Outlines

This time I have a very good reason for being MIA: The week before Christmas, I moved into more permanent housing and have yet to set up any Internet. In addition, I have no way of getting around town, so my trips to cafes are few. I will attempt to get some blog posts written and scheduled, though, to slake your constant thirst for my witty words on writing. :-)

Today’s theme? Outlines.

I have never been much of an outliner, but I’m finding it somewhat necessary with this draft. This is positively the downright messiest draft I have ever written. I keep grabbing scenes and moving them. And then moving them again. I can’t decide in what sequence the scenes should take place.

The day before yesterday, I was really getting confused, so I copied all of my scenes to a new document and saved as “Outline.” I then proceeded to delete each scene, replacing it with a two to three sentence summary. I’m a visual person and need to be able to see everything. With the scenes shortened thus, I can view more of them at once and get a better idea of how to arrange them. If I have my printer set-up (still unpacking), I would print this list of scenes out, cut each scene onto its own strip of paper, and feel free to rearrange to my heart’s desire.

My second-semester English professor my freshman year of college had me do that with a research paper: cut out each paragraph and rearrange logically. I was amazed at the new clarity of my paper.

Hopefully, this little tidbit will help you in your writing, too!

A Field, Not a Swamp

Stagnant. That’s what a swamp is.
Cultivated, plowed, sown, tilled, harvested. That’s what a farmer’s field is.

I want my characters to be fields, not swamps, but in order for that to happen, I have to be a good farmer.

• Unturned soil: Character begins thinking he is pretty happy, but something nags at the back of his mind
• First plow: Character realizes not all is well in his internal workings. He wants to be something more.
• Seed is sewn: Finds purpose in working hard to obtain goal
• Drought comes: Goal is put out of reach. Despair sets in.
• Fertilizer: Perhaps can reach goal another way.
• Rain: Outside influences encourage growth.
• Growth: That one’s pretty obvious
• Ripening: Character realizes perhaps his goal should be different
• Harvest: Achieves goal

The important part is not to get things out of over. If the rain falls at the wrong time, the crop is ruined. I have a tendency, I’ve noticed, to start my character mid-development or to rehash problems the character has already worked through. Writing out a list helps me to have an idea of where my character is supposed to be at a given time and it keeps me on track (lists are the way I do things, but you could use an outline, a chart, a bubble graph, or even a picture like a visual life map).

The only problem then is that you have to know where your list is . . .

Rest in Peace, Jason

“Sorry, Jason. Tertiary characters are supplanting your position as an important secondary character. You’ve been a good friend, a good older brother, a good leader in the resistance, but you just make the story too convoluted. It’s your own fault, really. If you had just joined the military when they asked you to . . .

I’ll make it up to you, though. If demand is high, and I’m rich and famous, I’ll go ahead and write you your own book. Deal?

Sincerely,
The Author”

Sigh. Cutting characters is hard.

Cutting Characters, Left and Right

“Sooooo, did you catch last night’s episode of popular reality show? Yeah, no? You missed a good one, man. You missed a good one. They were kicking people off left and right. And like, some people got kicked on. And uh, I mean, you should a watched it, man. You definitely should a watched it. Should a watched it.”
~~Homestarrunner in Strong Bad e-mail 37, “Dullard.”

That quote keeps running through my head as I write, with minor variations. “She was cutting characters left and right, and like, some characters got kicked on.” When I started this story, I had five main characters and about four secondary characters. Over a period of about five years (author time, not story time), it grew to ten main characters with about fifty secondary characters (not at the same part of the story at least!). My protagonist started the story with a family of seven, a best friend and his little sister, and another friend and his family of nine (plus a sister-in-law and nephew). He then met up with a group of nineteen others, plus around five mentors. Add to that all the tertiary and absent characters as well as the villains and it was mind-boggling.

At my first writer’s workshop, I submitted the first (terrible!) three chapters of The Epic Novel. One of the questions my shopmates asked was why the fourth friend was there. Because you don’t leave one of your crew behind when you take a road trip, of course.

As I’m redrafting this first part of my novel, I painfully realized that the question they asked was quite legitimate. Cutting that fourth friend hurts because two of my favorite most poignant scenes deal with that character. Sigh.

Horrifically, I am realizing that the third friend, who at one point was my favorite character, may not have purpose either. Not to the MC’s motivation, not to this particular plot of the story. Sadly, I think he may have to go. The problem is, his sister is quite involved. How do I keep her involved without him? How does the MC even know her if not as the little sister of his best friend? Dilemmas, dilemmas!

Plot Exposition

Miss Piggy: “Why are you telling me all this?”
Lady Holiday: “It’s plot exposition. It has to go somewhere.”
(The Great Muppet Caper)

I have a tendency to tell dramatic parts of the story: And then there was this battle. The good guys were hard put, but they stuck it out and won.

And then I show all the mundane parts, like completely superfluous birthdays and meaningless events.

This gets me into trouble with plot exposition. I just finished writing a chapter where some important plot elements are included--a little back-story, some character introductions--but it’s so everyday (they’re registering for classes), and it’s right at the beginning of the story. At the end of the chapter, I know important things happened, but will the reader recognize them as important and be intrigued to read on? Is there some better way to do this? How do you write about the everyday things that are important to the plot without losing your reader’s attention? Oh, there they go! Off to eat a cheese sandwich . . .

As I write this, I’m realizing some things. If I make it important, the reader will catch it. If it’s everyday, maybe it doesn’t need to be included. What is out of the ordinary? What makes that day different? Focus on those elements. Everybody else can drop by the wayside. Sorry guys. You’re just not important to this scene.

Throw Away Draft

I finally understand the concept of a throw-away first draft. Every time people talked about writing a rough draft just to get out their ideas and then throwing it away, I was confused. Toward the end of my stint at grad school, I realized the reason I don’t do that is because my rough draft is in my head. I go through several versions of a story mentally before I ever put anything to paper. Therefore, the first draft, while needing much revision, usually has the final outline of plot and character development.

Not so with The Epic Novel! I drafted this story 12 times before entering college, so already, it’s been through the works. The story has changed quite a bit numerous times. However, that 12th version is the one I went with all through college and grad school. I mean, this particular plot has been engrained in my mind for nearly a decade (O_O). So, starting from scratch is next to impossible. I constantly must remind myself that the story does not have to be exactly the way it was in that 12th draft. I have to break the hold that version has and let the characters take the story where they will.

I’m revising the opening chapters right now, and everything is becoming so jumbled. I keep rearranging chapters, changing the focus of the MC’s motivation, cutting characters from scenes, adding them back in. And then, trying to remember which version I’m currently using as I revise the next scene. I’m about ready to toss the whole thing and start over.

Light bulb moment! :::slaps forehead::: The throw away first draft. I get it now.

A Writer’s List of Thankfuls

This year, I’m thankful for many things, but I’ll stick to those things related to writing here.
I’m thankful

• That I can devote all of my work time to writing. Praise God!
• That I have begun Book One. Is publishing in the near future? Es posible.
• That I now live close to one of my writer-friends.
• That I have the time to get involved in a critique group. Praise God!
• For the instructors under whom I have been blessed to study
• For a husband who lets me tell him all about my writing woes at the supper table at night
• For a dad who shares my love of writing and who faithfully made me a cup of coffee and spent his Saturdays writers-workshopping with me for at least a good year
• For a brother who grew up with my characters
• For a sister who reads rough drafts in one sitting
• For a mom who always encourages me
• For a best friend who knows my characters (and me) sometimes better than I do
• For a friend who read the first eight chapters in one night and was so excited she had to call me about it the next morning
• And for all the friends who have been patiently waiting for a draft. It’s coming!

Wow, I could go on and on. God is so gracious to me. But one of things for which I am most thankful is the fact that God created me to be a writer. :-D