Tag: author

The Evolving Storyline

What do you do when you set out to write a story and suddenly it is no longer the story you set out to write?

The evolving story, as I like to call it, happens to me quite frequently. When I wrote my story “The 50 Deaths of Annabelle Joy” there was clearly my heroine plagued by the affections of the villainous Grim Reaper. I knew she would hate him the entire time, be repulsed by his affection for her, and fight to get away from him every day of her life. My original plan had Annabelle growing up, marrying, and giving birth to a daughter. As Annabelle’s daughter grew up, Death would begin to shift his interest from Annabelle to her daughter. When Annabelle learns Death intends to release her and to begin courting her daughter, Annabelle would agree to become his bride. That WAS my plan, but after I started writing it, the story evolved into something entirely different.

I am the author who becomes more acquainted with my characters as I write my story, I let my characters tell me the story and I write it. My last post I talked about character interviews, getting to know you character as the/she grows during the story. The interview was especially important in my book referenced above. As I wrote and interviewed my antagonist, I began to see the story from his perspective and that he was not, in fact, a ‘bad guy’ but a victim of circumstance.

The evolution of a story is not always as dramatic as it had been in my case, it could be something small like an unexpected ally or perhaps a game changer of finding someone else is the true villain. Allowing for evolution is partly why I do not attempt to outline my entire book, because I know the plan will likely change. As I write I find favorite characters die, while some deaths turn out to be only a near-death. I’ve had bad guys soften their hearts to become a hero and I have had strong alliances turn out to be a front, none of which I planned from the beginning.

People have asked me, ‘How did you not know your character would do that? You’re writing the story.’ Yes, I am writing the story, but I write what I see as I see it. 

All I would like to say is you should not plan your book so stringently you do not allow for things to change. We have a vision for our books as we set out to write them, but sometimes what comes from the evolution is so much better than anything we could have planned.

Failed plans should not be interpreted as a failed vision. Visions don’t change, they are only refined. Plans rarely stay the same, and are scrapped or adjusted as needed. Be stubborn about the vision, but flexible with your plan. John C. Maxwell

I would love to hear of a time from you when you wrote a story that turned out differently from what you had planned.

Getting to know all about “You”

When I sit down to begin a novel I am writing, I often feel as though I truly know my hero/heroine inside and out; the truth is, there is often more to know. Different people have their own tips and techniques they use for character development, but aside from day dreaming of events that will never be written, I like to interview my character.

The interview is best used for main and supporting characters, but it can also be useful for any character you may feel as though is not shining through in your work. Part of the benefits participants in the NaNoWriMo competition is access to blogs, chats, and tips from other successful writers. My favorite help guide shared by the Nano community is this Character Questionnaire.

In my experience, I find going into as much detail as possible is best. One of the best benefits, my opinion, of the interview is when you find yourself suffering from Writer’s Block. I understand this technique is not always applicable, but imagine you have your hero and your “villain” stuck in a situation in which they must work together, but you see know way for it to happen. Looking back at the interviews, perhaps at a favorite memory, you may notice something that could bring your characters closer together, if only for a scene or two.

I have a character in my story (Elixia) who has a short temper with my MC, and while he is meant to be the love interest, it took interviewing for me to understand why his temper had become short. For me, my characters are as real as anyone walking down the street, so I often imagine interviews with my characters. What I learned about my character was he had a wife once and his wife was led away in her sleep and murdered before him. My character if afraid of loving someone else because he fears losing her, being unable to protect her, and also he was afraid of being unloyal to the memory of his wife.

You see where I listed the three reasons my character had a short temper, in a questionnaire, I could leave it with those answers. The point of an interview is to dig deep. So now I would try to answer the questions “Why do you think you will lose her”, “How do you think you would respond if you did lose her? “Why do you feel you must protect her?” “From what do you think she must be protected?” “Why do you think loving someone else would make you unloyal to your deceased wife” etc… I can continue to find question after question, and the more specific my questions become, the more I can understand how my character has become that way and what my MC can do to turn him around. This interview can also provide me with dialogue if I feel I need more to say.

There is one more thing I want to share about interviews and your story. In any good story the main character evolves along the way, so my suggestion would be to re-interview throughout the story. A questionnaire is a great starting point, because it can show you who all of your characters are, but the interview will help you to truly know them.

 

 

Camp NaNoWriMo is currently running during the month of April, but another will start in July. If you want to practice setting a writing goal and writing each day, NaNos can help keep you accountable and reach other writers.

Thoughts or opinions? Share below, let’s discuss!

 

What makes the perfect ending?

I am an a proponent of the happy ending. No, I’m talking about what comes after the massage, but the ending to the story. I’m the reason why so much of Hollywood is now predictable, we almost always know that no matter what the characters go through, it will all work out in the end.

So, what then makes the perfect ending? We know that endings don’t have to end happy… hello Romeo and Juliet… But is that what most people want? I think what most people want is an ending that is not so predictable. Coming up with an original idea for ending is difficult and I think the surprise for the ending is something you build throughout the story.

I am unintentionally writing an unsuspecting ending to my current story. I say unintentional because the story is no longer ending how it was meant to end when I started writing. Through a couple moments of creative liberty, I accidentally made my ending an impossible one. The ending I was now stuck with was one that did not make me and I did not think it would make the readers happy. I saw my ending as a lose-lose-lose. Not good for me, the readers, or the characters. 

I wanted a new ending, one that wrapped up the storyline to a natural conclusion, and yet continues on ever so slightly becoming a win-win for my main characters.  When I finally figured out what the ending would be, I was astounded that I hadn’t considered it before. 

I think the best way to create a surprising ending is to decide what the expected ending would be and then go away from it. I wouldn’t completely ditch the expected ending, I would expand on it and change it so that it becomes something original. We all know how the boy meets girl story ends… they fall in love and live happily ever after. In Romeo and Juilet the boy and girl do end up together, but the twist is they both die. 

Tell me some of your favorite endings. I love the ending to the movie “Just Like Heaven”. You think that all is lost, and yet it works out. Sure I hoped the entire time that I would, but there was a chance that it wouldn’t and it just made me happy to see them together.

Thanks for reading, and have a good week!

Embracing the new

I began NaNoWriMo (Nano…) the very same day I finished the first draft to a completely separate book. I don’t think I will ever do that again. I love the idea of Nano and I’m off to a great start. The problem is that for the past several months my brain has been hardwired to think about my other story. When I close my eyes or hear a song on the radio , I’m supposed to visualize my current characters and their different struggles. But now, I have to actively force myself to think about my current story.

I don’t believe that I am uninspired, I think my story has great potential. I am just obsessed with my previous story. So how do I let go and embrace the new? I haven’t found an exact process yet, but I am starting by focusing on the big scenes. You know, the ones that would be in the movie trailer. These are the scenes that get me pumped up to write. I’m not going to write those scenes out of order, but at least it gets me thinking about the right characters. 

Yesterday I finally found the face of my main male character. I descried him completely wrong for the image I found… but looking the picture, I knew that is who I meant to describe. That was also motivational.

I’m nearly complete with 2 of 20 chapters for my Nano story, and the progress tracker says that I should be done November 28th, and that gives me some time to edit!

So, to my fellow writers out there. If you have started a new project closely after finishing another… what has helped you to switch gears and mind sets?

Here’s wishing everyone a surprisingly good Monday! Take care.

Just catching up…

I normally refrain from writing on the weekends, this is simply because I think we all need time to relax. I once read a book on how to write a book within 30 days and one thing that I read has stuck with me ever since. “Don’t force your writing.” Often times I think people have a goal in mind and they don’t want to stop until they achieve that goal, which is fine… Sometimes though you can tell that you’re just writing non-sense and you know when it comes time to edit, most of it is going to get cut or re-written. So I try now not to force the words, the only exception to this is when I’m at a bit of a roadblock. I have a lot of signposts for my book, the chapter titles and also little things that I’d like to happen within the chapter, sometimes though, I don’t give a section enough detail or the scene doesn’t take as long as I thought it might. I can’t just start a new chapter so I have to continue that scene and sometimes I have to force that a little bit. Who knows, maybe I’ll end up scrapping it later, but the point is that I still got to my next chapter or main point and didn’t just sit there stuck in the current chapter.

I suppose you could call me old-fashioned when it comes to writing. I actually prefer writing with pen and paper vice typing on the computer. I hate typing, honestly. I bought some dictation software to assist me in moving my story from my notebooks to my laptop, but right now, after wiping my computer, the program won’t reinstall. So today I will be hand typing the last few entries from my notebook. This was how I started writing. I wrote all kinds of stories beginning in middle school. I would write every chance I had like lunch break, 3 mins before class began, 10 mins before class ended. Just whenever I could. I don’t have those same habits now, but I do still prefer writing in my 70 page, college ruled, spiral notebooks.

Tomorrow begins my final 4 days to write my final 3 chapters. It’s a tight deadline, but I know that I will make it! After that though, I have to start my prep for my NaNoWriMo story. I have no idea what the layout for the story even will be, its only a concept at this point, and my 30 day 50,000 word journey for that book begins on Friday!

For those of you who read this, I hope you’re having a wonderful day! 

More for tomorrow now…