Monday, August 8, 2016

Why This Story

One of the hardest parts of writing for me is that gap between one step in the process and another. Whether it's first draft to editing, plotting to writing, or even one chapter/scene to the next. These moments are when it's easiest to get distracted by real life, drop the thread of the story,and give up. Because I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but...
It's hard, and nine times out of ten, no one is making you do it. Plus, unless you're a published author writing to deadline, there usually aren't a ton of consequences if you don't actually do it. So if you're anything like me, when things get hard or something shiny runs across your path, a debate begins about why you're really doing this anyway. I mean, is anyone actually going to read your words? Is the story that original or exciting? Maybe the characters are a bit flat and the plot is actually a giant cliche and you're just waiting your time. And on and on...

At the moment, I am procrastinating while telling myself that I am clearing my plate so that I can write soon. Or that I'm taking care of myself so that I can be in the best possible state to get the story right. Or that I'm not really on a deadline so I should take as much time as I need preparing to "get the story right". Bullshit.

When I get in one of these moods, it helps to remind myself of why I'm writing in the first place. Often, it has to do with the characters or the fact that the story is just fun or the fact that writing is good for my anxiety-riddled brain, even if it doesn't always feel like it. But this time around, there's more to it than that. So, to remind myself, let me tell you why I'm writing this story.

The main character, M, is inspired by best friend who has cerebral palsy. She is incredible and strong and clever. Sometimes she gets down on herself about her disability and how it makes everyday living hard. It makes her afraid that she won't be able to live the life she's always wanted. But to my mind, she is practically a super hero. Not because she overcomes immense barriers every single day (although that is certainly worthy of admiration). She is amazingly intelligent and compassionate. She is fierce in her career and her beliefs. One of my favorite things to watch is when someone tells her no, or "you can't do that". She looks at them like they're speaking Swahili and proceeds to do exactly what they declared she couldn't. Because obviously. Just try to stand in her way, peasants.

But for all her fierce strength and enormous heart, she still struggles in so many ways. Yes, physically. But more so, she struggles with feeling like she's expected to be a role model, a symbol of diversity and accomplishment and accessibility. Sometimes, she just wants to freaking live, you know? Sometimes she doesn't want to be Superwoman, she just wants to be human.

I wanted to create a character that she could see herself in. Partially because representation in media (whether books, movies, TV, or advertising) is my gospel. But also because if there were more people and characters like my best friend, she wouldn't have to carry so much of a burden of representing. If there are many voices, no single one needs to tell the whole story.

So I'm writing this story for her. If this manuscript only goes as far as her eyes, it will have done its job. If it gets published and find its way to other readers who can see themselves in M, that would be even better. But first...I have to actually write the dang thing.

Friday, July 29, 2016

I Have an Outline!

I have discovered the answer to the nagging question: how long does it actually take me to write a novel outline? The answer: it depends on what you mean by an outline, but all told about two weeks. And here it is, in all its skeletal glory!

Yes, those are Post-Its....about 12 hours before it fell off my wall and had to be replaced by a bulletin board and index cards. Also, before I put it into Scrivener and started reorganizing some things. But there you are, a real-live, novel outline. So how did I do it? There are a lot of ways to outline and an infinite trove of online resources to guide you. But here's what worked for me.

Step 1: Brain dump!
I started by writing down everything I knew about the story. Who the main characters were, what the world looked like, themes, conflicts, goals, antagonists, etc. Anything remotely story related went into a stream-of-consciousness document. Mostly, I found that I had a main character that I loved, a purpose for her story and a rough idea of where I wanted her to end up. Next up...

Step 2: Research!
As previously mentioned, I had no real idea of what I was doing before diving into the actual outline. So, being the perpetual student that I am, I started researching plot structures, outlining techniques, and story arcs to get a feel for what the bones of my story might actually look like. You can see a bit of the result in that picture, where I drew out a story arc and three-act structure. There was a lot of procrastination masquerading as productivity during this step, but finally I had to suck it up and dive into...

Step 3: Scene List
This is exactly what it sounds like: a list of scenes that make up the plot. One by one, I started with where my characters were/what they were doing and asked myself, okay what happens now? I tried not to worry too much about tracking these scenes to the plot structure I drew out and instead just focused on what made sense for the characters. What would force them to make the decisions I needed them to make to end up at the story's conclusion? And for all you pantsers out there who worry that outlining takes away the magic and surprise of letting your story develop, I will say that there are plenty of surprises to be found in this step. The romantic subplot I originally envisioned never quite developed because the characters could not be forced to get all kissy faced. A supporting cast of characters developed to fill out the stage and assert their own motivations. And the main character did a forward-backward dance with the conflict that, at least at a high level, feels natural.

So that's it, right? Outlining done! Well, not exactly. At this point, I had enough of a structure that I could probably begin writing. But I wanted to help this novel along as much as possible, stacking my chances of actually finishing and completing a successful edit cycle. So I moved on to...

Step 4: Plotting Structure
I noted that while drafting the scene list, I didn't really worry too much about tracking scenes to plot structure. But there's a reason why the Hero's Journey and three-act structure exist. Why most stories can be plotted against the same structure regardless of content. It works. Our brains like these classic story paths and respond to them with happy story chemicals (shhh that's totally a real thing). So after I had my scene list, I went back and tracked it against the plot diagram I'd set up, marking the inciting incident, rising action, "dark nigh of the soul" and other story milestones to make sure that the overall arc contoured to a natural journey.

Step 5: Explore!
This is where I am right now. I have my outline, now transferred into Scrivener where I can write scene by scene. I have my story structure. So it's time to add flesh to the bones. Most of this will come in the writing. I can't anticipate every question that might come up in the world I'm creating. But I'm arming myself for the journey as much as possible: fleshing out characters, constructing the rules of the story world, and planning the practicalities of writing. This is another phase where procrastination easily masks itself as productivity. After all, I should know my characters as well as possible so why not fill out an extensive character questionnaire and create an avatar to represent them visually? It's an urban fantasy novel so I need to know exactly how magic and the supernatural work in every situation right? Nyeehhh sort of? But eventually, I'll have to start actually writing. And that's where you'll hopefully find me next time I check in.

For those of you, like me, who are just learning to plot, here are some resources that helped me:

Monday, July 18, 2016

I Have No Idea What I'm Doing

So you may be asking yourself, why would it take 3 months to outline a novel? Isn't it just a couple bullet points or roman numerals? You wrote 50,000 words in a month, surely you can knock out an outline in an afternoon. To which I say, hey...shut up. And also, no it probably won't take me an entire three months to outline this novel, but it will take longer than an afternoon.

I've written a lot of things, some of them good, some of them reeaaaaally not. But the only thing I've ever actually outlined were academic papers. Which probably explains why most of the novel manuscripts languishing in the bowels of my external hard drive look more like Frankenstein's monster than fully functioning stories. If outlining is equivalent to building the skeleton upon which the muscles and heart and skin of the story will eventually be layered over, my previous approach to novel-writing was something more like a six year old given a pack of playdough and zero concept of anatomy. Flesh and bones and pretty makeup were all glommed on in the same clumsy motion with the promise that it could all be fixed in post (aka revisions). Guess what? Sometimes it's easier to knock the whole sucker down and start from scratch instead of trying to reverse engineer a solid structure (yes, I'm mixing my metaphors but I stand by it).



Having tried it one way without much success, I'm taking a different approach this time around. But the thing is, I have no idea what I'm doing! As I said, the only writing projects I've ever outlined were academic papers which isn't really the same thing. I'm extremely familiar with the persuasive structure of academic papers (and marketing pitches for that matter), with each piece of the outline providing evidence that sways the reader towards my conclusion. But there are like a million different story structures and I don't have nearly the same intuitive grasp on them as I do the persuasive structure. So I'm learning. What's the shape of this story? What conventions are absolutely necessary to build a functioning story and which ones can I tweak or fudge? How much detail do I need before I actually start writing? And oh yea, how long is this novel actually going to be? Should I throw those other ideas in there or stick them in a parking lot for a potential sequel? So many questions!

So the three-month deadline is as much about giving myself a kick in the pants as it is about taking the pressure off and giving myself the time to learn the rules and conventions and explore what process works best for me.

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Setting Writing Goals

It seems like lately I've been getting a lot of questions from friends and family about my writing. As in, what have been writing lately? Have you been doing a lot of writing? What are you working on? And my response has been something along the lines of...yea, no. Oops.

After winning NaNoWriMo this past November, I briefly thought about editing that draft and turning it into something that I would eventually allow other human beings to read. And then kinda nyeah...not so much. There were plot holes the size of Canada, lackluster characters, and just not enough there there. I wasn't excited enough to slog through edits. Plus, real-life happened. I have a day job that requires its own kind of creative brain power and plenty of writing. A New Year's-fueled dive into dating turned into a holy-crap real relationship that unexpectedly changed my life in a beautiful way. In short, I've been really busy and really happy and everyone knows real writers can't be happy. Wait, no that's not right....

Anyway, while I've been too busy to do any actual writing, that NaNo draft sat in an unlit corner of my brain, evolving and mutating until one day, it burst out of my forehead and demanded my attention. I'm the kind of writer (and reader) that loves characters. If I have a compelling character, I'll set them free in their little sandbox world and just follow them around until some sort of story structure develops from their wanderings. Unfortunately, that first draft had a story structure but no character that I wanted to follow around just to see what they do. Which is probably why it went nowhere.

Enter Maddie, the main character my story was initially missing. She's snarky and damaged and has a good heart and in terms of getting her story down on paper, she's pretty demanding (thank god for fellow writers who won't find that description strange). In between work projects, I scribbled down scraps of dialogue, story arcs, and character development. But I still struggled to find (or make) the free time to actually start writing.

Enter my next kick in the ass: Jenna Moreci. I recently started following Jenna's YouTube channel and I'm loving her weekly dose of no-nonsense writer talk. This week's video was all about how she sets writing goals.

 
Any advice-giver will tell you that the key to success is setting goals. Whether you want to lose weight, be a writer, or be rich, setting specific goals that include a deadline is non-negotiable. Not just "lose weight" but "lose 15 pounds by September 1st." Don't proclaim you want to "get rich", say you're going to save $100 a month for the next year. Not the most revolutionary idea, but for some reason, Jenna's quarterly goal structure really resonated with me. I didn't have to look way into the future towards NaNoWriMo, or try to rearrange my schedule to try to accomplish something this month. I could work on a single goal for three months and call it a success. Maybe it's the fact that I work in marketing so breaking the year into quarters and setting revenue or project goals for that time period feels really natural to me. Whatever the reason, as soon as I watched this video, I dug out my journal and started brain dumping in preparation for achieving my 2016 Q3 goal: outlining Maddie's novel.

And to keep myself accountable, I'll be posting here once a week to update my progress. Because as Jenna says, there's nothing like the punishment of public humiliation to get your ass moving!