Gimme the Good Stuff

  "I just need to get through this part so I can get to the good stuff"

   Have you caught yourself saying this?

   I know I have. In fact, probably a little too much.

   When we entertain this thought, what does that say about us as writers? What does that say about our stories? Does it mean we should crumple our current draft up into indiscernable litter for the recycling bin and call it quits? 

   No!
   I think we all hit the point, or several points, in any story where we feel like we just have to power through in order to get to the stuff that really appeals to us. Why do we feel this way? I find that when I start looking at a scene as something "I have to write to get to where I want to go" I approach the scene with less enthusiasm. And believe me, that comes across to the reader. Tell me, have you ever read a book where you can totally tell the author has checked out? Sometimes its just one chapter, sometimes it's and entire book, but I can always tell when the writer is not excited about the material.
   So, what is it about these scenes/chapters that drain our enthusiasm? This would be an excellent time to start dissecting the scene and asking it some tough questions.

1. Why are you here?
2. What purpose do you serve?
3. Do you help further the plot?
4. Do you help the characters grow?
5. etc.

   These are but a few of the tough questions you should start asking every scene in your book. As I have said before, I'm a BIG plotter. I have a copious amount of Word docs that help me construct scenes, characters, conflicts, dialogue... You name it, I probably have some sort of "worksheet" on it. Yet, for all my plotting I still encounter those scenes that bore me. If they bore me, and I'm writing the darned thing, then imagine how the reader feels.
   When I encounter chapters or scenes that do not move me (whether in my own story or someone else's) I try to analyze what about it just isn't turning my crank. Is the dialogue poorly crafted? Is there no forward momentum to the plot? Is there no tension or mounting stakes? Are the characters flat or poorly characterized? It could be any number of these reasons that suck me out of a scene.
    Granted a story can't be "GO! GO! GO!" all the time. We need to give both the characters and the audience those moments of stasis that allow for reflection, collection of thoughts, acceptance of situations and time to formulate new plans of attack. So the trick is making those "slow" moments as compelling, if not more compelling, than the big action-packed scenes. It's those quiet, reflective moments that pack the most emotional punch, they allow the reader a glimpse into the character's psyche and allow them to get a better understanding of what our MC's are fighting for.
   So if you find yourself bored by a scene in your own story, ask yourself why. Challenge yourself and your story. Do some work. It can be tough... But, man, can it be rewarding!
 
  What are some of the ways you tackle those tough chapters? How do you dissect scenes to make sure they work for you and your stories?

Let Nothing be Sacred

As I said once, many years ago:
"Nothing is Sacred! Everything dies!"

Yeah, I'm a real charmer...

But, it's true. Or at least, it should be when it comes to fiction.
As I've spent most of the year reading instead of writing (at least I've been doing loads of homework) I've come to appreciate one factor that makes a story a riveting page-turner: The author holds NOTHING sacred! Everything and everyone the main character loves and values should potentially be lost. And, in most case, should actually be lost.

I can think of several GREAT books where the author holds nothing back. SPOILERS AHEAD, I repeat, SPOILERS AHEAD...

Katniss Everdeen in Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy agrees to compete in The Hunger Games in stead of her younger sister Primrose, who is chosen as the female contestant. First off, what a great twist. The reader, and Katniss, has every reason to suspect Katniss will be chosen because A.) she's the main character, and B.) she's gone to extreme lengths to ensure her name is in the running more times that Primrose's. That doesn't stop Suzanne Collins though! Brilliant! And what's more, at the end of Mockingjay, after Katniss has already sacrificed so much, she loses the very thing she set out to save at the beginning: Her sister!

Even J.R.R. Tolkien doesn't hold back. The whole reason Frodo sets out on his journey to destroy the Ring is because he wishing no harm to come to the Shire. Yet, as he and his Hobbit companions return after their quest they find that the Shire has been ravaged by Saruman and Wormtongue. And just recently, thanks to Alexis, I read Feed by Mira Grant wherein she doesn't even hold her main character sacred! Oh man, what a great read.

I've heard it said, as I'm sure we all have: "Kill your babies." Our writing babies of course. Whether those 'babies' are passages of prose, enjoyable banter, epic battle scenes, or heck even our main characters! We cannot be afraid to put our characters through hell. If we wanna hook audiences, keep those pages turning, and hopefully give the reader something to think about long after they've closed the cover, we gotta turn everything on its ear.

About a week ago I was having a long hard think about the sacrifices my characters make by the end of their journey. Most of them lose a significant amount, mostly in the form of death or severe injury, yet I was neglecting one major form of sacrifice: Emotional.  I realized that one of my couples in the book have fundamentally differing religious views that, on a day-to-day basis don't interfere with their love for each other, yet in the context of a major religious war (which occurs in my book) their beliefs would come into contention... And their marriage, in all honesty, probably wouldn't survive. The more I pondered this, the more I realized it wouldn't survive. It was sad, but at the same time I think an honest outcome of the struggle they both go through.

There is a threshold though. We should also give our characters what they want from time to time... If only to take it away later or give em' what they want but just not quite how they imagined it. So, Have you realized your being too nice to your characters? Do you want nothing bad to happen to them? Or are you ruthless in your attempts to dog their every move? 

Over-Plotting. It's Like Shooting Yourself in the Foot.

Plotting. I do it. A lot. And I'm starting to realize I might do it too much. 

This is a dilemma that has been vexing me for quite sometime, so I felt it might make an excellent blog post.

I've been working on my book for an incredibly long time. Almost ten years. That's a scary long time to dedicate to one story, so long in fact it makes me wonder if A.) it'll ever be done and B.) if it's even worth finishing at this point. But I digress. 

The true heart of the matter is, since I've spent so much time with this story, world and characters I know a great deal about the in's and outs; the ups and downs. Is that a bad thing? In non-committal, writer fashion I'm going to go with yes and no. Knowing so much intricate details about my story helps me craft a richer world with more dynamic character relationships and motivations... However, over-plotting can be it's own worst enemy because, remembering that I know so much of what's going on, I might forget to include vital knowledge because I'm so close to the work.

Case in point. I'm currently overhauling my second chapter which takes place 17 years after the events of Chapter One. In my first version of the chapter I COMPLETELY neglected to let the reader know that time had moved drastically forward since the events of chapter one. Why did I do that? It finally sunk in that I didn't tell the audience that the character was older because I knew the character was older- I was writing for myself. Granted, it's said that you write the first draft for you and every proceeding draft for an audience... But problem is this is my second draft. I felt like I was moving backwards. 

This oversight made me question how many other vital bits of story I was omitting because I knew what was going on. So, how much plotting is to much plotting? When should the writer trust themselves, and (more importantly) the story enough to relinquish control and let it take the wheel? I'm struggling right now. I'm presently in that nit-picky writer place that I'm generally so good at pushing aside. Even though I know the story, and I know my characters, I'm still acting as though I trust neither of them enough to let them be in control. I want control right now. And I'm shooting myself in the foot.

Not a fun place to be in. 

Exciting Contest: Design a Book Cover

 Teralyn Rose Pilgrim is hosting a glorious contest over at her blog.

The premise: Design a book cover.
The contest: Entries are due on August 31st, and then each participant is allowed to "like" their top 3 favorite cover designs. Teralyn will then announce the winner on September 7th.

Win or not, I just think this contest sounds like a load of fun. I've been tinkering with ideas for a book cover for ages, and there's nothing quite like a little healthy competition to spark the imagination. I can't wait to see all the glorious designs on the 31st! To learn more from teh woman herself, and to sign up click HERE

Give Your Characters What They Want.... Then Mercilessly Tear it Away!

We all have dreams, goals, and desires.

Our characters should to.

Like anyone, our characters need to have purpose- a reason to get out of bed int he morning and face a new day... And it's something they should have before the inciting incident of our stories.

Any good story starts with a character in a given state of 'normalcy'. Life for our protagonists should be comfortable, or at the very least familiar, before us crazy authors throw them into all kinds of literary hell. It doesn't take much to establish a semblance of normal, maybe just a chapter, or a half-a-chapter but something to give the reader an idea of what the protagonists stands to lose.

Great example: The first couple chapters of Fellowship of the Ring, before Frodo learns of the Ring's true nature. He's eager to go an adventure with Uncle Bilbo when he's young, but once he learns that he has no choice but to flee the Shire he grows to love it

By establishing a status quo for our protagonists, we show the audience something the character has to sacrifice in order for them to set of on the journey of the story. That way, when circumstance/kismet/divine forces step in and pull our main character's off into the world of the story we are able to have sympathy for their struggle. We've all had to give up something for something else, nothing is without sacrifice.

Although it's intersting for a character to be pried unwittingly into the major dramtic action of the tale, it's more interesting if the character willing chooses that path. Stay in the safe confines of day-to-day life, or be thrust out into the unkown wild world of the story? People are creatures of habit, and I feel safe in saying there are few of us that would choose that dangers of the unknown over the comforts of the familiar. But I know those adventurous types are out there.

I'm presently overhauling my rough draft because I realized my main character didn't have enough purpose. Now she has a purpose, she has a dream, she even has a budding crush on a guard in her hometown. So, now when the 'Story' comes knocking on her front door, she has something to lose. And lose them she shall. It's fun to let our characters get close to achieving a goal, then mercilessly ripping them away! In fact, that's what the majority of any dramatic story is until the Climax and Resolution has been reached.

So, until then, keep dangling that carrot in front of your characters eyes, and keep pulling it away when it looks like they're just about to get it.

How do you mess with your characters?

What I Learned About Writing Stories from Playing Too Much Mass Effect

 (picture by Mimiza)

I said it in my last post. I've been gone a long time, and mostly because I squandered away most of July by playing Mass Effect 1 and 2.

I do feel a little guilty about it, but I'm trying to find the silver lining in the 50+ hours I idled away...

Video games are usually admonished as imagination sucking sirens that render us empty potato chip-eating husks. Though I'm finding it hard to come back to reality, I felt that my 50+ hours of gaming gave me tons of inspiration. I just need to reorganize my brain to use this inspiration appropriately. Though I primarily played because I enjoy the gameplay (and I have a MASSIVE crush on one of the characters) I also thoroughly enjoyed the story and the characters.

There are very few games out there where I won't skip over vast amounts of dialogue and plotlines, but with Mass Effect I relentlessly talked to every character I could, asking them everything I could about anything I could. So, how did Mass Effect help me examine some of the elements of my story?

1.) Every choice has a consequence.
In Mass Effect every choice you made either effected the overall story, a relationship with another character, or sometimes both. This is an element that I feel should be utilized in writing as well. In life we have to make choices between variables we might want equally, but something must always be sacrificed. Sometimes these choices aren't life-altering, but all the same we can't always have everything we want. Or even better, sometimes we can't have what we want at all if we want to do something that is correct. The choices our characters make should be no different. In order to do what is right, or what a character feels is right, they might be alienating someone they love, or leaving a place they never wanted to leave- but it is what must be done in order to fulfill character needs, create sympathy for the character, and keep the story moving.

2.) Supporting characters need to have their own motivations.
Nothing is more obnoxious than a tag-a-long or a yes-man. Even though supporting characters are there to  'support', they need to have their own reasons for doing so. The supporting characters in Mass Effect come into play for various number of reasons, but stay because they have some sort of personal attachment to the overall goal of the story. Supporting players in our books should act in a similar fashion. If they don't have a reason to jump on board, and in most cases, be thrown into unspeakable peril with our protagonists, than they shouldn't be there. Wait, actually, they WOULDN'T be there. No way would our supporting characters walk into hell with our protagonists unless they had their own reasons for doing so. Give your supporting players a reason to be around, if it's not readily apparent what they reason is, then they might not need to be there at all... This one is hard for me, because I recognize some of my supporting cast might get cut.

3.) Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Oh man, what creates better tension than not trusting the people you work with? You know something's not right, you can almost sense the dagger that's about to be planted in your back, but you just don't know whose going to do the honors. Everyone loves a good intrigue. It keeps characters and audiences alike on their toes, and in there are a couple characters in Mass Effect that give me the heebee-jeebees. I know they're no good, I just don't have any proof, so until I have a 100% reason to call them my enemy, I'm forced to call them my ally. I know I have a couple characters that straddle this line in my story, but I know I can make it so much better. I know I can heighten the tension so much more by bringing my antagonists so close to my protag she almost can't see anything else.


What are some unlikely places you've learned good story-telling techniques from?

 

Long Time. No Post. Time for a Gear Change

I've been away for a long time.

I wish I could say it was because I was feverishly working on my second draft of the Blood Wind Saga, but unfortunately that is not the case. Maybe I've needed a break, or maybe I just haven't been making writing that much of a priority. Probably both, really. Anyway, I'm back, but this time I'm coming at ya with another one of my loves.

Costumes.

I've said it before that I'm a bit of a costume nut, and about a week ago I came to the stark and harrowing realization that I haven't made a costume in nearly a year. What?! Gross I know. Considering in the past year I've spent most of my time writing, reading, being broke and (most recently) playing video games, that hasn't left a whole lot of time or funds for costuming. But I need to get back into it.

Though I should be thoroughly considering which Marvel character I'm going to be for Halloween (Either Marrow or Domino) I cannot get my most recent obsession, Mass Effect, out of my brain. Both ME1 and ME2 are amazing games to play, but what I love most about it is the level of development that was put into the characters and the story. After all, I'm a story girl.

I hardly need anymore motivation to make a Mass Effect costume, I recently started my savings plan for Comic-Con 2012, and there's no way in hell I'm going without an awesome costume (or 3) to wear. Besides, Mass Effect 3 comes out in March, and with all this hoopla about a Mass Effect movie, I figure it'll still be a relevant enough costume this time next year.

So. Which character have I chosen?

Samara. My Suicide mission BFF, and In my opinion, the only Asari worth liking. Liara can get run over by the Mako. But I digress...
Here's a better glimpse at her, and her costume for folks that may not be familiar.

As you can see, I got my work cut out for me, but being the Capricorn that I am, I love a good challenge. Certain aspects, such as tentacle head, I'm not even going to consider at this point. I however am looking forward to creating the collar/shoulder piece, since it will be my first real go at armor crafting. I've already ordered my pattern, which will need to undergo some heavy modifications, but I love that stuff so I'm not worried.

And I've already ordered some of my fabric too. I found perfect pleather, in the perfect color, for an awesome price. So, I had to jump.

This is only just the beginning of what I expect to be a very trying, yet fun, process. For having not sewn in over a year, this is definitely a very ambitious project for me. But I'm excited nonetheless.

.....

I got my pattern in the mail the other day, and have started into the brain-busting modification process. I knew going in that I wanted to get the costume as close to accurate as possible. This meaning, I wanted to put seams where there appeared to be seams, and achieve the proper *cough* support *cough* where it is needed. Granted, this costume is based off of a video game where (in relation to female characters) gravity doesn't apply. So, in short, I need to put some kind of support in the pectoral region of the costume. Which, opened up a gooey, gnarly can of worms!

At this point I'm strictly focused on the torso. I started by tracing the base shape of my leotard pattern, over which I started to sketch out where I wanted to place seams. From there I realized that, if I wanted to achieve the proper fit I needed to have a visual and tangible way to assure the pieces were going to behave accordingly. So, I needed a double.

I've needed a dress form for a while, and though I've made do this long without one, I decided I didn't want to proceed with Samara until I had one. Dress forms are pricey, but ages ago I found a tutorial on how to make one out of duct-tape. Time for a mini project! So, armed with a mondo roll of duct-tape, three bags of polyfil, and a t-shirt I didn't mind sacrificing, I let Alexis wrap me in duct-tape

It took about 40 minutes to fully encase me in duct-tape. It was fun, although restrictive. My knees started to fall asleep towards the end. Afterward, it got cut off, and filled full of the polyfil. Here's the final product.


Having this guy will also help with the armor process, once I get there.
Oh, and in related news: I found a comic/tutorial detailing the process of making an Asari headpiece. Score!
http://www.tatterhood.com/comics
But, that's all for now.