2018 Resolutions #1: Focus on Craft

I love New Year's resolutions. They're a great excuse to evaluate the past year, decide where I want to be at the end of this year, and figure out a game plan to get there!

I have four writing-related resolutions this year, and I'll share one every week in January. This week, I resolve to WORK ON CRAFT.

I'm not talking about grammar or punctuation. I'm talking about narrative structure, plotting, and characterization... big picture things. I want to find four great craft books and read/work through one every quarter of 2018. I love Donald Maass' THE EMOTIONAL CRAFT OF FICTION, and I'm going to start with re-reading and working through the exercises in that one. Then, I'm hoping to find a book about world-building (I write mostly contemporary, but world-building can be just as important in real-life settings as fantasy settings). After that, the sky's the limit - I'll see where 2018 takes me!

Are you resolving to work on craft this year? Do you have any recommendations for books on craft?

Rhetorical Devices -- by PK Hrezo

What are rhetorical devices? Is that a rhetorical question? Erm, huh??

 

Learning about these devices in the craft of writing really helped me tidy up my prose and create a lasting effect. Here's what you should know:

Anaphora

Repeating a word or phrase at the beginning of three or four successive clauses or sentences. 

Example:  But her whole body was shivering, trembling, quaking. And she couldn't stop thinking about her empty bedroom. She couldn't stop thinking about that one window. She couldn't stop thinking that should she swear, she would swear that Ed had been standing there all along. 

Cool, right? It creates a lasting effect in the reader's mind. 

Asyndeton

Omitting conjunctions between words and phrases. 

Example:  To be honest, I had been restless. It had started back in the fall--this feeling of time passing, of being postponed, pent up, not wanting to leave the house. 

By deliberately leaving off the word "and" in the end sentence, there is a feeling of despair. 

Polysyndeton

The use of many conjunctions. Using "and" or "or" several times in the same sentence but without commas between them. 

Example:  She noticed the dark circles beneath his eyes. They appeared whenever he was sick or overtired or just worried. 

These three rhetorical devices are tried and true techniques writers use to create an effect. Try going back into your WIP and finding a paragraph or two to try these out on. Once I'd learned these and went back into my own WIP at the time, they made a huge difference. 

Hope you find them helpful. Are these new terms to you? Or do you already employ these devices in your work? Please share ...

Using our Better Selves to Sort Through our Lesser Selves

As writers, we're constantly confronted with what we do well in craft, and what we don't do as well (this ratio might be higher if you're part of a critique group or an MFA program).

The thing is, most writers know what they need to fix. But the problem isn't in the knowing. It's figuring out how to execute the things we have trouble with. For example, I've consistently struggled with character development, one of the basic corner stones of any story. The gist of my feedback usually goes along the lines of, "I don't really know this character..." or "I don't really care about this character..."  or "I'm not sure what this character's motivation is..."

But I think my favorite was the most recent feedback I got from a writing instructor: "What will she sacrifice or learn about herself to meet her goals? Give the girl a STORY!"

And it's not like I hadn't thought about ways to enhance my protagonists. But even after that, I still had trouble translating them to the page.

Then it occurred to me. What if I used what I did well to help the things I didn't do as well? Used my better self to sort through my lesser self?

Like this, but much more convoluted.

I've been complimented on my world-building, so I decided to use that as my catalyst, and see how my characters were affected by the places I'd created for them.

When I did this, I discovered the following: 

My external worlds played directly into my protagonists' main motivations

Both my current works-in-progress deal with characters who feel trapped in their situations. And I realized--the settings I'd created for them had no literal windows. None.

It turned out my world-building self was trying to tell my character development self something. That these characters wanted windows. Wanted options. And I could use that to motivate their actions and move their stories forward.

My external worlds demanded that my characters take action

One reason my characters tend to fall flat is I put them in these rich worlds but don't let them do anything. It's almost like I'm afraid to give them freedom to move within the spaces I've created.

So today, when crafting a scene where my protagonist finally has to confront the antagonist, I had her speak up and be an active agent of change in her own story.

While it was harder to write because I was stretching myself to places that weren't as comfortable, it helped me get more into her head. I ended up writing a scene where she actually had to struggle (I'm also way too easy with my protagonists a lot of the time).

Instead of taking the usual advice I've heard about character development, I made it work for me by putting it in terms of world-building, something I knew inside and out.

And now, I pose the following to you all:

1. First, consider which writing aspects you receive the most compliments on.
2. Now, consider something you don't do as well.
3. Consider how you think through the thing you do well. For example, if you're good at characters, how do you build them? If you're good at plotting, how do you develop it?
4. Use this same thought process for the thing you don't do as well, and discover ways to perceive it in a newer light.
5. Apply this to your writing.  

What do you struggle with in your writing? What strategies do you use to work through challenges? 

Making Good Use of Irony

Do you intentionally use irony in your stories? Or does it ironically happen on its own? I suppose that may depend on whether you're a plotter or pantster, but it never hurts to begin marinating the notion that our stories deserve irony where we can pull it off.

Why? It's satisfying to the reader to notice these ironies, and often, the more subtle, the better. Irony adds a special flavor to the story, much like that tangy lemon I squeeze in my butter before bathing a succulent crab leg into it.

As a plotter myself, I try to add irony into my plotline before ever drafting. For instance, in Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc., the main character, Bianca Butterman, is a futuristic version of a goth-glam girl, who's also somewhat of a control freak. Being as that she's also a time-craft pilot, she has to be. So where is it that the last place an eighteen-year-old futuristic goth chick who spends more time on the web then with real people should end up?

1969 Woodstock ... with free love, drugs, and music, man. Flowers, hugs, and community weed.

And she is 150% uncomfortable. It's why Bianca ended up being the way she is. I knew she'd end up at Woodstock, so I needed her to be the opposite of someone who'd fit in there.

The result is so much fun, and so ironic.

How about a few of these stories and their use of irony?  See if you can name the book, movie, or TV show:

1.  A ruthless serial killer who skins his victims ... and has a cute and cuddly little toy poodle named Precious.

2. A genius diagnostician sought by sick people from around the world for his incredible ability to solve medical puzzles ... and who's addicted to pain pills to the point of being self-destructive and harmful to others.

3. A self-righteous professor who treats students like criminals and inflicts bodily harm on them as punishment for insubordination ... and who has an affinity for sweet little kittens, which she has decorated her entire office with.

4. A recovering alcoholic who owns a bar and serves other people drinks for a living.

5. A single dad whose wife left him, and who also happens to be a divorce lawyer with absolutely no faith in romance or happily ever afters ... and he falls for a beautiful girl right out of fairy tale who sings to animals and who has never said a harsh word to anyone in her entire life.

6. A young scientist with an IQ off the charts, devout atheist, and fully sold on the theory of evolution ... who grew up in Bible Belt, USA with a mother who is even more devout Christian than the Pope.


Some of these are obvious ironies, others more subtle. The point is, they're so much fun, they really give the stories a special twist.

Next time you're plotting or drafting, ask yourself how you can twist it up a little bit and make good use of irony. Try picking it out of the next book, movie, or TV show you watch. The more we notice it, the easier it is to use it in our own work.

So tell me, can you identify these stories? Do you practice using irony? If so, do you have a special technique? If not, what's holding you back? Please share ...   

Practice Makes Publishable

I've always heard the expression "Practice Makes Perfect," and, being a borderline perfectionist, generally try (and fail) to apply that saying to many aspects of my life.

Over the years, I've had to learn to let that expectation of perfection go. I'm never going to be the perfect wife, or mother, or human being, though I will continue to try my best.

Now, I think I am finally ready to admit that I need to stop trying to apply this to my writing. It's never going to be perfect. Even if my next book hits the NYT Bestseller list and outsells the entire Harry Potter and Twilight series put together....I'm still going to open that book one day and find something I want to change. 

It will never be perfect. And that's okay. It doesn't need to be perfect. It needs to be publishable.

How do I make it publishable? Practice. Writing more and more. Taking my next WIP and the WIP after that and the WIP after that, and pouring my heart, soul, and sweat into them. Hard work, revisions, more hard work, more revisions, confidence, persistence, faith, more hard work, and more revisions.

Very few people sell the first thing they've ever written. A first novel, maybe. But I bet they've written short stories or poetry or essays or something else before. At the very least, they've rewritten that first novel within an inch of its life. I've known people who have let this idea of perfection paralyze them to the point that they refuse to query a wonderful book because they don't think it's ready. They let this unobtainable goal keep them from sharing their incredible stories.

There's no such thing as perfection - especially when it comes to our writing. What one person thinks is perfect, someone else is going to hate. And what we think is perfect now, we may cut without hesitation six months later.

So, should we give up altogether?

NEVAH!!!!! :D

Practice. Keep writing. Shelve it all if you need to, but keep writing. Practice may not make it perfect. But it will make it publishable.

What are your thoughts? Do you practice to make perfect? Do you still hold on to the dream that someday that book of yours will stand as a shining example of literary perfection? Or have you come to the conclusion that something may be excellent, but there's no such thing as perfect? Do you strive for perfection, or for publication? Or something else entirely?

Trumpets and Writing

Last night, I took my son down to the school to sign him up for band and instrument lessons. He chose to try the trumpet. He's soooo excited to get started :) He set up his music stand in his room, has his book open to the first lesson, and is all ready for when he can bring his instrument home and start practicing.

Now, I know that some of that excitement will fade when he realizes how hard it is to learn how to properly play an instrument. And when he has to practice every day, even though there will be days he doesn't feel like it. And I know it might hurt his feelings when he plays something he thinks sounds really good only to have his sister tell him how bad it sounds (though I hope she won't do that!)

But I also know that if he keeps up with it, puts in the time and effort, someday in the not too distant future he'll start to sound pretty good. And if he continues with it, putting in more time and effort, he might actually sound pretty dang good.

Now he might try the trumpet for a few months and decide he'd rather play something else. Maybe another instrument will come easier for him, or he might just enjoy it more. As long as he puts in the time and effort into whatever he finally decides to stick with, I know he'll be successful in the long run.

Can you see where I'm going with this? :D

It's a lot like writing. Starting that brand new project, or starting to write for the very first time, there's always the excitement. Maybe you have a great "writer station" all set up. A new file or pad of paper open and waiting for the words you will pour out. An outline or head full of ideas just waiting to be explored.

And then that excitement can fade when the enormity of the task sinks in. Writing is a skill, one that takes a lot of time and effort to hone. There will be set backs and harsh critiques and somewhere along the way, you might decide you'd rather write YA instead of adult, or romance instead of thrillers. And that's okay.

As long as you can find what you love, stick with it and put in the time and effort necessary to really hone your craft, someday you will find the success you seek. :)