IWSG post--techno problems, PANTSER or PLOTTER---which are you?

Happy February!

I missed January's IWSG, caught up as I was in a technical problem concerning feedburner not updating my posts. In case you ever come across this glitch, my final solution was to 'ping' feedburner. Magic! My updates began instantly!

Thanks as always to Alex J Cavanaugh and his worthy team who have made the IWSG such a runaway success! (Click on the link to access more posts or to sign up.)

As some of my long-term blogger friends know, I have various novels in various stages of dress/undress. The reason for this is that I'm a PANTSER, which is an exciting way to write, but it does lead to hitting brick walls at 100 kilometres per hour, and kaboom, CRASH!! Pick myself up, rev up the motorbike and try to find another direction...over and over...The bruises and broken limbs stack up, until finally that manuscript needs serious hospital treatment. While that story is taking up a hospital bed in an author-induced coma, it seems like a good idea to begin another novel...(I wrote about the PANTSER/VS PLOTTER here in another IWSG post if you want some more info on this phenomenon).

Well, I don't regret ANYTHING from my PANTSER days. I think the best way to learn to write a novel is to write a novel. I've read plenty of best-selling authors who say they have drawers full of first, second and third novels which until they are famous, no publisher wants to look at, and even then they may never see the light of day. That was probably while they were trying to work out what sort of a writer they were.

Random: Saw this sign at the Library Cafe this morning:

Writ-er

(noun)

1. A peculiar organism who is capable of turning caffeine into books.

So.., as those who picked up my 'how excited am I?' post about finally embarking on writing what I want to write...chic lit (not a typo) set in Paris...I can report that I am in the process of turning caffeine into a book. First, OUTLINING! D'oh, you say. Well, yes, d'oh, I am busily compiling a hand-written, sectioned book of notes on the main plot/sub plots/characters/settings blah blah...just like all of you clever authors who've been busily publishing books while I've been busily hitting brick walls.

An illustration by Kanako which suits my genre...perfectly

This month I'm very happy, not at all insecure...I know my subject matter and settings thoroughly thanks to several trips to Paris and greater France...now I just have to weave my winsome characters into the fantabulous City of Light...

And of course there are far too many books available on OUTLINING YOUR NOVEL. K.M.Weiland is one of the best for me. Currently I'm working on character arcs following the advice of Somerset Maugham who said:

"You can never know enough about your characters."

I'm back at work and have all the lovely students I can handle, working on literature like The Crucible and the usual dose of Shakespeare in the form of The Merchant of Venice, Othello...just for starters.

How about you this month? How is your writing going? And please share--how do you approach a new novel/short story? Do you know your characters in depth before you begin your story?

#Insecure Writers Support Group - 10 Quick Tips to get that book written.

First Wednesday of the month already! Time for the IWSG again! Thanks Alex J Cavanaugh for starting this group. 

Fellow emerging writers, here's some advice I picked up from Elizabeth Sims in the Writer's Digest recently. It encouraged me, so I will pass it on. Of course, I've put my own spin on it...

10 QUICK TIPS TO GET THAT BOOK WRITTEN:

1. PAINT A TWO-STROKE SCENE

- Make one stroke visual - SHOW something.

- Make the second stroke evoke one of the other four SENSES: a sound, smell, taste, feel...

You want examples?

The rooftop was studded with chimneys. A cold wind whipped in from the harbour.

She got pregnant that same muggy night. The cracked vinyl of the Buick's back seat left claw marks on her shoulders, and she remembered the dark smell of the plowed field next to the open road.

Your turn....

2. NAIL A CHARACTER IN TWO MOVES

- Give each character a distinctive physical trait. Some memorable traits include:

* Huge hands

* A graceful gait

* A painful stoop

* Fiery red hair

* Thick bi-focals

Your turn...have fun...

- Give each character a distinctive psychological trait.

* Extremely competitive

* Annoyingly calm in all situations

* Willing to be a martyr

* Insecure about not having a university degree

* Secretive about his/her wealth

Your turn...let your imagination run riot...

Alternate showing the two traits you choose the first few times we meet the characters. Doing so will create a mental anchor for your readers.

3. FICTIONALIZE A REAL PERSON BEYOND RECOGNITION IN TWO STEPS

I first heard this advice at a Writing Course. It makes characterisation easier and more real, I was told.

- Change the person's sex.

- Make the fictional character much more physically attractive than the real person is. Then let loose and make the character as despicable as you wish.

4. PLUG A PLOT GAP WITH ONE OR TWO TRICKS

- Ignore the gap completely and hope no one notices. Even successful authors do this all the time. In Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep, he admitted even he didn't know who killed the chauffeur. 

- Acknowledge the hole then instantly keep going. Successful fiction is studded with sentences like...

* I don't know why I'm telling you this, but...

* She didn't know how she did it, but she managed to scale that vertical steel wall and run to the car.

Have some fun with this. Will save you time and energy plugging up gaps...

5. SHIFT A MOOD WITH TWO QUICK STROKES

Mood is really about emotion, both in characters and readers. 

Check out Muriel Spark's sentence from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie:

The evening paper rattle-snaked its way through the letter box and there was suddenly a six-o'clock feeling in the house.

- So how do you shift the mood in two steps?

Using quick writing tips mean more time for this...
Photo taken using Instagram

* First, present ONE detail. Spark used the evening paper coming in. You could use a little event like that, too, or you could use something that is physically felt by a character.

* Then, simply announce the mood change, as Spark did. The word suddenly is your friend here. 

More examples...

^ I heard the first bird sing from the morning darkness, and suddenly I felt that everything would be all right.

^ As soon as he reached the embankment, the hairs on his arms stood up. Even before looking down, he realized, Yes, death is here.

To be continued...

And I must share that today is the first day of the Brisbane Writer's Festival. Always good to celebrate books, authors and readers. The school groups were out in force...

• We like our posts relatively short for IWSG, so I will continue the final 5 tips next IWSG post. Have creative fun with these tips. I hope they help you in your WIP.

Go here to read more IWSG entries...

Insecure Writers Support Group. Continuing my previous post on 'Be Your Own Structural Editor'.

Hello there!

Following last month's post, I promised to continue this topic. As many authors are publishing e-books, some good, some bad, some riddled with spelling, grammar and structural mistakes, I thought it was timely as self-pubbed authors don't have access to all the editorial help available to those who are lucky/unlucky (depending on your experience) enough to go the traditional route.

My first post talked about writing the first draft, putting it away for a week, month, whatever, then getting it out again and seeing what is to be done. According to the structural editor I conferred with recently at Queensland Writers Centre, the first stage of the editing process is structural, i.e. seeing how the larger elements of your work fit together.

A good idea is to start with a chapter breakdown (you may have done one in the planning stage, but quite likely it has changed during the first draft) before you begin your structural analysis. This provides a skeleton structure of your ms and is useful for analysing plot lines and characters' story arcs. Maybe you'll find a key plotline fades out before it should, or a character you meant to be key throughout the novel vanishes altogether in an early chapter.

Structural analysis is hard work. It's best to break it down through a series of questions for - CHARACTERISATION, NARRATIVE VOICE/POV, PLOT, STRUCTURE.

This post will look at CHARACTERISATION. I'll look at the others in future posts if this post appears helpful.

CHARACTERISATION - questions to ask yourself:

• Does your story have a clear main character with a developed story arc?
• Do you know what the secondary characters are contributing to the story? What is their function?
• Do your characters DO things, or are they passive?
• Do you know why your significant characters act the way they do (their motivation)?
• Are there too many characters? Could you merge minor characters that fulfil the same function, or remove characters without a clear role?
• Is there a balance of narrative text and dialogue, i.e., are you letting your characters speak?

(These dot point courtesy of Nicola O'Shea, freelance editor for a wide range of Australian publishers/authors. Go to www.nicolaoshea.com for more...)

Further points:

At a recent Toolkit for Writers workshop it was stated that your antagonist wants to be the protagonist. Is your antagonist strong enough to have his/her desire met?

I read a related article at KM Weiland's Helping Writers Become Authors, where she states your mc needs not one, but at least two conflicts. Another thing to think about when you're being your own editor.

• I hope this was a helpful post for IWSG. The purpose of Alex J Cavanaugh's group is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Go here for more participants...

A word before I go. RomanticFridayWriters' next challenge is Being the Perfect Ex. 400 words of prose or poetry. Open to all writers. You can learn more here...