Dear O'Abby: How do I start?

 Dear O'Abby,

I've been wanting to write a novel for years and years, and this year, I have resolved to actually do it.  I have an idea I think is pretty solid, but I'm just not sure exactly how t physically start writing a book.

Any tips for a newbie?

Happy New Year,

Greenhorn

Dear Greenhorn,

I wish it was a simple as that, but like many things, there is no one way to write a novel.  Every writer has their own process for starting, and finishing a book.  And the only way you're going to figure out how you like to do it, is by trying it out.

That said, I can give you some things you can try to see if they suit you....

Some writers like to do a lot of planning before they start writing the actual book.  This may include writing detailed character studies to better understand the way these individuals will behave in certain situations.  If you're writing fantasy you may want to do some work on developing the world of your story so you understand the way things work there and the way your characters might fit into the societies you're creating.  If you're writing a mystery or thriller you way want to write a timeline so you can make sure things are revealed and hinted at in the right places.

Some writers like to have an outline of their novel written ahead of time so they know basically what is going to happen in each chapter and that the scenes they plan to write fit nicely and drive the story toward its conclusion. Other writers just wing it and start writing and find their stories through the writing process.

But you can do both. Outlines can be as detailed or loose as you want them to be. Personally, I never write more than a page or two, just outlining the bare bones of what I think the story might be.  And if I veer away from that in the writing process, so be it.  One thing I've learnt though, is writing the ending early on is generally a good idea if you're basically winging it, because it gives you somewhere to aim.  Again, if you end up going elsewhere and it works better, so be it...

Another thing I personally find useful is to write a query letter for my novel pretty early on.  That helps me see if the story has enough stakes and if I can easily find the throughline and spine of the story.  You can even try to get the entire story into a single sentence or logline to test the strength of the story.  If you can do that, then you've definitely got something!

So my best advice to you is to just sit down and start.  You'll learn pretty quickly what works for you and what doesn't doesn't.

Best of luck with the writing.  Have fun with it.

X O'Abby

Plotter or Pantser - Kate's Thoughts

It's been fun this week, seeing how the team like to write.

I'm 100% pantser all the way.  In fact, I'm probably one of the most chaotic writers to ever put words on paper.  I don't even start at the beginning of my stories most of the time!

To give you an idea of my process, I usually think about my stories for a long time.  They're often just germs of ideas waiting for other germs of ideas to collide with them.  I also usually have a large cast of characters wandering around my brain, just waiting for their story to appear.

Eventually (hopefully) some of these characters and some of these idea germs meet up, and then a story starts to pull together.  Idea germs come from all over the place - books I read, newspaper articles, stories people tell me, movies....  I have no idea where the characters come from, just that they are always pretty fully formed with their own pasts and names I find it very difficult to change, even when I hate them.  Thanks, Jason in my latest WIP.  I really didn't want you to be called Jason.  I already have a Jason in another book.

Once these whimsical pieces start to coalesce, I usually write a first scene.  This is not always the beginning of the book.  Often it's from somewhere in the middle or toward the end.  I then work backward and forward, filling in scenes until I have something that looks something like a book.  I do like to write the ending early on because that way I have somewhere to aim for if the story seems to be going way off track.

It's not a perfect way to work by any means, but it's what works for me.  The few times I've tried writing an outline I never finished the book because I knew what was going to happen and where's the fun in that?  And if I start writing from the beginning of the book (or what I think might be the beginning) I tend to write around 10K before I hit the actual beginning of the book.  Which sucks when I'm doing NaNo because that's however many days' writing that's going to end up on the cutting room floor.

So I'll stick with my own process, nuts as it might seem.  And if your own process is a little eccentric, don't worry about it.  Whatever works, right?

Plotter, Pantser, or Plantser--Suzanna's Thoughts

 

I have been all three at some point in my writing career.

I began as a pure plotter and finished two manuscripts. I disliked the process at the time because I could not be spontaneous whenever my characters decided to deviate from the outline.

Then I tried pure pantser with a single manuscript. It was such a disaster that I was cringing as I wrote it. That novel draft took seven years in the proverbial drawer before I could brainstorm a way to fix it. I will have to rewrite it with a plantser draft.

So I subscribe to the plantser camp, and I am attempting to figure out which plotting systems work well with me. Currently I am exploring Story Grid and Save the Cat!. I want enough of an outline to know where I'm going but enough freedom to deviate from the outline and enjoy the drafting process.

Have you worked as more than one? What has your writing journey looked like?

NaNoWriMo Prep: Outlining vs. Pantsing

Today's prep topic brings us to what is perhaps one of the greatest dividers among writers: Using an outline versus writing by the seat of one's pants (also called "discovery writing").

I have done both, and I see merits to both sides. I'm not here to persuade you to my way of doing things, especially not if you're comfortable with your own method of plotting. But if this happens to be your first NaNoWriMo or you want to try something new, then let's explore different styles of drafting.

Discovery writing can be a lot of fun. It allows you to uncover your characters as you get to know them. Surprises often abound as you make spur of the moment decisions to try something new. With discovery writing, you probably have at least a vague idea of plot and who your main characters are, but there's plenty of room to grow and change as you write.

This is how my first NaNo project was. I had an idea for a girl and a boy to go on a road trip to see Shakespeare festivals and fall in love. That was all I had, and I ran with it. It was a lot of fun! I learned a lot about writing during that project.

I also learned a lot about editing, because it was a hot mess when I was finished. Remember last post, I told you that I killed the main character's mother so she'd have a reason to stay at home, but then I didn't have her think or feel anything about it at all? By the end of November I had discovered that yes, she did indeed have feelings about her mother's death. So when I edited, I had to go back and load up the front half of the novel with thoughts and feelings so that the ones I organically wrote in the end wouldn't feel out of place. For me, discovery writing usually means a lot of backtracking. Which is not always a bad thing.

With later attempts at NaNoWriMo, I've tried outlining in various degrees. For my 2012 project, I spent fifteen minutes at the end of each writing session figuring out where I'd go next. For 2013, I used Scrivener and listed out every single scene that would go in the novel, so that all I'd have to do in November was open up each scene and write until I made it to the next one.

I found that to be incredibly stifling.

In fact, I ended up discovering another character along the way that completely changed the course of the novel. I had to go back and add more scenes with this character, which of course messed up the scene list I'd so lovingly created back in October. But believe me, the novel is much better for it.

This year I have a synopsis for the novel I'll be writing in November. There will be room to stretch, but I also know the beginning, middle, and end. I think this happy medium between outlining and pantsing will make drafting both smooth and enjoyable. I'm looking forward to it!

Do you have a method of drafting that you love? Share in the comments!

Pre-Writing a Novel, Making a Road Map

The next time I start a brand new project with new characters, I plan to follow these steps BEFORE I spend any time writing the actual story. At the beginning of my writerly life, I would have considered this a huge waste of time—when I already know (mostly) how the story will go in my head. But ultimately, for me, writing panster-style (and writing by consensus) created years of rewriting, reorganizing, and countless cleanups to make sure all the details were still true to what was kept (and that details or character comments didn’t pertain to something that got cut).

This recommended process (a writing assignment from my publisher) took me about two weeks and ended up being about 25k. I have referred to it often in the course of writing my series, because some plot threads span more than one book, some characters aren't fully revealed in a single book, and I can't forget who and what they are (lest I end up with loose threads and characters who vanish for no apparent reason.)

1. List every character who has a name and give them a face (a real picture from google images—no one but you will ever see this image, so no worries in regards to fame or legal rights)

2. Give each person a life—age, family status, why, who, where, how, what they want, goals/dreams/fears. What part do they play in the story? Where do they end up by the time the story is finished?

3. What are the plots? What are the sub-plots? Play all the plots out to the every end, including all major turning points, climax, and end (for every plot, like a synopsis!). This will give you a steady pace to follow, and keep you from giving away too much info too soon (if you know exactly how much is there in the first place).

4. Think of questions that could potentially rip your story apart, and figure out the answers before you start writing. (How does an entire community of shifters stay hidden? Why can’t Ariel write Eric a note to declare her love (after she’s lost her voice) when it’s clear she knows how to write? Who has access to the ‘magic’ and why?)

5. Connect all the dots. How does each character interact with the main character/s? Do they help or hinder? If they do neither, maybe they shouldn't be involved at all (if you’re doing this AFTER your story has been written, and you’re looking for ways to cut. If you love the character too much to cut, make him/her earn his way into the story by giving him a purpose that makes sense. Or save him/her for book 2, or another story entirely.) :-)

This is a great way to determine how much value a character or plot adds to your story. You don’t want or need extra wordage the reader could do without, or “talking heads” with no real cause.

Have a solid plan and know your characters’ personalities before you begin the writing, and you’ll save hours and hours (maybe months) of fixing timelines, filling plot-holes, and tweaking details for pace, believability, and dimension. With each character and plot, you should know exactly where they need to go and why. How they get there can still be a surprise in the writing, but the destination (along with the critical gas stations) should be mapped out before the journey begins.

*bonus tip! If your ideas gets tweaked along the way, do you best to keep this master document updated as you go. Because every time you come to roadblock in the writing, you'll have an accurate map to get you back on course.

If a *shiny new road has your wheels spinning faster, you can more accurately predict how much change one little detail might have on the overall story--if you can still get to the same destination on a different route.

*There's no harm in changing the destination before you get there, you just have to make sure all the details agree to change direction. If you've already written stuff that no longer applies...it's not the end of the world (just more work). Sometimes a different destination is well worth the effort. ;-)

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 ...