Developing Plot & Your First Narrative

If you want your story to sell, it's gotta have equal parts of genius, uniqueness, and well developed story elements.  If you have the beastly ability to shape superb dialogue, but lack scene creation, your narrative will ... suck.  If you have amazing world building skills, but fail to deliver meaningful
dialogue, you might as well put your head on the chopping block.  Every element of fashioning a story must be just as strong as it's counterpart (links in a chain, braids of a rope etc ... hear Mr. Miyagi, young grass hopper!).

So let's take a look at one of the elements you might be struggling with, and don't even know it yet.  I'm talking about your plot, my friends.  You see, at first you have this bright beacon shinning inside your head with clear vision on where the story should go.  You've got the big picture all laid out, and writing it out should be simple.

And then you start ... and stop.  Holy plot holes, Batman!  What happened?  You got a few chapters in, set some things up, and now you've got no clue how to drive the story forward.  Welcome, new writer.  Grab a coffee and enjoy a muffin.  You'll be here for a moment or two.

Think about structure.  It's going to help you dramatically (pun intended) with your plot development.  Some writers are able to fly by the seat of their pants, pumping out story after well crafted story.  Usually that's because they've taken the time to master the rudimentary elements necessary to create beautiful literary works.  There are a few different ways to structure your story, and some of it may be dependent on what kind of story you're wanting to write.  Ultimately, using some of these techniques will help you learn how to develop your plot, and perhaps avoid big rewrites, inconsistencies, and plot holes.

The Basics

So what is drama and why does your story need it?  Drama in a story is that factor that makes the reader want to turn the page. There is conflict, unknown outcomes, second guessing as to where the story is gonna go.  All of it is summed up as drama.  Drama can be formed by understanding and using the following elements in your story.  I'll not explain these elements, but you should really go here and read up on them.  They are key to developing a solid plot that people want to turn the page to discover.

1.  Story Goal
2.  Consequences 
3.  Requirements
4.  Forewarnings 
5.  Costs 
6.  Dividends
7.  Prerequisites 
8.  Preconditions

Again, if these terms are completely foreign to you, go here to learn more about them (I've mentioned the same link twice, so you know it's important).  No matter what story you have, creating tension (drama) will make the story fill important.  I discovered a very simple way to do this.

Have two narratives instead of one.  One narrative if for your hero, driving them to achieve the story goal.  The other narrative is for the villains, where they have their own story goal they are trying to achieve. The villain and their plot opposes the hero in every way.  These are the forewarnings in your ultimate plot. When you work at it from these two perspectives, it is like a whirlpool of story, with tension building with setbacks (to either side) until the two forces meet and resolution must be achieved.

If you plan it out well enough, your story will be compelling.  As a beginning author, destined for greatness, take the time to learn how to formulate a plot.  This simple technique will transform you from being scatter-brained, to being a juggernaut of a story teller.

How about you?  Have you discovered a plot development technique that really helped your writing achieve a new, professional level?  Tell us about it in the comments below.  Please check me out on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr!  Share the crap out of this if you found it useful.

Writers Fatigue & The Cure

Writer's Fatigue

It is the demonic shadow of the dreaded phenomena that plagues all of us word-smitten creative types.  I'm talking about writer's block and it's nagging companion, fatigue.  Fatigue is a lot like writer's block, and if it's left unmanaged may create the perfect door for writer's block to step right through.  Just like a holy man preparing himself for epic combat with malevolent spirits, we as courageous writers must take precautions to keep the demon at bay.  By the way, I'm totally thinking of John Constantine while I write this.  Gimme some Enochian symbols and I'll brand them (not really) on my forearms (back satan!).
So, what is writer's fatigue?  Basically, it's the same thing as burnout.  You've invested so much time and energy in writing this project.  Your heart and soul have been ground up and mashed into the essence of every laboriously chosen word.  But you've given too much too quick.  Next thing you know, you're not so excited about getting up early in the morning and sitting at that desk.  You try because hey, you know it's not going to be fun all the time.  You've even read elsewhere that it's going to fill a lot like work.  But beware!  Sometimes the right thing might be to brutally master your mind and body, push right through and get that word count in.  And maybe not.

"Why maybe not?" you ask.  Another great question.  Jeez, you guys are really on point.  Maybe, just maybe you'll start to produce less than that high quality work that you know you're capable of.  Perhaps you inner eye begins to haze, and suddenly the clarity of direction is muddied by the work of it all.  Does that sound about right?  If so, you're in the choppy waters of writer's fatigue.  Beware!  There, just beyond the dark clouds is a place of emptiness (the "nothing" from The Never Ending Story has been there), lukewarm waters and (whispered in echoes) writer's block.  God forbid you get to that place.  You've gotta go through hell to get back where you want to be.  And you want those words to flow like milk and honey.

The Cure

Ah, but in my vast amounts of timeless wisdom, gathered and harnessed by the incredible rabbi called "experience", I have learned of a remedy.  Not like the pricey snake oil stuff that Crazy Eddie sales with ol' One Eye's moonshine (what a name for a moonshiner, right?), but the real deal.  So here we go.  I think this next bit of wisdom is so epic it deserves it's own line.

The cure to writer's fatigue is to write more stuff ... just different ... stuff.

Yup, that's it.  The trick is to write something other than the large project you're working on.  Take a break from that novel, but not too long.  You still want to make progress on that thing, so I wouldn't suggest abandoning it for more than a day (if that).  I chose to do a blog which was similarly related to my novel (subterfuge!), and to help edit fellow writers and their monstrous projects.

 I had a professor in college that gave me a bit of advice when it came to studying and writing theological papers.  He told me that your brain needs a break from doing the same thing over and over again, and it helps for the old noggin to reboot if it's located in a different space.

This means that it is good for you head to change gears for a while, and sometimes you need to get up and get out of your local writing haunt to help it out.  Let me simplify:

Change your mental location, and you physical location.

Keep writing everyday.  Write something, they say (I don't know who they are, but they say a lot of things).  Keep your craft like you would keep a hunting knife; sharp and prepared for the work at hand.  Once you've done a little work on another project, perhaps one less meaningful, you need to refocus on your first love.  You'll be surprised at how rejuvenated you feel.  It's like getting a breath of fresh air after being stuck inside a smouldering, ventless attic for hours.  Try it out the next time you feel a little less enthusiastic about your novel (don't go to a stuffy attic, though.  You could die.  I don't want this blog to be the reason for death).

How about you?  Have you had a time when you feel like you're just too burnt out to write anything good?  How did you fix it (did you fix it)?  Do you have any secret chunks of wisdom for us to learn from?  Let us know in the comments below.

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Dialogue Tags and Your First Novel

When you first started to write your book (look at you, on the ball!) you found the word "said" to be incredibly boring.  In a decent chain of dialogue, that word can get repeated a million times.  As you wrote your story, I'm sure you ended up going back over the parts you just read, and when you do, you see; no, you feel how repetitive "said" is.  It begins to really dig at you, and so you start to come up with some more exciting modifiers to use instead of the mayonnaise-like "said".  

Let's clarify what a dialogue tag is:

"Hello," Joe said
"What's it to ya?" muttered Henry.

There are two camps on the subject of dialogue tags.  One group of writers will say that dialogue tags should stay simple like "said" or the occasional "asked".  In their opinions (and this is mostly true) the word "said" ends up getting shoved to the back of our reading experience and almost disappears altogether.  Subconsciously it keeps the reader aware of who is speaking, but for the most part they skip right over it.  Think back to the last book you read (assuming it had dialogue); do you remember really reading all of the name tags the writer put in there?  Probably not, and that's why you should keep it simple.  Dialogue tags other than the basics will draw attention to themselves, slowing down the pace (which could kill your story), and may cause the reader to stumble over them.  Remember, you don't even need dialogue tags but every so often.  Look at it like this:

"Okay Joe," mumbled Larry, "it's time to get going."

"But why?" cried Joe.

"Because," grumbled Larry, "work is work and it's time you get to it!"

"Oh man.  Can't I just sleep in for once?" said Joe.

"Dad's gonna kill you if you do it again.  Let's go!" spat Larry.


See how I used "mumbled", "cried", and "grumbled" instead of "said"?  If you want fast dialogue, avoid the use of such tags.  Take a look at this example, this time with the tags cleaned up:


"Okay Joe," said Larry, "it's time to get going."

"But why?" asked Joe.

"Because work is work and it's time you get to it!"

"Oh man.  Can't I just sleep in for once?"

"Dad's gonna kill you if you do it again.  Let's go!"


This second time I only used enough dialogue tags so the reader can identify who is speaking.  Then I remove them altogether so that the conversation can happen quickly.  Notice how much quicker the conversation can occur when you keep it simple and use them sparingly? In an urgent scene, it will help the reader feel a sense of urgency.

The other camp will use the heck out of them when they need to.  If you open a book by Patrick Rothfuss or Joe Abercrombie, you'll see pretty quick they don't belong to any camp exclusively.  In one chapter, you may encounter a slew of intricate dialogue tags/modifiers, and the next it may be quick paced, action-talk.   That's because the use of dialogue tags and modifiers can be genre specific.  Do you know what that means?  Well, my dear friend, it means that fantasy novels and modern day thrillers are written differently.  They adhere to different rules, and don't always have to play the "quick and hard" game for the reader.  Fantasy novels are just as much about the minute details as is they are about the progression of the story via dialogue.  This is not so of modern day thrillers.

Think about your novel.  Think about what genre you are writing.  What specifics do you notice one author using that seems to contradict another?  Trust me, you'll find out a lot about stinkin' "rules" and who gets published (and subsequently who doesn't).

Don't overuse, don't under-use, and let your story dictate what it needs for it to be told.

Be weary of people that say you must stick with camp number 1.  That is poor advice, and will get it written in a corner you won't know how to get out of.  Pay attention to the authors that you enjoy, and why you enjoy them.  And for God's sake, look at how they use dialogue tags!

So how about you?  What's your novel about?  Are you locked into a genre, and if so, do you have a specific camp you feel you have to adhere to?  Let us know about it in the comments below.  As always, like it, love it, share it, follow it.

Writing the Perfect Scene: Show Don't Tell

In my last post I spoke about my first grimy introduction to literary criticism from other writers.  If you didn't read it (shame, shame) then you should probably go back and do that now.  Look, I'll even include a link to it (see how well I treat you?).  In short, criticism sucks, but it will make your writing better.  But that doesn't mean that everything another writer throws your way should be taken like the words of Jesus Himself (remember, there's a lot of unpublished writers who stick to the rules).

I wanted to discuss some of the rules that you're gonna hear in connection to your narrative.  Some of them may be worth paying attention to, or at least keeping in the back of your mind while you are crafting away.  Others might be outright dumb, genre specific, creative writing course style bull crap.  Okay, you're right; I shouldn't call it bull crap ... I insult the feces of the bovine brethren too much. Let's  take a look at one of the "rules" I found most helpful.

Show The Reader, Don't Tell 

This one seems pretty straight forward, right?  I mean, you are writing a novel after all, and the point is for your readers is to see what's inside your head ... right?  This "rule" is somewhat deceitful in it's simplicity, because it is complex to adhere to.  The heart and soul of this rule is to have the dialogue (character interactions) drive the story forward while you show the reader what's going on.  Showing people something is one of the first skills we learn as mortal creatures (like the baby on the right), but it seems to be something we lose the older we get.  Look at this example:

Telling

 John was angry because his wife was leaving him.

Showing

John slammed his fist down on the bare kitchen table.  "Why can't we fix this, Helen?" he said.  "Why won't you just try!"

"Because," Helen said with her back towards him, "you'll never change."


See the difference in the (poor) example above?  Telling the reader simply states a fact.  It's boring, uninteresting, and leaves nothing for the reader to imagine.  Showing the reader changes everything.  You don't have to spell it out for the reader; they are clever creatures, and can get that John is angry with his wife ... if you write it well enough.

 "What about back story?" you may ask.  "How will the reader know what's going on unless I give them three pages of backstory before the opening scene?"

Good question, my dear Watson!  Very astute observation, my friend (I thought about saying "boy" here, and then "girl" ... my androgynous desires won out with "friend").  This is where you will hear the phrase drip feed.  Think of it just as it sounds.  You don't want to dump a butt load of information on the reader all at once like a dense chunk of Leftover casserole (now that's not casserole that was left over from dinner last night.  I mean Leftover Casserole, as in that dish that Mom makes every Friday that includes all the leftovers from the week before).  Rather, give the reader (through context and well planned dialogue) small, delicious, nutrient-packed crumbs as you go along.  This will help add drama to your narratives, and create the page-turning desire you want your reader to have with your work.

Take a look at the example of John and his wife.  I could have said, "John's wife was leaving him because John was stubborn and violent.  After several beatings she was sick of the abuse."  Even though it's one line, there's a lot of information that can be shown to the reader rather than explained, especially if the story's focal point is why she left her husband. In the showing example, information is slowly given to the reader through context and dialogue.  The reader can get that Helen is leaving John, that John is angry about it, and that John is (in Helen's opinion) stubborn.  A clever reader (and they always are) will get that John is violent (i.e. banging the table).  Nothing should be said in your story that isn't important (is this a rule?), and if it's worth mentioning, then it's worth showing (holy Moses!  More rules!  What have I become?!)

Finally, telling your reader what's happening, or has happened in the story, is basically calling them dumb.  You unknowingly believe that the reader will not be able to draw the connections together on their own, and so you must tell them up front.  This is a lie of the adversary, the devil, to get you to write crappy stories!  Alright, the devil might not be responsible for your misstep here, but then again ... maybe (shifty eyes).

This "rule" happens to be one that I think will really elevate your work.  Maybe you're not like me, and you figured this one out pretty early.  If so, then good for you.  We're proud of you!  But for the rest of us, this is going to be something we'll have to really work hard to remember.  And you probably won't catch it the first time through.  This is one of those things you'll catch in the dreaded editing stage of your novel (good luck with that).

So what do you think?  Is this a "rule" of writing good narrative, or are there instances where spoon feeding your reader is exactly what you need to do?  Let us know in the comments below.  If you've found this information useful, like it, love it, share it, and share some more!  Don't forget to follow and subscribe!

20 Things Involved in the Writing Process

This is a very serious, very important list of things that will help you and your writing process, because we all know that if you want to really make a buck from your writing, you've gotta treat it like a 9-5.    Please, take this very seriously.  It is serious.  Grave, even.  Writing is serious….seriously (tongue-in-cheek).

1.    Make a list

2.    Make sure things are in order of importance

3.    Watch Dora the Explorer,  because that’s what the kids are watching

4.    Get some paper, and a pencil

5.    Decide paper and a pencil are too antiquated

6.    Get out your laptop

7.    Install updates

8.    Look through Flipboard on your phone while you wait

9.    Play Shadow of Mordor because you forgot what you’re doing

10.  Install PSN updates

11.  Look through Flipboard again, only this time get inspired by an article you read

12.  Open Focus Writer

13.  Stare at a blank screen

14.  Become overwhelmed by “the process”

15.  Decide that today should be a “research” day

16.  Surf Facebook

17.  LOL at cat videos

18.  Do fifteen minutes of actual research

19.  Feel proud of yourself for accomplishing so much

20.  Reward yourself with ice cream, a movie, and a night of video-gameage!  

Some days you’re not going to get anything done.  Don’t beat yourself up over it!  It’s okay, because writing is a process.  Sometimes things will be easy, and sometimes things will be hard.  Some days it will be like nothing you ever seen before, or will again!  (Meatloaf song, anyone?).  So take it easy, relax, and take the small victories.  Your tortured genius will flow eventually.

So how about you?  What does a typical day of procrastination, small rewards, and victory dances look like for you?  Remember to like and share, blah-blah-blah.