Coulda Shoulda Woulda

The problem with books is, it's so easy to make what *SHOULD* be a B plot into an A plot and not know the difference.

That was my real trouble starting out- I fell in love with a character, and I tried to tell his story from his POV.... which ended up being really whiney and boring and plotless.  It was so hard to scrap the story, though, because I loved this character like he was my goddamned child.

So I sort of cheated, and meandered away from his story without making a conscious decision.  All for the best- except that I wasted months and months and have to scrap an entire manuscript.

Because I'm usually inspired by characters, that problem has happened *a lot.*

But I'm finally learning: even if you, their creator, have opinions about what lessons these characters should learn, and what they should have done, you have to bury those opinions as much as possible and give the characters the respect they deserve.  

The reader has to feel what the character feels throughout the piece- get trapped in their head- and have the same revelation the characters has, in order for that revelation to be real and pack emotional punch.  *RUTH RANDELL is FANTASTIC at this*

I think that one way to do that- the easiest way, in terms of craft- is to bury the "lesson" plot in the B story-line, to avoid telegraphing.  The reader pays so much attention to the obviously high-stakes stuff in the A plot that they give shortshrift to some important "clues"- just like a person would do in real life.

What are other methods of indirection?

Personally, I tend to become too close to my characters to think about lessons and shoulda-coulda-woulda kind of things.  But I'm writing a YA that draws on Persian traditions, and although for my rough draft I'm just going wherever I want to go with it, ultimately I don't want to be needlessly insensitive or heavy-handed or clueless, and give "take-away lessons" that I don't mean to.  

bring the noise make me lose my breath

The line is thin between intriguing and frustrating- so where does "playing coy" stop and "creating tension" begin?

Tension Techniques:

-Cliffhangers at the end of every chapter, and, if possible, at the end of every paragraph

  

A cliffhanger is when a whole new set of possibilities open up.  Such as: when a character realizes that she's screwed up, that her assumptions are wrong, when she is plunged into a new world, a relationship is destroyed, or begins.  The moment when the character gasps because she's confronted with something new and doesn't yet know the consequences.... that's a cliffhanger.

-Permanent, horrible stuff happens.  The consequences seem more real and more dreadful if the reader gets an early taste of defeat.  It helps make the stakes feel bigger, and like the protagonist is in more jeopardy.  Plus, if something bad COULD happen to the protagonist in any given situation, it probably should- she never has the easy way out.  It's ok to be tough on your hero- that's what makes her heroic!  Like Job, I guess :)

-Increasing the stakes by putting more and more people in jeopardy.  It might be that over the course of the book, the protagonist realizes the threat is much bigger than she thought, or it might be that the villains actually do become a stronger, bigger threat.  Either way, if the stakes stay the same, it gets boring.  The ultimate threat loses some of its horror through repetition, and so does the ultimate goal.  So things have to KEEP going from bad to worse.  The rewards have to KEEP getting better- and farther away (in the protagonist/reader's prospective anyway).

A book I've read (don't remember which one) referred to this as "Yes, but...." and "No, and furthermore..."  The idea was that there should be no categorical wins or losses- the protagonist should always leave a climax in even worse shape than she went in.  Even if she won the battle, it had to feel like she'd lost the war.  

-Giving the reader more information than the protagonist has.  If the protagonist has more information, I, as a reader, feel cheated and manipulated.  The tension feels false.  But if I want to leap through the page and warn the protagonist of things, I feel like a part of her team.  And the frustration hightens the tension, too.

Some books (most thrillers) do this by showing the villains directly, when they are unobserved by the protagonists... especially when the protagonists aren't observing the villains because they are caught up in a conflict that turns out to be wrongheaded or petty compared to the real threat.

I think it's more interesting when the reader gets a jolt second-hand- when a character knows or notices something that is unimportant or obvious to them, but would become crucial if combined with another character's seemingly unimportant or obvious information.  The characters aren't keeping secrets, they are just self-absorbed and locked in their own prospectives, like real people :)

I think it's also harder to give a second-hand jolt, because it's more subtle.  It's important that the characters don't come off as secretive or stupid- just limited in the same way any regular person is.  The payoff for these second-hand jolts has to come sooner, too, to keep the reader from becoming contemptuous of the characters or getting too frustrated.

BUT, I think the combination of all these limited POV's is more involving/interesting to the reader (and the writer), truer to real life, and less hackneyed.  It also allows for something I ESPECIALLY love: an opportunity to mix up the antagonists and the protagonists.  Villains aren't evil- they're the heroes of stories you happen not to be telling right now.  I LOVE getting a glimpse of their stories, of their prospectives- I LOVE getting a glimpse of their "heroism."

Anti-heroes are evil people you root for anyway, right?  I don't do anti-heroes, but I specialize in anti-villains ;)

(I got the idea for this post from YA author Megan Crewe.  She's got a fantastic post on Tension on her blog, megancrewe.livejournal.com- definitely read it!)

 

I want a perfect Body, I want a perfect Soul

Showing: dialogue, physical action.

Telling:  physical description of characters, important details of setting

In critique groups, it comes up again and again that my stories are intriguing, but too coy.  

People recommend: more physical description of the people and places, more explicit explanation of what's going on.  But that stuff is so boring.  Is it necessary?

I've always thought those requests really meant the story wasn't vivid enough.  But how can I make something more vivid, without adding more action?  How can I do description without too much "telling" or boring info dumps?

Guess I just have to make a character's every word and action more *specific* to him/her.  Guess I have to find more *telling* details for each person or place.

And try again.

HELP!

Hello. I'm the creepy albino guy in the Da Vinci Code and I'm a writaholic

When does a writer put down her pen?  What if, it's to pick up a book?

I've always been a HUGE reader- the kind of kid who got in trouble for reading too much in school, who tried the One Tree in Brooklyn feat of reading every book in the library and succeeded (at least in the young adult section :) ).  Even when I was an English/Writing double major in college, and read three novels a week for class, I *still* read for fun.

But lately, I've been so exhausted by writing my 3,000+ words a day, trying get hours at work, and battling a head cold that I haven't read much.  Or at least, not much in proportion to how much I've been writing.

Lately, I feel like my writing has been suffering.  It's not "fun" right now- it feels like a real job.   Writing *is* work, and it *is* tough- but it shouldn't feel like a slog.  

The thing is, if I back off, everything will just take even *LONGER* and as has been obvious, I'm constantly annoyed with myself for how long it takes for me to get even the rough guide of my ideas on paper.... so the idea of it taking even more time makes me want to back my head against a cinderblock.

This is mostly a battle with my adult novel.  I don't know what to do to get the magic back.  I've begun second-guessing myself, forgetting what I thought was great about the idea or the characters in the first place.... I've fallen out of love.  The thing is, I don't think it's because that story is unlovable, I think it's just that I feel tapped.

So, the question is: how to refuel without hurting my productivity?

Possible Answers I've come up with so far: 

-Read more- even if it takes time away from writing.

-Have a lower daily quota of writing.

-Concentrate on only ONE project for a while.

-Split your concentration between the two current projects and something completely different (ie personal essays?)

Vote?

it's sort of like Aladin, but staring Jafar and with werewolves

Got a fair amount done on the YA today, and it's blossoming into a pretty cool book.  Better than the adult novel?  I don't know...

but this one is definitely coming more naturally.  So far, the process has been:

1. Outlined the whole book the day I got the idea

2. Wrote the first act (of five) sticking closely to that outline, but picked up different threads than expected for the second act.

3. Wrote the first half of the second act, keeping to some elements of the original outline, and changing others.

4. Wrote a new outline- the second act has every plot point recorded, the third act every major turning point, the fourth act the topic of every chapter, and the fifth act the major topics I want to wrap up.

It's been fun, and new, better ideas keep popping up.  MEANWHILE, 

the adult novel has been a bit of a slog.  I'm at what *should* be a very intense, interesting part of the book, but I'm sort of going through the motions.

Some of that might be because I've been aiming for 3,500-4,000 words/day (1500 for the YA, 2,000 for the novel), which is exhausting.  Some of it might be that I know this story so well, and have plotted it so thoroughly, that there's no element of surprise for me.

I'm going to chug through until I've got a finished draft, but I may have to put it away for a while before I start my polishing (away meaning two, three weeks).  

When I started this version, I thought it was just the same book I'd been writing since last spring/summer.  But re-reading that other story, I realized that this one was about completely different characters in a completely different situation, taking place in a different setting, and told in a different voice.  Weird, huh?

Who knew I started my second novel this month?  Well, I guess I mean my third.

Rules of Attraction

From Miss Snark's blog archives:

Proper Hook Form Is:

X is the main guy;

Y is the bad guy;

They meet at Z and all L breaks loose.

If they don't solve Q, then R starts and if they do it's Lsquared.

(For use jargon junkies, that's otherwise known as:

Protagonist

Antagonist

Confrontation/Climax

Stakes)

The form is great for figuring out where to focus, where the story is getting bogged down, and that no story element is getting the short shrift.  

Even though I'm no where near the query letter stage, it's been a great outline/2nd draft tool- thanks Miss Snark!

The Enemy You Know

Today I got some great plot ideas for the YA!

Or, so I thought: turns out, most of those ideas are pretty similar to my adult novel's plot points.

Great.

The books take place in very different worlds, and are in different genres.  So, maybe a twist on the same basic plot points would work well in both books, without being redundant?  

This is so annoying... and eerie.  The same kind of feeling I got when I realized I always wonder through the same library aisles in the same order every time I visit.

Guess my subconscious is pathetically predictable.  

tiiiiiime is on my side

I made up a schedule to complete the second draft of my adult novel, and the first draft of the YA.  These dates are on my calendar in Sharpie, so they'd better be final :)  

It's been a long time getting here, but the draft/outlining stage for both stories is far enough along that I can map out the rest of the process and come up with reasonable dates.  I'm finally, finally seeing the ribbon at the end of the race.

Here's how I figured out the schedules:

For purposes of outlining, I divide each book into acts- in this case, both novels have five acts.  Each act is divided into four "chapters" of twenty to twenty five pages.  

The process for each draft is: 

1. rough draft of each "chapter" in an act

2. sharpen/tighten the "chapters" (one day each) 

3. polish of the act as a whole.  

(The YA is a little different in that I don't have a lot of rough material yet, so I'm getting the first three acts down on paper before anything else).

When all five acts are done, I'll spend a day patching up obvious holes (mostly mechanical, plotting/info stuff) and put the draft away for a few weeks or more.

The "Put-Away" date for the YA is February 28.

The "Put-Away" date for the novel is March 9.

That feels SOOOOO far away.  I don't think I'll make my final draft date of April 18 (at least for the adult novel), which SUCKS.  But I'm just going to put my head down and stick to the plan.  I've learned the hard way that it'll just be tougher and take longer if I don't.

Serial Killer

I've been kicking around this T.V. pilot for a while.  It's based on a fun idea; at heart, a fish out of water kind of thing.

It's an hour-length (lite) drama.  While the set-up allows for "monster of the week"-type episode arcs, my present concept is heavier on a couple serialized story-lines (a season-length romantic arc and season-length mystery arc).

But apparently serialized dramas are a really tough sell.  I'm not expecting to sell this pilot, but I want it to be as professional and high-caliber as I can make it.  Right now, maybe "professional" means heavy on closed-episode arcs?

show me the receipts!

Tomorrow, I'm going out of town to see friends- they're great, and I really want to see them- so I won't have much time to write.  

To understand my state of mind, read that as: I'm a crackhead, but tomorrow I'm going to be taking care of my infant, so I won't have much time to do crack.  

Believe me: I know crack is whack!  

But I always- ALWAYS- wish I could/would write more.

Not in a "because I have so much to say!" kind of way, but in an OCD "but it's not PERFECT!" kind of way.  I feel like an addict.

How do I knock some sense into myself?!

How do you know when to stop writing?

For the afternoon, I mean.... not FOREVER :)

Things have actually been going pretty well on the writing front, though hard on the life front (as usual).  I've got battle plans for both novels, and am carrying them out faithfully/well.  The goal is: two complete drafts for each by Feb. 6 (my birthday!).  

IN AWKWARD WRITER NEWS: Had to pick up a bunch of supernatural YA today to get a taste of how the masters do it.... felt REALLY awkward hanging out in the Young Adult section, gotta say.

But picked up R.L. Stine and Vampire High and Avi anyway ;)

The Wind Beneath My...ahem....Wings

Nip/Tuck is the best show on Earth.

FINALLY, they are A+ on track with their characters:

Christian is constantly getting dumped on, but is stoic about it.

Sean is an infantile lame-ass.

Julia's MIA.

Liz is grounded and loyal.

And we've got the fun stuff: Christian's missing breast!  Sean's fake paralysis!  A thieving hooker from Craigslist!  Who beats up a cancer patient!  A bad-hair and neckerchief wearing duo!  With gender confusion! (Nip/Tuck's bread and butter).

Now they only have to introduce the most over-the-top storyline in the world for Matt (any suggestions?), and throw Christian and Kimber together for some sparks, and they'll have the best show ever created.  

And yes, I include Buffy and Angel in that.  :)

Side Note: WHY is this the end of the fifth season?  It feels like a new season, and the first two-thirds of season 5 aired a year ago.  Does anyone know the technical reason for this?  I'm sure it's something boring and financial, but I also know they have an end-date set up for Nip/Tuck and I'm wondering if the "Season 5" label is an attempt to get around that.  Can only hope, anyway- this show seems to have found a second wind.  

Gather 'Round, Kids

Creativity --> a hypnogogic state for me.  Meaning, I go into a kind of trance.

Meaning, I shouldn't drive while I'm being creative.

I felt like Indiana Jones escaping the Temple of Doom yesterday, just trying to drive home while lost in a YA story idea.

Last night, I came up with a thorough synopsis.  Today I researched and started writing- I'm planning to finish the first chapter tonight.  It's so fun!  And relatively easy!

Is that because I've already gotten a first draft down?  I hear that the first novel-length draft you do is the hardest by far.   Here's hoping!

Btw, do you know any good YA/Middle Grade books about warewolves?

this hurts me more than its gonna hurt you

Have you ever seen ten Kevin Costner movies in a row? (I have.  Please don't ask.)  He plays a specific type of character well, so he plays that character in every movie he's in.  There's nothing wrong with that; the commodity he's selling isn't his acting, it's his persona.  

His job isn't "actor" it's "movie star," regardless of how much (or how little) money he makes.  (Wayne Brady's commodity is his persona, too.  That's why his skits on the Chappelle Show were so funny.)

Actors, on the other hand, would lose their audience if they played the same role again and again.  The joy of watching an "actor" comes from watching a bizarre, desperate, scary, or otherwise strange character become someone you understand and care about.  It's like the actor has done a magic trick, by making the unknown knowable.  

My "Star or Actor?" Test is: would the audience be happy to see the performer in a role disparate from the ones he's already played?  

Actors: Neil Patrick Harris, Mark Wahlberg, James McAvoy

Stars: Tom Cruise, Edward Norton*, Ben Stiller

*Edward Norton is marketed as an "artiste" but actually plays the same role repeatedly, in pretty much the same way.

This has nothing to do with a performer's "star power" or "acting ability," but rather the tools they rely on to please the audience.  To me, a star uses his charisma, the sense that he's someone the audience knows and likes, or at least likes to watch.  An actor uses his insight, to give us a glimpse into someone we couldn't otherwise understand.

Sometimes it isn't even up to the performer as to whether they're an "actor" or a "star": I think Anne Hathoway and Angelina Jolie have attempted or would like to be actresses, but audiences like their personas so much that they would betray those audiences by taking non-persona roles.  And everyone makes fun of Mark Wahlberg's acting, but whether he has the chops or not, it's great to see his "take" on strange characters.  People (including me!) go to see his movies because we know we'll meet a great character there.

Then there are the performers that everyone knows are either great stars or great actors: for instance, Leonardo DiCaprio's commodity is his acting.  So it's not a shock to see him as a young, suburban windbag.  Instead, it's a joy to see him take on the character of Frank, in Revolutionary Road, and turn the dull SOB into someone special and worth caring about.

My personal favorite scene: the morning after a horrific fight, Frank and his wife April have breakfast together.  April is unusually kind to and accepting of Frank.  Frank doesn't quite know how to take it, but he's overjoyed to be "friends" with his wife again.  Watching Frank test the waters of April's friendship is heartbreaking and sweet, mostly because DiCaprio's performance is heartbreaking and sweet.

The great thing about knowing a performer is an "actor" rather than a star, is that when you go to see one of his movies, you're prepared to go through the wringer and to enjoy the process.  As you all probably know: don't go to Revolutionary Road for a fun night with Leo, go to fall into a new and perhaps terrible world filled with strange people.  Seriously, though- go.

I Can See Clearly Now, the Rain Has Gone...

Why have I never read George Pelecanos before?

Started Hell to Pay last night, and am already done.  Apparently, it's not one of his most popular or critically acclaimed books, but it's still a New York Times Notable Book... and I sure think it's fantastic.

It's got fleshed out characters, a fascinating, vivid setting, and a great pace.  He's a master, and reading his work is an education for a newbie thriller writer like me :)

Thank God he's got a few zillion more books, and they're all available at the local (D.C.) library.

Man Plans, God Laughs

I outline at least as much as I write.  But so far, all those outlines have sucked.  

Normally, I outline, crack my knuckles, and start to type the new work.  Which usually means hunching in the rocking chair in my bedroom and going into a trance for a few hours.

Within a couple lines, the new work is never *anything* like the outline.  So that outline gets thrown away, and a new one is built the next day. 

Over the past few days, though, I've been working on an outline- for the entire novel, not just a particular section or chapter (which is what I usually do).  The plot's getting better.  In fact, I'm starting to really like it!  But what if I can't help but careen off the rails?  What if I'm incapable of following a plan?

A big, fat p*ssy, just waiting to be f*cked

Did anybody see Nip/Tuck tonight?

I love when they push Christian ever more into womanhood.  Breast cancer?!  It was great that Christian told everyone it was specifically *breast* cancer, too.  This storyline is nearly as good as the days when he was eating lo-cal cottage cheese, pining for Sean, and wishing for chocolate cake.  I guess it's always fun to watch poor little beautiful Christian be sad.  *Sigh* This is really making me wish (yet again) that they hadn't dumped the "Christian's got a crush on Sean" thing from a couple seasons back- Sean and Christian are the most realistic and compelling couple on T.V.  Even though Sean's an a**.

Though, thank GOD he (ok, well, the writers anyway) got rid of Colleen.  She was at the top of her game when she turned that other agent into a teddy bear- now that was creepy!- but ever since she's become kind of ho-hum.  My favorite shot in the whole show was when she put her lipstick on using her reflection in the knife.  Now THAT is the kind of tacky but apropos shot I tune in for! 

Unlike Sean and Colleen, though, I liked Liz tonight- for ONCE.  She's always so stuffy, but tonight she was so sweet (even if she didn't hug Christian when he obviously needed it) I couldn't help but like her.  I guess now that the actress has lost a ton of weight, they're gonna give her more screen time, and make her Christian's female pal, instead of Julia.  

Because tonight Julia was nowhere to be seen- another thank GOD!  SOOOOO sick of her and her tired eyes.

Matt was his normal super ready to help self, stuck in tawdry storylines.  I don't know about pre-med, though.... he seems more like the patient-centered nurse type to me.  But guess it doesn't matter.  And BTW, wish they hadn't dumped the half-sister.  It's not like their "incest" was that big of a deal anyway- there are fertility clinics to catch any genetic diseases, anyway.

Though, even if it meant she had to get back together with Matt, I do wish there were more Kimber.  Eh, actually maybe not, because I don't just want (meth addled, etc) Kimber around, I want more *HOT* Kimber.  Kimber from back in the days when she and Christian were having angry, meaningful but ostensibly meaning*less* sex.  Otherwise known as that character's heyday.

Speaking of Kimber/things that suck: I hate the "Sean's a cripple!" thing!  1. I have a friend in a wheelchair, and no one ever randomly asks to push her- nor does she have (heavy) handles on a chair she mostly moves around by her own muscle, because that would be silly.  2.  Obviously the writers are just doing it until they can show a little paralytic sex, and then they'll move on.  Which is boring in its obviousness.  Since we know Sean won't be a gimp forever, why make him one for now?  They already did this kind of thing with Christian and the amputee, anyway.  Plus, Sean's a moper.  It's fun to see Christian sad/stoic, and Sean happy/arrogant.  Haven't the writers learned that by now?!

Recap to come tomorrow.  Tonight was the viewing party :)

Chicken Soup for a Manic Writer's Soul

A friend of mine told me that he does most of his work before he puts a word on paper.  When he wants an idea, he waits for inspiration.  Next, he works out the idea in his head.  Then, he waits for more inspiration for the actual prose.  I'm WAYYY too much of a control freak for that :)

So while he's been contemplating, I've been churning out material as fast as I could.  Now I've got a few hundred thousand words of crappy to semi-crappy to fairly good material.

The bad thing about that material is: the harder I work, the more I improve, and the more I improve, the more I'm horrified by its glaring, obvious flaws.  

The good thing about that material is: the more horrific those flaws seem, the prouder I am of how much I've since improved, and how much I've learned.

Only now, I've run up against a bit of a wall- I can see something's wrong with my draft, but I'm just not good enough yet to recognize exactly what it is and how to fix it.  So, I've looked at some how-to writing books and (surprisingly?) they've been a HUGE help!

When I was having a terrible time getting started, books like Stephen King's On Writing, Carolyn See's Making a Literary Life, and Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird inspired me to bite the bullet.

  

Now that my state of mind is pretty good, but the nuts and bolts of my writing could use some work, I've been checking out books like Writing the Blockbuster Novel by Albert Zuckerman (which was VERY helpful), How to Write a Damn Good Mystery by James N. Frey.

These books are technical guides at heart, with concrete suggestions for how to fix concrete problems (like lax plotting or a claustrophobic focus, etc).  I find these books MUCH more helpful than the kind that talk about making writing "sing" and "come to life."

Whenever those phrases pop up- which they do a lot, both among writers and in books about writing- I shut down.  What the hell do those things MEAN, anyway?

Nothing in Life but to be Legit

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD is the best book I've ever read.

And I've read a lot of books.

I'm not going to waste time blathering on about all the fantastic things about it- as soon as you read the first paragraph, you'll see why it's a masterpiece, too.

But I thought this was interesting: this book feels absolutely true, yet every character in it seems to assume women aren't as valuable as men.  

In a lesser book, I'd think: jeez, this author is a misogynist and I don't want to read any of this.

But because this book is so well written and everyone in it feels so real, I wind up thinking, "Wow!  Back in the fifties, people sure had a strange concept of masculinity!"

(Btw, this book was written and is set in the late fifties and very early sixties, and I really do think it was society at the time that was misogynist, NOT this particular author.)

Isn't it funny how, the more authentic characters feel, the more cruel and immoral- and likable!- they can be?

Same Sh*t, Different Day!

A week or so ago,  a great premise popped into my head.  It was perfect for my novel!

Sadly, I'd just finished that novel's first draft.

So now I'm writing a new draft, but shaped around this new premise.

Discovering that the novel I'd written and the novel I should have written were two different things was like biting into a cookie and tasting old bologna.  I wanted to cry.  Today, though, was my first real day making those two novels one.  And.... TODAY WENT WELL!  It was actually fun.

My characters are still the same people they always were, and a lot of their interaction is the same, too....

Only now, they've got something interesting to do!  And everything is falling into place pretty well- pacing, plot twists, motivation!

Of course, I'm still terrified that I'll be killed or maimed or someone for some reason will look at the draft as is.  But, one day at a time, right?  

Here's hoping that someday I'll have a draft I actually HOPE people will read.  How long does that usually take, anyway?  Version one hundred ninety-eight of the same book about the same people?!

Muddled Bull

I've been working on this goddamned rough draft since June.  Quit the law firm to do it.   Thought last week I'd finally finished.  BUT NO.  uuuuuuuuuuugh

MY WRITING PROCESS SO FAR: 

Step 1: Discovered a character.  Of course I loved him from the start.  (Of course, he's now a she.)

Step 2: "Just wrote," trying to figure out a story to fit the character.

Step 3: Got stuck.  Outlined my way out of  the "block."

Step 4: Used the outline as a jumping off point, then scrapped it.

Step 5: Repeated Steps 2-4 for another seven months.

Step 6: Finished the rough draft?

Last week, I ended up with a messy 55,000 word manuscript.  Sure it's short, but my writing tends toward skeletal; I figured it would fill out to at least 65,000 by the end of the second draft.

Still, something didn't feel right, and I couldn't leave the thing alone.  So I read and re-read a bunch of writing books, let myself daydream, wrote a few synopsis and tried the flash-card outlining trick.

A few days ago, a hook dropped into my head.  The story that stemmed from that hook worked with the characters and climaxes I already had.  It made the rough draft story more personal, more interesting.  It allowed the protagonist to be a full-fledged hero.  It allowed for the creation of a set of interesting villains.  Suddenly, the novel made a hell of a lot more sense.

Now, I've got to write THAT story.  Which means pumping out a new manuscript, for the most part.

It was a triumph to announce that I'd finished my first draft.  After so long, I'd finally made measurable progress!  But now... 

I keep swearing to myself that next time, my process will be streamlined, practical, smart.  No more of this muddled bull.  But I'm not sure how to *do* that... and if it's a dumb idea to try.

What's your process?  Has it evolved with each book?  Each story?  Has that been a conscious decision?  How instinctual is your method?

Literate Activity Spikes: Winter TV Programming Lull to Blame?

Happy News?

For the last two months, I've been sending a one-act to a bunch of festivals.  So far: one rejection, and one rejection with a request to see more work.  

This is the first play I've tried to have professionally produced, so I would (should?) feel pretty happy about that request... except it was written as part of an email.  I don't really know how personally to take that encouragement.  Maybe that theater company just has a very sweet form letter?

Oh well, I'm gonna go ahead and be happy about it, anyway :)  Does my bubble need bursting?!

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Have: novel rough draft.

Need: to weave in a subplot... figure out where that subplot fits in, and how it will effect what I've already got.  

Question: has anyone ever tried to plot their novel using index cards?  I've heard that it's a good way to outline a screenplay so I decided to try... but now I've got about a million index cards and total confusion.  Did anyone find this method helpful?  Did you do it in a specific way?