Racking Tips

photo credit: Sergei Golyshev

It's been two weeks now since I started my internship, and the experiments I'm running allows for a lot of downtime.

If any of you have watched TV shows with *real* (hahahaha) science such as, let's say, CSI*, you've probably seen scientists put pipettes in the plastic little buggers in that picture (or any bigger, more colourful variant of these).

These are plastic tips. To the great dismay of scientists worldwide, they don't come with the box. You have to put all 96 plastic tips in the rack and then sterilise them before you can use them.

The kind of mindless, menial task nobody wants to do.

What does this have to do with writing? Well, your mind might have lit up at the word menial or mindless. Not that writing is either. It's been said before, however, that such tasks are great for writing.

I'm not sure what about the small, repetitive physical tasks frees the mind to go elsewhere, but it works wonders. Your imagination shifts into high gears and speeds away, running down new paths.

The folks at my lab don't understand why I love racking tips so much. If they saw how much I've managed to unravel and decide about one of my writing project, though, they would.

Try it next time you're stuck! Find some dishes to wash, a room to clean or clothes to fold, and you might find your writer's block isn't as big as you thought!

*It should be said that I watch and like CSI. It's okay if they take a hour to do something that might require 3-4 days. I don't mind. It's fun nonetheless.

The Burden of First Ideas

photo credit: MichaelConCarne

You guys all remember that first spark, right? The sudden connection of two different thoughts, opening a doorway into a new story. An deep and incredibly cool character springing in your mind, demanding your attention. Flashes of a powerful scene, gripping your heart despite the lack of context.

Powerful ideas smashing the door to our brain and forcing their way in.

Not that we complain. We love those. It means our creative mind is travelling at full speed and producing its best juice. It's exhilarating. Wild. The first step in a new world.

Our first step into a new world.

So often we want to make it part of the story. This moment caught our attention and hooked us into a story. They have to be good, right? Readers will love them.

Sometimes, though - not always - this isn't for the best. Sometimes you take a scene and work out who the people in it are, and why there's a man holding a gun to another's forehead, and why he's incapable of shooting, and as you build your story from the scene, you get new ideas.

Context, plot, structure, characters, themes... everything changes. You plan, plot, write, brainstorm. You search for the real story, and the more you do, the further you get from your first love. Before you realise it, you're on the third draft and the first powerful moment, the very inspiration for this story, well, it doesn't fit anymore.

This is hard. It's hard to look objectively at your first creative impulse and admit it no longer has its place in this story. Kill your darlings, they say. The hardest part is to admit it has gone from a great, tension-filled, epic moment to a purposeless darling.

It must be done, however. Don't let your first ideas drag your story back. If you're not sure about a scene, or a character, or a plot twist... try to consider it objectively.

What does it bring to the story? What is its mission? Is it essential, or is it a leftover from your first drafts in this universe? If you remove it, what is the difference?

(Also, keep in mind that sometimes it is only part of a scene or character that should be shot down. This is what I had to do)

Be truthful with yourself. If you have a darling on your hand, it is your duty to the story to take your shotgun out, charge it... and shoot.

It's for its own good.

Choosing a Beginning and an End

The network of ideas that make a story is a complex web that sometimes reaches far back in time. When you examine everything that leads to your novel's events – the entirety of a story – it's easy to lose track of what the actual narration should be.

White Echoes, for example, is Henry's fight to bring to light a conspiracy that led to the death of thousands civilians, a decade ago. We're already ten years back into time. But what about the events that led to this conspiracy? They involve a war, which is another decade (or about) earlier, in which the villains' brother dies. But even that isn't enough. This death wouldn't bring about the same consequences had my two villains been different people. The events that shape their personality are part of this novel, too.

It's what is called backstory.

So where to start? Where to end? It all depends on what you want this story to be about. There is one constant, however: you should raise a question at the beginning, and only end your novel when it is answered.

I made White Echoes about Henry's struggle. The question is "Can Henry Schmitt uncover the conspiracy?" His decision to try comes at the start(ish) of the story. It's my First Plot Point. Readers will expect to know of his success or failure by the end.

If I'd wanted to make the novel about the villains, the beginning would feature scenes of their youth. I'd establish their characters and kick the action proper with the brother's death. The question raised is different (it'd be related to their goal in all this) and thus, the answer must be, too.

The type of question you raise – the conflict you'll want to resolve – will be bring about a different type of story. Orson Scott Card outlines four types in How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy, the MICE – Milieu, Idea, Character, Event.

Any story will have more than one of these elements, and I think it should have all of them to some degree. One, however, will predominate and determine what type of question you need to answer before the end.

The MICE story structures are what will occupy most of the next two weeks. Hope you find it interesting!

Magic As a Set of Natural Laws

I had this interesting conversation with someone recently about fantasy. It's someone I need (and want) to get along with, but he said the one thing you can't tell a fantasy writer:

"Fantasy is easy. You can just use magic to solve everything."

I hesitated between growling, laughing or crying, went with a simple shake of the head and I did not even comment the subject. That's how badly I needed his approval! Only, he brought the topic up again, and since by then I had his approval (m'hahaha), I debated his point.

Magic isn't a Deus Ex. If your magic is a Deus Ex, you're doing something terribly wrong.

The fun thing with magic is that you can do anything with it! If you have a superb, eccentric idea that involves magic, you can grab it and run with it. It's the ultimate freedom of fantasy.

But as a French theatre director once said: "Freedom is the liberty to choose your limits."

No matter what your magic is, you must establish the laws that rules it early on (don't infodump it, though. For the love of all that is holy, don't infodump it). It cannot be unlimited. There must be a cost to the magic, or a limit that is impossible to break. With magic, you are bringing a new set of natural laws, just like physics, and you must abide by them. 

Don't break your rules. Those who do are the reason we have this reputation of Magical Deus Ex. Be smart, and enjoy your high magic. When you do it right, it's a boatload of fun!

A Plotter's Weapons

I never thought it'd take two months before I finally felt ready to redraft this story. I've learned a lot about plot and scenes and characters. I'm sure there's still a lot more out there to learn, but there's no point in reading all these books on craft without practice.

February is knocking at my door, however, and I can't wait to jump back into the writing fray. This time, however, I have a few weapons at my disposal. Here's a list of what my compulsive plotter self prepared:

1. Complete Scene-by-Scene Outline. This outline is full of details, highlighting the conflict in every scene along with the narrator. Scenes are separated by chapters and the whole outline is in four parts. there are descriptions of characters at the start. This little baby is 7245 words long, spans 23 pages and is the most complete guide I have to the novel.
2. One-Liner Outline. The above isn't handy for a quick "Where next?" check, so I pared it down to one line by scene. I used colours to indicate chapter change and a paragraph jump for every new page. It gives a great overview of the novel's beats.
3. Tension Graph. At some point in Plot and Structure, J.S. Bell talked about rating the tension level in your scenes. I did it for all 46 of them and then used Excel to graph it. This let me detect instantly one weak scene that jarred the rhythm. It also made me squee, because I have a nice progressive climb in intensity.
4. POV Tension Graph. Because I have three POV and I wanted to make sure each of them has its share of tension-riddled scene, I added a tension curve for each of them on my graph. It's full of colours now!
5. Final Scene Table. Click the link for the post in which I detailed this one. It's the most comprehensive, easy-to-check way I found to detailing my climax.
6. Four timelines. On different scales, about the world's backstory, important characters' pasts, the full storyline and the last half of the novel. I love my timelines.
7. Pages and pages of brainstorming.
8. Full folder of research-related links.

With all of these to rely on, I feel confident I won't err too far as I jump back into my usual full-speed writing. I know I can give myself fully to the frenzy of the first draft, and not lose sight of the plot.

Is there anything you can't do without before you start writing?

Planning My Final Scene

My week has been spent trying to unravel the mess that was my final scenes. There were so many little things to think about. I had to keep track of where the characters were on "the set", what they were doing, if they could react, etc. I tried to do it mentally, and I spent hours turning the scene in my head, trying to see if everything fit. I wanted the scene to be consistent.

 I never managed it by myself. 5 hours in a car and little results. I had this character whom I was convinced was always in the way.

So what did I do? I drew a table.

I gave each of my characters a line, and put every 'key event' in a column. Every time something happened, I detailed where each character was and how they reacted, if needed.

It took four days of hard work to get through it, but I managed. The conclusion? Everything was actually working out quite nicely. That character I thought he was in the way? Not at all! He's right where I need him!

It was a great relief, and I learned one thing: sometimes, imagining the scene isn't enough and I need some organization. So to the others: take the time to sit down and write. If a scene gets as complicated as mine was (lots of little events happening), don't waste time trying to think through it. The pen is your best friend.

Oh, and here's the actual table, on Excel:

Whom To Choose? A PoV Dilemna

One of the constant challenge of writing with multiple POVs is to determine which one should narrate each scene. I'm an advocate of stability in POVs - that is, I try not to change too often, so that the reader has time to get comfortable with each of my POVs before I move on. I also try to have as few of them as I can.

In any given scene, however, I may have more than one POV character. Sometimes it seems obvious who should tell this part of the story, but that is not always the case. Last year I read The Power of Point of View, from Alicia Rasley, and she had some questions you could use to help yourself determine who to pick.

1. Who has the goal in this scene? This character will drive the action in your scene. Often, he's the obvious pick (which doesn't make him a bad choice, far from it). He wants something, and will do what he can to get it.

2. Who has the more at stake externally/internally? Narrating from the POV of the character who stands to lose a lot will raise the tension in your novel. Remember the last post about raising the stakes? It's true for single scenes, too. Bring the reader close to the character who'll care about what happens, and they'll be more inclined to care, too.

3. Is there someone with an intriguing perspective? This can be the character who's a total stranger to the world around, who clashes with his environment. It can also be someone with a special way of saying things which will make the scene a distinct experience. I'd be careful with this one, however. I know extravagant POVs tire me after a while.

4. Who has a secret, and do you want the reader to know? This one is fun, but should not be abused. Sometimes you have a character with a secret, and using him as a POV can help build tension. Getting the reader to guess about the secret will create an interactivity with the scene.

5. Who is not revealing his personality through dialogue and action? You don't need to be into an upfront person's head to get to know him. They'll blurt out anything they think (a problem my characters all have in the first draft, but that's another matter). Sometimes, it's more interesting to use the POV of a character who smiles when he's angry and says thanks instead of an insult.

This isn't an absolute guide, far from it, as choosing a PoV will depend on the current circumstances. These questions help me a lot, though, and I can get through most decisions with them. And when it's not enough, I fall back on my usual trick: I write super-quick draft scenes of both options, and pick the one I like best.

Raising the Stakes

I finished reading Maass' Writing the Breakout Novel at the end of the last week, and had to take a few days to let the incredible amount of information and advice in there sink in. There's a lot to remember and learn from and while I had heard a lot of what is in the book from other writers, it never hurts to be reminded of it, especially with Maass' clear and straight-to-the-point explanations. This is definitely the kind of book you want close at hand so that you can freshen up on a few things before you write or edit.

One of its lessons stuck better than the others, though, and it's the one about raising the stakes. It might sound obvious that you want to have everything you can hanging in the balance, but... it's not. At least, not for me.

Go look at your story again. Could you make things worse? What do your characters have to lose? Their life, their family, their sanity, their love? Make sure there is as much here as there can be. Raise the stakes in your novel.

A word of warning, though: this may complicate your plot. It sure did for mine, and I've had to figure out a lot more material to nail the plot once more! It'll be worth it, though. So worth it.

Something Is Missing

In the last few days, I've worked more in my novels than I have since the year began. I solved all but one of my last storyline problems. I tied my characters together more fully than ever before. I know their motivations, their goals, their stakes. I know which of them will achieve their goals, which won't.


My plot, too, seems finally good to go. I have all the major landmarks. I have twists, turns, roadblocks. Hopes and despair. It unfolds in an organic way (the second draft did not) and tension builds up all the way through the end (the first draft did not). The scene-by-scene outline is coming together nicely.

And yet, something is missing.

Despite the progress I was making, my excitement diminished. I wasn't fully conscious of it, not until I opened my outline document yesterday and heard myself sigh. Yes, at times writing as felt like work to me. I've had to force my butt in my chair to work. I had to ignore the calling of more entertaining endeavours. But always, when I reminded myself no one would teach me to write - that I had to learn on my own - I was able to stay focused.

More importantly, it was never during the planning phase. 

I asked myself what was wrong. Since when was I not excited at preparing my story? What was WRONG with me? I had this nagging feeling, growing with every day, that this new draft would be missing something important.

I found what when I considered reworking EDINGHER instead. Let WHITE ECHOES rest and light up a new flame, y'know? I kind of miss Edingher's deep and rich setting.

Setting. 

This is what WHITE ECHOES is missing. The setting is getting better, yes, but it still feels generic. It doesn't live and influence my storyline. Not as much as it should, anyway.

Worldbuilding is one of my favourite part of writing fantasy. This WIP isn't fantasy, however, and somehow I forgot to put as much thought and energy into detailing the world as I usually do.

I have a lot of work ahead of me before I start the next draft, even moreso now that I have found my problem. While it makes me sigh, I know I have saved myself a lot of time in editing.

The Benefit of a Small Walk

We're well into January by now, and I have not started writing the new draft yet. Life got in the way, as is usually the case when my schedule is buggered. I'm not complaining. Not everything that gets in the way of writing is bad.

It remains that in the last ten days, I've made almost no progress on my brand new outline. I was stuck with 75% of the novel, which is to say I had every major plot points outlined, but was quite fuzzy on how I brought them together into a single, solid climax. They converged, yes, but it was loose and unsatisfying.

No longer! Half-hour of walking, and all my problems were solved. I feel silly for not doing it earlier, as I've solved countless plotholes in the twenty minutes I need to reach my University from home.

So remember the next time you're stuck: take a walk. Let your mind wander alongside your feet, and see where it leads you.

Unblocking Your Outline

Often when I plan, I get shiny new ideas to make my storyline better. Ideas such as "What if X met Y?" I love 'What if ...' and usually, I'm able to determine the circumstances in which the 'What if' would happen.

That's when I get blocked.

Not all the time, but it happens often enough that I've developped a way to get me out of it. It's not complicated. I just write the scene.

Most of the time I put next to no description, and very little actions. I'm a dialogue person, and since they are usually what moves my story forward, they are what I focus on. The goal is to get a rough scene out, to write in circle until I find out where this is supposed to go. My mind does it for most of the novel, but when I get stuck, I need to write things down to get somewhere.

In a way, this is a lot like what I do with my first drafts. I'm testing the grounds. I just let the creative juice out, knowing this will never make it into the novel. It's a great way to work out my storyline.

Hopefully it will get me past my current knot. I'm almost done replanning!

Moving Events Around the Timeline

I have read and been told very often that sometimes, the best thing you can do to fix your novel is to change the order in which events happen. I always wondered how that worked. I mean, if your events are tightly connected and the pull of your story inexorable, how can you simply switch the sequence?

My brain refused it. It denied the possibility.

Then I tried.

In the current scene, one of the MCs is captured and tortured early on in the novel. This made him somewhat unstable for the rest of the novel. I need that unstability to justify some of his decisions (and, well, his forgetfulness). My recent decisions, however, cut away all the torture, because he no longer is captured.

I was stuck. I could not find another good reason to justify this. I had cut a major plot point, and I was having trouble dealing with the consequences further down the novel.

Except... nothing forced the torture to be at that point in the timeline. The other day I asked myself "What if it happens immediately before the story starts?" 

I knew the character was wounded. I knew he was fleeing from something. The previous reason from this flight was one of the elements I trashed. I needed a new reason.

Perfect fit. 

There are still a few details to rework in order to smoothen the plot, of course, but I just fixed two major problems with one idea. Moving an event back in the timeline. Try it. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain! This trick just moved WHITE ECHOES one step closer to a solid, tight outline, and to its third rewrite.

It also taught me I need to stop listening to my brain!

Endless Replanning

When I finished NaNoWriMo, I knew I needed to rewrite WHITE ECHOES. I had a plan that involved taking a lot of deep breaths, figuring out what I wanted to keep and how I'd replace everything else. I'm doing this, though not quite in order (don't worry, I breathe all the time), and it's taking quite some time.

I feel like I'm going in circles. Everytime I manage to remove and replace an unwanted part of the story, I have this little feeling of satisfaction. I think "Take that, lame part of the plot!" and I smirk at it.

That's when I realise all the changes removing this little bit will have, and how much work I still have to do. Sometimes it has consequences I didn't want, so I have to tweak it again. Sometimes it forces me to give up on some of my favourite scenes.

An example? I've replanned all the way to what would be the First Plot Point now, removing about 8k of story from the current draft. They were important words for one character's development, and I will have to see how being mentally stable and coherent will influence the plot. I know he would notice if his pistol isn't charged, and that is a problem with the current storyline. Now I need to figure out why else he could forget to charge the weapon.

It's a lot of thinking, but as I slowly unravel the knots of my story, I realise it is well worth it. Every time I rework WHITE ECHOES, it becomes smoother and more focused. I have a better idea what I want, and it shows.

So here's to the endless circles of replanning, because they will make my book better. They already are.

Holiday Travel Time

This Monday marks the beginning of my holiday season. I'm aware it's only the 20th, and usually I have a few more days before the 'official' madness begins.

How can I tell it's official? Why do I call it that way?

Holidays for me involve a lot of travelling. My family is scattered around the province, and that never stopped us from meeting to celebrate. This year, I will be spending 15 hours in a car during the next week. Lots of wasted time, eh?

Not at all. Not for me, not since I became a writer. :)

I look forward to travel time now. I'm not the one driving, and so I'm allowed to get lost in my thoughts and to devote a lot of time to my stories. I'll refine my outline, work on my ideas, develop my characters... prepare for the New Year in writing!

Travel time is prime writing time, and in the maddening flurry that the holidays can be, I intend to cherish mine.

Winter Is Fixing My Plotholes

 Ever noticed how real-life experiences sometimes coincide with topics found on blogs around the internet? It just happened to me, with Nathan Bransford post on  The Importance of Exercise for Writer.

We received over a foot of snow in the last day, and as is the curse of those who live in houses rather than apartments during such weather, I had to pick up a shovel and go out. Now, most of my fellows will complain at such a task, but I've always found shoveling - while backbreaking after a while - to be good exercise. It's the winter's equivalent of mowing the lawn, but with less noise!

Plus, with all the studying I do these days, it's one of the rare moment (along with my 20-minutes walk to and from University) that I can think about my plot. Mindless tasks always help with planning. I am not the first to say it, and I doubt I'll be the last!

In the thirty minutes I spent outside, pushing snow around and shoveling it, I figured out how I would solve White Echoes' beginning plothole. This was one of my major concerns, because I could not properly justify why my character took the path of action that started everything.

And with the beginning of that answer came a whole new subplot, and a storyline that finally ties Henry Schmitt, one of the two main POVs, with the overarching plot on a personal level.

I sadly cannot give the new ideas all the love and thinking they deserve for the moment, but rest assured, they have been jotted down for future considerations. 

The plot thickens, I'm on a roll again, and I am having a good day!

Are You Plot, or Are You Pants?

There are typically two ways a Wrimo can get through NaNoWriMo: plotting and pantsing. The first involves careful planification of your novel before Nov. 1 hits and the second involves, well, winging the entire story. Each category has its own extremes, but also a multitude of in-betweens.

I have tried both techniques, and discovered I am a plotter. Last year I had a complete outline with every scene for my first novel and I breezed through it. Every now and then I added a scene, removed one or extended another, but it never veered of course.

Ten days after the start, I was done. And I was forced to take the pantsers' way.

It turned out okay, although I am now rewriting that novel. It's easier to do that than major edits. What I realised, though, is that every day during classes (shhh!) I would plan out the next 6-7k of my novel, to be written when the evening came. I could not come home with no idea of what was going to happen. I needed that plan. So even when forced to spontaneously write a story, I ended up planning it.

What works for me does not always work for others, however. How about you, Wrimos? Are you Plot, or are you Pants?