I’m a physicist, an author, and probably dangerously disturbed. I write about “The intersection of Science Avenue and Faith Boulevard” because that’s the corner where I live. This neighborhood doesn’t have many lights, so you see a lot of accidents around here. Be careful of the flying glass! My job in life is [...]]]> Randy Ingermanson says:

I’m a physicist, an author, and probably dangerously disturbed. I write about “The intersection of Science Avenue and Faith Boulevard” because that’s the corner where I live. This neighborhood doesn’t have many lights, so you see a lot of accidents around here. Be careful of the flying glass! My job in life is to disturb your universe. I hope that’s not a problem. An undisturbed universe is a dull universe.

Sounds like an interesting guy, right? You have yet to scratch the surface! Read more about him at http://www.ingermanson.com/ and be SURE to check out his blog at the Advanced Fiction Writing blog (http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/). While you’re there, give his Snowflake plotting method a look. Many writers find this a wonderfully helpful tool for plotting a story.

You’ll each then take a piece of paper, go off alone for 15 minutes, and write your answer to the question: What happens next? [...]]]> Today’s exercise works best if you can do it with at least two other people. You’ll all read the passage below from Hilda van Stockum’s wonderful book The Winged Watchman. (http://www.amazon.com/Winged-Watchman-Living-History-Library/dp/1883937078/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265747756&sr=8-1_)

You’ll each then take a piece of paper, go off alone for 15 minutes, and write your answer to the question: What happens next?

Come back together and compare your answers.

He was beginning to feel more at ease when a creaking board above startled him.  There was something moving in the top attic [of the abandoned windmill].  What should he do, run down?  He wanted to, but Father always said: “Face difficulties, don’t avoid them.  That way you’ll conquer them.”  Clasping the cat, whose warm purring gave him courage, he crept cautiously up the stairs.  After each step he listened.  There was no more noise; instead, it was so still that the cat’s purring sounded like the drone of a bomber.  Moisture broke out on Joris’ forehead and the skin of his scalp prickled.  He quickly mounted the last few steps.  He did not know what he had expected to find, but all he saw was broken machinery.  The mill’s windshaft lay abandoned on the floor, and the hole in the cap in which it had fitted was open, letting through clean daylight.  A current of air swayed the cobwebs which hung everywhere in garlands.  A roll of moldy sails lay tucked away, in the shadow, with coils of rope beside it.  Joris was just beginning to laugh at himself for his fears when the sails heaved.  Something was stirring under the roll.  Probably another cat, Joris told himself.  Again he felt the temptation to run.  Why did that obstinate tyrant inside him drive him on?  He’d explored as far as the top attic now, hadn’t he?  Why should he have to poke his nose under the sailcloth?  No one would know.  He could sneak off…

But he’d know it himself.  He’d always know, till the end of his days, that he’d been a coward at the last moment.

Drawing a deep breath, he moved forward and lifted up a sail.  It was wrenched out of his hand as a dark figure dashed from underneath and made a bolt for the stairs….

What happens next???

Discuss among yourselves why you each made the choices you made as you crafted your resolution to the mystery.  You’ll learn that you can give a group of writers the same plot and characters, and you’ll never end up with the same story twice!

(Note: If you can get a copy of the book prior to doing the assignment, you can skim through the first half of the book to find the passage quoted above – then discover how the author resolved the mystery. However, it’s better if you don’t know the story to try this assignment.)

For more writing help, visit Michelle Van Loon at www.homepagewriting.com.

“How do you expect me to remember everything that happens in this long story?” Rachel asked.

I told [...]]]> Studying the Plot

I asked one of my kids to read Victor Hugo’s classic Les Miserables when she was in high school. Have your ever seen an unabridged copy of the book? It’s hundreds of pages…thousands and thousand of words!

“How do you expect me to remember everything that happens in this long story?” Rachel asked.

I told her that I’d like her to read the book for a set minimum amount of time and then write a brief journal entry about the events she’d read about that day. It took her a few days to figure out what to include in her journal entries, and what she could omit. But when she finished the book, she had created a custom-made synopsis of the plot. The story captivated her, and the process of note-taking helped Rachel “own” the story for herself.

If you’re faced with reading a complicated classic, you might consider trying this exercise. Not only will you have a helpful summary of the story (a big help if you have to write a book report once you’ve finished reading!), you’ll be getting a daily tutorial in plot creation from a master of the craft.

For more writing help from Michelle Van Loon, visit www.homepagewriting.com

Sometimes we creative types don’t appreciate the word structure. We may view it as something to stifle our imagination.  However, structure doesn’t need to bind you, and it can be an essential tool in creating [...]]]> Story Structure

Structure in your story is like the frame of a house. It both holds it together and gives it shape.

Sometimes we creative types don’t appreciate the word structure. We may view it as something to stifle our imagination.  However, structure doesn’t need to bind you, and it can be an essential tool in creating a fast-paced page-turner.

The most common over-all story form is the three-act structure, made simply of beginning, middle, and end.  There’s plenty to learn about the elements of those three acts, but I’d like to concentrate today on the chapter-size structure of scene and sequel.

The Scene

The scene also has three elements: goal, conflict, and disaster. Write your scenes as though it were acted out on stage. Not a telling of what happened, but acted out before the reader’s eyes.

Goal: Just as your story needed to start with a goal, your scene also needs to begin with one. Fairly early in the scene, we need to know the goal or purpose the main character has. It needs to be something specific and obtainable.  For example, “gaining wealth” is general.  “Asking the boss for a raise” is specific.

Conflict: Your character must encounter conflict on his way to reach his goal. If Jim’s goal is to ask the boss for a raise and the boss says “yes”, then the scene is over. Boring. If Jim experiences inner conflict or actual roadblocks, then he must fight his way through, and we’ll cheer him on.

Remember, conflict is not simply bickering or misunderstanding.  It’s the struggle against something and opposition where the outcome is in doubt.

Disaster: Again if you character reaches the goal, the scene falls flat. If it ends in disaster, we turn the page and wonder what he’ll do next and how did he react to the disaster.

The Sequel

A reaction scene usually follows the disaster. Many writers refer to this as a sequel. It also has three parts: reaction, dilemma, and decision.

Reaction: At first, the main character is reeling from the disaster of the previous scene. He’ll react emotionally about how he felt and how he messed up.

Dilemma: Next he will begin to think more rationally about his problem. Give him new worries here, something additional to fret about. Have him consider his options now.

Decision: Finally, he’ll come to a conclusion and make a new decision. This new decision becomes his goal in the next scene.

A Sequence of Scenes and Sequels Sets the Pace

An understanding of the sequence of scene and sequel will help with the pacing of your story. If you need to speed it up, keep the sequel short, maybe tack it briefly on the end of the scene. Or you could open with a brief sequel, and go directly into the goal of the next scene.

If your story becomes breathless with too much action, the reader may need time to slow down. You can do this with a longer sequel.

The understanding of the structure of scene and sequel doesn’t need to bind you as a hard and fast rule, but it may be just the tip you need to turn your story into a page-turner.

Lesson

• Look through the story you are writing to see if you’ve written a scene or sequel.  Does it have the three elements from our lesson?

Select a chapter from one of your favorite books. Can you spot either scene or sequel elements?

No matter how you hammer them on the page, that’s a lot of words.

When, for the first time ever, [...]]]> A Novel is More than a Beginning and an End

Here are some novel facts:

• Most average novels run between 55,000-80,000 words.
• A “long novel” is considered to be a novel upwards of 80,000 words and stopping at about 100,000.

No matter how you hammer them on the page, that’s a lot of words.

When, for the first time ever, we come upon an amazing idea for a story or for a character that won’t leave us alone and we think to ourselves I want to write a novel, the second thought that often pops into our heads is, but how will I fill up all those pages?

It’s not that we can’t think of a wonderfully tragic beginning, or a dynamically thrilling ending, but it’s all that stuff in the middle that has the power to stop us in our keyboarding tracks. I like to think of this part of the writing process as the Maddening Middle. It’s the part where the story really should begin to pick up pace rather than slump off into a bunch of disjointed scenes or sagging events. It’s where characters stop being “characters” and are shaped into actual people whom readers begin to care and think about even when they’re not reading. What a great challenge to the writer, to create such lives!

What makes up the middle?

The middle is more than the hefty section of the book where this and that happens to simply fill up space. It is the section that weaves all the threads of plot and pace and people together. There, everything that happens has to have a reason. Even small events that seem singular at first, must eventually bind their way into the scheme of the big picture and push the plot toward the story’s conclusion. Here, the writer uses action to expose the motives of the villain, the passions of the heroine, the flaws of the hero. Here, the reader eavesdrops on dialogue meant to set their hearts quivering with anticipation or dread.

Writing the middles is definitely the hardest part, but it’s without doubt the most lively and emotional place to grow the story. In the middles, characters often begin making decisions without the writer’s help. They begin to move forward and create their own dilemmas, their own successes. They become their own personalities…if the writer allows it, and she should.

So if this is such a dynamic part of the process, why is it maddening? Why all this trouble with middles? Usually it’s because of pacing.

What is pacing, and how do we accomplish it?

Pacing is moving the story forward at the right speed so that the reader will keep turning the pages without getting bored or side-tracked. It’s the process of revealing secrets and actions in a way that makes a book hard or even impossible to put down. It’s letting each scene unfold to its fullest, and then stopping when it does. This means we can’t simply tell the reader what’s happening in a scene. We have to lead them along, allowing them to experience the emotion and the action.

Imagine a scene without words, and only actions. How do the actions convey the emotions and thoughts of the character? If you know, then you can draw the scene out to its fullest.

It’s easy to want to rush through scenes instead of letting them play out. Sometimes when we write, we visualize the story like a movie reel unwinding in our heads, and like watching any good movie, we can’t wait to get to the best parts. So, sometimes we rush through minor scenes in a hurry to get to the big turning point or the climax.

But if we take the time to milk out the small scenes, not only will the story become more fleshed out, and the characters better developed, but we may also find that we don’t have to hunt for more “stuff and fluff” to fill those pages. In fact, we may find out that we can easily exceed a reasonable word limit for our novels as the people we’ve created begin to live out their lives fully in those middle pages.

EXERCISES:

• Look closely at a scene you’ve written, and begin asking yourself a lot of “what-if” questions. Is this scene necessary? Does it move the story forward? What would happen if I wrote this scene from another character’s point of view? What if this action or conversation were to take place in a different location? Have I shown what the characters are feeling and thinking by their actions? In other words, have I milked the scene for all its emotional worth? For example: (nervousness/anxiety) He began rubbing his hands together as though he were working them over with an invisible paper towel. (Shyness/fear) She glanced at his waist, then over his shoulders; anywhere but into his eyes. (Anger/resolve) He planted his hands on his hips and hunched his shoulders forward as his lips tightened into a straight line.
• Try one of my favorite exercises, one that happens to be useful for lots of reasons, including that of getting the feel for pacing. Grab a book that is one of your favorites and find a scene that will live in your memory forever. The scene should be at least two pages long. Usually an action scene is a good choice, or a scene where something is at stake and the emotions are high. Now copy the scene. In longhand. Word for word. Copy it out so that it feels like its coming from you. Let the words sink into you as you write them. Pay attention to what’s happening and how. Notice the senses used to help the reader feel what the author is trying to convey. Do this from time to time, as often as you can. It will help you learn how a good, fleshy scene is developed.

So how do you build this emotion? Simply writing highly emotional phrases such as her [...]]]> Creating Emotion in Writing

Almost every writing class or craft book will tell you the same thing: fiction must create a compelling emotional experience. The problem is these teachers also let you know that if your character cries, the reader probably won’t.

So how do you build this emotion? Simply writing highly emotional phrases such as her heart pounded inside her chest won’t do the trick. Naming the emotion won’t work either. (She was angry.) You need instead to build warring emotions inside the character.

Remember the goal and motivation from Lesson One? Write it down again. Make sure the goal is concrete and difficult to reach. You need the concrete goal so the reader will know whether or not the hero obtains it. Sometimes students tell me their hero just wants to live a peaceable life. Personally, I think they need a more precise goal. Dig deeper.

Now that you’ve got a strong goal, write the opposite of that goal. How could your hero want these two opposite things? Suppose your hero wants to stop a villain from robbing a bank. Why might he not want to stop it? What if the thief was his younger brother? He wants to stop the robbery, but he doesn’t want to expose his own brother. Now you have warring emotions building inside the hero. Force him to make a choice: do the honest thing and stop the robbery or betray his own brother.

Forcing your hero to take a journey he dislikes, such as Finding Nemo or Shrek, causes conflicting emotions. They have a pressing need to go, but they don’t really want to. Or sending him on a journey he really wants, but placing road blocks that make him want to give up creates an emotional war inside. He wants this, but he doesn’t. Now he not only has to overcome the outer obstacles or the antagonist who hinders him, but he also has to struggle with himself.

The inner conflict of the character keeps a reader turning pages. Try it with your own hero and see if the story gains strength.

Exercise:

• Pick one of your favorite books. Think about the hero’s goal. Do they have strong motives for wanting their goal? Is there also a reason for not wanting it? Can you identity the conflicting emotions within the main character?
• Write down three reasons why your protagonist wants to reach his goal.
• Write down three reasons why he might not want to reach the goal.
• Tell me about the warring emotions of your character in the comment section below.

If you’ve finished Lesson 1 and discovered the goal, motivation and conflict for your story, you need to think about the setting.  The setting plays an important role in the story since it anchors the reader in a time and place and provides a foundation.

Several items [...]]]> Planning Your Story’s Setting

The Importance of Your Story World

If you’ve finished Lesson 1 and discovered the goal, motivation and conflict for your story, you need to think about the setting.  The setting plays an important role in the story since it anchors the reader in a time and place and provides a foundation.

Several items factor in here: time, place, climate, and even weather. Let’s take a quick look at each.

You must choose a time period for your story. Will it be a historical, contemporary or even futuristic? Here’s where you can have fun. Imagine the basic conflict you thought about in Lesson 1 and try placing it in different time periods. Would a change enhance the conflict or motivation?  For instance, what if you placed the character who wanted to find her long lost mother you thought about for a contemporary novel in the middle of the Civil War instead? Maybe the setting itself would add conflict to your story. When considering time, don’t forget to think about the time of day. Could the scene you have in mind be more vivid if it happened at night?

Think also of the place where your story will take place. Is it in the United States? Is it a rural or urban setting? What buildings are present? Some settings such as deserts or wilderness areas are so hostile they become the antagonist in the story.

The climate and weather also play a role. A thunderstorm at the wrong time can add to your character’s obstacles to overcome. Plan around the seasons too. Would that chase scene be even worse on snowy roads?

Exercises: Answer these questions about your setting

• What details about the setting will your character notice that others might miss?
• How might the hero’s sidekick feel differently about this place?
• What problems already exist in this story world?
• What makes this place risky?
• What strong nouns and verbs can you list to show the setting and mood?
• How will you bring out the five senses in this setting?

A Woodcutter’s Life by Tim Burr

Pirate Gold by Barry D. Treasure

Snakes in Tall Grass by Leva Malone

My Struggle with Insomnia by Anita Knapp

Pitfalls of Procrastination by Ida Dunmore

You get the idea…once you get past the title, there’s not much to say.

How do you come up with [...]]]> Have you ever heard of the shortest stories never written?

A Woodcutter’s Life by Tim Burr

Pirate Gold by Barry D. Treasure

Snakes in Tall Grass by Leva Malone

My Struggle with Insomnia by Anita Knapp

Pitfalls of Procrastination by Ida Dunmore

You get the idea…once you get past the title, there’s not much to say.

How do you come up with ideas for a story worth writing? One people would enjoy reading? One that might even make you famous?

Plotting with Goal, Motivation, and Conflict

The keys to a story readers can’t put down are goal, motivation, and conflict.

A goal is something you want—something you want so badly it feels like a hunger, and not just an “I could go for a pizza” sort of snack-y feeling. A real craving that gnaws at you. Something that will have serious consequences if you don’t get it.

Your motivation is the reason you want it. What’s at stake? Life? Liberty? Your future happiness? The continuation of the universe as we know it?

Conflict is what you’re up against. Why you may not get what you want. The almost insurmountable odds that you’re not going to be able to pull this off.

If you can give the characters in your story some serious goals, motivations that drive them, and conflicts to challenge their odds of ever living happily ever after, you’ve got the beginnings of a story of consequence that deserves to be written.

Exercise 1:

• Think about your favorite books and movies. Try to identify the goal, motivation, and conflicts of the main character. (There may be several.) Use this sentence to help you:

          (Character) wants (goal) because (motivation), but (conflict).

• Start lists of big ideas for goals, motivations, and conflicts. Some may be quirky, and others may be almost universal. Don’t limit your imagination at this point. Then pick one of each at random and see what story ideas you come up with.