My current WIP is being difficult. Again. I don't know what it is, but something about this story just feels off. It feels unnatural and I can't seem to escape it. I'm still writing it, I'm determined to finish this draft, but I just feel like it's crap.
I know that all first drafts suck. I get that. But maybe I don't. See, I have this problem, that maybe I shouldn't admit in a public forum like a blog. But here goes anyway: I've only ever completed a draft of one novel. Now that I think about it, I may have admitted that before, but here it is again. Seriously. One.I realized a while ago that, as a writer, this is a VERY BAD THING.
It's not that I don't have more ideas. I have LOTS of ideas. There are at least six more fantasy worlds that I have stories started in and at least two contemporary stories that I've started. But I've never finished any of those.
Now, with the realization a while ago that I was, in fact, a character-first writer, I might have struck upon why I've never finished another novel length project. I'm not so great in the plot department. I get these great characters and these great worlds, but they don't seem to have plots to match them. It's frustrating, but I'm hoping to fix that in the near future.
Anyway, back to my current problem-child. I really want to finish this story, but there's something about it that feels all disconnected, like the pieces of the world don't quite fit together. Like every time I get to thinking about the way the magic in the world works, or the ins and outs of why my antagonist did the things he did and how my characters figure it out, I get frustrated because the pieces just don't quite fit right. I feel like one of my other stories would work SO much easier. I blame the difficulties I'm having on this being one of my "newest" ideas, telling myself that I haven't spent enough time stewing over the world, but I'm not sure that's true.
Still, I'm writing it. Maybe I'll really love it when I'm done. I hope so. Cause the idea's pretty nifty. I just need the nitty gritty bits to work together.
Progress update: so far I've finished 27 of my 51ish scenes. So I'm over half-way finished with the scenes. Yea!
Monday, August 27, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
My Obsession with TV Shows
Here's a secret that you might not know about me: I love television. Love it.
Okay so I don't love it as much as I love reading, and I totally freak out more about not having a book to read more than I do about nothing good being on TV, but still, I love TV.
Let me clear though, I do not like what passes as reality TV. In fact I loathe reality TV. The times I've gotten sucked into a reality TV show have been very few and very far between (it's been two or three years since the last time I watched a full new season of a reality show) and i plan to keep it that way. They are just annoying to me. I don't get reality shows. Now, this could be because they blatantly masquerade as being real when everyone knows they aren't and that rankles my (overly) honest tendencies. Or it could be that I just don't find them entertaining. Or it could be a combination of the two. But all that is beside the point.
To return from the rabbit trail, I love good non-reality TV. You know, the shows that have really good characters, great (or fairly good) writing, quick wit, engaging storylines. And I'm a sucker for a good romantic sub-plot (I've been pulled into more than one not-so-great shows by those). There is something about watching good acting, hearing great dialogue, and seeing intriguing stories unfold that just draws me in and makes me want to watch and rewatch episodes. Good storytelling gets me every time.
Example: recently I discovered Grimm. I didn't watch the first season when it aired last year because it just sounded weird to me, sort of gimmicky. And one thing I really dislike is a gimmick (which may be another reason I eschew reality shows. They're all just big gimmicks). Also I did not realize that it combined two of my favorite things. But I was at the store the other day and the DVD of season one had come out, so I decided, eh why not? My reaction: "Fairy tales and crime solving? Awesome!"
See, I'm a huge fan of fairy tales and of character driven crime solving shows. They are two of my favorite things as far as entertainment goes. I don't know how many re-done fairy tales I've read. Tons. If I find one, I gobble it up. And one of my writing dreams has been to write a re-done fairy tale series. It's one of my many projects in development. And don't get me started on procedurals. For a long time, the only type of TV I watched were procedurals of some kind or another (Now my viewing palate has expanded a bit, but I still love crime shows). So discovering a show that manages to creatively combine those two things was kind of mind blowing.
Overall the storytelling is what really pulled me into the show. It takes a base of fairy tales and twists it and spices it up in such an interesting way that I can't get enough. It doesn't hurt that the acting isn't horrible and the writers have a decent sense of humor. Still, it's the story and the characters that have really pulled me into this show. I can't wait to see what happens next.
So what shows have pulled you in recently (or not so recently)? What's your favorite part of the shows you watch?
Okay so I don't love it as much as I love reading, and I totally freak out more about not having a book to read more than I do about nothing good being on TV, but still, I love TV.
Let me clear though, I do not like what passes as reality TV. In fact I loathe reality TV. The times I've gotten sucked into a reality TV show have been very few and very far between (it's been two or three years since the last time I watched a full new season of a reality show) and i plan to keep it that way. They are just annoying to me. I don't get reality shows. Now, this could be because they blatantly masquerade as being real when everyone knows they aren't and that rankles my (overly) honest tendencies. Or it could be that I just don't find them entertaining. Or it could be a combination of the two. But all that is beside the point.
To return from the rabbit trail, I love good non-reality TV. You know, the shows that have really good characters, great (or fairly good) writing, quick wit, engaging storylines. And I'm a sucker for a good romantic sub-plot (I've been pulled into more than one not-so-great shows by those). There is something about watching good acting, hearing great dialogue, and seeing intriguing stories unfold that just draws me in and makes me want to watch and rewatch episodes. Good storytelling gets me every time.
Example: recently I discovered Grimm. I didn't watch the first season when it aired last year because it just sounded weird to me, sort of gimmicky. And one thing I really dislike is a gimmick (which may be another reason I eschew reality shows. They're all just big gimmicks). Also I did not realize that it combined two of my favorite things. But I was at the store the other day and the DVD of season one had come out, so I decided, eh why not? My reaction: "Fairy tales and crime solving? Awesome!"
See, I'm a huge fan of fairy tales and of character driven crime solving shows. They are two of my favorite things as far as entertainment goes. I don't know how many re-done fairy tales I've read. Tons. If I find one, I gobble it up. And one of my writing dreams has been to write a re-done fairy tale series. It's one of my many projects in development. And don't get me started on procedurals. For a long time, the only type of TV I watched were procedurals of some kind or another (Now my viewing palate has expanded a bit, but I still love crime shows). So discovering a show that manages to creatively combine those two things was kind of mind blowing.
Overall the storytelling is what really pulled me into the show. It takes a base of fairy tales and twists it and spices it up in such an interesting way that I can't get enough. It doesn't hurt that the acting isn't horrible and the writers have a decent sense of humor. Still, it's the story and the characters that have really pulled me into this show. I can't wait to see what happens next.
So what shows have pulled you in recently (or not so recently)? What's your favorite part of the shows you watch?
Monday, August 13, 2012
Weddings and Freedom
So my younger brother got married this past weekend. Actually that's the reason I haven't posted anything since last Monday; I've been crazy busy helping him and the new wife get everything ready for the wedding. I kept up with my writing, mostly. I got a scene done every day except Saturday (thanks to wedding craziness) and Sunday (thanks to exhaustion due to wedding craziness). But I'm back on track now.
It's funny though, I got back online today and saw a post by Veronica Roth (Think Divergent, only one of the best books ever. If I had heroes, she'd probably be near the top of the list.) that made me think about this weekend in a strange way. She wrote about letting go and giving yourself room to mess up and just be free in writing. As I was thinking about her post and how perfectionism is one of my greatest weaknesses, I got to thinking about this weekend and how it was actually kind of fun and how that was possibly the weirdest thing ever.
See, I never think of weddings, or really any large gathering of bunches of people I don't know, as fun. I especially don't think of them as fun when I am part of the wedding party and have to stand in five-inch heels for an hour or walk across gravel to take five or six pictures or talk to strangers who may or may not be drunk or dance in public, or so many other things. To me, weddings and other large gatherings of people are just torturous punishments to be endured until I can finally get away and be by myself again.
But this wedding was different. Maybe it was because it was my brother's and I love him like crazy. I'm sure that was part of it, but looking back on the night, I realized part of the reason this wedding was as close to fun as I get at large gatherings was because I just let myself not care what happened or who was looking. I decided that I was going to do my best to have fun and make it a good night for my brother. And it turns out, it became a good night for me too.
So maybe I'll loosen up more in the future. I hope I do. I'm kind of sick of not having fun at parties. And I'm pretty sure it would help me be a better writer.
It's funny though, I got back online today and saw a post by Veronica Roth (Think Divergent, only one of the best books ever. If I had heroes, she'd probably be near the top of the list.) that made me think about this weekend in a strange way. She wrote about letting go and giving yourself room to mess up and just be free in writing. As I was thinking about her post and how perfectionism is one of my greatest weaknesses, I got to thinking about this weekend and how it was actually kind of fun and how that was possibly the weirdest thing ever.
See, I never think of weddings, or really any large gathering of bunches of people I don't know, as fun. I especially don't think of them as fun when I am part of the wedding party and have to stand in five-inch heels for an hour or walk across gravel to take five or six pictures or talk to strangers who may or may not be drunk or dance in public, or so many other things. To me, weddings and other large gatherings of people are just torturous punishments to be endured until I can finally get away and be by myself again.
But this wedding was different. Maybe it was because it was my brother's and I love him like crazy. I'm sure that was part of it, but looking back on the night, I realized part of the reason this wedding was as close to fun as I get at large gatherings was because I just let myself not care what happened or who was looking. I decided that I was going to do my best to have fun and make it a good night for my brother. And it turns out, it became a good night for me too.
So maybe I'll loosen up more in the future. I hope I do. I'm kind of sick of not having fun at parties. And I'm pretty sure it would help me be a better writer.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Working with a Large Cast
When I was younger, I read lots of books that had large casts of characters. We're talking so many characters that the author provided a list at the end of their books. I don't see as many of those any more, but I still read books with large casts, large enough that other people, or even the author, have devoted portions of websites, blogs, or other media to helping reader keep them all straight. I've also read numerous writing books that suggest keeping a file or binder or some filing system of all of the characters from a particular project. Until recently, I never thought I needed those tools. Oh how wrong I was.
Let me just say that until recently, I'd never worked on a story that had a large cast of characters. Almost all of my ideas involved casts of two or three characters and few supporting roles. The action happened in mostly isolated chunks, in places with only a few hastily sketched extras seen only from a distance. I never thought I'd have to come up with more than five, or seven, or okay maybe 15 character descriptions, personalities, backgrounds, and all that other stuff that you need for good characters (not the in depth stuff for MCs, but the general broad strokes for bit players and extras). Once more, was I ever wrong.
Until this week, I had no idea how hard it is to keep so many characters straight. Now, I'm learning fast that it is really hard. Or rather, it's hard to be original with each one. See, the book I'm working on now has cast that just doesn't stop growing. When I wrote the summaries for each scene, I had no idea that I was going to need so many character descriptions. It's crazy. Here, I'll prove it.
In the first 12 scenes, I've already had 17 characters appear (plus a group of children), 13 of which have names, and only three of which do not have some sort of physical description accompanying them So that's a total of 14 characters that have some sort of description that go with them.
Comparison time. In my other story, in the first 12 scenes, I have eight characters appear (two of which were animals) and two groups of guards/soldiers. All but one of those characters have names and all eight of them are described in some way (I'm excluding the guards cause they didn't get descriptions or names). So that's just over half the number of described characters as my current WIP. See, craziness!
Now let's add some more craziness, cause who doesn't love more insanity. In my other story, their is only really one ethnicity, though there is a kind of separate culture that has a sort of specific physical description that goes along with it. But overall, there isn't too much diversity as far as ethnicity is concerned.
In my current WIP the culture is much, much more diverse. The story is still set in a single country, but it's larger and more geographically and culturally diverse country than my other one. There are at least five distinct geographic regions, each with a distinct ethnicity. Oh yeah, and all of these different groups tend to mix in the city where the story is set, so there's a lot of diversity when it comes to physical traits. See, more craziness!
I don't want you to get the wrong idea though. I'm not complaining. Really, how could I? I mean this world is a product of my (hyperactive) imagination, so really, I did this to myself. And I'm actually really loving how much more diverse this new group of characters is. It's a lot of fun getting to know them and learning more about their world. It's just complicated.
I'm realizing that I need to use some sort of system to keep track of all of my characters and their descriptions. It's a new feeling for me.Not that I didn't keep track of my characters before. It's just that with so many more, I have to really pay attention to how I describe each one, because it's a lot easier to repeat myself with a bigger group of characters than it is with a smaller one. It's a new challenge, and one I'm learning to embrace.
As far as numbers go, I have 12 scenes typed. I don't have a word count today. Sorry. Maybe next time.
Let me just say that until recently, I'd never worked on a story that had a large cast of characters. Almost all of my ideas involved casts of two or three characters and few supporting roles. The action happened in mostly isolated chunks, in places with only a few hastily sketched extras seen only from a distance. I never thought I'd have to come up with more than five, or seven, or okay maybe 15 character descriptions, personalities, backgrounds, and all that other stuff that you need for good characters (not the in depth stuff for MCs, but the general broad strokes for bit players and extras). Once more, was I ever wrong.
Until this week, I had no idea how hard it is to keep so many characters straight. Now, I'm learning fast that it is really hard. Or rather, it's hard to be original with each one. See, the book I'm working on now has cast that just doesn't stop growing. When I wrote the summaries for each scene, I had no idea that I was going to need so many character descriptions. It's crazy. Here, I'll prove it.
In the first 12 scenes, I've already had 17 characters appear (plus a group of children), 13 of which have names, and only three of which do not have some sort of physical description accompanying them So that's a total of 14 characters that have some sort of description that go with them.
Comparison time. In my other story, in the first 12 scenes, I have eight characters appear (two of which were animals) and two groups of guards/soldiers. All but one of those characters have names and all eight of them are described in some way (I'm excluding the guards cause they didn't get descriptions or names). So that's just over half the number of described characters as my current WIP. See, craziness!
Now let's add some more craziness, cause who doesn't love more insanity. In my other story, their is only really one ethnicity, though there is a kind of separate culture that has a sort of specific physical description that goes along with it. But overall, there isn't too much diversity as far as ethnicity is concerned.
In my current WIP the culture is much, much more diverse. The story is still set in a single country, but it's larger and more geographically and culturally diverse country than my other one. There are at least five distinct geographic regions, each with a distinct ethnicity. Oh yeah, and all of these different groups tend to mix in the city where the story is set, so there's a lot of diversity when it comes to physical traits. See, more craziness!
I don't want you to get the wrong idea though. I'm not complaining. Really, how could I? I mean this world is a product of my (hyperactive) imagination, so really, I did this to myself. And I'm actually really loving how much more diverse this new group of characters is. It's a lot of fun getting to know them and learning more about their world. It's just complicated.
I'm realizing that I need to use some sort of system to keep track of all of my characters and their descriptions. It's a new feeling for me.Not that I didn't keep track of my characters before. It's just that with so many more, I have to really pay attention to how I describe each one, because it's a lot easier to repeat myself with a bigger group of characters than it is with a smaller one. It's a new challenge, and one I'm learning to embrace.
As far as numbers go, I have 12 scenes typed. I don't have a word count today. Sorry. Maybe next time.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Character First
This probably won't be surprising to anyone else, but it certainly shocked me. I recently discovered that I am, in fact, not a plot-first writer. Instead, I am a character-first writer. How could I possibly not know this? I really don't know.
I made the discovery a couple of months ago when I was revisiting a few of my story ideas. I was doing a kind of inventory while processing what type of writer I was and what theme seemed prevalent in all of my writing. As I flipped through my numerous notebooks and looked at my hastily typed notes of story ideas, I started to notice a trend. Almost every idea that I had done any kind of development on started with a character I couldn't get out of my head. As I did more digging and reminiscing, I realized that much of my notebook space was taken up by various stages of character sketches and character development projects. Almost nothing existed in the way of plot sketches. As I began reviewing how these story ideas had presented themselves to me, I started noticing that pretty much all of them had started with, yup, the main character. And suddenly, I came to the realization that I was a Character-first writer.
It was rather flabergasting actually. See, I've been under the mistaken impression that I was a plot-first writer for most of my life. I always thought I struggled with creating characters. Isn't that insane? I don't know how I missed it for so long.
Of course, once I realized this, some of my writing woes seemed to make a lot more sense. See I've always had a bit of trouble with middles. Okay most people have trouble with middles, but still, I have that. I would get into writing a great story idea with all these great people that I couldn't wait to get to know, and suddenly 10 or 30 or 100 pages in, I'd lose the thread. I had no idea what the point of my story was or how the MC was going to get there. Except that I didn't realize this. I just thought it was a bad idea, or that I was being distracted by an even better idea. Now I realize that it was because I never really had much of a plot. And without a plot, my characters had nothing to do and nowhere to go. Or if they did have somewhere to go, they had no idea what to do once the got there.
After I made this astounding discovery, I was, at first, rather depressed. I thought "All this time I've been worry about the wrong things. If I'd known all of this years ago I could have gotten so much more done." It was a bit disheartening. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that making this discovery was actually one of the best things that could have happened to me. Cause now I know how to fix my petering-out-in-the-middle problem, generally speaking. I've identified the thing that was holding me back; lack of tangible plot lines. Now I can really revisit those old story lines and find the plot that those characters are meant to live out. And that makes me really excited.
So yeah, I thought I was a completely different type of writer for a while, but now I've discovered the truth and I get to start working to develop truly rounded stories. That's exciting to me.
Now an update on how my writing is going.
So far, after seven days, my stats are as follow:
Words: 17,982
Scenes: 8
I made the discovery a couple of months ago when I was revisiting a few of my story ideas. I was doing a kind of inventory while processing what type of writer I was and what theme seemed prevalent in all of my writing. As I flipped through my numerous notebooks and looked at my hastily typed notes of story ideas, I started to notice a trend. Almost every idea that I had done any kind of development on started with a character I couldn't get out of my head. As I did more digging and reminiscing, I realized that much of my notebook space was taken up by various stages of character sketches and character development projects. Almost nothing existed in the way of plot sketches. As I began reviewing how these story ideas had presented themselves to me, I started noticing that pretty much all of them had started with, yup, the main character. And suddenly, I came to the realization that I was a Character-first writer.
It was rather flabergasting actually. See, I've been under the mistaken impression that I was a plot-first writer for most of my life. I always thought I struggled with creating characters. Isn't that insane? I don't know how I missed it for so long.
Of course, once I realized this, some of my writing woes seemed to make a lot more sense. See I've always had a bit of trouble with middles. Okay most people have trouble with middles, but still, I have that. I would get into writing a great story idea with all these great people that I couldn't wait to get to know, and suddenly 10 or 30 or 100 pages in, I'd lose the thread. I had no idea what the point of my story was or how the MC was going to get there. Except that I didn't realize this. I just thought it was a bad idea, or that I was being distracted by an even better idea. Now I realize that it was because I never really had much of a plot. And without a plot, my characters had nothing to do and nowhere to go. Or if they did have somewhere to go, they had no idea what to do once the got there.
After I made this astounding discovery, I was, at first, rather depressed. I thought "All this time I've been worry about the wrong things. If I'd known all of this years ago I could have gotten so much more done." It was a bit disheartening. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that making this discovery was actually one of the best things that could have happened to me. Cause now I know how to fix my petering-out-in-the-middle problem, generally speaking. I've identified the thing that was holding me back; lack of tangible plot lines. Now I can really revisit those old story lines and find the plot that those characters are meant to live out. And that makes me really excited.
So yeah, I thought I was a completely different type of writer for a while, but now I've discovered the truth and I get to start working to develop truly rounded stories. That's exciting to me.
Now an update on how my writing is going.
So far, after seven days, my stats are as follow:
Words: 17,982
Scenes: 8
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