. Kev needed to get over talking around the subject of sex if he was going to shrink people’s heads. Yes, he sent back.

Mo waited, his stomach knotting with anticipation. Time stretched, and he wondered if Kev had chickened out, or if he’d gotten called away for something. Then his phone buzzed again.

Well, what are you waiting for?

Fun, fun, fun! This is why I’m so cranky about work, which I normally love. But it’s not leaving me any time to spend with these two guys who make me laugh.

Maybe over Christmas…

Filed under: Tuesday Tickle Tagged: gay, LGBTQ, mm romance, NA, NaNoWriMo

Three Dirty Birds on Character

Three Dirty Birds are talking Character today with James Scott Bell’s Revision and Self-Editing for Publication (2e).

Kate: So much wonderful in this chapter, it’s definitely not a skimmer. There’s stuff in this chapter that I’m definitely going to apply (if the day job ever calms down enough to let me write again).

Ana: Yes, I thought it was an interesting chapter. The first section I marked was the one about flaws. I liked the lines “A flaw alone is nothing. A flaw explained is depth.” It’s so simple and yet so true.

Zoe: I got a lot of notes out of this chapter. (Unfortunately all of them to do with my current project, and none relating to our Sunday morning discussions….)

Kate: I think that’s the point of it. For some reason, everything I read in this chapter came back either to Knight, which I still have to revise, or Bite Me, which I also still have to revise. It’s made me excited about the projects again, despite my dread of revision.

Zoe: Oh good! I did particularly like the sidebar he had with the story of Lambert the Lion who was raised by sheep. “Know your character’s inner lion. What is it that will make her roar and fight? Bring that aspect to the surface early in the story and you won’t be hampered by the wimp factor.” If you can find a way early on to show your characters’ potential for the big fight at the end, that big fight is going to be more believable—and your character’s going to be more interesting to follow in the journey to the big climax.

Ana: Keeping this chapter in mind I actually found a way to make my current MC less wimpy than I’d originally planned (unintentionally). Just realized while I was writing, no, I can’t do this, that would make him a wimp.

Kate: It’s given me a lot of ideas about how to handle Ross, since he straddles the line between wimp and laid back. Which means I need to come up with a couple of scenes to explain some of his personal quirks, and to show what it takes to bring out his lion.

Zoe: Another thing I really liked was the concept of “pulling back 25,” where you brainstorm, based on your character’s traits, some over-the-top reactions he could have to situations, and then you pull back 25% to get a realistic but unexpected reaction. The example Bell gave was what drove home how well that could work. One of the over-the-top scenarios he came up with for a character was that he could cut opposing counsel’s tie with scissors. When he backed it up, he had the character grabbing the other guy’s tie and throwing it in his face.

Kate: I liked the part where he was talking about minor characters, because they are so hard to get right. He calls them Allies and Irritants. Another way of saying that they have to have a job to do, other than scenery.

The example he used was from Stephen King’s Carrie, from the beginning. He describes a neighbourhood boy on a bike, in an almost sympathetic manner, then shows how everyday people/kids treat Carrie. Then, he foreshadows Carrie’s later telekinetic action by having her knock the kid down. So, the boy was scenery, but he also passed along a lot of very important information to the reader.

Ana: I don’t know if this is because I’m bad with scenery, but I never think up minor characters to add to the scenery. They always have a job… kind of like tools. I’m too lazy to make up characters that I’m not going to use in some way.

Kate: I suspect there are people out there who write in minor characters as ‘colour’, without giving a thought to their purpose in the story. A minor character that doesn’t move the story along in some way is just a waste of words.

Zoe: Minor characters really do need to pull their weight. I’m struggling with that in my current project because there are certain characters that have to be there because of the setting, but—how to make the most of them?

Kate: I think that’s a later draft thing. I’m not sure you can see how to deepen them until you’ve got the main characters sorted.

Zoe: Oh definitely. I keep telling myself not to sweat it right now. Also not sweating the fact that half of them are called [INSERT NAME] because I’m too lazy to scroll back 20,000 words to see what I called them.

Kate: ROFL. I do that with place names. “Yeah, I’m too lazy to come up with a name for this place right now so for the time being it’s gonna be *grand cathedral*.” Heck, I don’t even know what university Kev and Mo are attending. Right now it’s ******** University. :P

Ana:My MC has no last name. MC2 got one yesterday. Also, MC goes by a shortened version of his name, and so far, I’ve had no chance to tell the reader it’s just a short version and not his full name. So, it’s like he only has a nick name at this point.

Zoe: In some published books, the MC doesn’t even get a first name. Fight Club comes to mind…and another one I was just reminded of the other day but forgot again. I never named the college in Roommate (or pinned down the specific locale…and got dinged for it in a review, but what can you do? I didn’t want anyone going, “Oh, it’s that school.” So it’s just generic kind of rural, probably in the South.)

Ana: I have read some books, especially literary works, where names of places and schools were shortened to just one letter. I think I recently read one where the character was living in the K– District. Similarly, I’ve set my novella in Tokyo, and though you can guess it’s somewhere close to Shinjuku, I’m not going to tell the reader where exactly my MC lives.

Zoe: That was very common in the past. I think it was a trend at one time.

I enjoyed the section on Opposition Characters. Especially in early drafts, I struggle with making these anything more than just “opposition.” I made a bunch of notes to work on developing my opposition character’s goals—and why those goals are important to him.

Ana: I rarely have opposing characters, but when I do, I often end up putting more thought into them than my protagonists…. What can I say, evil fascinates me.

Kate: I think the whole Grit, Wit and It thing should apply to both your lead characters and your opposing characters. Otherwise, you have no reason to enjoy the give-and-take between the leads and the opposition. It’s something I worked hard on with Michael, from Knight, because I wanted people to see how Ross could have gotten into that situation.

Ana: I liked where he pointed out that you don’t always have to render your characters feelings, but you must know what they are in every scene. I find that often, when I’m stuck, it’s because I’m not sure of what’s going on in the head of the character whose POV I’m not currently in. It’s easy to forget about that for me.

Zoe:Me too.

Ana: Also, reading all the lists in this chapter makes me tired. #lazywriter

Kate: Lots of lists. Lots of questions to ask yourself, too. What really sold me on this chapter was how wide ranging his examples were. So many different books and films, in so many genres. It really added some authenticity and weight to his words.

Zoe: I only found it a little problematic when he’d say, “That scene in such-and-such,” and since I wasn’t familiar with such-and-such, I had no idea. But when he explained an example more fully, I could connect better. (Like he did with Carrie. I wouldn’t have remembered the beginning of Carrie for anything—I read it almost thirty years ago. But he quoted from it, so I knew what he was talking about. Other examples not so much.)

Ana: Yeah, sometimes he just throws something out there without explaining it.

Kate: I didn’t mind it so much. I figure I can always look it up on the internet, or get the book from the library. There were enough spelled-out examples to make his points for me.

Zoe: Yeah…I’m not going to research references in the book I bought to help me with my story.

Ana: I think he and I have different tastes in books.

Kate: Lol.

Zoe: Fortunately his explanations of concepts don’t need examples. The examples just make it easier to get the concepts (if you get the example). But you can get the information you need without the examples.

Kate: I liked the exercises at the end of the chapter, too, though I didn’t have time to do them. But they seemed very practical and I kind of wanted to do them, but dayjob.

Ana: I liked number three, and might try it. (Have I mentioned yet how lazy I am?)

Zoe: I liked the exercises too…but didn’t do them because I saved all my Dirty Birds reading for late the night before our discussion. I might play with the obituary one later today though.

Kate: I thought the obituary one was particularly appropriate for you, Zoe.

Zoe: I’m flattered.

Filed under: Three Dirty Birds Talk, writing Tagged: characterization, editing, revising, revision, writing advice

Three Dirty Birds on Promoting Your Stuff

We’re chirping about promoting your work over on Zoe’s blog. Zoe, the queen of promotion.

I need to get my butt in gear.

And oops on the late posting. It’s been a helluva week.

Filed under: Tuesday Tickle, writing Tagged: how to promote your book, promotion, writing advice

Three Dirty Birds Philsophize About Writing

And James Scott Bell’s Revision and Self-Editing for Publication. ;)

Find us on Ana’s blog.

Filed under: Tuesday Tickle, writing Tagged: editing, James Scott Bell, revision, writing advice

Tuesday Tickle: The NaNo Story Part Deux

NaNo’s kind of a bust. I can’t even carve out a half hour to write most days, but I’m going to keep trying. Anyway, I’m toying with the idea of making Mo’s roommate blind, because it gives me a chance to troll a whole bunch of other characters. (Thank you, Tales from Tech Support, for the idea.)

This bit is more of a placeholder–I expect once I’ve put more thought into it, it’ll be a lot funnier. The scene where Todd pulls this on Mo is way better, but I’m still trying to figure out where in the timeline it needs to go, so it’s hanging out in my head for the time being.

“Hey, Mo!”

Mo paused, halfway through his door. “Hey, Joe, you looking for Todd?”

“Yeah, I want him to look at my program for class.”

“You seriously did not just say that.”

Joe grinned. “What? He says it all the time.”

Just then, the sound of Todd’s voice floated down the hall. “I’m not doing your work for you, Joe!” He was hanging off the left arm of the prettiest young woman Mo had ever seen. If she’d been a guy, Mo would have popped a boner right then and there and made a total fool of himself. Good thing he was gay.

Joe made an exasperated noise. “I just wanted you to look at something for me.”

Todd came to a halt beside them and swung his cane out from under his arm. “Dude, did you just as a blind guy to look at something for you? Are you really that insensitive?”

Joe turned red and threw a desperate look at Mo, until Todd cackled with laughter. “Pwned! Really, how many times do I have to do that to you before you stop falling for it?” He titled his head toward his escort. “Thanks, Denise. I got it from here.”

She pecked his cheek and waved before continuing on down the hall. Joe watched her go with a sad and hungry expression.

“You can borrow my cane, if you want. It’s a total chick magnet,” Todd said, and sailed around the corner into their room.

Filed under: Tuesday Tickle Tagged: college boys, Kev 'n Mo, mm romance, NA, NaNoWriMo

Three Dirty Birds Talk James Scott Bell and Revision and Self-Editing for Publication

In honor of the halfway point of NaNo, and with the idea in mind that people will soon be editing their NaNo novels (Right, everyone? No sending it off to the agent on December 1), The Three Dirty Birds is reading James Scott Bell’s Revision and Self-Editing for Publication, 2nd Edition.

Kate: I already like this guy. He’s got a very friendly tone and he’s obviously well-read, both in terms of craft books and in genre fiction.

Zoe: I really liked his (very short) How to Write Your Novel from the Middle, so I’ve been looking forward to this one. (The intro made me tired though—so much homework! :D)

Kate: I want to do the homework for this one, though. I need to get Merry Maids or something in here, so I have time.

Zoe: Maybe we can pitch and buy our own set of Merry Maids, and just pass them around the three of us each week. That or maybe I can find someone on Fiverr to do my homework for me. “Here read these novels. Make notes.” (Actually…maybe I can just ask James Scott Bell for his notes on the novels he’s read instead.)

Ana: Can I have cabana boys instead of maids?

Kate: My TBR pile is groaning already. It needs structural support.

He really gets the why of writing though, that feeling like you’re flying, or God, or whatever, when things are working and the words are coming out at the speed of light. The feeling of accomplishment when you officially declare one finished (for now). Which makes me want to trust his advice.

Ana: I want to say I’m not necessarily writing fast when I’m ‘in the zone’, but it’s like I’m completely immersed and everything else is secondary. I might have maybe 1 or 2k words at the end of a five hour session like that, but I won’t know where that time went.

Zoe: Yes, the house could burn down around me, and all I’ll have is a tiny voice at the back of my head going, “I could use a glass of water soon, I think.”

Kate: I like when you’re writing along, and there’s no puzzles, you know where you’re going and why, it all makes sense and you’re absolutely delighted when the story goes somewhere else better than what you had planned.

Zoe: Yes, I love the surprises that come when things are falling together. When your subconscious is getting into the game and pulling its weight. (I just wish I could figure out how to lure my subconscious out more often. I’ve tried leaving chocolate for it..but I always give up and eat it myself.)

Ana: Absolutely. Might be my favorite part of writing. When you’ve poured hours and hours into a scene/chapter whatever and it was frustrating but then in the end its GLORIOUS and it was so worth it. (And sometimes you realize the solution was really so freaking simple.)

Kate: Sometimes that is because you were trying to do too many things at once, and you overwhelm yourself. Like his golf story–I could totally see that happening. But you can’t learn everything at once, and you can’t apply everything at once either. That was a good idea, when he said you needed to assimilate anything you admire about some other book. To take the technique the other writer used and go practice it on a piece of throwaway writing, so that it becomes a part of you and you don’t need to think about it.

Ana: More homework…. :(

Kate: Poor Ana.

Zoe: “In Part I…we’ll be covering a broad range of fiction technique with exercises.” The homework isn’t going to end. But since I’m working on a project (when am I not), I’m looking forward to playing with the exercises.

Ana: I did like his line about diving into revisions without a plan being like a strawberry jumping into a blender. Love the image, and it’s so true too.

Zoe: When I go in without a plan, I wind up just futzing with the words here and there. It’s a waste of time. (On the other hand, it might be a useful use of time, because I’m reacquainting myself with the work.)

Kate: You can get lost in the bits and pieces, until you go back and page through the whole thing. You forget details that are important and affect how you’re going to tweak things and rewrite sections. I’m going to take another crack at that ‘planning your revision on the paper copy’ and see if I can make it work for me.

Ana: You mean printing out a copy and marking it up?

Kate: Yes. I have the paper copy of Knight printed out, and I think I’m going to try the same thing with the squirrel and its sequel. (The sequel’s sequel?)

Ana: Oh my God, Kate’s squirrels are multiplying and trying to take over the world.

Kate: We know who to blame for that, don’t we? Wait until we get to the cockroach. :)

Zoe: I do most of my revisions with the paper copy. (Granted, a lot of my notes might just be “DO BETTER,” and I’ll do the actual fixing when I get to the computer, but I do much better taking the book away from the computer screen and my desk chair.)

Ana: I have ‘do better’ notes too, but usually just on my kindle since I don’t own a printer. :P What helps me revise the first draft into something readable is having a specific reader in mind. At that stage, I’m not writing for myself anymore, so I make an effort to make this heap of words I’ve amassed interesting to someone else.

Kate: That’s a good idea. I usually try to make the plot more cohesive. Recreate the goal of the story after I’ve played around with it a bit, and figured out better stuff.

Ana: Since my alpha reader often gets my chapters as I’m done with them, that really makes me think about how I can end a chapter in a way that’ll make her ask for the next one.

Zoe: You dirty bird. :)

Kate: I think it’s an excellent idea.

Ana: It’s motivating, for me at least. I know a lot of other writers can’t work like that. (Showing off something that isn’t 100% finished.) Coming from a fanfiction background it’s kind of how I started, though.

Zoe: I could probably do that with Mr. Rider. By the time I give him stuff, the story’s been in revisions for a while, and I’m reaching the point where I need a new set of eyes. I could easily dole out the chapters to him instead of giving it to him in a big pile.

Ana: Another upside of this approach is that when I get stuck revising, or I have a new idea, I can discuss with someone who’s read up to that point.

Zoe: I’m usually not stuck or coming up with new ideas by the time I’m working on the draft for Mr. Rider…but his input as he reads could help me shore up things (I didn’t see myself) in chapters he hasn’t gotten to yet.

Kate: It might save you time, if you can figure out things that need to be written differently, before you’ve actually gotten them written.

Zoe: Well, before I’ve gotten the latest round of revising finished at least. He’s not going to see a single page that hasn’t been already written and screwed with a few times. (Too much is missing the first time through!)

So, I just hope that reading this book for Dirty Birds doesn’t send me running back to early parts of the book I’m currently working on. I want to get to the end, so I have something to work with.

Ana: I’m very curious about the ‘deepening’ part he mentioned. I might have a peek ahead of time.

Kate: That’s a Dirty Trick, Birdie. Tempting, though…

Ana:Nothing can stop me in my pursuit of knowledge… or chocolate.

Zoe: I HAVE CHOCOLATE THIS WEEKEND.

Kate: *packs and heads for Zoe’s place*

Ana: I have chocolate, chips, and booze.

Zoe: *waits for Kate to get here so we can go to Ana’s*

Kate: Right. See you guys at Ana’s on Wednesday. :D

Filed under: Three Dirty Birds Talk, writing Tagged: James Scott Bell, Revision and Self-Editing for Publication, the writing life, writing advice

Three Dirty Birds Talk Suspense and Tension

Got the day right this time! Zoe has the weekly recap, and today’s post–On Suspense and Tension.

Tune in next week for Revision and Self-Editing for Publication by David Scott Bell.

Filed under: Three Dirty Birds Talk, writing Tagged: Kick-Ass Writer, suspense, tension, writing advice

Three Dirty Birds Talk Chuck Wendig and Setting

Apparently I had a brain fart yesterday and thought it was Thursday. So here’s yesterday’s Dirty Birds post on setting.

Filed under: Three Dirty Birds Talk, writing Tagged: Kick-Ass Writer, setting, writing advice

A Nano-ing I Shall Go

So, how’s NaNo going for you? Mine’s…eh, I dunno.

Admittedly, the fact that I’m getting any words done at all is pretty awesome right now. I’m working 12 hour days with two one-hour drives to and from work, so writing time is pretty limited. But I’m over the 10K hump and hope to hit 25K by the end of NaNo. Which should put me halfway to having a subbable (sp?) story in the New Year. I won’t win NaNo, but I kicked Writer’s Block’s ass. That’s gotta count for something, right?

Overall, I’m pleased with what I’ve gotten done. I like the characters, figured out the big plot turn at the end, figured out how it’s going to get fixed (sort of–Mo’s in charge of that) and have a couple of fun scenes planned, inspired both by my own college experience and some conversations with the other Dirty Birds. (Ana is well on her way to beating out The Editor in Question as a plot-bunny farm.) Dayjob is annoying me right now because its demands are far beyond my contract, but I’ll deal, because I like having a medical plan. :)

And it’s just nice to be writing again. Feel that rush. See the words piling up. I’ll have another Tickle next week from it. I’m having trouble deciding what to post. They’re a funny couple.

Filed under: writing Tagged: mm romance, NaNoWriMo, wordcount