Tag: novel

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!

 

Post NaNoWriMo – Time to publish?

Hey all,

I hope that you had a great Thanksgiving.

For those of you who were competing in NaNoWriMo 2013, congratulations! According to the email I received there was well over 300,000 participants this year and a mere ~41,000 crossed the 50,000 word finish line. I am congratulating not only the victors, but the participants as well. I think just committing to writing in any fashion is something that you should be proud of. Of course, it is not my opinion that matters, but I’m sure even just doing a little bit of writing reminded you why you like to write in the first place, and I think that is important.

I am personally excited about my NaNo prizes that I will have access to on the 5th. What I’m looking forward to the most is holding one of the two paperback copies of my book that I will receive. I think I’ll even buy a shadow box for it and mount it on my wall, THAT is how proud of myself I am.

I just finished the rough edit of my book. I was surprised that I was actually very happy with how it turned out, storyline-wise. I wrote it intentionally to only be a 50,000 word story and so I thought it flowed quite nicely. So far, those who have read it for me have shared my sentiments… for that reason I did not go back and re-write. I plan to actually start searching for a literary agent with the story as I have it now, and I hope that it will eventually lead me to a publishing deal. I have considered self-publishing… there are many great offers that come with participating in NaNoWriMo… however because I am such a new author, I believe that I would rather have a strong publishing house behind me to promote my book then to attempt to do it myself. 

I didn’t get a cover design for my book, and I’m a little sad about that. I did create one for myself on powerpoint using pictures I got off of Google. I thought the cover looked nice, but according to my Mom it comes off as more “creepy” than romantic. I attempted to create a romantic cover, but layering people in a way they were not originally intended just does not look good. My only other alternative was to rent a Grim Reaper costume and find a beautiful couple to take a picture of for the cover… I must just suck it up and pay the $150 for a professional cover, but we shall see.

Did anyone else compete in NaNoWriMo? How did your journey go?

Victory!

Today I finished my NaNoWriMo book at 51,227 words.

First and foremost, I want to thank my husband for his support and understanding. I quit my full time job back in December so I could focus more on my writing and he had supported me this entire time. Every time I was feeling un-motivated, he was always there to give me the push I needed. Thank you Will for your love and support!

NaNoWriMo still has 9 days left… What will I be doing?
I will be using this time to review my work and making revisions, edits, and corrections. There are many great publishing opportunities to the winners of NaNo and I want to be certain that my work is at its best.

What did I enjoy most about NaNoWrimo 2013?
This was my first Nano. I hit the ground running at midnight on November 1st. I most enjoyed updating my word count each. I found it really helpful to know the pace at which I was writing and my expected date of completion based on that pace.

What would I do differently if I had a chance to go back?
I would definitely plan more. I had more of an outline than some fellow competitors I met, but I also suffered tremendous plot changes. In the future I would prefer to have a better layout of the story before beginning.

What was most surprising about my NaNoWriMo experience?
I was most surprised by what I was able to accomplish in such a short timeframe. Competition really gets me going, I was impressed by myself every step of the way.

Would I recommend NaNoWriMo?
I have been recommending NaNo left and right since I began. It has been and amazing experience for me and I think anyone who has even the slightest interest in writing should give it a shot.

 

If anyone would like to review my rough draft, it can be found here: http://authors.tablo.com.au/nanowrimo/Mzk1MA==

5 Chapters in 3 days…

What is the most you have ever written in a day? How about two? Three?

I have written about 13,000 over the past 3 days. My mind is blown! I don’t say that to brag, I say that because personally… I didn’t know I was capable of something like that. This is what has impressed me the most about my participation in NaNoWriMo. I have been setting the bar too low for myself, and it is going to stop.

Before NaNo, I was proud of myself just for writing over 1,000 words in 2 to about 2.5 hours. I thought I was doing well, it made it easy for me to determine a rough estimate of my completion dates, and I was happy. Since I began NaNo, I consistently write about 2,500 words in under 2 hours. Over the past 2 days, I gave myself 2 separate writing spurts to account for 5,000 words a day.

What has attributed to my sudden ability to write more in the same amount of time? I believe that I am capable of producing more now because of NaNoWriMo’s tight deadline. I have known from the very beginning that my book was due at midnight on November 30th, so I planned accordingly. I wanted to give myself some buffer time and also a chance to edit before the deadline, so my goal became one 2,500 word chapter per day. I thought that I would have to set aside time to write twice per day to achieve this goal, but I was so amped for the challenge that it wasn’t necessary.

My recommendation to you is that if you find yourself not producing as much work as you would like, raise your bar! It’s so easy to keep pushing back the due date, but take a chance, challenge yourself and push up your due date. Sometimes we need a little fire to kick everything back into gear. Make it fun, too. I think for my next book, I’ll set my deadline and I’ll bet a nice dinner (paid for or cooked by me) to my husband if I don’t achieve my goal. 

Today I am just on a high from what I’ve accomplished. I have literally been dancing around my house in celebration. Tomorrow I write the final chapter of my book, and you will hear me shout that I’ve won NaNoWriMo 2013.

Take care everyone, I’m off to go blow everyone’s mind in class with my presentation now.

Powering Through

Sorry, it’s been a while… bit of a busy week.

I will be doubling up my writing time today and tomorrow, because I was unable to complete any chapters over the weekend. The good news is that if I am successful in writing 2 chapters today and another 2 chapters tomorrow… I will be completing my book on Thursday!

I didn’t write over the weekend because I had to work all day Saturday and all dat on Sunday. Usually I have time to write while I am at work, but it just didn’t happen this weekend. I also had to complete my portion of a group project for my college, so that was all of my free time. I have doubled up in the past, and it can be exhausting, but to me, it is well worth it to stay on track.

So, that brings me to today’s topic: Powering Through.

I’ll admit, that I have struggled with the last couple of chapters I have written. When the story was new and exciting, words just seemed to flow through my fingertips… I have finally gotten to that point that I fantasize about this story and its characters, but now I’m having a hard time getting to that finish line. I recently wrote a chapter that took me over 3 hours to write, which is ridiculous when you consider for the purpose of NaNoWriMo, my chapters are only 2500 words. The chapter didn’t take nearly as long, but it certainly felt like work.

When writing begins to feel like work, it is easy to say “just walk away” … “I’ll come back to it”. The truth is, at least for me, when I walk away from my designated writing time…. I am unlikely to go back and finish that later. I write between 9AM and 11AM every day. That is my time. I have had my coffee, eaten my breakfast, and there are no distractions. Once I get past lunch time, the entire atmosphere of the house just seems wrong to write. Suddenly there are things on TV to watch, other things I need to check on, groceries to buy, and list goes on and on. My writing time is my golden time, and I have to use it to its full potential.

I have read many of the Pep Talks for NaNoWriMo and they suggest that when you are stuck, to simply write the scene or chapter that excites you… I do not recommend that, and I’ll tell you why. I used to do that very thing, all the time. I would hear a song on the radio and envision a scene so strong that I could cry… and I would be inspired to write it down immediately. I would re-read it and think “this is perfect! I can’t wait until I get to the point in my story that I can use this scene.” The problem is that when you (.. I..) write a scene that you have not built up to yet, you’re not taking everything into consideration. The characters may go through things that you had not originally intended. I’ll give you en example of my prediction writing for NaNoWriMo:

NaNoWriMo asks for a synopsis of the story and also for an excerpt when you list it on your profile. Looking at my story now, the synopsis is not even entirely accurate. For the excerpt I used immediately, it was obvious that I initially planned to write the story in the 3rd person, but when I began actually writing it, I switched to 1st person. I couldn’t even use most of the excerpt that I used because it didn’t fit my storyline by the time I got to that part. I thought I knew exactly how my story ended, and if I would have spent part of my writing time to write the ending while it was fresh in my mind…. it would have been wasted… ALL OF IT. My ending now, is not even remotely close to the original ending.

I know not everyone’s story goes through so many major changes as my current story has… but I think it is more useful to power through the writing rut and keep the story on track. Yes, you will probably have to go back and edit the scenes that you forced, but at least you have something to work with now. There is no promise that if you skip that scene now…. that you will be any more inspired to write it later. Sometimes scenes that are necessary just aren’t fun to write. 

This is just my two cents, and it is what works for me. I can’t believe that I am going to win my first NaNoWriMo this week! I am beyond excited, and I’m looking forward to starting the editing process and having a publish ready story by the end of the month.

 

Thank you to all of you who read this blog. I feel like you reading this helps me to be accountable to my goals, and if anything that I have written helps you, then that is icing on the cake!

 

Happy Monday, take care!

Post NaNoWriMo write-a-thon and Veteran’s Day

First things first. I promised an update about how Saturday’s write-a-thon went. I did not achieve as much as I hoped I would. I really thought in 4 hours I would be able to hit 3 chapters. Unfortunately, since I don’t usually write in a busy coffee shop, I found myself distracted by unimportant things… things I usually don’t worry about. I thought that the chair was uncomfortable, I thought about if I should take my laptop with me if I wanted to order food and a drink. I thought the jazz music was too loud and ultimately had to throw in my earplugs and listen to my IPod… but I normally to write to music. 

Once I finally got settled to begin writing I got 2 sentences in and got stuck. When I had been setting up, I quickly changed my chapter guide because it no longer follow the path I was taking for my book and I didn’t know what to write. I took me a little while to get words on paper but slowly ideas started flowing, page by page, the chapter was finally getting written. I took me over two hours for that first chapter. The second chapter I wrote was a little bit easier, but I took a break to order lunch and then another short break to eat my lunch. I finished the second chapter with about 7 minutes to spare from my 4-hour pledge. So, I completed two chapters and wrote just over 5,500 words. I had hoped to write more, but I am satisfied with what I achieved.

What’s the most you’ve ever written in a single sitting?

I know the point of the write-a-thon was to write continuously for the entire day, but my husband had planned a party at out house beginning in the early afternoon, so after leaving the coffee shop, I was done writing for the day. I did write another full chapter yesterday though… I’m only 2000 words shy of being 1/2 way done and that is very exciting. So far, if I keep writing like I am, it is projected I will finish my novel on November 22. That will leave me over a week to edit and re-write anything. I’m astounded by well my first NaNo is going!

And now: Happy Veteran’s Day to all those who have served and are currently serving.

I am a Veteran as well… I served 6 years active duty in the Navy and deployed twice: once to the Philippines and once to Afghanistan. I know a lot of Veteran’s share my sentiment, so I’ll share that with you now. I have a hard time accepting thanks from people. I go to places like Sea World and on a Carnival cruise and they want the military members past and present to stand up so we can be acknowledged and thanked. Most times I would rather stay seated and clap along with everyone else. To me, I haven’t done anything worthy of being thanked. I was really great at my job, but that is all my service was to me: a job.

When I was 18, my Dad gave me to options. I could go to college or I could join the military, but I wasn’t staying home. I didn’t get into the college I wanted and I had already participated in 4 years of Naval Junior Reserve Office Trains Corps program at my high school, so joining the Navy made sense. I was in Intel, meaning that I was a glorified Google searcher and I made A LOT of powerpoint presentations. It was my job to keep the Commanding Officer and staff updated on every threat to our battalion or give them the specifics of an area we were traveling to. I had a desk job, that is all. I didn’t drive on the roads rigged with explosives and I didn’t shoot at things. Yes, my desk was sometimes in a war zone and sometimes I had to hide out in a bunker while our base was threatened with rockets, but nothing bad happened to me on deployments. My Commanding Officer and staff were always pleased with my work ethic and sometimes they said the safety of our battalion (no casualties) was in part thanks to what I did. But I just can’t see it that way.

Looking at pictures of me with a rifle slung across my back just seems strange. I was definitely not one of those girls that liked to shoot. I am in the Navy Reserves now, but I still consider myself to be a civilian. I am proud of the work I did in the Navy, I just don’t think it is deserving of thanks. If you look through my photos of deployment you would see people having a good time, and that is all I really remember, I don’t dwell on the bad. Here is my Afghanistan: Sundays we played Volleyball and went shopping at the boardwalk, for Christmas I decorated my room and my workspace, one night Carrabas and Outback cooked up restaurant quality food and it was AMAZING! I remember the night it flooded and me and my roommate had to jump over small rivers to get out laundry, but it was too flooded to go get dinner. I remember countless hours of watching TV shows on my laptop and being excited when we got satellite TV in our room. My favorite night was our over the hump party. We had a DJ come and play us music, and we danced and sang on the back of one of the trucks. I had fun in Afghanistan, though I’m sure you never hear those stories…

I don’t mean any disrespect to those that did have a hard deployment and suffer from it’s effects, you are the ones in my mind who deserve all the thanks. I was lucky, and I know that, and again that is why I have a hard time hearing the thanks.

For those of you who still wish to express me thanks, YOU’RE WELCOME, I’m just a girl doing a job to the best of my ability and I appreciate that you appreciate what we (the military) are doing.

 

-Christina 

The end is near!

I have been writing and re-writing my current novel since I was a junior in High School… so that’s about 8 years or so now. When I was deployed to Afghanistan in 2011 I made it a goal of mine to finish my story in the form of a movie script. I accomplished that goal, but I was more than a little upset. Even though I have always pictured my story to be a movie, I was devastated by how much of my story I had to cut out to fit the confines of 120 minutes of screen time. So I once again declared “by the end of the year, I will finish my book”. It of course has never happened.

Every year I vow to finish my story, but unless knowing it cover to cover in my head counts, then I never have. This year, my husband and I started college together. In our first class we were supposed to provide an example of a detailed goal. What specifically we would like to accomplish, how it can be accomplished, and when exactly will it be accomplished by… Out of habit I chose my story, but I gave myself a wide birth. I declared that I would finish my story by my 27th birthday, giving myself 1 1/2 years to do it. I quit my full time job in September. I promised my husband that since I was not working full time now, I would commit equal parts of my day to writing my book and working my part-time job. So I drafted a new goal. If I could commit to writing 1/2 chapter (appx 1600 words) per day, I would finish my book  by the end of October. So today is October 26, I have 3 chapters to go! I’m supposed be further along, but we went on vacation and I slacked for a week. I’m so excited to be almost done that I have been over writing lately, so I’m sure I’ll still make my deadline.

Now this is not the “let’s send this to be published” version of my book, this is the “Hey, I wrote every chapter” version. It has many errors, probably a couple holes that need to be addressed, and my word count is nowhere near my final goal (120,000) but the story will be complete. I am a perfectionist at heart, so I would often start re-writing my book around chapter 10. I always knew it could be better. My story is completely different now then when I started writing it 8 years ago… but I mean, I was 17 back then, and now I’m 26 and married, life is different.

To go from consistently starting over to having the complete story is a miracle for me. I look forward to letting a couple trusted friends and family review my story and let me know where it needs work. Most of all, I’m excited to see if my story affects others the way it has me. Yesterday I wrote the scene where my main character dies, it is no secret, it is declared outright near the beginning that death is expected. To write the actual scene and the characters present and how the death affects them was beautiful, to me. It moved me nearly to tears, but as the creator of the story I can watch it like a movie in my head, so I look forward to knowing if I translated the emotions in my head correctly to paper.

It is bittersweet to be reaching the end, but I am proud of myself. I’m trying to commit to blogging daily and to be honest with my struggles. I am imperfect and sometimes I don’t feel inspired enough to write, but I assure you that I love it. There are two things in this world I know that I am meant to do. One is to be a mother and a wife, the other is to share my book with the world. Will my story bring my fame and fortune? Chances are it will not. But how I can I have a story in my heart for so long that is so important if it is not meant to be shared?

If your looking for tips and tricks on how to be a great author… you probably don’t want to listen to me. I’m untrained, I just like to write. If you’d like to join me on my journey to achieve my writing dreams, stay tuned!