I often see discussion threads in forums like Goodreads started by writers wondering about some part of the writing process. They feel insecure because they aren’t doing it exactly like [insert big name author here] and they wonder what’s wrong with them.
There is one piece of advice that I invariably give whenever discussions start up about the “right” way to do things, whether it’s about writing or critiquing or worldbuilding or editing or any part of the process. In fact, I think it’s the only true piece of advice I ever give. All else in my mind falls into the category of “this helped me, maybe it will help you too, but that’s for you to say.”
My advice is simple: develop your own judgment about what works for you and what doesn’t.
There is no “right” way.
The only things that matter are the words you have on the page when you reach the end of your writing process and decide to share your work with the world. How you get there is immaterial.
Now, this sounds like a recipe for ignoring any and all advice that people throw at you. No, that’s not it. Advice is good, but it is not God.
This is a tricky balancing act, especially because it involves self confidence, and writers on the whole are a desperately insecure bunch.
On the one hand, you should recognize that what is good advice to one person may be poison to another. Try things out, but have the courage to know when something just doesn’t cut it for you and to know that that’s OK.
On the other hand, that doesn’t mean be a jerk and refuse to ever listen to advice. At least hear why the proponent thinks it’s such a great idea and make a reasoned choice for yourself.
“I’m different,” “This is my voice,” “I’m trying to be experimental,” are all fair enough, but have the courage to recognize when it actually isn’t working for you and that maybe those dinosaurs who pay attention to little things like spelling and grammar might actually have a point ...
So, listen to advice, be receptive, look at what works for a whole bunch of people and work out why it works for a whole bunch of people. Don’t be afraid - or too proud - to try things out. But know that the goal is to get a story down on paper by any means that works for you. You’re being judged by those words and the impact they have on readers, not by conformance to somebody’s idea of a good writing process.
How about you? What perfectly reasonable advice have you discarded because it just wasn’t right for you?
Monday, May 30, 2016
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
A little bit of a wine
One of the early adjustments we had to make in moving to Canada was the steep price of alcohol compared to the UK. Forget the exchange rate, when you compare prices against disposable income I reckon it’s at least double in real terms.
It was a benefit that we both ended up drinking far less - and with the more relaxed lifestyle here, feeling the need to drink far less, too.
All the same, we like our wine, so we started making use of the local U-brew businesses and bottling our own batches. We’ve just bottled a batch of red and one of white this year, now sitting pretty in my home-made wine rack. Looks like we’re all set for the summer :)
It was a benefit that we both ended up drinking far less - and with the more relaxed lifestyle here, feeling the need to drink far less, too.
All the same, we like our wine, so we started making use of the local U-brew businesses and bottling our own batches. We’ve just bottled a batch of red and one of white this year, now sitting pretty in my home-made wine rack. Looks like we’re all set for the summer :)
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Weekend Writing Warriors May 22
Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly blog hop where participants post eight to ten sentences of their writing. You can find out more about it by clicking on the image below.
Continuing a draft scene from my latest WIP, The Ashes of Home, Shayla Carver is in disguise and stopped off at a work canteen to refuel. She inadvertently took some of the good food, supposedly off-limits to “her kind”. On her way to a table, she is confronted by three men. The ringleader is intent on taking her food off her and probably has other punishments in mind to put her in her place.
Shayla placed her tray down on the table alongside her, just out of his reach. He leaned across, whether to take the tray or flip it on the floor she never found out. Her balled fist lashed out, striking him squarely in the solar plexus. As he staggered back, she landed a couple more lightning blows to make sure damage would be visible for the next few weeks. Blood sprayed from a broken nose.
He crashed into the table behind, eyes rolled up in their sockets. His henchmen leaped forward then stopped as they took in Shayla’s casual contempt and her fighting stance.
When they hesitated she widened her eyes, pretending to notice her downed assailant for the first time, and brought her hand to her mouth. “Oops, I didn’t realize I hit him that hard.” A picture of innocence, she picked up her tray and stepped over the comatose figure and past the nonplussed sidekicks.
Continuing a draft scene from my latest WIP, The Ashes of Home, Shayla Carver is in disguise and stopped off at a work canteen to refuel. She inadvertently took some of the good food, supposedly off-limits to “her kind”. On her way to a table, she is confronted by three men. The ringleader is intent on taking her food off her and probably has other punishments in mind to put her in her place.
=====
Shayla placed her tray down on the table alongside her, just out of his reach. He leaned across, whether to take the tray or flip it on the floor she never found out. Her balled fist lashed out, striking him squarely in the solar plexus. As he staggered back, she landed a couple more lightning blows to make sure damage would be visible for the next few weeks. Blood sprayed from a broken nose.
He crashed into the table behind, eyes rolled up in their sockets. His henchmen leaped forward then stopped as they took in Shayla’s casual contempt and her fighting stance.
When they hesitated she widened her eyes, pretending to notice her downed assailant for the first time, and brought her hand to her mouth. “Oops, I didn’t realize I hit him that hard.” A picture of innocence, she picked up her tray and stepped over the comatose figure and past the nonplussed sidekicks.
=====
Friday, May 20, 2016
Unblocking plot - what happens next?
It’s been a while since I posted on writer’s block. I had a whole series of posts mapped out, then April got in the way. I find that during the A to Z challenge most folks are so busy with the challenge itself that few have time to visit elsewhere, so I gave myself a few weeks off posting anything other than Weekend Writing Warriors snippets.
But now, after a really good three months keeping to (and ahead of) my writing goals on The Ashes of Home, I’m hitting a sticky patch. It’s my old Nemesis - plot.
Of all the aspects of crafting a story, I think this is the part that gives me the most trouble. Figuring out where the story is going, what happens next, and what twists to introduce to liven things up.
I have a few tools to help, but no silver bullet and this part is still a struggle for me.
I find it helps to sit down to a dedicated brainstorming session, usually drawn out on paper as a mind map. Throw thoughts down on the page without judgment, let them spark and collide off each other, then sift through the wreckage for anything useable.
Other background preparation can help here. If you know your characters, how would they act or react? Use that to drive events forward. If you’ve mapped out details in your setting beyond the obvious needs of the story, features in your characters’ surroundings (that you placed there but hadn’t paid much attention to) can suggest actions or plot twists: places to hide, to escape, to ambush...
Sometimes the brainstorming might be tightly directed: the protagonist is in a fix, so how do they get out? Sometimes the challenge might be more vague. Right now, I’ve just had Shayla framed for a crime and under house arrest, and it will be a week or two of story time before the next firm piece of the story kicks in. Meanwhile, is she going to just sit there meekly and let fate take its course? No. But at this point I have no idea what she’s going to do instead, which makes it very hard to write.
When I’m stuck on “what happens next”, I sometimes find that the thread I’m working on has run ahead of other point of view threads. It’s a bit like leading a charge at the enemy and finding yourself all alone with your comrades lagging far behind. The answer to that is easier. Go back and write those other threads. Where I’m following multiple points of view I usually manage to keep them in step, writing a scene in one then swapping to another. I often have a feeling for the points where I want to leave the reader hanging, and I know what scene I want to cut to. But at other times I find it better to just write two threads as separate continuous stories, then splice them together. That’s when the problem of running ahead can crop up.
There is a related but more subtle problem that can crop up to block me. When I’m struggling and I tease apart the reasons, the answer may be that there should be events happening off stage that I’ve neglected to map out. These won’t be point of view scenes in the story, but they will make themselves felt when their arcs intersect. Paying attention to what people are doing while they are out of sight can help unblock the flow.
Do you find it easy to come up with plot twists and keep the action flowing? If not, what techniques do you use to overcome this?
But now, after a really good three months keeping to (and ahead of) my writing goals on The Ashes of Home, I’m hitting a sticky patch. It’s my old Nemesis - plot.
Of all the aspects of crafting a story, I think this is the part that gives me the most trouble. Figuring out where the story is going, what happens next, and what twists to introduce to liven things up.
I have a few tools to help, but no silver bullet and this part is still a struggle for me.
I find it helps to sit down to a dedicated brainstorming session, usually drawn out on paper as a mind map. Throw thoughts down on the page without judgment, let them spark and collide off each other, then sift through the wreckage for anything useable.
Other background preparation can help here. If you know your characters, how would they act or react? Use that to drive events forward. If you’ve mapped out details in your setting beyond the obvious needs of the story, features in your characters’ surroundings (that you placed there but hadn’t paid much attention to) can suggest actions or plot twists: places to hide, to escape, to ambush...
Sometimes the brainstorming might be tightly directed: the protagonist is in a fix, so how do they get out? Sometimes the challenge might be more vague. Right now, I’ve just had Shayla framed for a crime and under house arrest, and it will be a week or two of story time before the next firm piece of the story kicks in. Meanwhile, is she going to just sit there meekly and let fate take its course? No. But at this point I have no idea what she’s going to do instead, which makes it very hard to write.
When I’m stuck on “what happens next”, I sometimes find that the thread I’m working on has run ahead of other point of view threads. It’s a bit like leading a charge at the enemy and finding yourself all alone with your comrades lagging far behind. The answer to that is easier. Go back and write those other threads. Where I’m following multiple points of view I usually manage to keep them in step, writing a scene in one then swapping to another. I often have a feeling for the points where I want to leave the reader hanging, and I know what scene I want to cut to. But at other times I find it better to just write two threads as separate continuous stories, then splice them together. That’s when the problem of running ahead can crop up.
There is a related but more subtle problem that can crop up to block me. When I’m struggling and I tease apart the reasons, the answer may be that there should be events happening off stage that I’ve neglected to map out. These won’t be point of view scenes in the story, but they will make themselves felt when their arcs intersect. Paying attention to what people are doing while they are out of sight can help unblock the flow.
Do you find it easy to come up with plot twists and keep the action flowing? If not, what techniques do you use to overcome this?
Saturday, May 14, 2016
Weekend Writing Warriors May 15
Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly blog hop where participants post eight to ten sentences of their writing. You can find out more about it by clicking on the image below.
Continuing a draft scene from my latest WIP, The Ashes of Home, Shayla Carver is in disguise and stopped off at a work canteen to refuel. She inadvertently took some of the good food, supposedly off-limits to “her kind”, and is going to see what response her actions will provoke. A guard, trying to avoid trouble, has just tried to head her off but Shayla told him to be ready to fetch the clean-up crew.
She pushed past and found her way barred by a wall of muscle. The two thugs she’d originally marked stood a respectable distance behind, clearly nothing more than lieutenants in this bully ring.
The wall of muscle was topped by a face wearing an amiable grin. “Your folks sit back there.” He glanced down at Shayla’s tray. “And I see you’ve brought me my rations.” The grin widened.
Shayla gazed back at him, unfazed, expressionless.
“Stupid Woolly,” one of his henchmen muttered. “Dumb bitch can’t even understand you.”
Continuing a draft scene from my latest WIP, The Ashes of Home, Shayla Carver is in disguise and stopped off at a work canteen to refuel. She inadvertently took some of the good food, supposedly off-limits to “her kind”, and is going to see what response her actions will provoke. A guard, trying to avoid trouble, has just tried to head her off but Shayla told him to be ready to fetch the clean-up crew.
=====
She pushed past and found her way barred by a wall of muscle. The two thugs she’d originally marked stood a respectable distance behind, clearly nothing more than lieutenants in this bully ring.
The wall of muscle was topped by a face wearing an amiable grin. “Your folks sit back there.” He glanced down at Shayla’s tray. “And I see you’ve brought me my rations.” The grin widened.
Shayla gazed back at him, unfazed, expressionless.
“Stupid Woolly,” one of his henchmen muttered. “Dumb bitch can’t even understand you.”
=====
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Weekend Writing Warriors May 8
Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly blog hop where participants post eight to ten sentences of their writing. You can find out more about it by clicking on the image below.
Continuing a draft scene from my latest WIP, Shayla Carver is in disguise and stopped off at a work canteen to refuel. She inadvertently took some of the good food, supposedly off-limits to “her kind”, and is going to see what response her actions will provoke.
She finished loading her tray and sauntered toward the front, angling towards an empty table near a window.
A lanky youngster in a guard’s uniform intercepted her. It wasn’t clear whether he was on duty or simply passing through, but he glanced over his shoulder then jerked his head towards the back of the room. “You should find somewhere with your own people.”
“Back off, soldier.” Shayla kept her tone low but firm. She held his gaze, expressions set like stone. “And be ready to fetch the clean-up crew.”
He swallowed and nodded. Shayla breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn’t too green to catch on to the Firenzi military slang.
Continuing a draft scene from my latest WIP, Shayla Carver is in disguise and stopped off at a work canteen to refuel. She inadvertently took some of the good food, supposedly off-limits to “her kind”, and is going to see what response her actions will provoke.
=====
She finished loading her tray and sauntered toward the front, angling towards an empty table near a window.
A lanky youngster in a guard’s uniform intercepted her. It wasn’t clear whether he was on duty or simply passing through, but he glanced over his shoulder then jerked his head towards the back of the room. “You should find somewhere with your own people.”
“Back off, soldier.” Shayla kept her tone low but firm. She held his gaze, expressions set like stone. “And be ready to fetch the clean-up crew.”
He swallowed and nodded. Shayla breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn’t too green to catch on to the Firenzi military slang.
=====
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