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Summer workshop focuses on different aspects of writing fiction. New reading Wednesdays. |
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Each Wednesday I'll have a new article on some aspect of fiction writing. All levels of writing skill are welcome. Latecomers welcome too. As a matter of fact, this workshop stretch has ended, You can follow the weekly articles in my folder, or by search, and read the entire workshop, Drop me a note if this series is helpful. The first week's "Chapter Reading" consists of about 2,500 words, about nine typewritten pages. I started with some things I know from reading about writing fiction, and other things I know because they have become part of my writing ritual. You needn't read the entire article all at once. The info is divided into three sections, with exercises that follow each. Tackle the exercises when you are motivated, and write on them as long as the spirit moves you. If you are less moved, set your kitchen timer for 10 minutes and write at least till the timer goes off. More motivated writers may need to set a timer for the next matter of business on your personal daily agenda. A writer could spend a lot of time of these exercises. Spend the amount of time that is comfortable for you! This first week, I'd like to ask that you send me an e-mail at patrice@writing.com and include a "bitem link" with the new static items you have created for the three exercises. I'll read through your work and add some pop-up comments (I still need to learn that skill--so give me till Sunday, okay?) After the first week I plan to have a forum set up where everyone can leave their "bitems", and we can read each others' work. If this "bitem business" doesn't make sense, don't panic. We have several workshop participants who are new to Writing.com. If you need to know ANYTHING, ask me. If I don't know, I'll find out. This is a list of our participants as of week one. Perhaps we could surf through each others' portfolios, and get to know each other a bit. If you review each others works, please be sure to include one positive point for every suggestion. You're treading on each others' children, so tread kindly, okay? Happy writing  ............................................................................................................................................................ Focus on Fiction WDC: the Ultimate Writing Workshop Series Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011 Where does a writer start when he wants to write a book? The idea may be unexplainable by the author in the early phases. Concepts may form without words. Sometimes, plots come secondarily. Perhaps the idea of a character sparks your interest in writing. Even in the earliest stages, the author has questions to ponder and decisions to make before the writing begins. Or, you can just start and then consider these thoughts at your first re-read/edit. Characters in your story have emotional lives, unique life experiences, certain chiseled-in-stone personalities, and detail-able idiosyncrasies beyond your present knowledge of them. Productive writing time, not associated with plot development, can be self-directed as you invent backgrounds for your major and minor characters. Ask your “author-self” questions about your character that no one would know the answer to but you. Did your evil character experience trauma as a child? Does your good character sometimes shoplift? Making your character full of life, with a history of events, gives more credence to making your characters seem like actual people. If you’re stuck in your plot, this is an excellent way to advance your writing with productive inquiry, while you give your plot time to simmer. A draft always reads differently when you let it set a day or two. Keep a list in a folder in your portfolio dedicated to your character. That way you can add bits to your “thinking about section” as they come to you, and then pull the information into your plot at the most fortuitous point. You have lot of characterization to lay out though a novel length piece of writing. Setting the environment of your story with specific details gives the reader large chunks of information about your character and his environment with fewer words. You don’t need 1,000 words to paint a picture of your story. By 1,000 words, your story should be well into its beginning. Aim to write a story overflowing with details, and use all the senses in your writing: smell, taste, sight, hearing, and touch. Challenge yourself to describe textures of places, or characters. Feel free to describe specific items or personal habits that give hints to the character’s personality, or plant some premonitions of future problems the character will experience, or specifics that will matter later on in the plot. If you have an idea, go ahead and plant it here. Don’t censure yourself when you’re on a writing roll. As a matter of fact, my pen and paper drafts are often full of blank lines. When I know there’s a perfect word I want to use at that point, but I can’t think of it, I just insert a long blank line to fill in later. Rather than holding up a story progression over getting one word right, which could be important, I insert a blank line and get on with my plot. By the second or third time I’ve reread my draft, I’ve got a better idea about which word that conveys the meaning I wanted. Imagine the difference in characters you can create in describing a man in a sports coat. One man wears and old moth-eaten wool tweed coat, while the other glows with over-personality in a bright plaid polyester coat with iridescent white loafers. Either way, the author has given the reader an indication of the economic, social background, and/ or personal preferences of the character. To me, the tweed coat character brings to mind just about any role that Michael Caine has played of late. The other description brings to mind the character Herb Tarlick, salesman for WKRP radio. Were you visions similar? Little details, well placed, add reader stability to your story. Readers get to know your character as a person, how they look, how they act, and how other react to them. The reader remembers facts about your character, and he wants to know more. Your character is becoming the readers’ character, and they will have questions that your writing should fill in. Anticipate your story from the readers’ perspective. You can anticipate what your reader wants to know, as well as what your reader needs to know. Include information that advances your plot and adds unique features and complexities to your characters. Try to avoid going off on tangents--through a tangent may lead you to your next step along your plot. Disregard what I just said! Tangents are okay, and maybe necessary at some points along your plot. Sometimes I need to just put pen to paper, not necessarily knowing where or what I’m planning to write. Sometimes the plot just comes, and this is heaven for a fiction writer. I allow myself lots of tangents. If your tangent seems like the next logical place for your plot to go—go with it. You can always go back and edit something out. I find that easier than later trying to edit something in that doesn’t fit with the original flow, or pace of the story. Don’t let little diversionary thoughts kill off your forward inspiration. Go with the flow until it runs out, or you run out. A writer is not compelled to write in chapters. A productive writer can advance his story in lots of little bits of sections, or even by leaving “notes to self” along the way. In the actual writing of your story, try to halfway divide the amount of time you spend telling and the amount of time you spend showing. Straightforward telling will wear on your readers’ patience. Dialogue is a great place, and way, to disclose information about plot, character, and even scenery. These are my thoughts on fiction for week one. What follows is taken from James Scott Bell’s book, Chapters 1 and 3, which I would review as a number one book for writer’s to have handy for reference. It’s available at www.Amazon.com if you’d like to purchase your own copy. Back to the Problem at Hand—Getting Started James Scott Bell’s What’s a Plot Anyway? Plot & Structure, F + W Publications, Inc., 2004. Note from your workshop leader: I believe that the copyright on this book allows sections to be quoted in a review of this book. Therefore, I mention again that the sections I’m quoting are just part of a fantastic writer’s book worth owning. Plot happens. You preplan, plan, and revise the plan before writing. Maybe you have index cards all over your wall, or perhaps you store scenes in a file in your computer. Or you might be one of those seat-of-the-pants writers who loves to sit down in front of the computer, or with pen and pad in hand, just write, letting the story flow, to discover what your wild imagination creates, without planning, letting the story follow its own path. You could also be one whose writing style is somewhere between these two ways, with a bit of planning, but still seeking some surprise and spontaneity in your daily output of words. No matter what kind of novelist you are, there is one thing you will have when you’re completed—a plot. And before you start, know that you need for you plot to connect with readers. The function of you plot is to move your story along, and connect with the reader. The reading experience is supposed to transport people, move them through the power of your story. The plot is the power grid that makes it happen. These are questions that publishers, agents, and potential book readers ask when they are considering reading a book, giving it the initial flip through: What is this story about? Is anything happening? Why should I keep reading? Why should I care? These are all plot questions. These are concepts to wrestle with. But wrestling with different aspects of plot will make your writing stronger. If a reader picks up a book and remains in his own world, there was no point in picking up the book in the first place. What the reader seeks is an experience that is other. Other than what he normally sees each day. Story is how he gets there. A good story transports the reader to a new place via experience. Not through arguments or facts, but through the illusion that life is taking place on the page. Not his life. Someone else’s. Your characters’ lives. Author James N. Frey calls this the fictive dream, and that’s accurate. When we dream, we experience that as reality. I still get those late-for-an-important event dreams. When I was in school, it was usually a test. Lately, it’s been a meeting with someone important to publishing. I’m late, and I realize it with about two minutes left, though I’m miles away and can only move in slow motion. And everything I do seems to create a further obstacle. I feel my heart beating in my chest…. And . . . you see what’s happening? Conflict. Story. Experience. Plot and structure help them get into the dream and keep them there. Great storytelling gets readers excited about reading. Exercise 1 can be completed now By following this link:
Or you can do this exercise At the end of this reading. James Scott Bell’s How to Explode with Plot Ideas Plot & Structure, F + W Publications, Inc., 2004. Before we jump into generating plot ideas, you need to spend some time on the person who will turn them into fiction gold—you! Before your plot is a notion you have. It’s a spark that at some point ignites. But it is here that some plots are doomed from the start. Not every idea is of equal value. To find the best plots, you need to come up with hundreds of ideas, then pick the very best to develop. That’s where the very best plots come from—you! William Saroyan, whose novels have more passion than most, was once asked the name of his next book. “I don’t have a name and I don’t have a plot,” he replied. “I have a typewriter and I have white paper and I have me and that should add up to a novel.” That’s why Saroyan’s work seems so fresh. He was not content with the old advice to write what you know. He figured out that the key to originality is to write who you are. By going deep into your own heart and soul, you will find a wellspring to write about. Moreover, your writing will come alive, and your stories will have the chance to truly move your readers. Exercise 2 can be completed now By following this link:
Or you can complete the reading And return to the exercise Later. Ways to Get Plot Ideas ISSUES What issues push your buttons? Robert Ludlum once said, “I think arresting fiction is written from a sense of outrage.” Outrage is a great emotion for a writer. Start an issues list (You might include abortion, the environment, presidential politics, health care, people on cell phones, “low bagging boy pants”, etc.) and keep it handy in a file in your portfolio. Add to it when the spirit moves you. WRITE A PROLOGUE Page-turning fiction often begins with an action prologue. It doesn’t have to involve the main character either. But something exciting, mysterious, suspenseful, or shocking happens that makes the reader say, “Hey, I better read the rest of this book to find out why this happened.” SOCKO ENDING Since endings are so crucial, why not come up with a socko ending first. Try this: 1. Visualize a climactic scene in the theater of your mind. 2. Hear music to go with it. 3. Let a full range of emotions burst forth. 4. Add characters ass you will to heighten conflict. 5. Play around with variations on this theme until something unforgettable happens. Then ask: 1. Who are the characters? 2. What circumstances brought them here? 3. How can I trace back the story to its logical starting point? Many writers believe that having a possible ending in mind is the best possible compass. At the very least, this socko ending exercise will give you some strong characters. OCCUPATIONS Much of our self-image is tied up with out work—what we do and how well w do it. There is also a culture associated with individual occupations. So there is plenty of material inherent in the kind of work people do. Try coming up with story ideas based on intriguing work. It will serve you well to keep another list in your portfolio: interesting occupations you come across when reading books, magazines, and newspapers. You can also search for lists of occupations online. Check any of the major job hunting sites for a list of positions available, and find out more about several tht interest you or appeal to your writing sense. One fantastic book reference is the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, which you should be able to find at your local library in the reference section. A librarian can help you find other resources, and they are most often thrilled to help a writer seeking information. OBSESSION By its nature, an obsession controls the deepest emotions of a character. It pushes the character and prompts her to action. As such, it’s a great springboard for ideas. What sorts of things obsess people? Ego? Looks? Lust? Careers? Enemies? Success? Dorian Gray is obsessed with youth. Captain Ahab is obsessed with killing Moby Dick. In Gone with the Wind, Rhett is obsessed with Scarlett, but Scarlett is obsessed with Ashley. Herein lies conflict—the stuff great novels are made of. NEWSPAPER Read newspapers, or at least scan all the sections. Use a Sunday travel article to set a scene. Have your homing device set for articles that spark your mind, and get your brain zooming in an original direction Read USA TODAY. Newspapers are written in “arrested attention span” style—lots of little snippets you can scan quickly. One edition should yield you a dozen ideas. Take an item and ask yourself a series of “what if” questions to expand on what you find. Keep your reference articles in a list, or better yet, clip ‘em. A box of ideas from newspaper and magazine articles can be a valuable personal resource should your writing well run dry. We all experience writer's block at some point. Plot and Structure lists twenty ideas for coming up with plot ideas. Please refer to the actual book for the full list. Exercise 3 can be completed now By following this link:
Congratulations! You have just completed reading a roughly 2,500 word article that serves as the first “Chapter Reading” for our Focus on Fiction Workshop. Work on the exercises as you become inspired during the week. I suggest you answer each exercise by creating a new static item in your portfolio. You probably want to create a folder to keep your exercises together as they accumulate. Most exercises can be finished in less then 10 minutes, unless you are actually inspired. If inspired, write until you give out. In order for us to share, I’d like you to post your item in “bitem form” on our community page (when I get it set up). This first week, just send me an e-mail, and we’ll call it a start. I hope you find this information useful. Everything written can be edited to be better. Better, is what we’re aiming for with this set of workshop articles. Thanks, Patrice {suser:Patrice@Writing.com}} Here are links to the three exercises:
If you have any questions or problems, please do drop an e-mail to Patrice@Writing.com And a big thanks for your participation. Don’t feel compelled to complete every single exercise. Do the ones that mean something to you and YOUR writing. And have a productive week of fiction fun |
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