(Pretend this is last week. I got busy getting ready to go on vacation and never quite got around to posting this until now. Sorry!)
I had to kill some of my darlings last week.
No, not characters. But in the process of editing Book 1 of "The Daughters of August Winterbourne", a couple of my favorite scenes had to die.
One scene was particularly painful to cut. It involved having my characters go to a concert conducted by Johann Strauss II, and, because my lead character, Celia Winterbourne, is somewhat famous in her own right, they all get invited back stage afterward to meet the composer, who has written a piece in honor of Celia and her sisters.
One reason it was painful to cut this scene was because I had put a fair amount of research into it. While there is no evidence that Strauss came to Oxford in 1873, he did tour England that year, before going off to America to give a series of concerts there. And it appears that he did tend to compose waltzes almost "on the fly," as it were, in honor of the places he visited. I'd also worked hard on his accent, trying to give the flavor of an Austrian accent without going too far overboard on it. The scene also had some very nice interaction between Celia and her sisters, and between Celia and her suitor, Nicholas Fletcher.
But in the end, despite all that, when I went back and re-read the story, I concluded that the scene did not advance the plot one iota. And so, with greatest reluctance, I deleted it from the story.
I console myself with the fact that it still exists in the saved file of the first draft, and if I ever want to go back and visit it, I can. And perhaps someday, if this story ever gets published, I'll put it (and a few other deleted scenes) out on a web page somewhere for people to read and laugh at and say, "Yep, you're right. That really didn't advance the plot at all, did it?"
Has anyone else ever had to kill a "darling"? Have you read stories where you found yourself thinking, "Okay, that was fun, but what did it have to do with the plot?"
Showing posts with label plotting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plotting. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Trust The Process; or, Sneaky Inner Editor Is Sneaky
Writing this week has been a bit of a struggle, and I think I've figured out why.
Now that the pressure of NaNoWriMo is off, I've slowed my pace a little, trying to avoid things like the 5,000 word info-dump airship description. I'm trying to be more analytical up front and figure out which scenes are really needed and which ones are not. I'm trying to be more careful in my word choices, in making sure to show not tell, in writing believable dialogue.
In other words, my Inner Editor has crept out of her box and taken over. And that spells disaster.
Why is this a problem, you ask? After all, if you're writing better stuff up front, that means less editing on the back end, right?
And that would be true...except that, in my case, the presence of Inner Editor during the writing phase usually stifles the story to such an extent that there might not ever be a back end, because I'll never get it finished. So that doesn't really help any, either.
Still, my first instinct is to try not to produce another 275,000 word behemoth. Those are just difficult to deal with. Especially when cutting them into two more reasonably-sized pieces simply doesn't work.
But then, on the same day, I found two articles that made me re-think that decision.
The first was an article in the Irish Times, where the author was privileged to sit in on a writing workshop with author Terry Pratchett. You really should go and read the whole thing, but I'll post the bit that got my attention here.
At the end of the workshop, Mr. Pratchett listed his three secrets of writing the perfect book. The third one was the one that caught my attention:
“First draft: let it run. Turn all the knobs up to 11. Second draft: hell. Cut it down and cut it into shape. Third draft: comb its nose and blow its hair. I usually find that most of the book will have handed itself to me on that first draft. I don’t know how. It has to do with my subconscious – the subconscious of someone who’s been doing it for a long time."
It sounds like good advice. Let it run, and turn all the knobs up to 11. Cutting into shape can happen later.
And then I found Delia Sherman's blog entry on "How To Survive A First Draft". It's another good read, and you should go and do just that. But this was the bit that seemed to be calling out to me:
"3) Bull on through regardless, throwing words at the wall in the hope that some will stick. One member of my writing group, when writing her first draft, writes scenes that seem to happen in Real Time, in which the characters sit around cooking dinner or mending harness while talking about the weather or the crops or their love lives for PAGES AND PAGES, which is fun for us to read, but not ultimately useful to the plot or the structure of the novel...She doesn't rewrite them until she's finished the draft, at which point they either disappear or get so completely rewritten that maybe only the setting and one line of dialogue survive from the original. She finds writing them immensely useful, though, however seemingly inefficient, for getting to know characters, for creating an atmosphere or details of her world."
Wow. Yes, that's actually what I seem to do, too. I write about things in nauseating detail, things I know aren't needed for the final draft. But writing scenes and details like these are what helps me to find the heart of the story. And therefore, practical or not, I need to just tell Inner Editor to sit down, shut up, and wait her turn.
(By the way, when you go read that blog entry, don't forget to scroll down and read the comments, because there is wisdom to be found there as well. Like this little gem from Ellen Kushner: "...we sometimes criticize books that are *too* tightly-written as being "only the Good Parts version" . . . . My friends, do not fear Dialogue! and Description! and Mood and Scene-Setting and.....!")
So what it all comes down to is that I need to keep reminding myself to Trust The Process. Write the draft now, edit it later. Give the characters room to breathe, and they will help me find the missing heart to the story. Editing can -- and will -- come later.
Do other people have trouble trusting the process? Is it possible to make changes to the process and still have it work?
Now that the pressure of NaNoWriMo is off, I've slowed my pace a little, trying to avoid things like the 5,000 word info-dump airship description. I'm trying to be more analytical up front and figure out which scenes are really needed and which ones are not. I'm trying to be more careful in my word choices, in making sure to show not tell, in writing believable dialogue.
In other words, my Inner Editor has crept out of her box and taken over. And that spells disaster.
Why is this a problem, you ask? After all, if you're writing better stuff up front, that means less editing on the back end, right?
And that would be true...except that, in my case, the presence of Inner Editor during the writing phase usually stifles the story to such an extent that there might not ever be a back end, because I'll never get it finished. So that doesn't really help any, either.
Still, my first instinct is to try not to produce another 275,000 word behemoth. Those are just difficult to deal with. Especially when cutting them into two more reasonably-sized pieces simply doesn't work.
But then, on the same day, I found two articles that made me re-think that decision.
The first was an article in the Irish Times, where the author was privileged to sit in on a writing workshop with author Terry Pratchett. You really should go and read the whole thing, but I'll post the bit that got my attention here.
At the end of the workshop, Mr. Pratchett listed his three secrets of writing the perfect book. The third one was the one that caught my attention:
“First draft: let it run. Turn all the knobs up to 11. Second draft: hell. Cut it down and cut it into shape. Third draft: comb its nose and blow its hair. I usually find that most of the book will have handed itself to me on that first draft. I don’t know how. It has to do with my subconscious – the subconscious of someone who’s been doing it for a long time."
It sounds like good advice. Let it run, and turn all the knobs up to 11. Cutting into shape can happen later.
And then I found Delia Sherman's blog entry on "How To Survive A First Draft". It's another good read, and you should go and do just that. But this was the bit that seemed to be calling out to me:
"3) Bull on through regardless, throwing words at the wall in the hope that some will stick. One member of my writing group, when writing her first draft, writes scenes that seem to happen in Real Time, in which the characters sit around cooking dinner or mending harness while talking about the weather or the crops or their love lives for PAGES AND PAGES, which is fun for us to read, but not ultimately useful to the plot or the structure of the novel...She doesn't rewrite them until she's finished the draft, at which point they either disappear or get so completely rewritten that maybe only the setting and one line of dialogue survive from the original. She finds writing them immensely useful, though, however seemingly inefficient, for getting to know characters, for creating an atmosphere or details of her world."
Wow. Yes, that's actually what I seem to do, too. I write about things in nauseating detail, things I know aren't needed for the final draft. But writing scenes and details like these are what helps me to find the heart of the story. And therefore, practical or not, I need to just tell Inner Editor to sit down, shut up, and wait her turn.
(By the way, when you go read that blog entry, don't forget to scroll down and read the comments, because there is wisdom to be found there as well. Like this little gem from Ellen Kushner: "...we sometimes criticize books that are *too* tightly-written as being "only the Good Parts version" . . . . My friends, do not fear Dialogue! and Description! and Mood and Scene-Setting and.....!")
So what it all comes down to is that I need to keep reminding myself to Trust The Process. Write the draft now, edit it later. Give the characters room to breathe, and they will help me find the missing heart to the story. Editing can -- and will -- come later.
Do other people have trouble trusting the process? Is it possible to make changes to the process and still have it work?
Thursday, October 14, 2010
It's October 14, Do You Know Where Your Plot Is; or, NaNoWriMo, Coming Soon
I looked at my calendar today and felt a rush of panic mingled with a dose of anticipation.
It's October 14.
Which means that NaNoWriMo is just over two weeks away.
And I don't know where my plot is.
Now, this is not as bad as it could be. For instance, on October 14, 2006, I hadn't even heard of National Novel Writing Month (a.k.a. NaNoWriMo). And yet, November 1 found me pounding away at the keyboard of my laptop. November 30 had me well over the 50,000 word "finish line," and before Christmas, I'd brought my first NaNoNovel in at right around 100,000 words.
The problem is that back then, I didn't really have a goal, other than writing a novel. But this year, my plan is to try to write the second book of the Celia Winterbourne trilogy. And I don't know what happens in this book.
All right. I know a few things. I know that it starts with Celia sitting high in a tree, looking down over a gypsy encampment, on what should have been her wedding day. And I'm pretty sure that it ends in an airship over the Atlantic Ocean. I even know a few of the things that need to happen in between. (For a look at those, check out my story synopsis on the NaNoWriMo website.)
What has me in a panic is that I'm not sure what the story arc needs to be for this middle book in the series. I have a much better idea of the story arc for the third book, but it's not time to write that yet -- especially since things that happen in the second book will affect the plot of the third. At the moment, I'm worried that this second book will end up feeling like nothing more than a placeholder, a place to kill time while waiting for the third book to happen. There needs to be a satisfying amount of action and character growth to make the story worth telling.
I suppose I just need to knuckle down, shove Inner Editor back into her dungeon for the month, and keep reminding myself to write first and edit later. But that's not always the easiest thing in the world to do.
I also don't want a repeat of NaNoWriMo 2008, where I decided to write the sequel to my 2006 NaNoNovel. That year, I didn't finish until March, and when I did, I was left with a 280,000 word behemoth that I still haven't figured out what to do with (except, perhaps, to print it up and use it as a really effective doorstop).
On the other hand, maybe if I have fewer story details going in, I'll have an easier time bringing the story in at a reasonable length. (I'm still trying to trim the first book down from its original 186,000 word length -- so far, I've cropped 11,000 words out of it!)
So is anyone else attempting NaNoWriMo this year? Or have you set some other writing goals for yourself?
(p.s. For anyone who is doing NaNoWriMo and hasn't already done so, my NaNo handle is arwensouth, if you'd like to add me to your buddies list.)
(p.p.s. Did anyone fall off their chair because I actually posted this on Thursday for a change?)
It's October 14.
Which means that NaNoWriMo is just over two weeks away.
And I don't know where my plot is.
Now, this is not as bad as it could be. For instance, on October 14, 2006, I hadn't even heard of National Novel Writing Month (a.k.a. NaNoWriMo). And yet, November 1 found me pounding away at the keyboard of my laptop. November 30 had me well over the 50,000 word "finish line," and before Christmas, I'd brought my first NaNoNovel in at right around 100,000 words.
The problem is that back then, I didn't really have a goal, other than writing a novel. But this year, my plan is to try to write the second book of the Celia Winterbourne trilogy. And I don't know what happens in this book.
All right. I know a few things. I know that it starts with Celia sitting high in a tree, looking down over a gypsy encampment, on what should have been her wedding day. And I'm pretty sure that it ends in an airship over the Atlantic Ocean. I even know a few of the things that need to happen in between. (For a look at those, check out my story synopsis on the NaNoWriMo website.)
What has me in a panic is that I'm not sure what the story arc needs to be for this middle book in the series. I have a much better idea of the story arc for the third book, but it's not time to write that yet -- especially since things that happen in the second book will affect the plot of the third. At the moment, I'm worried that this second book will end up feeling like nothing more than a placeholder, a place to kill time while waiting for the third book to happen. There needs to be a satisfying amount of action and character growth to make the story worth telling.
I suppose I just need to knuckle down, shove Inner Editor back into her dungeon for the month, and keep reminding myself to write first and edit later. But that's not always the easiest thing in the world to do.
I also don't want a repeat of NaNoWriMo 2008, where I decided to write the sequel to my 2006 NaNoNovel. That year, I didn't finish until March, and when I did, I was left with a 280,000 word behemoth that I still haven't figured out what to do with (except, perhaps, to print it up and use it as a really effective doorstop).
On the other hand, maybe if I have fewer story details going in, I'll have an easier time bringing the story in at a reasonable length. (I'm still trying to trim the first book down from its original 186,000 word length -- so far, I've cropped 11,000 words out of it!)
So is anyone else attempting NaNoWriMo this year? Or have you set some other writing goals for yourself?
(p.s. For anyone who is doing NaNoWriMo and hasn't already done so, my NaNo handle is arwensouth, if you'd like to add me to your buddies list.)
(p.p.s. Did anyone fall off their chair because I actually posted this on Thursday for a change?)
Friday, July 23, 2010
Plotting, Pantsing, Plotsing –
There are probably as many different ways to come up with a story and commit it to paper as there are story ideas. Some authors plot, some “Pants” (as in “fly by the seat of your”) and others do something in between. There are workshops and blog posts a plenty about them all. And when you’re a newbie it can be overwhelming trying to find just the right way to come up with your story elements.
I’ve attended workshops on elaborate story boarding complete with poster-board and multi-colored post-it notes. I’ve also attended workshops given by successful authors who didn’t plot a thing, they just sat and wrote and out plopped a best seller.
I am not an organized person – I try to be. At work I’m Little Miss Anal but in my personal life I’m neat, but not organized. I used to live with someone who alphabetized their books and CDs – mine just landed on a shelf in an arrangement that seemed nice. In my writing I’ve tried both plotting and pantsing and I’ve come to a conclusion – I’m neither, and both.
Last year I wrote a short story that I plotted out chapter by chapter. I will say that did make things easy when I sat down to write. It turned out okay and the story is finished (although needs to go through the editing phase). It worked out so well that I decided to do it for my novel length project. Turns out, plotting a novel chapter by chapter is very different from plotting a short story. But what I realized during my plotting frustration was that I was writing the ‘wrong’ story. My plot just wasn’t working and, to make matters even more frustrating, a bit of research brought up a whole new story idea that I just wanted to write. Not plot. But write.
So, that’s what I did. I set aside Novel #1 and began writing the current WIP I’m calling “Montana Groom”. The first few chapters are rough at best – there’s plenty of telling and not showing, characters who are one way and then another and we won’t even talk about the grammar issues. But yesterday at lunch I had a writer’s “ah ha!” moment. I figured out my major internal conflicts for my hero and heroine. This of course means re-writing the opening chapters (but like fellow Melt-Ink Potter Samantha said, better that than the whole book!) but it also means that from here on out I know how I want the story to go. And I’m going to plot – kind of. I’m going to write out the main scenes that I want to have happen (if only so I don’t forget). I’m not to the halfway point yet but I do feel like it’s all down hill from here on this novel.
So will this approach work on another project? It’s hard to say. What I’ve learned is that each story is different. What works for this project might not work for another. I’ve also learned that’s okay. Getting the words down is what matters in the end.
I’ve attended workshops on elaborate story boarding complete with poster-board and multi-colored post-it notes. I’ve also attended workshops given by successful authors who didn’t plot a thing, they just sat and wrote and out plopped a best seller.
I am not an organized person – I try to be. At work I’m Little Miss Anal but in my personal life I’m neat, but not organized. I used to live with someone who alphabetized their books and CDs – mine just landed on a shelf in an arrangement that seemed nice. In my writing I’ve tried both plotting and pantsing and I’ve come to a conclusion – I’m neither, and both.
Last year I wrote a short story that I plotted out chapter by chapter. I will say that did make things easy when I sat down to write. It turned out okay and the story is finished (although needs to go through the editing phase). It worked out so well that I decided to do it for my novel length project. Turns out, plotting a novel chapter by chapter is very different from plotting a short story. But what I realized during my plotting frustration was that I was writing the ‘wrong’ story. My plot just wasn’t working and, to make matters even more frustrating, a bit of research brought up a whole new story idea that I just wanted to write. Not plot. But write.
So, that’s what I did. I set aside Novel #1 and began writing the current WIP I’m calling “Montana Groom”. The first few chapters are rough at best – there’s plenty of telling and not showing, characters who are one way and then another and we won’t even talk about the grammar issues. But yesterday at lunch I had a writer’s “ah ha!” moment. I figured out my major internal conflicts for my hero and heroine. This of course means re-writing the opening chapters (but like fellow Melt-Ink Potter Samantha said, better that than the whole book!) but it also means that from here on out I know how I want the story to go. And I’m going to plot – kind of. I’m going to write out the main scenes that I want to have happen (if only so I don’t forget). I’m not to the halfway point yet but I do feel like it’s all down hill from here on this novel.
So will this approach work on another project? It’s hard to say. What I’ve learned is that each story is different. What works for this project might not work for another. I’ve also learned that’s okay. Getting the words down is what matters in the end.
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