Learning From Movies - The Fury

*****Spoil Alert*****

I am not a big fan of war movies, but I agreed to see this one with my husband. I'm glad to say the acting was good. The dialogue was usually believable. Unfortunately, most of the plot was predictable. At least it was for me. That could be because I'm a writer.

When they introduced the young soldier who wouldn't shoot anyone, I knew the story would center on how he becomes a killer. When the main jerk in the movie told him he was a good man, I knew the jerk would die soon. When they decided to face down over a hundred Nazi soldiers by themselves, I predicted everyone would die except for the young soldier.

To be fair, I did not predict that this handful of men would decide to face down over a hundred German soldiers near the end.

What can writers do to keep their plot points from becoming predictable? Write a list of possible twists in the story until you start to come up with ones that are different, yet believable, and true to the characters. You can also ask a friend what they think will happen next in the story and if they guess your plot, change it.

Until next week,
happy reading and writing.
Tina Swayzee McCright

DID YOU MISS 12 ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN JULY?

IT'S BACK!

12 ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS TO ASK THAT TURN NEW IDEAS INTO STORIES

NEXT COURSE: SATURDAY NOVEMBER 2

Connie Flynn and Bootcamp for Novelists Introduce Bootcamp Classrooms
 
The Bootcamps formerly called Face-to-Face have been renamed Bootcamp Classroom since it's easier to say and it means the same thing. I'm curious about how you like the new logo. It's a little more girly and yet still has a whiff of testosterone, not to mention the blackboard that reminds us this is a learning experience.

The first renewed Bootcamp was well received by twenty-one authors at various stages of their careers. Watch for the testimonial page that will come up soon on the Bootcamp website ( http://www.bootcampfornovelists.com ). The 12 Essential Questions Classroom is designed for all writers from beginners to those who are seasoned and multi-published.  It's purpose is to help you pull together the story you want to write full enough that you will know WHAT to write when you leave the Classroom and head home to finally put it down on paper.

HERE ARE THE DETAILS:

WHAT: Twelve Essential Questions to Ask to Turn New Ideas Into Stories. An all-day fiction writer's workshop that begins with your idea and guides you through your story to the end using a series of questions that when fully
answered provide the basic structure on which to write your novel.

WHEN: November 2, 2013 TIME: 10:00am - 5:00pm

WHO: Taught by multi-published author and Bootcamp founder, Connie Flynn.

FOR: Anyone who wants to write a novel, from first timers to writers to multi-published authors who are starting their tenth or eleventh or one hundredth book.

WHERE: Vision Quest Bookstore 2225 N Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85257 Cross streets: Scottsdale Road and Oak (SE side)

WHY: You've always wanted to write a novel and don't know where to start. You have a blockbuster idea that you can't quite pull together. You've written several books that you haven't been able to sell. Connie Flynn can help. Whether you've never written a word or are a multi-published author working on your trillionth novel, this workshop will fill the bill because the material and exercises are tailored to apply to the individual writer's needs. They focus on YOUR story content, YOUR story flow, and as YOU answer each question you'll find the parts that fit the unique circumstances of the novel YOU want to write.

CONTACT:  Connie at bootcamp4novelists@cox.net

FOR MORE INFORMATION
AND TO REGISTER:  
http://www.bootcampfornovelists.com

 REGISTRATION FEES:
Until October 6    $69 Save $26

After October 6   $79  Save $16

After October 20 or at the Door  $85

 If you are coming from out of town and need hotel recommendations email Connie at Bootcamp4Novelists@cox.net for information

The Sagging Middle

This month we are talking about plotting. I believe the advantage to plotting your story ahead of time is it helps you avoid the sagging middle. I like to plot three turning points that each move the story in a new direction, followed by the black moment and the happily ever after.

If I'm writing a romantic suspense, I plot the turning events for the romance and then for the mystery. Every thread of your story could have its own turning points to make the story a page turner. You don't want your reader to get bored and put the book down.

Remember, you'll get a lot of advise when it comes to writing. Take what rings true for you and don't worry about the rest.

Until next week,
happy writing!

Tina Swayzee McCright
Aka Tina LaVon

The Rise of the Pantsers!

This month's theme is plotting. Um, yeah, right.
I don't plot.
I refuse to plot.
Okay, I plot a little. For my romances, every one of my plots is--something happens to make the hero and heroine meet, more stuff happens, things get worse, then they get bad, then you have to read with your eyes closed, then that horrible moment when everything looks totally lost and then ahhh, they live happily ever after.
Sound familar.
If so, you're a pantser. A person who writes a story by the seat of their pants, not a plotter (which to mean sounds like a disease where you spend copious amounts of time on the porcelian throne). Remove tongue from cheek.
When I tell someone I'm a pantser, their response is that I must do lots of revisions.
Um, no. And never plot lines, my revisions consist of tweaking words and verbage.
Most respond with denial. Apparently, by not having tons of revisions I'm either a) lying, b) a crappy writer who doesn't listen to editors, or c) write superficial books with little plot.
My answers are I'm not lying about this but if we talk long enough I'll lie about something else (I write fiction, which is made up stuff--ie lies). As for b, I've been published with 4 small presses and worked with 8 different editors. My storylines have passed muster with all of them, it's the evil grammar that kills me. And c) neither my characters nor my plots are superficial. In fact, I write very plot driven and complex stories. Always, even the short ones. The only time I haven't tied them all up is when I intend for there to be a sequel.
So, does that mean all the ardent plotters who are telling you their secrets are wrong?
Absolutely not. Their process works for them  and it may work for you. But my brain thinks that if I plot a story, I'm done with it and my story fairy moves on.
While I am at the extreme edge of the antiplotting scale, I do have some tips for those who are in the middle.
Each scene (not chapter) must move the story forward in three ways--one has to raise the internal conflict/goal/motivation, the other must increase  the stakes for the external conflict/goal/motivation and the third is a repeat of either the internal or external.
Lastly, because most people are a hybrid, take five minutes before you write for the day and by stream of consciousness think of everything that could happen in a scene that you're writing. These are bullet points like shots fired, running, dark alley, garbage and rats (fear of rats), betrayed by coworker, who can she trust,  only the hero knew where she was going.
You don't have to use everything in one scene but this excercise can help focus your writing generating more words in a short period of time.
Happy writing!

Plotting With Post-It Notes

This month we are discussing plotting. I am a visual person, so my favorite way to plot is to jot notes about the book onto Post-it Notes. The colors I use depend on what I have available. Each color represents a different thread in the story. This is an example:

:Pink - Romance
Orange - Romantic Conflict
Light Blue - Achieving the Major Goal
Dark Blue - His Character Arc
Yellow- Her Character Arc
Green - Black Moment

After I write the notes, I divide the white board into chapters and scenes. I write the setting, time, and point of view at the top of each box and then I place the notes in a way that the story builds the romance and their character arcs. The various colors show me if I'm dumping too much of one plot thread into one place or if I haven't shown the romance growing throughout the story.

I'll jot these notes into my computer and take it to Barnes and Noble where I work. When I wrote my short story, Once Upon a Weekend, which comes out 12/12/12, I placed each chapter onto construction paper on top of the boards. I folded the chapter I was working on and took it with me when I wrote.

Each author has their own way of plotting. This is mine and I enjoy the process. In the end, that's really all the matters.

Tina Swayzee McCright

Never Ever Be Boring

Plotting serves only one function. To organize the story events into segments that can easily be transferred into writing. There are many ways to do that and various authors have various ways to fulfilling that purpose. These vary from plot-as-you-go to detailed story boards that work out each scene before it's written.

What many writers forget, especially those who dislike plotting, is that the plot is not the story. It's just a framework for the story. The story comes about through the ways you show the events. In other words, how you write each scene, how you have your characters move through the events in your plot, the words you put in their mouths, this is what creates the heart of your story.

This heart is created skillfully using pacing, proportion and beats to reveal your story, word by word and a well-crafted story is never boring..

Pacing has to do with time and timing.  Proportion has to do with how many words, how much page space, is devoted to any given topic, location, event in a story.  These principles apply to both long and short fiction.

Pacing
Scene and summary are the writer’s most valuable tools in controlling story pace.  Scene, in this context, means a finite period of story time, with a specific location, where something significant to the characters and the story occurs. Summary is a block of words that compresses events on the page and clarifies the story direction.Whenever strong dialogue and high tension are occurring your story is being presented in scene. Do not interrupt a scene in progress with summary.

When a scene reaches the end, use summary to clarify major points and to transition to the next location in time and space.  Occasionally you’ll find a need to pull all these summaries into a cohesive whole.  Save these larger summaries for after moments of high tension.  This delays the information long enough that  readers are hungry for it and also provides a breathing spell to digest what’s already happened. Don't overdo. Brevity keeps your writing from being boring.

Proportion:
Authors must stay aware that when you give a particular story element lots of words, readers will assume the element is important. They've been trained to expect some kind of payoff for things that have the spotlight put on them. 

If you delay your character's trip to answer a knock on the door, readers will expect some momentous event when the door opens.  If there's no payoff, it won't be long before they put a book down. Today's readers days are used to the quick intercuts of movies and television and expect it in commercial fiction as well. They grow impatient with empty words, making brevity a writer's greatest ally to making sure you aren't boring.

Save your lyrical descriptive passages and well-crafted dialogue for the people, places and things who form the heart of your story.  Aim for clarity and brevity in your exposition and introspection and you'll have proportion on your side, which always adds up to a good read.

Beats and Movements
Beat: A passage of writing that begins with the initiation of a conversation or an action and ends when the purpose is achieved (or not).  In other words, it’s a small beginning and ending.  Beats exist within beats. 

Movement: A collection of beats that created a visible change in a character or a goal.

Thus a character could walk into a store, furious, determined to get a refund on a defective toy that left his daughter sobbing.  This beat begins when Dad approaches the customer service counter and will end when Dad gets the refund or is defeated and out of options. There could be more smaller beats, but, and this is a big but, if you include too many beats on the same topic, it just gets boring.

As beats expand upon smaller beats they turn into movements.  In this case, Dad is so enraged he punches the boss, making his daughter even more unhappy.  This could pivot the story from one about a Dad defending his unhappy daughter to a man struggling to build any kind of relationship with this young stranger he fathered but barely knows. A not uncommon situation that can easily drift into cliches and become boring.

What keeps readers engaged is how tightly and precisely you carve the beats inside your movements and how well you summarize a completed movement. The hard part is that there is no cut and dried definition for when beats and movements end except that each one needs to be a complete unit of action. In this example, Dad goes to the customer service desk expecting the refund and fails to get it – the beat ends because a new action is required of him.  Movements are simply larger units of collected beats.

Understanding these principles of writing keeps you from violating the two most unbreakable writing rules:  Never devote writing space to anything that doesn’t add to tone, characterization, plot movement, or world building and . . . never be boring, which are actually the same thing. 

Mind the pacing, proportion and beats of your stories and they will always engage your reader.

Till later,
Connie Flynn
Website: http://connieflynn.com
Blog:  http://imaginationgonewild322.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ConnieFlynnAuthor
Twitter: @connieflynn

Plotter vs Pantser

I took this picture at The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. While admiring the detail, I wondered if the artist knew what he would create beforehand or did he start with a chisel and let his imagination take over. Writing novels is much like any other piece of art. Some writers plot out every scene like I do. Some writers sit at the computer and let the characters take over the story. Those writers create stories by the seat of their pants and are therefore called pantsers. Some writers are a bit of both. I am a heavy plotter. I tried to be a pantser once, hoping I would reach inside and find well-developed characters who want their story told. After three chapters, I hit a brick wall and couldn't type another word. I needed my plot worked out ahead of time to continue. Some pantsers have told me they wished they were plotters because their characters get carried away and they have to throw out chapters that are not needed in the story. It could be a waste of time, but then they might have originally needed those chapters to get to know their characters better. Only that writer can be the judge.

So which system is better. I would argue neither. Everyone has their own style and the sooner a writer embraces it, instead of cursing it, the better off they will be emotionally. Have writers switched styles? I'm sure some have, but it isn't common. I have one friend who became a plotter because her story had so many intricate details, she had to make sure she included them in the right places. Writers who turn to mysteries have a reason to suddenly become a plotter. Mysteries need all of the clues placed in a logical order and sprinkled throughout; plus the red herrings need to be included as well. Although I know pantsers who have become plotters, I haven't heard of plotters becoming pantsers. It may have to do more with our personalities. I need to plot my life as well as my stories. I have a friend who would think nothing of quitting a job without a backup plan. I would have panic attacks.

Since I am a plotter, next week I'll go into how detailed I get when working on a story.