When Will the Storm Break?

This short story’s got a funny/interesting locked-in-a-room-together concept. But I’m a thousand words in and nothing’s happening. Plus, those thousand words have taken two days to write. What’s up with my pacing?


In terms of nothing happening: I think I’m used to novel pacing, where there’s room to go slow. And I think it’s also a problem that I don’t have an AWESOME central image for the story to hurtle towards (yet). Got to think on that, for sure.


In terms of my writing speed: Ok, ok, so I’ve been wondering if fast is really the way to go. Sometimes it is—mostly, I sometimes need to pound something out in one sitting. My TV script was like that, and I think a lot of short stories are like that. If I let them simmer too much I (a) lose the thread/tone/atmosphere (b) skip over the daily warming up because I’m so anxious to get today’s bit of the thing over with. If the whole story’s got to get done in a sitting, I’m forced to, yanno, actually sit for a while and work through the throat-clearing.


But lately I've also been cutting myself yards and yards of slack. It’s my real vacation time, and the last few weeks I’ll have before my friend leaves the country—I want to relish it. Obviously, I’ve got to write some (or I’ll go insane) but it’s important to savor life outside of writing—I can let myself get so consumed and that’s when I get anxious… and write badly (Catch 789 of writing well: past a certain point, the harder you press, the harder it is). All this means, though: I get a few hundred words down and skip on with my day. Not the best thing for pacing/momentum.


So: today I’m going to (1) think of a HAUNTING/BIZARRE/BEAUTIFUL image to center my story around (2) write it until it’s done.

Truth and Consequences, nm

What I've learned this year so far:

Plot is inseparable from structure.

Structure gives a story momentum.

Momentum and plot allow/create an interesting, inevitable, satisfying resolution.

But concentrating too much on structure, plot, and pre-planning can suck out a piece's life.

So: Structure/Plot/Outlining is necessary, but dangerous.

I've decided lately to put novel writing on the back-burner and concentrate on short stories-- they were most of my focus in college, but I haven't written any since.

Short stories had: verve, energy, voice, playfulness.  

They did not have: structure, momentum, satisfying resolutions.

My current work is the opposite.  

I think my problem is authenticity.  In an effort to write "correctly" I haven't trusted my instincts enough... so I've been on a sort of hiatus, and using a private diary to open myself back up.  I felt that a public blog was only helping my emotional crippling/cramping.  I feel more in touch with myself and my needs and my views now, than I have for two years-- I feel free.

But I haven't only opened up to myself-- I've had a close confidant over the last few months.  As I said to him (for me, for now) writing requires a certain amount of loneliness.  If I can communicate all I want to by hanging out and talking to my friends, why put myself through the financially inconvenient and ego-bruising ringer?  What if I can either feel connected to the people in my life, or connected to my writing?  But as I've unclenched, I've realized that even though he's always willing to *listen*, I can't always say what I mean without fiction.  

Turns out, I've been training myself to be a hack, and 1. I'm not technically proficient enough to be one 2. what's the point of that?  

My ultimate goal right now is to put myself and my truth into my work as bravely and completely as possible.   I'm still trying to strengthen my work by using what I now know about structure and planning and the mechanics of a strong story.  I'm still trying to use my analytical abilities in my writing.  But mostly, I'm trying to find authenticity-- the place between what happens and how it feels.  

Chat Room Romance

Tomorrow I leap back into the deep end: the beginning of my new WIP.

Breathe.
Breathe.
Breathe.

2 months sorting it out in my head, and I now know:
-- the character bios
-- the plot
-- some of the themes
-- specifics about this strange world the characters exist in

But so far, it's like I've been chatting with the characters online, and tomorrow I'll meet them for real. Wow, I'm nervous! But I'll just have to wash my hair, smile, and show the fuck up.

Who knows? Maybe this will be the love of my life.

Madman Shaman

Today literary agent Nathan Bransford asked his writer-blog readers how they keep the crazies at bay. The crazies meaning: that voice at the back of your mind telling you you're insane for wasting all this time/money/love on writing.

Reading the posts has been depressing. It seems that faith is the only answer.

Well, I'm running on faith-fumes at the moment and the crazies have swallowed a couple projects whole. August is going to be a time for recharging and new beginnings, and come September, I'll try to dig out those projects from the crazy-dung.

It's time to remember what *writing* and *finishing* and *pride* feels like, instead of cover letters and synopsis fretting and constant revision. That's my answer to all the crazies of daily life anyway: write. So of course, when editing and the publishing industry get me down, I go back to my old standby and write another manuscript or two.

Short and Sweet

Here in the trenches, publishing looks pretty tough. I'm sixteen months into a full-on assault, and still have yet to earn a metal of any real worth.

SO: I'm going back to basics, both for fun and glory.

1. Short stories. They were my bread and butter through most of college (I was a creative writing major), and I haven't written one since. Maybe I'll get a few published, and stretch a few muscles I forgot I had.

I've been turning over the idea of paradoxes and "what if?" questions, and last night (with the help of my very lyrical song title collection on iTunes and a few riddle-centric websites) I came up with a list of fifteen interesting prompts/inspirations/concepts. Each have a dilemma or battle at the heart of them-- a choice the character needs to make, which could go either way.

Today, I plotted (which for me meant making nearly a rough draft) out a love story between an assistant and her boss. And yes, like all love stories, this one will have a happy ending ;)

2. Class. I loved school when I was in it, and I teach school now that I'm out. So when I asked a friend for advice on finding solid MFA recs, he immediately recommending taking a class, and I signed up for one at the writing center within the hour. The one I chose is eight sessions long, and centers on revising the novel.

It starts September 12-- JUST in time for my newly minted rough draft ;)

With the rec. load sitting lighter on my shoulders, I feel less urgency in getting my query letters out. I think I need to go back through the book and make sure it's as perfect as I can make it. A long slog, but hopefully by now I've taken enough time from it to have better perspective.

Together, I'm hoping the class and short stories will take me back to my roots and shore up my foundations :D

Spackling and Sanding Helps the Topcoat Go on Fast and Smooth

I'm still working on my outline for the newest manuscript. At this point, I've got the general plot and characters down (though, frustratingly, I can't find the right name for my main character).

Exercises I've found very helpful:

-- Character bios. I've always found these corny, but telling the story of a character's life is actually really helpful. Also, a great warm-up.

-- Synopsis run-downs. I got stuck coming up with my act three, and it seemed that telling the story to someone-- or even writing it down for myself-- helped crystalize it.

Telling it like a bedtime story allows interesting twists or patterns or character traits emerge, for one. For another, that kind of storytelling makes it easy to leave out the boring bits and add to the fun ones. For me: verbal storytelling has been good to clarify the concept, or to give a very nutshell description, and written storytelling has great for summarizing the entire plot.

Now, I've got a forty-point "beat-sheet"/outline. Each "beat" is equivilant to 2-2.5K. That's part of my method for slowing down-- I don't want to micro-manage every word, because that leads to summation, bordom, and a WAYYY too fast pace. But I also don't want to go hiking without a trail.

Now, I want to make sure the supporting character's journeys mirror each other the way the lead characters' do. Then, I'll try to polish and strengthen each "Act" of the story, beat by beat (forty beats is too many for little hallow-headed me to tackle all at once). Finally, I'll make sure the balance and pacing feels right. Then-- by this weekend, if all goes right-- I'll start the rough draft!

(Interesting) side-note: I've reverted to three-act structure. When my storytelling got more naturalistic, and I knew enough about the characters/plot to go with the flow, the story broke into a "beginning," "middle," and "end."

NEWSFLASH: Love Conquers All

My current manuscript is a love story.

Yes, a happy, drippy, emotionally overwrought but moving and beautiful love story: two people who can only be happy together, kept apart.... until they overcome society and foibles and bad upbringings and all. Until suddenly-- heart/eyes/arms full-- they aren't apart anymore.

I've been very busy with synopsis and notes. Last week, I tried to write a scene just to see how close I am to "pages"-- it went very badly, but some good details and twists came out of it. So I wrote up character bios and thought about theme.

A couple days ago, my mother asked what the story was about, and I told her. Only instead of giving her the so-called A-story, I told her about the love story that had inspired the concept to begin with. She loved it, and I realized I had lost my way.

Not to say the work I did before was worthless-- no, it was vital. But I need to change the emphasis.

And I've had a personal tragedy this week (a death in the family). Honestly, I don't feel up to writing about fighting and killing and anger. Love and thwarted dreams and a slower pace feels right, for now.

Today, I sketched out an outline that's been percolating out of the raw material of my old synopsis and notes and outlines and bios. This feels right, though it still needs a great deal of refining.

My goals with this manuscript, as well as my prep for it:
-- Use more emotional climaxes and twists (as opposed to physical ones)
-- Savor each scene
-- Make it beautiful