Novel Struggles

Another Approach to Novel Writing

Chris Bailey, a very entertaining person and very entertaining writer who is in my writer's group, offers the following for how she writes and organizes her novel:

Wow. What a good question. It's one I'm not sure I have an answer to yet, but I'll reveal the secrets of my experience--or lack thereof. 

First, because I have found that the organization of the novel CHANGES over the course of writing it--I write short little scenes with critical action in them, and give each one a file name that is descriptive enough that I may, with some luck, remember what it's about. They all go in a file with the name of the novel on it. So I start with 125 or more files of 1-5 pages.

That part done, I go through and try to order them, on cards or stickies on the white board or something. Then I realize what a mess I have. Then I try to write a synopsis. Then I realize how weak my plot is. Then I punch up the synopsis, and start writing new scenes that fit the new and improved plot. Then I slice and dice the existing scenes to try to build more tension. Then I read something for the Plots, and discover I've dumped too much info at once, and must slice and dice some more.

Then I start one big file with everything in the new order. I make more mistakes. I add descriptions and transitions. Then the story gets bogged down and boring, so I slice and dice some more. The long file is divided only by Act I, Act II, Act III. I go back to the synopsis, and realize half of Act I is backstory. I slice and dice some more. At some point, I hope to have a second draft. And how some people turn out 3-6 novels in a year is way beyond me. But I'd like to be on that treadmill, so I'm pushing ahead. I don't know what happens in the third draft yet, but maybe the computer runs out of memory. I think I'll make a new backup.

Then Chris added these thoughts:

I think what I'm going through is proof that you push forward and then muddle around, and that creating a story is a messy process. And remember that journalism lesson about burying the lead? I think it's also common to fiction--burying the dramatic beginning in a bunch of backstory.

So--back to the story. I have to make every effort to hold back the characters from their willingness to dump everything they think into one scene.

Thanks, Chris! (Chris is my friend who wrote her novel, then started over in first person. It's getting better and better! And now I've used up 2/3 of my lifetime supply of exclamation points.)

Ways to Organize Your Novel

Yesterday I asked how people organize their works in progress -- physically or digitally organize what they've written. I got some great responses.

1. Put the whole thing in one big MS Word file.
2. Make a folder for the novel and organize your writing by making each scene a separate file named by the scene name (what happens in that scene).
3. Make a folder for the novel. Each day's work is numbered. For example, Day 1's work is 1 and Day 50's work is 50. Also keep a file where this work is placed consecutively.
4. Many people work all the way through (one file) but number or name chapters.
5. Some people name the scene files and date them.
6. Some people write it out BY HAND and then type the second draft in.... (Whew! I don't even write my mother's birthday card by hand.)
7. Anything else?

Pre-Novel Planning

I start my novel in a few days. I'm already behind. How can I be behind? Well, easy. My father's in the hospital, I'm tending to a sick cat and keeping him separate from the other cats, and for some reason I'm participating in a garage sale. And I have some paying work I need to do if I hope to get paid.

The truth is that overplanning is not useful. I have no idea if this is true or what it means, but I'm certainly nowhere near that so let's just say it's an awful idea.

Here's where I am on my pre-planning:

1. I know where and when I'm going to write.
2. I know my main character and her deep yearning.
3. I have decided that this first draft will be in first person because that will help close the distance between me and this character.
4. I believe that God has a plan for this book. In fact, I'm counting on it. (Note: This does not mean that God's plan is for me to finish the book and get published. It might be something like God using this book-writing process to help me see things I don't understand more clearly. I'm available for whatever purpose God has for this book. I just need to be sure I show up.)
5. I'm going to give myself weekly rewards for achieving my daily goals. These will change according to whim and budget.
6. I'm going to count every session as a gift and as part of the process. Whether difficult, inspired, easy or transformative, if I'm breathing and spilling out words, it is a gift, no matter how good (or not)  those words are.
7. I'm going to keep it fun. If it's not fun (to some extent), if it feels like a daily beating, I'm changing up everything. (Remind me of this.)

Things I wish I had done already:

1. Figured out how to organize my novel using MS Word. I've made a big mess of keeping files as chapters and trying to keep track of the numbering in the past. HELP!
2. Had my house in order. (Garage sale this weekend should help.) It's hard to have peace of mind when you live in chaos.
3. Was on a schedule where we went to bed earlier so I will be able to get up earlier.
4. Had read all those books I have on writing and knew what they were talking about.

What is part of your pre-planning?

Does Where You Write Matter?

I usually write in my office, where I do my paying work. That's where the computer is and I'm all set up for writing. Doesn't that make sense to you?  I thought so, too.

Robert Olen Butler suggests that you have a separate place for your novel writing, a place where you go first thing in the morning to keep your dream-vision going. This is making more and more sense to me.

Here's the book

I'm going to give it a try. I'm going to use my AlphaSmart because it's great for moving forward with your writing. You've only got four lines to fill, not a whole blank screen. Somehow, working on it takes the pressure off. (I've put in the link. I've got an old AlphaSmart 2000 or 3000, can't remember, that works great and you can probably get cheap on e-bay.) I put my AlphaSmart in a 2-gallon ziplock and take it to the pool and the beach so I can write (try that with a laptop).

I'm going to go sit in the comfiest chair in the house, in a room that used to by my daughter's nursery but we've made the "Prayer and Poker Room." It's kind of a museum because we painted harlequins on the wall and some other special effects and won't let anyone in the room. I'm going to get up early and type my three pages.

Sometimes, though, a change of location can help if you're blocked. See my post on this over at persuasivewriting.net.

Where do you get your best, most stress-free writing done?

Picking Up the Pieces

When re-visioning (re-imagining) your novel, do you use the pieces and parts you've already produced, or do you start over?

Some of that stuff was very good. I remember that! It was hard, too.

But it wasn't good enough to drive me from beginning to middle to end.

So, I'm not even going to look at it. No sir. When I'm done, I'll look at it. I can always recycle then, but I doubt that I will.

My old story is new again. And I'm not going to make it a Frankenstein monster by trying to put together the pieces that another person (me at a different time in life) wrote.

Just my approach. How about you?

Faith and Fiction

I believe that writing is an act of faith. And I believe that God uses non-believers as well as believers to tell the stories he wants told.

Sorry I can't quote line and verse, but it's something like this: "If we were silent, even the rocks themselves  would shout out."

We aren't silent. And as writers, we are trying desperately to shout out. Some of us are open to be used by God (knowingly or unknowingly) and some of us are not. I think I've been both.

Temperament and this faith are why I'm a Pantser. But it's certainly a difficult path. I think that I'm like Peter. I step out of the boat to walk to Jesus on the water, and suddenly realize what I've done and I sink.

Have you ever been waterskiing and have the boat stop? That's what it feels like. One minute you're skimming the water; the next you are sinking. It's creepy. I've certainly been there in life and in my writing. I step out -- and, overcome by my own fear, I sink.

Several years ago I taught two Sunday school courses that were about faith and fiction. The series is called Listening for God. (This is not an ad or something I will be paid anything for -- I'm just passing along a good thing.) I loved reading the short stories, then watching the author (if living) discuss the work and the writing process. You can hear God in these stories, yet the author didn't even know it was happening. That's just about the most exciting thing I've ever heard.

I pray that God will use me in my writing and in my life. This time, I'll try not to run away.

Get the Most from a Critique of Your Writing

Do you seek critiques, and what do you do with them?

I've had critiques help me, freeze me, encourage me and make me mad. I've had critiques that made even less sense than what I'd written, and critiques that read too much good (and that was unintended) into what I had spilled onto the page. What's most helpful?

I think it depends on what kind of feedback is truly helpful for you and where you are in your novel (ranging from "do the basics make sense?" to "I'm in a tangle and I can't get out -- help!") It also depends on whom you ask.

I am lost when friends ask me to critique their poetry. I feel anxious because I don't understand poetry and I'm afraid they will find out that I am stupid. I tell them that I'm giving them the "Everyman" critique. If I can figure it out, they need to re-write it and make it more obscure, or whatever it is that poets aim for.

Don't ask me to critique a good many genre novels, either. I don't get it. But there are many, many people out there who do -- and they'll be glad to help.

At some point, get someone to read your work. Some writers like to have their work critiqued as they go. Others are afraid of undue influence and wait until their work is finished or at least substantially complete. At the very least, get someone else to read it to see if it makes sense. What is very clear to you might not be so clear to someone with no understanding of things you take for granted.

If you're lucky enough to be in a writer's group, by all means take advantage of the opinions of other writers. But be sensible. Yours is the only opinion that matters in the end (unless the whole group tells you that they don't understand a word, in which case you might want to listen).

The least helpful advice I have encountered has been in writer's workshops. I think this is because they can be very competitive in nature, and I'm not sure why. It's a workshop. The pieces are supposed to be unfinished, yet some folks bring their masterpieces hoping to impress. I also think that criticizing others becomes a way to elevate yourself. Kind of like stepping on other people to climb to the top. I no longer participate in workshops willingly.

But a writer-friend or a writer's group, now that's the best yet. They help you with your feelings and your writing. Our group usually started off with praise, then gave very insightful comments about ways it could be improved. This is water for the thirsty.

Just a few things to watch out for: I tend to believe every word that some friends say because I think they are absolutely brilliant. While they are usually brilliant and I should believe every word, they are no more perfect than I am. Just because they said it doesn't mean it's the right thing for my work.

Then there are the criticisms from the less talented, knowledgeable or brilliant. Don't slough these off because they often see the most glaring problems, even if you don't expect it from this source. They're writers, too, and may one day surprise you.

I guess it all comes down to separating the critic from the critique.

Another caution has been said better many times in many other places. It's your work. Don't let someone else's urge to shape it into their vision change your own vision. Stay true to your instincts.

Above all, don't take it personally. These are people who are trying to help you.

And if they are making is personal, move on. You and your writing deserve better.

Whatever you do, don't corner a writer and beg them to critique your work. You can offer to pay a writer who is farther down the writing road than you are, but let them graciously decline if that is their wish. You don't want the opinion of someone who found reading your work painful.

Finally, be honest and helpful when you critique others. Always find the good things in a work, because there are always good things in a work. Praise the good, and gently make suggestions or ask questions about the flawed parts. We shouldn't take is personally, but for many people, it's really hard not to.

Desire More for Your Characters

Desiring to write a novel is not enough. Your characters need to have a deep desire -- and their quest for this desire should fuel the plot of your book. Robert Olen Butler calls this "Deep Yearning." (More on this later.)

I just came across a great post with a good exercise to help us all discover our character's deep desires. It's at The Lost Saga: An Aspiring Writer's Journey.

What does my character desire? Some of my brownies! I think I need to work on this a little more. What does your character desire?

How to be a Plotter and a Pantser at the Same Time

Plotters plod along writing their books until they get to type "The End." Can you tell just how jealous I am here? Trouble is, for me, being a Plotter would be a plodding experience -- I write to find out what happens next. If I already know, there's no excitement in my writing (or my life). If I already know the ending, it's hard to keep  writing.

But isn't it always hard to keep writing?

Actually, Plotters know what's coming and if that's their nature, that's the right way for them to write. And when I said they "plod along," that was out of jealousy. I promise. Plodding along would be a very speedy pace for me and my writing right now. Plodding is much, much faster than going backwards, or nowhere. So, to all my Plotting friends, I envy your map. And your dizzying progress!

Rebecca at The Writer's Round-About is doing a great series on this very thing and the pitfalls of each approach. She calls them something different, but she's from Australia so what would you expect? And since she's a plotter, it's all organized and tidy and in six parts.

Since I'm a Pantser, no telling when I'll decide to write about this subject. Right now I'm trying to get some vague ideas going about my novel, because I'm going to start writing it on, let's see, let me pick a date here. How about October 15 for a random number?

I'm going to Pantser it, which means I will take to drink and probably eat a lot of brownies. (Actually, I don't drink because it makes my heart race and is NO FUN at all. Used to be my hobby, too. And you know what? I don't miss it a bit and spend the money on roses for me since the idea would never, ever occur to my husband, though he has bought me rose bushes so I can grow my own.) But I do eat brownies. They help in the encounters with the deep darkness inside where my best writing comes from. It is a most scary place in there. Sometimes I don't even have a flashlight.

There are two sources of fear when you're a Pantser: one is the fear of what you'll find coming from that place where you dream, and the other is the fear that you won't find anything. You might call this a no-win situation. I call it writing a novel and why I experience novel struggles.

But here is why I think it is valid: We all dream. Our minds can create amazing dreams. These same powers of creativity in us can dream a novel. I want to write from there, and I've found a teacher who reinforced this idea, although I was never his student.

I heard Robert Olen Butler speak once (I'll be talking more about one of his books soon). He didn't want to tell us this, but we forced him suggest how to get organized as if we were plotters without killing the dream. Here are the notes I took from his answer to that question. It's essentially his suggestion for how to write from the place where you dream and still have some structure (a life raft) to cling to. I call it How to be a Plotter and a Pantser at the Same Time.

• Come to your work FIRST THING in the morning. Do not skip a day as you could lose the dream.
• Before starting your novel or short story (your dream will dictate which), spend eight-12 weeks watching your characters in different scenes. Write six-to-eight word descriptions of what you see, but don't break out of the dream.
• Write these descriptions on note cards. Keep the ones that feel authentic.
• While in your early morning dream state (when you work), order these cards to come up with the order of the scenes in your book.
• Take the first card and start writing.

The cards can be re-ordered, added to, subtracted from or ditched altogether. And when you critique or edit your work, don't do it as a literary critic, but from the dream state. Don't rewrite. Re-dream.

If I haven't made sense, I'm sorry. I don't truly understand it either. But I believe it.

What's more, it's from this place that I believe that you can hear God's voice. I pray he gives me a story.

How to find a writer's group

Terry asked how to find a writer's group. Good question -- thanks, Terry! I hope these ideas help you -- and others -- find the right group. And please, if anyone has more ideas, I hope you'll join the discussion.

You might start your own group with people you like and whose work you respect. Every group has to start somewhere....

If you're looking for an existing group, you might:

• Contact writing professors at local colleges and universities and ask if they know of any groups (we got some of our members that way);
• Ask local writers if they know of any groups;
• Get in touch with local book reviewers for the nearest newspaper (they are frequently writers themselves and know of existing groups);
• Go to writer's conferences and network (you may even find writers who live near you);
• Go to readings and get to know your local writers and local writing community (they should be able to put you in touch with different writer's groups);
• Find out if your local bookstores have affiliated writer's groups;
• Contact your library, and
• Search or advertise on your local Craigslist. (This last one is scary to me -- there are crazies out there.)

There are writers everywhere, and where there are writers, there are writer's groups.

If you write in a particular genre, you may find an online community. Although I am not a romance writer, I used to lurk on a romance writer discussion board because I happened to find it. They were extremely kind and helpful to each other, which is what I guess I should have expected from romance writers. (I just don't like romances unless they are dressed up as literary fiction or something else.)

Blanche DuBois might have always depended on the kindness of strangers, but I'm not sure that depending on the literary advice and guidance of strangers is a smart strategy.

What works for you?