Tuesday Tidbits: Deliver On Your Promise

Remember her? Remember that doe-eyed optimist who was simply living her life... minding her business at the beginning of your story?  Thought you would. You began your story by painting a picture of her normal, run-of-the-mill life... and then something happened to her. An event rocked her world. Turned it upside down. And she went on a quest to discover rhyme and reason and make sense of it all.

When you first introduced her, you inherently promised something. You promised she was going to grow and evolve and change... for the better of course. Just like cold, ugly iron is subjected to the fire and heat of the forge in order to become a sharply honed sword. So it was with your character. She faced insurmountable odds. She met with failure again and again on her journey for truth and understanding.

The final piece of the plotting puzzle, is to Deliver On Your Promise.
In my original post Keep Yer Pants On, Plot By Numbers I suggested that you could follow simple, effective plot points to aid your story. A lot of people disagree with plotting. They think it's the devil... the antithesis of good writing. Character determines all. And I say there's a place for characters leading the way and there's a place for events leading the way. They are for different types of books.

What my original post, and subsequent series have been about are ways to lead your character through a tried and true series of events.
Grab Your Reader By The Nose
Rock Your Character's World
Hit Your Character In The Jaw... A Few Times
Deliver On Your Promise

I think even the most hard core character-driven "pantsers" can recognize hints of truth in what I've presented. Because they are more or less elements of good story telling.

So back to our girl. We've led her through hell and back and she has grown and changed. There should've been a physical transformation and/ or mental and/ or emotional. And then she emerged on the far side... glorious and triumphant. She's discovered things about herself and her world... discovered her own powers and how to wield them. And she's not the same little girl anymore.

I hope you enjoyed this series. I'm open to any comments and an open dialogue on anything I've written.

~Cheers

Tuesday Tidbits: Hit Your Character In The Jaw... A Few Times

This is the third installment in the series I began 4 Tuesdays ago entitled Keep Yer Pants On, Plot By Numbers. You are welcome to visit the last three posts to see where I'm headed with this series... Post 1 and Post 2 and Post 3.

We've discussed Grabbing Your Reader By The Nose with a great first line and first paragraph. Hook the reader in and get them emotionally involved... and then BAM, you Rock Your Character's World!! Your character's world gets turned upside down (which draws the reader in even more).

 Today, I'm talking about Hitting Your Character In The Jaw. Trust me, they'll thank you later.

As a writer, you must escalate the tension and draw it out. Remember when I said how your protag must face a conflict or challenge they can't easily solve? Sure you do, because your loyal followers of this series. *wink*

Obviously, if the challenge cannot be easily solved then Your Character *Has To Fail*... at least in the short run. After all, she's facing insurmountable odds, yes? She has to run into wall after wall, and meet frustration after frustration. You can even give her small successes and large failures. Through all of these challenges your character will grow and change. We all learn far more from our mistakes than from our victories, right?

We've also discussed how your character has an external struggle that she needs to overcome. But she should also have an internal conflict that needs to reconciled as well. As the story progresses and the challenges escalate, the consequences for not solving them should become more dire, which causes the reader to become more emotionally engaged.

And, by the time the protag meets the defining moment, aka The Climax, she will have made a discovery. A discovery about herself. A discovery about her world. A discovery about her powers and her control of them.

Come back next Tuesday for the final installment in the series. Deliver On Your Promise.

Tuesday Tidbits: Rock Your Character's World

This is the second installment in the series I began 3 Tuesdays ago entitled Keep Yer Pants On, Plot By Numbers. You are welcome to visit the last two posts to see where I'm headed with this series... Post 1 and Post 2.

Today, I'm talking about Rocking Your Character's World.
We discussed Grabbing Your Reader By The Nose. Great first line and first paragraph. Hook the reader in and get them emotionally involved... and then BAM!! Your character's world gets turned upside down (which draws the reader in even more).

Her home is destroyed.
She finds out that her husband of ten years is gay.
She is thrust into a death match.
She finds an irresistible boy standing in her living room, with no idea where he came from or how to keep from kissing him.
She discovers that the boy she has crushed on since 7th grade finally notices her, but it's because he's a vampire and he needs to feed off her.

You get the idea.

From my WIP Caenus: Caenus is forced by his father to compete in the same grueling games that claimed the lives of his older brothers.

From my WIP *Yet Untitled*: Winged beasts attack a boys mother. But then he discovers that she was never his mother and he is now hunted by powerful Gods who want to kill him and his siblings who he's never met.

The conflict has to be substantial enough that the reader doesn't say "ehhh, whatever" and has to be believable... at least as it pertains to the genre (no alien antags in an historical romance). And the consequences of the catastrophe must Raise. The. Stakes. (where have we all heard that before?)
Yes, the stakes need to be raised to a level where the reader doesn't say, "so what?"

The crisis must be something that your protag can't solve easily, because the challenge of solving it sets the story in motion. This event may send your character on a quest or mission... even if the mission is to discover themselves. 

There should also be internal and external conflicts. Your character's flaws and nuances will inform how they react to the external conflict, but it's through the internal conflict that they grow. Yep, remember the *promise* you made to the reader in the opening... you promised the reader that the character would grow. And it's through the solving of the conflict that she will do this.

I hope this was informative. Feel free to add to this in the comments. It's an open forum.
Stay tuned for next Tuesday's Tidbits: Hit Your Character In The mouth... A Few Times.

TUESDAY TIDBITS: Grab Your Reader By The Nose

This is the first installment in a series I began last week entitled Keep Yer Pants On, Plot By Numbers.  In that post I stated that I'm not a "pantser" when planning a new story. I'm a total "plotter." I know a lot of people enjoy the meandering path that their characters lead them on, but I have to know where I'm  going. And I promise I'm not a control freak. It's just a sanity thing.

So the first tenet of plotting a great story is "Grab The Reader By The Nose"

What I mean is that you want to write a compelling

• first line
• first paragraph
• first 250 words
• first page
• first 500 words

And in those "firsts" you want to paint a picture of your character in her setting with a unique voice and tone that makes the reader care about what happens to your character next.

Something in a person's brain clicks and responds to a really well written opening sentence. While it's certainly not necessary, it simply gives you an edge in a crowded marketplace. Think of all the people strolling through a book store... picking up books... reading back blurbs. Once they find something that piques their interest they thumb to the first few pages.

THAT'S when you have to grab them by the nose. As soon as they open to the first page, you want your words to speak directly to them, hit a chord, and resonate. If not, they're likely to say, "Hmmm. Interesting." And put it right back on the shelf.

Once you have them hooked by your first line and first paragraph, you need to ensure your first scene wraps it's arm around the reader and guides them to the couch.

Elements of a super opening scene

1. Paint the picture of your character's current normal life And normal doesn't mean pain free or angst free. And make it *as close to the conflict as possible* Don't information dump... don't give us all the back story. Show us the character, enough to get a sense of her, just before the hammer falls.
2. Introduce the conflict... something that will Rock Her World (Stay Tuned For Next Week) And make it significant enough that your reader doesn't say, "So What?"
3. Forecast the ending of the story... or at least promise the reader that your character will grow and change based upon the conflict she now faces.

Hope this was informative. Come back next Tuesday 1/ 25/ 2011 for the next installment: Rock Your Character's World

 Also, if you haven't seen it, check out Brenda Drake's "It Was A Dark And Stormy Blogfest" wherein participants are charged with sharing their best first lines.

TUESDAY TIDBITS: Stephen J. Cannell On Writing

Today I found some interesting tidbits from a world reknowned mystery writer on How To Craft A Long Term Writing Career. Stephen J. Cannell should know. With over 40 of television's hottest shows of all time to his credit, and 17 novels, Stephen J. Cannell is a near expert in the field. Unfortunately, Mr. Cannell passed on September 30, 2010. You can search his achievments in the search box above.

TUESDAY TIDBITS: How To Keep Pace In Nano Wrimo

Hey all you Nano Wrimoers out there, I'm with you in spirit this year. And in said capacity, I'd like to offer some tasty tidbits or advice that I found. When you're stuck or need inspiration or need to figure out how you will reach your daily goals, come back and look at this often. You'll glean more each time you view them.

I know! I know! You're saying... "But, if I look at your tips, then I'm not writing. And if I'm not writing, I can't make my 1,667 per day goal." And a daunting goal it is. I didn't think so at first when I began on the path last November. But, good googley-moogley, once you get inside the Nano Wrimo tunnel with a commitment to finish on time, the entire world will conspire against you. I promise.

Anyhoo, when you get a break or you hit writer's block or after you've hit your daily goal, come back and take a look. Enjoy.

TUESDAY TIDBITS: Writing The Blockbuster Novel

I ran across these videos of Robin Rice talking about How To Write a Blockbuster Novel. And in this series of videos, she quotes from Al Zuckerman. Al Zuckerman's book is called Writing The Blockbuster Novel. The points made are pretty powerful.

The following videos emphasize 2-5. Here are the steps in their entirety.
1) Story must have High Stakes... for person, city, country, world
2) Characters must be larger than life... doing something extraordinary
3) There must be a dramatic question... an overreaching question that affects the entire world the characters inhabit
4) Must be high concept... characters do some really out of the ordinary things
5) Multiple points of view... must be able to experience the dilemma on multiple levels








So what do you think? What makes a blockbuster novel? Do you agree with the points above? Do you have anything to add?