Tag Archives: Tools

Knowledge + Experience = Wisdom.

Great writers develop a deft touch and an extensive toolkit of skills to draw upon. They marry their knowledge with their experience to produce something more. The good news is that we don’t each have to discover every skill ourselves in a vacuum.

I enjoy reading. I always have. It is one of the reasons I turned to writing as a youth. I find reading to be a great escape, which is probably why one of my favorite genres is fantasy. I love getting lost in a good story. However, as a writer there’s so much more a good story can provide than just the escape. Great authors teach those willing to learn from their experience, those able to see. I struggle sometimes to do that. I tend to get sucked in too deep to analyze as I read. Usually I have to go back and study after I reach the end.

In a recent post, Leigh talked about how she learns from great authors. I haven’t yet tried the technique she recommends, but I think when I do it will help cement even better some of the lessons I learn from authors I enjoy.

In my own writing, I’ve developed some strengths, and am working to identify additional areas for improvement. One strength of mine is action scenes. I’ve spent a lot of time working on these, and I’ve studied some great authors to learn ways to improve delivery of a good action scene. Matthew Reilly, author of Scarecrow, is one example. This book is an excellent military thriller that delivers non-stop action from page one to the very end. From him, I learned the importantce of keeping sentences and even paragraphs short in action scenes to ratchet up the tension. That simple change in structure has a huge impact. Another critical element for writing great action scenes is to use multiple senses to really draw the reader into the action and help them feel the danger. Too many authors gloss over action scenes at a high level and miss delivering that visceral experience to the reader.

On the other hand, an area I am working to improve is character depth/complexity/arc. Since I write fantasy, not thrillers, I need more character development and depth than a pure thriller might worry about, so I’ve turned to other authors for insights.

I recently read Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind. I thoroughly enjoyed the novel, and learned some lessons from it. The book is very interesting, but not really very action packed. Despite the lack of lots of action, it did not bore me or let my interest wander. That’s because it is a great example of a fascinating, complex world brought to life with excellent descriptions, and a character we really root for. These are things I can learn from and add to the solid structure and explosive action scenes I already know how to write.

Another book I recently finished reading was The Warded Man by Peter V Brett. This is a dark fantasy with a brilliant concept and truly high stakes. Again, the action scenes were not what jumped out at me in this book. Instead, the magic system and precarious situation of the characters sucked me in. The worled was well defined and exotic, and all the main characters were complex and compelling. I plan to study this book again with an eye toward developing stronger, multi-faceted characters.

I’m on the hunt for other books that are great examples of particular skills. What books do you consider landmark novels that have taught you or given you insights to lift your craft to a higher level?

To Pants or to Plan?

April 11, 2012

Frank Morin

Craft & Skills Frank Morin Rewriting The Writing Life Writing Tools 2 Comments

There are two opposing camps when it comes to how an author approaches writing their novel. On one side are the story ‘pantsers’, those who sit down with only a vague idea of their story and start typing. They discover the story through the act of writing it, usually through a multiple re-drafting process. On the opposite side are the ‘planners’, those authors who sit down and design a story to the nth degree before they actually begin the first draft. They might write almost as many words in the outline as they do in the first draft, but end up with fewer re-writes most of the time. Both camps have their avid followers who trumpet the benefits of doing it their way while pointing out the drawbacks of the other philosophy.

I’ve found that most authors fall somewhere in the middle between these two philosophies. We plan some, and we free-write some. Authors will shift along the spectrum between the two philosophies from one project to another, or as their level of experience changes.

I started as a total discovery writer, complete with many drafts of my first novel as the story evolved and I figured out what I was really writing about. Over time, and as I’ve gained a better mastery of the craft, I’ve crept across the spectrum toward the opposite camp. The more of an outliner I become, the more up-front work I invest in a story before beginning to write. Once the outline is ready, I can schedule a ‘burst-writing’ session – a focused period, several days to a week, where I can pound out tons of work based on that outline. I did that last year and wrote 52,000 words in one week. I’m planning to do so again soon with my next novel.

I’ve developed the following outline process:
1. First I do all the high-level brainstorming for the new story. This can take a while as I chew on a new idea and work it from the initial proposal into a viable story worthy of serious consideration. Lots of ideas don’t make it past this first step.

2. Once I feel the story has promise and I’m starting to get a good sense for it, I write down the foundational information I’ve developed so far. This includes character sketches, world-building, and initial plot ideas. The process of writing it all down and trying to work it into a logical, comprehensive whole identifies gaps and leads to new inspiration in fleshing out the world, characters and plot.

3. I develop the high-level plot outline. In my current story, this ended up being about 8000 words. I choose scenes, decide which characters to populate them, high-level conflicts, and how each scene will drive the plot forward. At this point, I’m looking to get my first full view of the complete story arc from beginning to end. I develop arcs for each major character to ensure I’m addressing things from each of their perspectives, and considering the plot through each of their eyes. This process yields tons of fresh insights, new twists to consider, and helps the story really come alive.

4. If this is a brand new story (as opposed to a sequel), I find it useful to write the first few chapters based on the high-level outline. This helps solidify the character voices and the feel for the world and how the story is going to work. I get ‘locked in’ to the story this way. I can usually tell if I’m on the right track now, or if there’s something still fundamentally wrong with the plot, characters, or world.

5. I develop what I call a mid-level outline. I run through the outline again, fleshing out the scenes, clarifying and adding detail. For some of the important scenes, I add sections of dialogue or work out how I’m going to approach the action sequences. This is particularly helpful in planning complex endings.

This is the step I’m on right now. I’ve taken the 8000 word high-level outline and expanded it to about 15,000 words so far. I’ll probably complete the outline at about 20,000 words or so. At that point, I could do another pass and produce even more detail, but the story is really coming alive for me, so I don’t think that will be necessary.

When I begin writing scenes for the first real draft, I keep the outline in mind, but this is where I free-write. The outline is the framework and helps me identify when my free-writing takes me off on new tangents. Sometimes those tangents are awesome – a flash of inspiration that I could not have figured out unless I was in ‘the zone’ writing full scenes. Sometimes they’re a bad idea that takes the story off a cliff. Any time I break the framework, I need to go back and analyze how this change will impact the story. Either it’s brilliant and the rest of the story needs to change as a result, or it’s a false-start that needs to be chopped.

If I decide to keep it, I have to make sure I can still maintain the story integrity. I have to ask: do my plot points and story arcs and character arcs still make sense? Will pacing be right? Will the ending still work? Adjustments often need to be made.

This sometimes seems like a lot of work, but it’s actually a lot less than the alternative. This way I can identify the impacts to the story early on and choose how to address it. Before, I would keep writing, maybe all the way to the end of the story before I realized other components needed to be changed. That would require an entire new draft, which was a lot more re-work and took a lot more time.

Through this blended outline/free-write approach, I’ve dramatically cut down how long it takes to write even a big-fat-epic-fantasy novel like mine.

How do you approach a new novel?

Road Maps Help Get You There

December 30, 2011

clancy

Clancy Metzger Craft & Skills The Fictorians The Writing Life Writing Tools 7 Comments

I have found in my writing and in my life, that if I make a list, take notes, outline, plan – I will get whatever it is needs done just that much easier and quicker.

I’m talking about making a six month, one year, five year plan for your writing and for your life. They aren’t the same, although sometimes it may feel that way. As a sidebar – life is what feeds our writing, so don’t ignore it or you may find your writing drying up and getting stale from lack of fresh inspiration.

Family, friends, classes, the bowling league, hobbies, reading and the latest movie are not only food for your soul but food for your writing. Do you know how high a priority they are? Will you have that on your list in a year or five? Think about it…

My friends know my schedule is hectic, so if they want to have time with me, it has to be scheduled. I make time for my friends because they are important to me, but I also have to literally make time for them or they get lost in the craziness of my schedule. They are a high priority and on my master plan, so that is covered.

I recently had to turn down helping on an event in 2012 I really wanted to do because I didn’t have the time to commit to it. Is it now on my plan for 2013? You bet it is. I have a plan for it and other things will have to get sacrificed so I can participate, but that’s ok. I’m planning ahead so I know what’s coming up, what needs done, and when.

What about your writing? Will you have one book done a year, two a year, one epic and one novella? What’s your goal? What’s the plan to get there? How are you going to accomplish it? Do you write intently one weekend a month, a page a day, an hour a day? All this planning helps you accomplish your goals. It really does.

If you spend a little time planning ahead, you don’t have to think about it, you can just get on with what needs done. An hour of planning on Monday for the week can save you several hours wasted while you figure out what you needed to do each day.

In my writing, I’m a plotter not a pantser, but I recently tried pantsing a novel. I got a good start on it, about 30K and then I had no idea where I was going. I knew how it ended but I had no idea the route to get there. I was completely lost. Now, I’m having to map my course so I can finish my story’s journey.

I may be a little over-zealous on this planning issue, as I am the person who had a 47-page itinerary for a ten-day road trip from coast to coast, but maybe that’s just how I need to operate in order to get to my destination. Some of you may be able to jump in the car and drive with no plan, but I suspect most will fall in between the two extremes.

I’m just suggesting that you consider planning. See if it doesn’t make things run smoother. If you aren’t already a planner, try it as an experiment. Figure out the goal for the week, day by day, and follow it. Let me know if it helps.

My goals for the next year?

Writing – Do my regularly schedule blog posts on all three of my sites, write at least 4 hours a day/4 times a week with a goal of finishing two books during the year, and actively submitting.

Life – Do not take on any more commitments, schedule time at least once a month with my “best-y”, schedule my days so they are more productive, and ensure my writing time is held sacred.

Go forth and plan…Be ‘Fictorious!’

Burst Writing

November 18, 2011

Frank Morin

Craft & Skills Frank Morin The Writing Life 4 Comments

This is not a new term, but the concept is new to me this year. In a nutshell, it means writing as much as possible in a concentrated burst, like a sprinter in the 100-yard dash. You can cover a lot of ground this way really fast. It’s a lot like the November NaNo challenge, only even more intense.

It’s extremely productive, so why don’t I do it all the time? Two reasons:

First, it requires setting aside a block of time in which to burst-write. This is challenging in our hectic lives and limited vacation time.

Second, we need to be prepared. You can’t sit down at your computer at the beginning of a burst sprint and ask yourself, “Now what should I write about?” It would be like trying to sprint through a bamboo forest. You won’t get very far.

A successful burst sprint is the culmination of a great deal of prep work. Just like an Olympic sprint, which may only take a few seconds, can only be successful after months of preparation by the sprinters.

I have historically written more like a long-distance runner: slow and steady. Depending on my work schedule, I might get to write once a week for a couple of hours, or not at all. I’ve pushed myself to write daily, and for a few months this year I managed to do it.

I tried burst-writing this year for the first time. I set aside a week in March and physically removed myself from all of the normal day-to-day distractions and just write. For the first time, I’d developed a detailed outline of the story I wanted to write. I had already written the first few chapters, soI felt like I had the character voices down pretty well, and I had a plan in place.

In one week, I wrote 52,000 words. See my full blog post about the event here

Major success. I completed about half of my novel. I am currently working on the second draft of that same novel. The burst was the culmination of several months of worldbuilding, brainstorming, planning, and outlining.

Lessons learned from the writing burst:

Plan well. I did have a pretty good outline, but I hadn’t addressed a few key concepts in the book, and I’ve had to go back in the second draft and revise.
Don’t need an entire week. Out of that week, I was most productive over a four-day period, averaging over 10,000 words per day. It was hard to set aside an entire week, but it would be a lot easier to take a weekend and hide away somewhere for two or three days. I could reasonably expect to complete at least 25,000 words in that timeframe. That’s pretty good. Outside of a burst-sprint, it can take weeks or even months to write that much, depending on my schedule.
Don’t edit while writing. To crank out that many words, you have to trust the plan and let your fingers fly. Just write and keep pushing through the story. This is where a weak outline will kill you because if you hit a snag or don’t know what happens next, you’ll totally lose your momentum.

One of the greatest benefits of burst-writing is seeing solid progress in a short period of time. It’s exciting. Sometimes the slow, plodding pace I’m forced into can be a little discouraging. I start wondering if I’m ever going to finish. Burst sprints help re-vitalize my enthusiasm and keeps me focused on the project.

I am gearing up for another burst-writing session, probably 3 or 4 days in length. I was hoping to do it in November as part of the NaNo challenge, but the timing didn’t work out. I’m still editing this story, and my outline of the next novel is only about 70% complete. I’m hoping for a small burst sprint in December, with a longer one in January.

Until then, I look for one day a week where I can mini-burst: at least 3 hours of dedicated, focused time. Sometimes all I get is an hour, but longer periods are so much more productive because I can get in “the zone’ and stay there, cranking out the words.

For me, a two-hour minimum block of time is most productive. What have other people found works best for them? Have you tried burst-writing? Has it worked for you?