Stir the Plot

Why is it so important to write tight? Today’s agents and editors expect tight writing because that’s what readers want. For the most part, readers want to get into the story and to the point. They don’t want to have to skim through fluff. Many of them would rather close the book instead.

Here are some self-editing tricks you can use when looking specifically at tightening your work.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Simply Funny.
Most of the best comedy ideas are simple. “A very rude man runs a hotel.” Or “a likeable rogue in prison always gets the better of the authorities.” Sometimes the idea is so strong and simple that the title says it all, like “The 40 Year Old Virgin.” Here’s a test: if you can’t describe your comedy idea in 15 words or less, it’s probably too complicated.

Simple set-up, complex development.
This doesn’t mean characters and stories can’t be complex. But the SET-UP is simple. The plots of many restoration comedies are fiendishly convoluted, but are based on a simple proposition. In ‘The Country Wife’, a notorious rake convinces other men he’s impotent so they trust him with their wives -  a simple idea – but the plot that develops is labyrinthine.

And some of the most interesting characters in TV sitcom are found in set-ups that can be summed up in a few words. “A warring father and son run a scrap business.” Sometimes it’s even simpler. “Two very different people have to live together,” which could describe any number of sitcoms from “The Odd Couple” to “Peep Show.” But although the set-ups are simple, the writing, especially of character, can be very sophisticated.

Comedy is simple. But it’s not easy.
Writing comedy involves some very specific skills. It helps if you have a passion for the work, and a natural flair is a great gift. But the most important thing is to practice the craft. And keep practicing. The first step is to identify and become familiar with the skills you need.

When we talk about voice, we are referring to the way a book or story reads. It’s a rather amorphous concept that takes into account tone, style, character, and a host of other elements of writing. 

Stylistic Voice: When we read high fantasy we generally expect it to sound a certain way. We expect the descriptions to be somewhat rich, the language to be less colloquial, more formal. On the other hand, if we read contemporary urban fantasy, we expect the opposite.  The style will usually be more clipped, succinct; there might be less emphasis on description and more on action.  Military SF might be different from both of these.

Obviously, these are not hard and fast rules. One can write highly descriptive urban fantasy or high fantasy in a clipped style. The point is, this is a conscious decision that we make as writers; a stylistic decision. And in making that decision, we are starting to establish the voice of our work.

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Everyone has a unique take on the world. Our experiences and inborn traits shape our perception of everything around us. Voice is how a character expresses that unique view. It can come out in the tiny things like word choice and sentence structure.

But voice is about more than words and tone. Equally important is your character’s thought process. When something happens, how does your character process it? What do they think about it? What do they connect it to— something in their past? Something else in the world around them? Someone in the world around them?

Because a character’s voice is shaped so much by their traits and backstory, it’s important to know those things about your character. Take time to get to know your character.

Henry James argued that you should set up your characters and let the readers get to know them before jumping into the action, since action grows out of character. But modern readers aren’t all that patient with those sorts of books. They want to get into the action right away–en medias res means starting in the middle of the action. That’s pretty typical of contemporary fantasies.

With traditional fantasy, more world-building has to happen before your readers can fully understand the conflict or action. If you toss them in on the first page and they don’t understand the context, they may shrug, or may not feel the level of tension you want them to feel.

Writing it can be tricksy, because there is so much you have to do, and yet not confuse your readers. So first you pour it all out onto the page in a messy mass. Then you start crafting. One of your goals is to CUT. Cut everything that doesn’t have to be there to make sense of that scene, those characters and that world. Because it’s a new book and there’s so much going on, our first tendency is to overwhelm the reader with too much detail.

Your first draft will have a lot of extraneous details. That doesn’t mean get rid of them altogether. Those details may need to be introduced later. But in the first chapter, only give what’s necessary for the reader to understand and engage in the moment. So cut. Or as my editor once said, Prune Generously. Then go back and figure out what the reader needed to know that didn’t get put in there.

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Round Characters

• Characters who recognise, change with, or adjust to circumstances.
• Complex and many-sided, they touch life at many points.
• Usually the main figure in a story. Profits from experience, is altered by circumstances, and undergoes a change or alteration, which may be shown in action, the realization of new strength and therefore the affirmation of previous decisions, the acceptance of a new condition, or the discovery of heretofore unrecognized truths.

Flat Characters

• Characters who do not grow, who end where they begin, who are static.
• Usually highlight the development of round characters and are usually minor (although not all minor characters are necessarily flat).
• Can be characterised by one or two traits, summed up in a sentence.

(click link for more info)

Villain Or Antagonist?
How does a villain differ from an antagonist? An antagonist is a general term for the person who opposes the protagonist and villain is a sub-category of antagonists. Foster says, “An antagonist is someone that is against whatever is happening. They aren’t all villainous. You can be an antagonist, but still be good. On the other hand, a villain concentrates on bad deeds, on evil. ”

Antipathy Instead of Sympathy
When you create a villain, you want the reader of your novel to feel antipathy toward that character, rather than sympathy. To do this, you use the same tools that you use to characterise any character. Give the character a convincing backstory that explains motivations, then personalise them with depth and variety.

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Your main character needs to overcome his/her inner demons prior to his/her final showdown with the story’s antagonist, and the overcoming of those inner demons becomes the enabling factor that helps him/her conquer all exterior obstacles.

That’s why you need to focus on the inner demons and make them really compelling and really believable—It’s going to be the thing that makes or breaks your main character.

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1. Create a detailed character profile.
2. Use character quirks to break stereotypes.
3. Know your character’s family.
4. What Would (My Character) Do?
5. Write a biography for your character.

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Self-doubt is the enemy of the writer. It is most certainly one of the worst, if not the worst, in the writer’s rogue gallery of nemeses. You let self-doubt get a hold of you, it’ll kill your work dead.

You mustn’t be seduced by the callous whispers of the doubting monster at your back. To survive as a writer you must wheel on the beast, your sharpened pen at hand. Then you must spear him to the earth.

We’re All Part Of The Self-Hatred Quilt
Self-doubt has the singular power to make you feel very alone indeed [but] you’re not alone. We all get it. The difference is that some writers pull their boots out of the hungry mire and others sink deeper and deeper until they’re caught in an inescapable nest of old Druid bones.

Time And Practice Are Two Of Doubt’s Mightiest Foes
Sometimes self-doubt comes from a real place, a revelation that you’re just not ready. The problem isn’t this revelation but rather how writers react to it. The reaction is: OMG NOT GOOD ENOUGH MUST EJECT OR DIE. What a terribly unproductive reaction. Or, more accurately, over-reaction.

You’re not going to be perfect right out of the gate. Time and practice will improve your mojo, and an improved sense of one’s mojo will go a long way toward mitigating doubt.

Validation Comes From Within
Don’t go looking for validation elsewhere. Don’t look for it from friends, loved ones, publishers, editors, agents, mailmen, or cats. External validation isn’t a bad thing. It just isn’t what you need. Because it matters little that they believe in you if you don’t believe in yourself.

Read the rest of this thoughtful, funny (and possibly NSFW) article here.

Having a meaningful flow is crucial for ensuring that your story hangs together. Without it, readers won’t be able to follow what’s going on, or else they won’t be engaged enough to care.

yeahwriters:

Ummmm this is the coolest infographic I’ve ever seen. Click on the title or the image to see it bigger!

As writers, we look for ways to make our books more visceral for the reader. For plotters, this might include keeping note of emotional impact for the scenes one intends to write. For pantsers, this will often lead to rereading and working a scene until we can feel every single word deep in our gut, ourselves. Whatever the author’s process, it is no coincidence that the masters of this art are often at the top of the bestsellers lists and even more importantly, on our keeper shelves.

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In short, writing with an awareness of all of our senses gives us an edge when deepening our characters and fleshing out a scene.

Use conflict to show what kind of people your story is populated with. You can explore the inner depths, strengths and weaknesses they have and show how they react in various ways to the problems. In fact you can produce a conflict out of the attitude or flaws of one of your characters and then describe how he and your other characters deal with that.

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storyaddicted:

Advice for those looking to tackle NaNoWriMo or just starting a novel in general by Chuck Wendig:

1. Get your expectations firmly in check.
2. Find your own personal “give-a-fuck” factor.
3. Draw the map for the journey ahead.
4. Become wild west scrivening inkslinger, “Quick-Note McGoat.”
5. Know thy characters.
6. Build an (incomplete) world.
7. Test drive those imaginary motherfuckers.
8. Dig up all the glittery conflict diamonds.
9. Identify the major rules.
10. Find your way into the tale.
11. Also: Identify the Great Egress.
12. Learn all the appropriate things.
13. Suss out the fiddly bits.
14. The 13-Second Closing-Window-Of-Opportunity Pitch
15. Hell, write the whole goddamn query.
16. Know your word processor intimately.
17. Establish a daily schedule.
18. Build a timetable.
19. Ensure that life accommodates the book.
20. Have a publication path in mind.
21. Clean your shitty desk, you filthmonger.
22. The Backup Plan
23. Set it and forget it.
24. Commit, motherfucker.
25. Stop doing all this other stuff and write already.

Read in detail about this list at Chuck Wendig’s blog: terribleminds.

It’s vital to understand the difference between the inciting incident and the catalyst. Because they are easily confused. They both push major plot events into motion, and they both occur in Act I.

Also, you can’t create an effective catalyst until you have a solid premise. All of these things fit together seamlessly — the inciting incident, the catalyst, the premise — in a well-structured story, and therefore, are of major importance when crafting a pitch.

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A sub-plot is a dramatic confrontation between a need and antagonist obstacles. Just like your main plot. It can involve your hero, or it can involve someone else. If the latter, the sub-plot needs to collide with the hero’s story arc at some point, probably in your Part 4 resolution.

Sub-text can be described as the sociology, the culture, of your story. Culture, with its norms, expectations and consequences, influences the behaviors and actions that take place within it. 

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Here are three little ways that will help elevate your story to heavenly heights. These notions reside on top of the layer cake that comprises the Six Core Competencies of Successful Writing. Think of them as frosting, only with protein and vitamins and a serious propensity for addiction.

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Plot motivation is when a writer has a character make a particular choice or take a particular action because it’s necessary for the direction the writer wants the plot to go.

Character motivation is when a writer has a character make a particular choice or take a particular action because it’s what makes the most sense given the situation the character is in and that character’s state of mind.

Phrased like that, I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that readers prefer the latter.

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writeworld:

Writing a novel? There’s first-draft flow, and there’s editing flow. And then there comes a time when you think you might be done, yet the manuscript is still not quite “there.” To sell your work to an agent, and then to a publisher, and finally to a great many readers, put thoughts of flow aside now, and consider the following advice. Each of the guides mentioned is worthy of your careful attention.

The Shortlist:

• Don’t describe your characters in generic terms.
• Don’t construct a majority of your sentences the same way.
• Don’t be clumsy in your use of foreshadowing and anticipation.
• Avoid flabby phrases.
• Don’t write scenes in which “it’s all good.”

For full explanations of each tip on the shortlist, click the link above.

Story ideas can come from anywhere, and those are the easy part of writing. It’s figuring out what to do past that glimmer of an idea where it can get tricky. Let’s look at some common places ideas start and ways to find a workable plot from those sparks.

The classic story arc requires rising action to keep a novel progressing toward its climax. For the first-time novelist (and even some experienced novelists), rising action can be harder to implement than to talk about.

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