#WriterIgniter #ReadingChallenge

Visit the DIY MFA website to join this challenge before Feb 7, 2020

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The Universe has aligned to steer me in a direction. When the Universe calls, I answer.

The two events that have aligned are as follows: 1) I just finished reading our local library's January book club selection, and thoroughly enjoyed, The Current by Tim Johnston; and 2) I discovered a writing craft-centric reading challenge at one of my favorite writing resources, Gabriela Pereira's DIY MFA website.

As a dyed-in-the-wool autodidact, I purchased the DIY MFA book several years ago. One of its #protips, if you will, is absorbing information with intent. This means when you are consuming information, regardless of whether you are reading, or listening, or viewing, be aware not only of the surface entertainment value, but also the behind-the-scenes structure. What is the point of view? What archetype best describes this character? When does the story transition from the second act to the third? How is the author creating likability for the protagonist? and so forth.

I know what you're thinking. Doesn't this make reading/viewing/listening more like work? I suppose some may feel that way. But not me! Reading between the lines, peeking behind the curtain, enhances the experience for me.

If you are not of my tribe, this would be a good time to stop reading this post and move on to something more to your taste. No hard feelings.

But if you do enjoy improving your writing craft skills, and, as the old gum commercial used to say, doubling your pleasure and fun, the #WriterIgniter #ReadingChallenge might be for you.

I'll let Ms. Pereira explain how it works and direct you to her website at the above link for the details. Super easy to sign up. The gist is, you choose a book to read. Using the prompts she metes out to us, you analyze the book, reading with intent. The idea is to come away with an enhanced understanding of the craft by analyzing what other writers are doing.

Pereira also suggests keeping challenge notes. I've decided to use my blog, specifically this blog post, to track my progress on the challenge. I'll update it as necessary as we work through the various challenge prompts, and alert you to updates via my Twitter feed.

Prompt #1: Select A Book

The first prompt in this challenge is to select a book. As I mentioned earlier in this post, I've chosen The Current by Tim Johnston. It's not exactly in my current genre. But before I knew about this challenge, I had already decided I wanted to go back through it for two very specific reasons.

I loved what he did with point of view. I'm still writing from a single point of view in my current WIP, but in my next book, I want to put on some Big Girl Writing Panties and try multiple POV.



I also want to up my description game. I felt Johnston did an admiral job of adding just the right amount of detail, in the appropriate voice of the character. What he chose to describe, and how he described it, impressed the heck outta me. Not a single cliche in the book.

If you're participating in this challenge, I'd love to hear from you in the comments. Which book did you choose, and why? In the meantime, stay tuned for my next update here. The second prompt in this challenge is about analyzing the protagonist.

Prompt #2: The Protagonist
updated 01/20/2020

Image from DIA MFA

This prompt encourages us to not only determine which character is the protagonist, but to analyze their role and classify them as one of the above character types based on their wants and needs in the story. I encourage you to listen to the details on how to do this. It's very thought-provoking.

Let me digress for a moment to mention that the challenge-within-a-challenge here is to discuss the process without spoilers. So pardon me if I seem like I'm tap dancing in this segment. I really enjoyed this book, and I don't want to spoil anything for you if you decide to read it.

Anyway -

Identifying the protagonist in The Current was an interesting process. Often we assume the point of view character is the protagonist. But what if, as in this book, the author uses several POV characters? Uh-oh! I had several to choose from, but eventually went with the one the story started and ended with.

My choice of protagonist did not fit neatly into one of the four categories in the above graphic. They were definitely Ordinary Joes/Janes. But they didn't so much want to Preserve or Change their current status as wish away a horrific past event (and to make matters more complex, it wasn't even the same event for many of them!) and go back to happier times. I guess you could say several of them would like to Change their present circumstances in such a way that it would Preserve those happy times?

But because that is not one of my choices in said box above, I will go with Change. That results in identifying the protagonist as an Underdog.

UPDATE: I heard from Gabriela about this conundrum via Twitter, and she views a situation where a character wants things to go back to the way they were before as more of a Preserve situation. So that would put the protagonist I've identified in The Current as a Survivor rather than an Underdog.

Prompt #3: Five Promises
updated 01/21/2020

Good stories set up early. ideally, authors should make five promises to the reader very near the beginning of the story.

Who are we meant to root for? This is a tough question for me because as I mentioned in Prompt 1, there are several different characters' points of view throughout, and I was rooting for all of them whenever it was their turn on stage. Because the plot intertwines two different story lines with two different protagonists, I am having a hard time choosing an answer here.What is the narrative voice? The narrative voices rotate among several different characters within the story, as opposed to having an omniscient narrator outside of the story. All are relateable and sympathetic, each in their own way.What world is the story set in? The setting is present day. Because it is a mystery, it's a combination of a procedural and rural Midwest. Think Fargo, without the wood chipper.What is the problem facing the protagonist? We have a relatively banal problem that kicks off the story and leads us to a life-changing problem soon afterward. Very Butterfly Effect.Where does the story begin, and why do you think the author chose to start it there? The story begins by showing us the evolution of a relationship between two college students. To be honest, I don't know why the author chose to start there. It would've been tempting to start with one of the more jolting events that occur later in the story. I need to go back and re-read this to see if I can come up with a better answer. I'm not saying I was bored by it, because it did hold my interest. But in contrast to the events that followed, it's pretty tame in comparison.

Prompt #4: Character Compass
updated 01/26/2020

The Character Compass is a handy visual analytic. It reminds me of the Story Grid spreadsheet; specifically, the value shift columns. When you learn how to use tools like these, they can show you very specifically and objectively how a sorta squishy, nebulous component of story can be quantified and analyzed. Gosh, my Left Brain loves this stuff!

Specifically, the Character Compass can show you if you're leaning on a particular tool or strategy to get your point across, when you could be using some different methods to keep things fresh. Using this charting method, you can indicate which of the four methods is being used to show us what's important to know about the POV character. Click on the Prompt #4 link above to hear the full explanation of the chart and how to use it.

Behold the fabulousness that is Rocketbook

In the true spirit of DIY, this is my hand-drawn Character Compass for two different scenes from The Current. #1 on the top is a scene from the sheriff character's POV. The second one is from a different character's POV, that of a widow. I've placed the dots to show that Action is relied upon to tell the reader what the sheriff is thinking in that particular scene. And in the widow's scene, there is very little dialog or action or description of her appearance. It's mostly her thoughts that clue us in.

Okay, cool. It's obvious from the two very different shapes created by the placement of the dots on the axes that two different methods are being used by the author. THIS IS COOL, PEOPLE. Because I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts, if we charted every sheriff scene from The Current, it would look very similar to my #1 up there. And if we charted all the widow scenes, same. So what this means is, not only are we now able to read a story and say, Aha! i see what you did there! We also now have another clearly defined tool for differentiating multiple points of views in our own work.

Prompt #5: Inciting Incident
coming soon!

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