Hmm. Having read over some of my manuscript, I can see that there’s a lot to do. I have to keep reminding myself that I knew this would happen. My aim was to get the first draft out without worrying about craft. And some of it’s OK. Or will be, after I’ve worked it over.
2nd Draft, Here I Come!
I’ve had a lovely 3 weeks’ break from my manuscript, and I’m now ready to tackle the second draft. I’m a bit nervous, to be honest with you. I don’t want to read it and realise how bad it is! Worse – I don’t want to read it, realise how bad it is and NOT KNOW HOW TO FIX IT!
It’s all very nervewracking. Where does one start? I think I’ll start with mapping out the point of view for each chapter, so I can see where I need to add more of one viewpoint or cut back on another. Amazing how just developing that plan settles my tumtum!
J-A’s Writing Process – Step 3 – The Story Arc
This is where it will become obvious that I’m a planner (ie I plan before I start to write), not a freefaller (ie someone who just sits down and writes without any idea of where it’s going to go). However, this is something that I think would be helpful for freefallers as well, so give it a go.
After I’ve done my characters, I’ve usually got some thoughts about how the idea I’ve had is going to develop. At this stage, I’ll sit down and do some brainstorming about possible outcomes for the story. Nothing too detailed, just general thoughts. Who’s going to win? What growth is my main character going to go through? What’s going to propel them forward in search of whatever it is they’re looking for (and therefore, propel the book forward)? What will they have to overcome and why? I may not have a very specific idea of what will actually happen, but I’ll have a general feeling for what kind of resolution there’ll be.
You can see from the above that my stories are character driven, but the same works for plot driven books too. In fact, maybe you have an even clearer idea of where things are going to end and how.
Once I’ve got my end of the story, I then think about where my character is at the beginning of the story. Are they happy or are they restless? Why? What do they value in life? What have they got to lose? This gives me the two ends of the story.
The next question I think about is: how does my character get from the beginning to the end? My character details will help with this, because some of the key events will fall out of who they are. I tend to think of story developing in a ‘things get worse’ way, that the protagonist has to go through the ringer before coming out at the end. Each key event is followed by a lull before the next event to give everyone a rest, but each event is followed by another that makes things more difficult for the protagonist.
And that gives me the main plot events. These aren’t very detailed at this stage, just a sentence long. I like to keep them brief, because then I can maintain maximum flexibility for my writing. It also doesn’t mean that I’m locked into this structure. It just means that I don’t panic about drifting and not having a story. When I actually start writing, I tend to put this away and only look at it every now and then. Sometimes I find I’ve missed something important but I’ve discovered it just in time to redirect. Sometimes I decide whatever it is I’ve missed isn’t important or the story has led me to something better, and I may redo my story arc. I can have flexibility provided I don’t tie myself into my plan too much. I still get that edge from the unexpected and the unknown.
J-A’s Writing Process – Step 2 – Characters
OK. I’ve got an idea, so it’s time to go on to getting the characters. I tend to write stories that are character driven, so this step is important.
I need to understand my characters in order to write them, and I often find that in doing a character interview or profile, I end up with important plot points or events as well. There are no doubt lots of books out there that will help with character, but the one I found really useful was Write Away by Elizabeth George. She has a list of character aspects that she uses as a guide, and gives an example of how she uses it.
Anyhow, this step is an essential part of my writing process. Above all else, I need to know what the character wants in the book and who/what is working against them. I also need to know why they want it – what psychological factors are driving them. You can see how this leads to plot.
I am also interested in psychology, and read about it / watch documentaries about it often. Biographies are also helpful here, particularly if they have that psychological analysis slant. This is what allows my characters to ‘drive themselves’, so to speak. I’ll start writing thinking they’re going in one direction, but next thing you know, they take me in another. If you’ve done the work to understand them and keep that in mind when you’re writing them, it really can be that effortless. The story almost writes itself, at least for a few pages.
Explanation for J-A’s silence
Yes, I’ve been rather quiet, not having written a thing for the whole of September. The explanation is that I’m almost finished BattleFall! I’ve only got half a chapter left to go before I can take a break and then start the second draft. Not sure how many words it is, but it’s not 100k (no fantasy book worth its salt is under 100k). That’s not a bad thing, though, because I tend to underwrite. I get the bare bones down first and then work on it in redrafting.
I find the first draft is a bit of a drag, but I’m excited about the second draft! Anyhow, back to that half a chapter…
J-A’s Writing Process – Step 1 – The Idea
I have a confession to make – I’m not an ideas person. I’m not one of these super-creative people who have ‘light bulb moments’ when an innovative idea comes to mind out of the blue and fills me with inspiration and passion. That’s why I don’t writing science fiction – I don’t have any idea what the future will look like until someone tells me.
So when someone asked me ‘how do you get ideas’, I had to really think. The answer for me is that over time, I get a small collection of things I’m interested in, and then when I need an idea, I sit down and play around something off that list. This is why a notebook is important. Because it’s hard for me to come up with ideas, I need to note where I’ve had an interesting thought and then I can maybe use my knowledge of the writing craft to drag an idea out of it.
Examples of where I get these ‘pre-ideas’ from are:
- dreams
- a place I’ve been to
- emotional intrigues in something I’ve read in a newspaper or seen on the news
- interesting jobs or settings from history I’m reading about
Anyhow, you get the picture. Then I sit down and work out what characters in these scenarios might be like, what fantasy setting I can apply to it and what kind of conflict might happen in it.
Alas, no light bulb goes off and sometimes it can take ages to pull it all out. Perhaps that’s why I write fantasy, so I only have to go through this idea generation thing every 3 books (provided one sells!).
If anyone else has ideas of how to get ideas, would love to hear about them.
Upcoming New Fiction
I’m pleased to announce that a couple of talented writers I know have had success in getting their novels published!
Graham Storrs is an Australian science fiction writer who has just announced that his book Timesplash will shortly be available in e-book form from publisher Lyrical Press Inc. Click on Graham’s name for a look at his blog and more information.
Luke Keioskie is also an Australian speculative fiction author, and has just published his zombie book Dead America with publisher Severed Press. To get a taste, click here and see Luke’s website for the book, complete with sample chapters and info on how to get a copy.
Well done guys!
The trilogy and how it works in fantasy
J-A is a very happy author, having reached 61,597 words. Only a few more to go til finished (at 100,000 – I’m in denial, I suspect).
And that brings me to a point. When selecting the genre you’re writing, it’s important to get an idea of how many words you’ll need to write. If you’re thinking fantasy, you’re looking at a minimum of 100,000 words per book, and you have to write in trilogies. At least until you’re famous with a firm fan base, then you can maybe stretch the genre a little.
This sounds like a huge undertaking, and it is, but I find it helps to think about it in terms of ‘beginning (setting up and things start getting wobbly), middle (or transition) and end (protagonist triumphs, evil is overthrown and everything’s OK again)’.
In Book one, we meet the protagonist, find out who he or she is, what conflict they’re facing and how overpowering this conflict seems. The status quo ends for the protagonist, and they’re gradually faced with ever increasing problems. End of book one – the protagonist has just gotten themselves into deep trouble.
Book two is about the protagonist going through hell, so he or she has the wind knocked out of them, they’re wiped out and then build themselves back up again until they’re ready to come out fighting (end Book two).
Book three is about the protagonist (and chronies of course) saying ‘Bother it! I’m strong! I can do this’ and throwing themselves back into the fray with a new purpose and energy. They win, and everything is better than it was before.
Those are my thoughts anyway. It works for me. Still, no denying it, 100,000 is a lot of words … better get back to it.
Redirection Required
There’s a little bit of freefaller in all of us, even if you’re a planner.
I’ve been offline lately because I’ve been concentrating on getting my novel finished. I had a bit of a shock in the last few days. I finished a chapter and referred back to my ‘disaster plan’ to see if I was still on track, and found that one of my paths wasn’t going to end where I’d planned. Enter huge panic attack, frantic checking of whether this mattered or not, and vehement questioning of myself along the lines of if I didn’t go there, would my story be stuffed?
After a few days of panic, I’ve decided it’s OK, but I need to get back on track now or I’ll waste a lot of time drifting off target as far as what I need to say is concerned. What I learned, though, is that even though I plan, I must free fall as well, because how would I drift if I ran strictly to the plan? I like keeping things flexible, because I can respond to the unexpected that my characters often throw at me and it makes the writing more alive. However, I’m also glad I checked my progress, because now I’m more confident that my story is progressing OK.
It’s got me thinking about my writing process, though, and I thought I might write about that in my next post so I can reflect on it. Stay tuned.
Nothing Beats Achievement for Motivation, No Matter How Small
It’s funny what things motivate you. I’ve got a ‘word tally’ spreadsheet for my current project, which I use to keep track of how many words I’m writing. I have a column each for date, words written, accumulative total and total words to go until I hit my target of 100,000 words. I’ve worked out the sums so that all I have to do is enter the latest total, and the spreadsheet calculates the rest.
While the sight of the increasing number of words I’ve written is fantastic, it’s nothing compared to the thrill of seeing the number of words I’ve got to go decreasing. I’ve recently passed the halfway point, and I’ve never been more driven to get those words down. It doesn’t take much to get me to the desk now that the ‘words to go’ number is less than the words I’ve done!
So if you’re having trouble getting focused, start a word tally. Soon you’ll find you won’t be worrying whether the words are good or bad, just so long as they come off your target. A great way of getting that first draft done.
