Fair Warning: This post has no particular subject in mind, just some rambling I felt I needed to do.
The Spring Plague is slowly losing its grip on me. Still on the antihistamines, though. Otherwise, I feel like I've got a garden hose shoved up my nose. Sorry for the visual.
I've got three short pieces I need to write for classes that are due tomorrow. Not really motivated but at least they are short. Two are about my hero and heroine, the other is...kind of hard to explain but I think has to do with the premise of my story. I think. It's a little abstract piece based off of 205 words written by George Orwell from his essay "The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius." This piece is supposed to be about the culture in my story. My piece should be roughly the same length. Getting in deep in these classes, I might add. But it is good practice to get to know the culture in which my characters live so I will throw my best efforts at this one.
Subject change!
Something interesting popped up this week: a debate over whether or not we should be using 2 spaces after a period or 1.
Now, personally, I tend toward using 1. I guess I fell into that habit because it seems to me that when you read something in print, it appears there's usually only a single space between sentences. Yes, I was taught to use 2 but in reality, a single space is much easier to accomplish when typing quickly. I always did stumble over that second space when in the midst of a speed typing test. My fingers are already used to a single space between words so there was no real learning curve to a single space between sentences.
Some people said blocks of prose were easier to read with 2 spaces. I have never had that problem. To me it just looks too spaced out when that extra space is there. But then, I'm used to the single space so that's probably why. Still, the debate got the mental juices going. Really made me think about why I write a certain way. No real conclusion to that debate, though. It's all up to what the writer prefers as well as what a publisher requires, I suppose.
And speaking of publishers (and now you have some idea of my brain on allergy drugs), I've also been reading a lot about the pros and cons of self-publishing versus traditional. As I am working on a project that will eventually see daylight, this is a subject of particular interest for me.
It seems to me that traditional publishing would be the harder, more circuitous route to becoming a published author. On the other hand, that's where the potential for six figure advances is greater. If a writer has become a resounding success for a traditional publisher, they are more likely to fork over more money at the onset because the author already had a good track record with them. Not so much for those of us unknowns who just want that first shot. Our manuscripts, no matter how brilliant we think they are, are more likely to end up on a slush pile, unread. Not a reflection on our work, to say the least. Just proof that traditional publishing is something for the already well known - ok, mostly. Before somebody pipes up that they know of a friend of a family member's friend that got their first book published that way, I'll concede that miracles do sometimes happen. I'm just not counting on it for myself.
These days, from what I've read, breaking into traditional publishing is nigh on impossible unless an author is agented. Being with an agent is fine, I suppose, but isn't that just one more person who gets a cut of whatever your hard work might bring in? Yes, an agent will work their tail off promoting your work, getting it into the hands of a publisher so the rest of the world can enjoy it, too - a good agent will, at any rate. But is it really necessary to even hire an agent?
I have a friend who is unagented as of this writing and who has just signed with one of those independent publishers who use this new publishing model where the author chooses members of his/her publishing team and works closely with them. Each member gets a cut of whatever royalties the author receives. Based on the contract with Kindle Direct Publishing, for example, the author would basically end up with 30% of 70% of whatever the book earns. That ain't much, folks, based on the recommended price point of $2.99.
Of course, we all know that only a small percentage of published authors make the big bucks - and if you didn't know that before, now you do. Authorship isn't a get rich quick activity. Most authors write on the side while holding down at least one full-time job.
While I didn't start down this road in pursuit of any possible riches it might provide, I would like to earn a little something from my hard work. Spreading that 70% so thin doesn't seem like a good idea to me but I'm trying to remain objective until I see how my friend's book does with this publisher.
There's also the time involved in traditional publishing. Even the big names have to wait a year or more before they see their hard work in print. I've already worked on this book for nearly a year and I really don't want to wait another year to see it appreciated by more than just me and my writer's group.
I think you can probably guess where I'm going with all this. My plans are to self-publish. At least, in the beginning. The only time I'll have to wait once I have a final draft in hand will be for the cover art. I already have an artist in mind for that, as well. I'm planning for something original, though. I've looked at the already done covers and while I have found a few I liked, I've also found that, despite claiming they only sell one copy, they actually sell the same cover more than once. One I thought would be good for another project has already been used at least 3 times on books I actually have on my Kindle. I would prefer to pay a little more for something original that I'm not likely to see on someone else's book.
Well, I believe I have rambled myself out. I just felt like I need to get all this out before I start working on what I need to get done today. Thanks for putting up with it.
Or, since the antihistamine just kicked in, I might go take a little nap before I get to work.
Oh, any writing inconsistencies in here - just chalk it up to lack of oxygen to a brain influenced by allergy medicine and everyone will be happy. Me, especially.
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Thursday, April 23, 2015
The Writer's Life: Permission To Be Sick
Ah, Spring. I knew you were here even before the calendar told me. Any other Spring allergy sufferers out there?
Today I write about another perk to the Writer's Life: Guilt Free Sick Days!
Yes, cube life does sometimes grant sick days but you wanna know a secret about those? Your employer really doesn't want you to use them. Oh, they'll say it's ok to take a sick day but just try taking one. Go ahead. I dare ya. Anybody else call in sick and get that "you are a bad employee" vibe from their boss?
I always did - from the last boss, anyway. I went through a tremendous amount of stress first thing in the morning while trying to decide if it was worth the agony to call in sick or should I just suck it up and get my sick self into the office? I usually went in. Didn't get a whole lot done but at least I was a warm body in a seat for the day. And that's really all that matters in cube life.
You see, the thing is - and this where the rulers of cube life are short-sighted - a person comes to work sick, they spread that sickness to their co-workers and soon, half the office is out sick. However, if that sick employee had been allowed to stay home at the first sign of the illness, that might not have happened.
Now, you should know that I was the kind of employee that if I was calling in sick, rest assured, I was sick. Only once in my life did I ever call in sick when I really wasn't and by the end of that day, I had a stress migraine from worrying that I would get caught. Never did it again.
But that's cube life for you. As a full-time writer, sick days are something completely different. For one thing, nobody makes me feel like I'm a bad writer because I've decided to take a sick day. I mean, the only person who could do that would be me and since I'm the sick one in the first place.....you get the picture.
I'm not saying that writer's don't also answer to a higher authority. If a writer is working with a publisher, they will have deadlines to meet but generally, from what I've read, those deadlines are achievable even if the writer takes a few days off to recuperate from illness. Even sick, a writer can do a little something every day if they feel up to it.
I have accomplished very little this week. I did make assignment deadlines over the weekend, but that's about it. Those pieces were pretty much already written anyway, they just needed a quick tweak before sending them off. After that, I succumbed to the Spring plague with a clear conscience.
One of those pieces may get a little more work. The Writer's Digest Annual Writing Competition deadline is approaching and I am considering sending in my entry. The max word count is 4000, so I can flesh out my story a bit more using my instructor's suggestions. Deadline for early entry is May 4. Check out the Writer's Digest website for more information if this sounds like something you might like to try.
Speaking of being productive, I'd better get cracking here. I have a webinar recording to watch/listen to and tons of reading to catch up on before composing the two writing assignments due on Sunday.
My Writer's Life in action.
Today I write about another perk to the Writer's Life: Guilt Free Sick Days!
Yes, cube life does sometimes grant sick days but you wanna know a secret about those? Your employer really doesn't want you to use them. Oh, they'll say it's ok to take a sick day but just try taking one. Go ahead. I dare ya. Anybody else call in sick and get that "you are a bad employee" vibe from their boss?
I always did - from the last boss, anyway. I went through a tremendous amount of stress first thing in the morning while trying to decide if it was worth the agony to call in sick or should I just suck it up and get my sick self into the office? I usually went in. Didn't get a whole lot done but at least I was a warm body in a seat for the day. And that's really all that matters in cube life.
You see, the thing is - and this where the rulers of cube life are short-sighted - a person comes to work sick, they spread that sickness to their co-workers and soon, half the office is out sick. However, if that sick employee had been allowed to stay home at the first sign of the illness, that might not have happened.
But that's cube life for you. As a full-time writer, sick days are something completely different. For one thing, nobody makes me feel like I'm a bad writer because I've decided to take a sick day. I mean, the only person who could do that would be me and since I'm the sick one in the first place.....you get the picture.
I'm not saying that writer's don't also answer to a higher authority. If a writer is working with a publisher, they will have deadlines to meet but generally, from what I've read, those deadlines are achievable even if the writer takes a few days off to recuperate from illness. Even sick, a writer can do a little something every day if they feel up to it.
I have accomplished very little this week. I did make assignment deadlines over the weekend, but that's about it. Those pieces were pretty much already written anyway, they just needed a quick tweak before sending them off. After that, I succumbed to the Spring plague with a clear conscience.
One of those pieces may get a little more work. The Writer's Digest Annual Writing Competition deadline is approaching and I am considering sending in my entry. The max word count is 4000, so I can flesh out my story a bit more using my instructor's suggestions. Deadline for early entry is May 4. Check out the Writer's Digest website for more information if this sounds like something you might like to try.
Speaking of being productive, I'd better get cracking here. I have a webinar recording to watch/listen to and tons of reading to catch up on before composing the two writing assignments due on Sunday.
My Writer's Life in action.
Monday, April 6, 2015
Chaotic, Antihistimine Sedated Days
April has begun with a bang for me. Lots of reading to do, lots of writing to do, not nearly as much energy as I would like.
It's allergy season for me right now, which means antihistamine, which means I live sleepy on a daily basis. But, thanks to a new mindset that says, "Yes, you can write while sleepy," I am getting some writing done in spite of it.
What usually happens when I feel like I'm too sleepy to write? That inner whine that says I'd rather go back to bed. I don't. I sit my butt in the chair, plant the fingers on the keyboard and write. Even if it doesn't make any sense at the time, I continue to write until I've written at least 500 words.
Of course, halfway through, the inner critic, who seems to be more wide awake, starts telling me that what is coming off my fingers is a load of crap and that I should stop before I do any more damage to my story. To her, I say, "Shut your mouth, lady, and crawl back into the dark, dusty corner where you belong."
She doesn't, by the way, but at some point I'm too sleepy to pay attention to what she's saying.
By this time, you must understand, I've either hit a groove where I can keep going or I stop at word #500 (or at least finish the current thought). That's when I shut down whatever writing program I'm using and go on to something else. I don't even read what I've written yet. That, I save for the next day. If the urge to write resurfaces, I'll write - it usually doesn't, but at least I've gotten some writing done for the day and that's saying a lot.
So what does this forced writing exercise look like the next day? I'm often surprised to find I've not written nearly the load of crap my inner critic seemed to think it would be. In fact, there are the rare occasions when what I've written is quite inspired.
So if you have one of those days when writing seems like too much effort, just sit down and write 500 words. That's all. Even if you can't think of anything to write. In fact, you can start your writing session by writing: "I can't think of anything to write." You might be surprised at what that simple sentence might just inspire.
It's allergy season for me right now, which means antihistamine, which means I live sleepy on a daily basis. But, thanks to a new mindset that says, "Yes, you can write while sleepy," I am getting some writing done in spite of it.
What usually happens when I feel like I'm too sleepy to write? That inner whine that says I'd rather go back to bed. I don't. I sit my butt in the chair, plant the fingers on the keyboard and write. Even if it doesn't make any sense at the time, I continue to write until I've written at least 500 words.
Of course, halfway through, the inner critic, who seems to be more wide awake, starts telling me that what is coming off my fingers is a load of crap and that I should stop before I do any more damage to my story. To her, I say, "Shut your mouth, lady, and crawl back into the dark, dusty corner where you belong."
She doesn't, by the way, but at some point I'm too sleepy to pay attention to what she's saying.
By this time, you must understand, I've either hit a groove where I can keep going or I stop at word #500 (or at least finish the current thought). That's when I shut down whatever writing program I'm using and go on to something else. I don't even read what I've written yet. That, I save for the next day. If the urge to write resurfaces, I'll write - it usually doesn't, but at least I've gotten some writing done for the day and that's saying a lot.
So what does this forced writing exercise look like the next day? I'm often surprised to find I've not written nearly the load of crap my inner critic seemed to think it would be. In fact, there are the rare occasions when what I've written is quite inspired.
So if you have one of those days when writing seems like too much effort, just sit down and write 500 words. That's all. Even if you can't think of anything to write. In fact, you can start your writing session by writing: "I can't think of anything to write." You might be surprised at what that simple sentence might just inspire.
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Know Thy Antagonist
Been working on my third writing assignment for the Science Fiction/Fantasy workshop I'm doing at Writer's Digest University. This time I get to describe my protagonist and antagonist and then put them in a scene together. I've already learned one thing from this assignment - I didn't know my antagonist quite as well as I thought I did.
Since my antagonist doesn't actually appear in any scenes until the last half of the book, I guess I didn't see the need to get to know him very well. But as I worked on my assignment, I realized I needed to give him more motivation than just the desire for power. I mean, that's kind of a cliche now, isn't it? I wanted a better reason. I wanted to go deeper. Why is he obsessed with power and control? What happened in his past to bring him to this point? What drives him?
"Fleshing out" is just as important for your antagonist as it is for your protagonist. Especially if the two are in direct opposition to each other. Here's what I've learned.
My antagonist is actually the protagonist of his own story with my protagonist in the role of my antagonist's antagonist. Kind of hard to get my mind around but not impossible. I can exercise this concept by writing parts of my story from my antagonist's point of view. These scenes most likely will not be in the final draft, but these scenes let me watch my antagonist in action and help me to learn more about him in the process.
Not all antagonists are the villain, either. Especially not in their own minds. To them, their actions are necessary in order to reach their goal, whatever that may be. They may even see their goal as altruistic despite the fact that it causes problems for the people they claim the goal will benefit.
In order to do that research, I entered "antagonist motivations" into my favorite search engine, Google. This brought up pages of links to informative websites that helped me understand the importance of getting to know my antagonist as well as I know my protagonist. I got most of my research done at Fiction University. It's a site for authors run by Janice Hardy, author of the Healing Wars series. I've just started reading this series and am pretty much sucked in. If you're looking for another source of helpful articles about the craft of writing, I highly recommend Fiction University.
After much research, I have finally come to know my antagonist and even understand what drives him. He has a flaw just as potentially fatal as my protagonist. Unfortunately for my antagonist, however, his fatal flaw will be just that - fatal. I'm surprised to find myself actually feeling sorry for him now because I know what he'll ultimately be facing, even though his end has been brought about by his own actions.
Since my antagonist doesn't actually appear in any scenes until the last half of the book, I guess I didn't see the need to get to know him very well. But as I worked on my assignment, I realized I needed to give him more motivation than just the desire for power. I mean, that's kind of a cliche now, isn't it? I wanted a better reason. I wanted to go deeper. Why is he obsessed with power and control? What happened in his past to bring him to this point? What drives him?
"Fleshing out" is just as important for your antagonist as it is for your protagonist. Especially if the two are in direct opposition to each other. Here's what I've learned.
My antagonist is actually the protagonist of his own story with my protagonist in the role of my antagonist's antagonist. Kind of hard to get my mind around but not impossible. I can exercise this concept by writing parts of my story from my antagonist's point of view. These scenes most likely will not be in the final draft, but these scenes let me watch my antagonist in action and help me to learn more about him in the process.
Not all antagonists are the villain, either. Especially not in their own minds. To them, their actions are necessary in order to reach their goal, whatever that may be. They may even see their goal as altruistic despite the fact that it causes problems for the people they claim the goal will benefit.
In order to do that research, I entered "antagonist motivations" into my favorite search engine, Google. This brought up pages of links to informative websites that helped me understand the importance of getting to know my antagonist as well as I know my protagonist. I got most of my research done at Fiction University. It's a site for authors run by Janice Hardy, author of the Healing Wars series. I've just started reading this series and am pretty much sucked in. If you're looking for another source of helpful articles about the craft of writing, I highly recommend Fiction University.
After much research, I have finally come to know my antagonist and even understand what drives him. He has a flaw just as potentially fatal as my protagonist. Unfortunately for my antagonist, however, his fatal flaw will be just that - fatal. I'm surprised to find myself actually feeling sorry for him now because I know what he'll ultimately be facing, even though his end has been brought about by his own actions.
Monday, March 23, 2015
A Writer's Garden or Good Excuses To Goof Off
Taking a break today from the frenetic existence that has become my life lately. As if I needed more to do during the day, I have now established a small houseplant garden in my writing room.
You don't often get pictures on this blog - ok, never up to this point, so here's to first times for everything.
And the TV tray is now full. A good mixture of foliage, flowers, and succulents. Some interesting, some traditional. The word eclectic comes to mind.
The jewel of the collection is that purple African Violet. There are two different colors of flower on this same plant.
That same flower stalk with the bi-colored flowers also has solid colored flowers. As far as I can tell, there is only one plant in that pot. There's offshoot, naturally, but none old enough to flower, I don't believe. I'm going to have to post a picture on an African Violet site to see if anyone's ever seen this before.
Why do I bring this up now? Well, aside from the conscious decision to be a complete goof off today, I began to consider how manual tasks, like gardening, are a good way to reset the mind and sometimes even come up with a good story idea or two. Or not.
For instance, this morning I finished potting all of my new friends. While doing so, my foremost thoughts were on the task at hand while echoes and dust bunnies occupied the further recesses. This time, that part of my mind went on vacation for a while, but it could have just as easily been mulling over this third draft I'm about to begin or sparking a new story idea.
For me, gardening (both indoor and outdoor) is one of those manual type tasks that lets my mind take a little vacation to wander wherever it will. Maybe a story idea will develop or maybe it won't. Got a problem with the current work in progress? Might come up with a solution, might not. Even if no breakthrough happens, my mind gets a restful vacation and I get a pleasing display to gaze at whenever I feel the urge.
I believe that mental vacations are crucial to creativity. I know it's difficult for me to write if I'm mentally exhausted. That's one reason why I've also arranged my writing area so that I can easily see out one of the two windows in the room without having to move. I can watch the traffic go by, watch it rain when it's raining (not going to mention snow because it's Spring!) or just stare into space.
Another tactic I use to combat a full mind is to play a game on my computer. I have several in which I can get lost and forget everything including the time spent playing. Others are good for a few minutes of distraction before they annoy me and I decide I'd rather get back to work.
Once my mind has been reset, I can return to whatever it is I'm working at and I'm good for another hour or two. To the world, it may look like I'm goofing off again when really, it's battle strategy I've learned through the years I've spent at this writing thing.
So give yourself permission to goof off once in a while. Who knows? You might come up with the next blockbuster novel that way.
You don't often get pictures on this blog - ok, never up to this point, so here's to first times for everything.
And the TV tray is now full. A good mixture of foliage, flowers, and succulents. Some interesting, some traditional. The word eclectic comes to mind.
The jewel of the collection is that purple African Violet. There are two different colors of flower on this same plant.
That same flower stalk with the bi-colored flowers also has solid colored flowers. As far as I can tell, there is only one plant in that pot. There's offshoot, naturally, but none old enough to flower, I don't believe. I'm going to have to post a picture on an African Violet site to see if anyone's ever seen this before.
Why do I bring this up now? Well, aside from the conscious decision to be a complete goof off today, I began to consider how manual tasks, like gardening, are a good way to reset the mind and sometimes even come up with a good story idea or two. Or not.
For instance, this morning I finished potting all of my new friends. While doing so, my foremost thoughts were on the task at hand while echoes and dust bunnies occupied the further recesses. This time, that part of my mind went on vacation for a while, but it could have just as easily been mulling over this third draft I'm about to begin or sparking a new story idea.
For me, gardening (both indoor and outdoor) is one of those manual type tasks that lets my mind take a little vacation to wander wherever it will. Maybe a story idea will develop or maybe it won't. Got a problem with the current work in progress? Might come up with a solution, might not. Even if no breakthrough happens, my mind gets a restful vacation and I get a pleasing display to gaze at whenever I feel the urge.
I believe that mental vacations are crucial to creativity. I know it's difficult for me to write if I'm mentally exhausted. That's one reason why I've also arranged my writing area so that I can easily see out one of the two windows in the room without having to move. I can watch the traffic go by, watch it rain when it's raining (not going to mention snow because it's Spring!) or just stare into space.
Another tactic I use to combat a full mind is to play a game on my computer. I have several in which I can get lost and forget everything including the time spent playing. Others are good for a few minutes of distraction before they annoy me and I decide I'd rather get back to work.
Once my mind has been reset, I can return to whatever it is I'm working at and I'm good for another hour or two. To the world, it may look like I'm goofing off again when really, it's battle strategy I've learned through the years I've spent at this writing thing.
So give yourself permission to goof off once in a while. Who knows? You might come up with the next blockbuster novel that way.
Friday, March 20, 2015
Early Update
Whew! My writer's life has gotten kind of busy lately. Let's see...how many writing classes am I going to be in during April?
Five?!
Well, one I can finish this month if I work at it. Another class will come to an end during the first part April, but there will be a final project for that one that will be due a month later.
And that's not even counting Camp NANOWRIMO starting April 1st. OY!
Yep. Life is going to get even busier. I do believe I'm busier now than I ever was when I was working out of the home. But I'm enjoying the daylights out of my life right now so that's the important thing.
Then there's the novel to keep working on and I am making some progress on that front.
Just got back from writer's group. It was a short one today but productive. I now have a finalized outline for each of the three acts in my novel and I'm almost ready to commence the writing part of the third draft. This third draft will include scenes from both the first and second drafts and probably some new scenes. I'll be spending some time stitching scenes together to start with then filling in the gaps with new writing. I find I'm actually looking forward to getting started.
So far this week I have spent about five hours on the novel doing the preliminary work. Possibly six, I'll have to go back and check. I'm planning to spend the rest of today pulling scenes from the first and second drafts and plugging them into the new folders I made on Scrivener for each of the three acts. I thought that would help me locate some key plot points that I'm learning about in the novel writing class: the trigger - which is the moment when the protagonist's flaw gets the better of him; and the epiphany - the moment when the protagonist overcomes said flaw in order to reach his goal.
Though all of this, I am beginning to see the benefits of doing outlines. I had already done a synopsis of the entire third draft and when I did the outline for each act (from scratch, I might add), I was surprised to find that the outline matched the synopsis, for the most part. Must mean I now have a good grasp of the entire plot and story arcs. I do want to go back through the outlines again and make notes of anything additional that pops into my head.
I sill need work on a few more backstories as well as complete a setting sketch for one of the places that will be featured.
So, still lots more preliminary work to be done but I'm closer now to having that third draft completed than I was.
I'm surprised to realize just how much work actually goes into writing a novel. I can remember the time when I thought all I needed to do was sit down and write until the novel was finished. While that is still the best way to get a first draft completed. in order to end up with a polished novel ready for public consumption, there really is a lot more to it than that.
Five?!
Well, one I can finish this month if I work at it. Another class will come to an end during the first part April, but there will be a final project for that one that will be due a month later.
And that's not even counting Camp NANOWRIMO starting April 1st. OY!
Yep. Life is going to get even busier. I do believe I'm busier now than I ever was when I was working out of the home. But I'm enjoying the daylights out of my life right now so that's the important thing.
Then there's the novel to keep working on and I am making some progress on that front.
Just got back from writer's group. It was a short one today but productive. I now have a finalized outline for each of the three acts in my novel and I'm almost ready to commence the writing part of the third draft. This third draft will include scenes from both the first and second drafts and probably some new scenes. I'll be spending some time stitching scenes together to start with then filling in the gaps with new writing. I find I'm actually looking forward to getting started.
So far this week I have spent about five hours on the novel doing the preliminary work. Possibly six, I'll have to go back and check. I'm planning to spend the rest of today pulling scenes from the first and second drafts and plugging them into the new folders I made on Scrivener for each of the three acts. I thought that would help me locate some key plot points that I'm learning about in the novel writing class: the trigger - which is the moment when the protagonist's flaw gets the better of him; and the epiphany - the moment when the protagonist overcomes said flaw in order to reach his goal.
Though all of this, I am beginning to see the benefits of doing outlines. I had already done a synopsis of the entire third draft and when I did the outline for each act (from scratch, I might add), I was surprised to find that the outline matched the synopsis, for the most part. Must mean I now have a good grasp of the entire plot and story arcs. I do want to go back through the outlines again and make notes of anything additional that pops into my head.
I sill need work on a few more backstories as well as complete a setting sketch for one of the places that will be featured.
So, still lots more preliminary work to be done but I'm closer now to having that third draft completed than I was.
I'm surprised to realize just how much work actually goes into writing a novel. I can remember the time when I thought all I needed to do was sit down and write until the novel was finished. While that is still the best way to get a first draft completed. in order to end up with a polished novel ready for public consumption, there really is a lot more to it than that.
Monday, March 16, 2015
About Viewpoint
The learning continues.
In addition to the novel writing course, which I'm more than halfway through, I just started a sci-fi/fantasy writing course. Turned in the first assignment and received some encouraging comments from the instructor. We get into world building next, which is the main reason I took this course. What I'm writing would never be considered hard science fiction. It's more of a romance set in a futuristic world with some science fiction and fantasy elements.
But that's not what I wanted to discuss today. Today's topic is viewpoint. Should there be only one main character from whose viewpoint the reader will experience my story or can there be more than one viewpoint?
For a romance, that's a very hard question. Generally, the heroine is the main character. The theory goes that since it's mostly women who read romances, women can better identify themselves with the heroine instead of the hero. On the other hand, I have read novels that focused mainly on the hero's emotional journey. I've had no trouble myself being in his shoes for most of the book and that's what I've been writing lately. My heroines do have a role to play, but it's mainly the heroes that go through the deepest changes. As is the case with my current project.
After the lesson on viewpoint in the novel writing course, I toyed with the idea of writing this particular story in first person from the hero's point of view and even rewrote a part of a scene in first person. That's when I realized I don't know how to write exclusively in first person. I generally write from third person limited - one viewpoint per scene or if there are multiple viewpoints necessary, I start in one and end in another with an obvious break in the writing to indicate a change of perspective. Or I'll write the entire scene in each viewpoint then decide which serves the story best.
Before I learned about viewpoint, I did a lot of head hopping. After all, that's how it worked in the novels I was reading at the time. In reality, while the pros might get away with it, it's definitely not a good way for a beginner to start. From what I've read, head hopping is a strong indication that the writer is a beginner and can be the reason the manuscript ends up in a slush pile, never to be looked at again.
I have never seriously considered first person viewpoint in the past because I do find it limiting. Since first person means we are in only one head, we only get that particular head's thoughts, opinions, and action. There are times when I want to know what another character thinks about the situation. The only way to accomplish that with first person is for that other character to verbalize those thoughts with the main character present. I don't always want the main character to have all this knowledge. Sometimes, it's better that the main character is kept ignorant until time for this information to be flung at him.
Of course, there are well-known examples of stories written entirely from a single perspective that worked quite well. The Harry Potter series is a prime example. While the movies may have had changes in viewpoint, the books were almost entirely written from Harry's perspective. Something I never noticed as I read them but what I'll definitely be paying attention to when I read them again.
That's not to say that numerous viewpoints in a single story is that much better. In fact, my writer's group has been challenging me to write with fewer viewpoints than I have been. Not an easy thing when I've already written scenes from a secondary character's viewpoint that I feel needs to be there. Still, I have risen to that challenge, and I think I have succeeded in accomplishing the task. I speak of the previous project that I set aside in favor of the one I'm currently working on. This current project only had two viewpoints to begin with, and I see no need to make a change there. I just don't see how I can tell this story in a single viewpoint so I probably won't.
Now, to update you on the progress of my 10 hour a week commitment, I didn't keep very good track of my time last week so I can't say whether or not I met the 10 hours. If I count the time I spent on both writing courses, I probably exceeded the time limit. I'll keep better track this week.
Plans for this week: do back story for both worlds involved as well as the top five or six characters; build at least one of the worlds - I have to have a 500-word description of my world for the second writing assignment; start a preliminary outline of the changes that will be taking place for the third draft. That's a lot, but it's necessary. When you read a book where it's clear the author knows their fictional world inside and out, it's because the author has done all this preliminary work long before they began writing scenes.
To get a taste of what all is involved in getting to know the worlds and peoples you're going to be living with for the duration of writing your novel, I recommend a book written by Orson Scott Card, "How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy". It's the textbook for my sci-fi/fantasy writing course. He details all of the preliminary planning that went into two of his novels, "Ender's Game" and "Hart's Hope". He literally worked years on the preliminaries before he began writing the stories.
I have also watched several interviews with J.K. Rowling as well as the movie that was made based on her experience with writing the first Harry Potter book and what she went through to get it published, "Magic Beyond Words: The JK Rowling Story". In one interview, she showed the piles of loose paper, notebooks, folders, boxes and boxes of material written all for that first book. Background stories, histories, even the names and some details of many of the other students at Hogwarts, what houses they were in, the level of magical power they had, that kind of thing. The reason the books read so well is because Ms. Rowling knew every minute detail about the world of which she wrote.
I'm not saying every writer should follow her example but it occurs to me that the times I get stuck in a story might actually be evidence that I don't know my fictional world as well as I should. Something to think about.
There's your update for this week. I'm off to do a little world building.
In addition to the novel writing course, which I'm more than halfway through, I just started a sci-fi/fantasy writing course. Turned in the first assignment and received some encouraging comments from the instructor. We get into world building next, which is the main reason I took this course. What I'm writing would never be considered hard science fiction. It's more of a romance set in a futuristic world with some science fiction and fantasy elements.
But that's not what I wanted to discuss today. Today's topic is viewpoint. Should there be only one main character from whose viewpoint the reader will experience my story or can there be more than one viewpoint?
For a romance, that's a very hard question. Generally, the heroine is the main character. The theory goes that since it's mostly women who read romances, women can better identify themselves with the heroine instead of the hero. On the other hand, I have read novels that focused mainly on the hero's emotional journey. I've had no trouble myself being in his shoes for most of the book and that's what I've been writing lately. My heroines do have a role to play, but it's mainly the heroes that go through the deepest changes. As is the case with my current project.
After the lesson on viewpoint in the novel writing course, I toyed with the idea of writing this particular story in first person from the hero's point of view and even rewrote a part of a scene in first person. That's when I realized I don't know how to write exclusively in first person. I generally write from third person limited - one viewpoint per scene or if there are multiple viewpoints necessary, I start in one and end in another with an obvious break in the writing to indicate a change of perspective. Or I'll write the entire scene in each viewpoint then decide which serves the story best.
Before I learned about viewpoint, I did a lot of head hopping. After all, that's how it worked in the novels I was reading at the time. In reality, while the pros might get away with it, it's definitely not a good way for a beginner to start. From what I've read, head hopping is a strong indication that the writer is a beginner and can be the reason the manuscript ends up in a slush pile, never to be looked at again.
I have never seriously considered first person viewpoint in the past because I do find it limiting. Since first person means we are in only one head, we only get that particular head's thoughts, opinions, and action. There are times when I want to know what another character thinks about the situation. The only way to accomplish that with first person is for that other character to verbalize those thoughts with the main character present. I don't always want the main character to have all this knowledge. Sometimes, it's better that the main character is kept ignorant until time for this information to be flung at him.
Of course, there are well-known examples of stories written entirely from a single perspective that worked quite well. The Harry Potter series is a prime example. While the movies may have had changes in viewpoint, the books were almost entirely written from Harry's perspective. Something I never noticed as I read them but what I'll definitely be paying attention to when I read them again.
That's not to say that numerous viewpoints in a single story is that much better. In fact, my writer's group has been challenging me to write with fewer viewpoints than I have been. Not an easy thing when I've already written scenes from a secondary character's viewpoint that I feel needs to be there. Still, I have risen to that challenge, and I think I have succeeded in accomplishing the task. I speak of the previous project that I set aside in favor of the one I'm currently working on. This current project only had two viewpoints to begin with, and I see no need to make a change there. I just don't see how I can tell this story in a single viewpoint so I probably won't.
Now, to update you on the progress of my 10 hour a week commitment, I didn't keep very good track of my time last week so I can't say whether or not I met the 10 hours. If I count the time I spent on both writing courses, I probably exceeded the time limit. I'll keep better track this week.
Plans for this week: do back story for both worlds involved as well as the top five or six characters; build at least one of the worlds - I have to have a 500-word description of my world for the second writing assignment; start a preliminary outline of the changes that will be taking place for the third draft. That's a lot, but it's necessary. When you read a book where it's clear the author knows their fictional world inside and out, it's because the author has done all this preliminary work long before they began writing scenes.
To get a taste of what all is involved in getting to know the worlds and peoples you're going to be living with for the duration of writing your novel, I recommend a book written by Orson Scott Card, "How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy". It's the textbook for my sci-fi/fantasy writing course. He details all of the preliminary planning that went into two of his novels, "Ender's Game" and "Hart's Hope". He literally worked years on the preliminaries before he began writing the stories.
I have also watched several interviews with J.K. Rowling as well as the movie that was made based on her experience with writing the first Harry Potter book and what she went through to get it published, "Magic Beyond Words: The JK Rowling Story". In one interview, she showed the piles of loose paper, notebooks, folders, boxes and boxes of material written all for that first book. Background stories, histories, even the names and some details of many of the other students at Hogwarts, what houses they were in, the level of magical power they had, that kind of thing. The reason the books read so well is because Ms. Rowling knew every minute detail about the world of which she wrote.
I'm not saying every writer should follow her example but it occurs to me that the times I get stuck in a story might actually be evidence that I don't know my fictional world as well as I should. Something to think about.
There's your update for this week. I'm off to do a little world building.
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