So your protagonist wants something. That's pretty obvious. Why they want should be obvious too. But why they want it is a whole nother story.
First off, you'll need a decent motivation. If your MC becomes a vigilante and starts killing people, it can't be because someone filed his taxes wrong. We'll see this character as a complete jerk. But if he becomes a vigilante because his parents were shot in an alleyway when he was eight years old and he was raised by his butler and consumed with revenge for decades, we're going to identify with him better, because while a notice from the IRS might be annoying, the death of your parents is something that can ruin your whole life. We've all lost someone. We can connect. We can feel his pain.
Second, you'll need to make this motivation clear to the reader. Show us how deeply your character needs to achieve his goal. Show us how much he fears the idea of failure. Show us his motivation, show us why he needs what he needs and wants what he wants. Even if he wants to become a professional noodle maker, we can still take him seriously if he has a clear and deep motivation.
And don't be afraid to let his motivation change. Say your character is a microbiologist. He's motivated by the money associated with the job. Then his daughter is diagnosed with cancer. Now his motivation has changed. He still works as a microbiologist, but now he's motivated by fear for his daughter's life.
Comment below what your character's motivation is, and tell me if this advice has been helpful.
Monday, January 30, 2017
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Traditional Three-Act Outlining
Some people say they couldn't write anything more ambitious than a grocery list without an outline. Others say that outlining a novel would rob it of its originality. This isn't going to be a debate about whether you should outline. It's just going to be an example of how I outline.
Now, I'm only going to be covering one method of outlining, the one I use. You're free to use whatever technique you want. But you should seriously consider using this one.
Traditional Three-act Structure
This is the method I use to outline. For this, I write a vague outline, making sure to include the following plot points: the Setup, the Hook, the Motivating Incident, the First Turning Point, the Problem Intensifies, the Temporary Triumph, the Reversal, the Second Turning Point, the Final Obstacle, the Climax, and the Resolution. I'll describe each one.
The Setup: This is really just the beginning of the story. You need to establish who your characters are, why they are there, and what they're doing. This doesn't have to just be exposition, your characters should be performing some action so the reader doesn't get bored. This shouldn't be an info dump, either: give your readers information a little at a time. This marks the beginning of Act 1.
The Hook: This will get your readers more deeply involved in the story. Once they've gotten a good look at your world, introduce the problem. This will need to come pretty early on, so your readers don't get tired of the setup.
The Motivating Incident: This is what gets your character to act on what happens in the hook.
The First Turing Point: This changes the story in a major way. Something drastic happens that launches your characters into your story. This marks the beginning of Act 2.
The Problem Intensifies: This is exactly what it sounds like: your main problem gets much, much worse.
The Temporary Triumph: It seems like the protagonist has achieved his goal-- until...
The Reversal: The triumph is reversed, and your MC is back at square one-- or worse.
The Second Turning Point: This turning point is usually internal, and empowers your protagonist to beat the final obstacle.
The Final Obstacle: Before the climax, there's one more thing your protagonist has to do before she can beat the bad guy. This is the beginning of Act 3
The Climax: The MCs beat the snot out of the bad guy, and get a little beat up themselves.
The Resolution: Everything is tied up in a neat little package, and you can finally write, "The End."
Once I've written my outline using these plot points, I do a detailed chapter-by-chapter synopsis, fleshing out what will happen scene by scene. This is the fun part, because I get to use my fancy japanese erasable highlighters to mark it up.
Again, this is just what works for me. Tell me what works for you in a comment, or try my method and tell me how it works.
Now, I'm only going to be covering one method of outlining, the one I use. You're free to use whatever technique you want. But you should seriously consider using this one.
Traditional Three-act Structure
This is the method I use to outline. For this, I write a vague outline, making sure to include the following plot points: the Setup, the Hook, the Motivating Incident, the First Turning Point, the Problem Intensifies, the Temporary Triumph, the Reversal, the Second Turning Point, the Final Obstacle, the Climax, and the Resolution. I'll describe each one.
The Setup: This is really just the beginning of the story. You need to establish who your characters are, why they are there, and what they're doing. This doesn't have to just be exposition, your characters should be performing some action so the reader doesn't get bored. This shouldn't be an info dump, either: give your readers information a little at a time. This marks the beginning of Act 1.
The Hook: This will get your readers more deeply involved in the story. Once they've gotten a good look at your world, introduce the problem. This will need to come pretty early on, so your readers don't get tired of the setup.
The Motivating Incident: This is what gets your character to act on what happens in the hook.
The First Turing Point: This changes the story in a major way. Something drastic happens that launches your characters into your story. This marks the beginning of Act 2.
The Problem Intensifies: This is exactly what it sounds like: your main problem gets much, much worse.
The Temporary Triumph: It seems like the protagonist has achieved his goal-- until...
The Reversal: The triumph is reversed, and your MC is back at square one-- or worse.
The Second Turning Point: This turning point is usually internal, and empowers your protagonist to beat the final obstacle.
The Final Obstacle: Before the climax, there's one more thing your protagonist has to do before she can beat the bad guy. This is the beginning of Act 3
The Climax: The MCs beat the snot out of the bad guy, and get a little beat up themselves.
The Resolution: Everything is tied up in a neat little package, and you can finally write, "The End."
Once I've written my outline using these plot points, I do a detailed chapter-by-chapter synopsis, fleshing out what will happen scene by scene. This is the fun part, because I get to use my fancy japanese erasable highlighters to mark it up.
Again, this is just what works for me. Tell me what works for you in a comment, or try my method and tell me how it works.
Friday, January 27, 2017
Getting Some Ideas
So yesterday I wrote about the editing process. Today I'm going to talk about the other end of writing-- the idea phase. Some of you get lots of ideas, some struggle to get any at all. I'll talk about both of those.
I have too many ideas. This is a common problem for me. I used to start every idea that popped into my head and abandon it as soon as another came along. I never really got started on my first manuscript until I realized that I couldn't use every idea that came into my head, just like a company can't hire everyone who applies. But each should be considered. When you get an idea, write it down, and save it where it won't get lost. When you decide you want to write a story (I use the term story loosely, as this applies to any form of writing,) pick your favorite idea and start rolling with it.
You can also try combining ideas. For example, I've had two characters that I've been writing short stories about for years now. Then I had another character I used to practice dialogue. I thought, why not combine these two? and BOOM, my current novel was born. (Well, the idea anyway. The actual prose is a whole different can of worms.)
I rarely get ideas. This is a toughie, but there are a few solutions. The first is to read anything you can get your hands on. Pretty soon you'll start to think, hey, I could have written that. Maybe I could have done it better. Maybe I could take this character, or this plot point... and you'll begin piecing together ideas for a story.
The second solution to this problem is to sit down with your notebook or at your computer and write down everything that comes into your head. You can write about anything you want. You can write about how useless this exercise seems, if you want. I don't care. Just write, and pretty soon your brain will start waking up, turning out all kinds of things for you to write, and eventually you'll find some hint of something that could be the first something of a story.
The third solution is a bit like the second-- you're still going to be making yourself write. But this time, you're only going to write story ideas. Anything that pops into your head. Don't stop until you reach at least ten ideas. At first they'll sound incredibly lame. But once your brain sees that you're nice to the lame stuff it turns out, it will start to work harder, giving you better and better ideas.
My ideas all sound really stupid. Most of the time, this is just you being mean to yourself. Once you have a list of ideas, show them to someone you trust. Ask them if any of your ideas sound good, and how they would change them. Oftentimes a good beta reader will see things you won't.
Now, remember, this is all just what works for me. Tell me if this works for you, or if you have a different strategy.
I have too many ideas. This is a common problem for me. I used to start every idea that popped into my head and abandon it as soon as another came along. I never really got started on my first manuscript until I realized that I couldn't use every idea that came into my head, just like a company can't hire everyone who applies. But each should be considered. When you get an idea, write it down, and save it where it won't get lost. When you decide you want to write a story (I use the term story loosely, as this applies to any form of writing,) pick your favorite idea and start rolling with it.
You can also try combining ideas. For example, I've had two characters that I've been writing short stories about for years now. Then I had another character I used to practice dialogue. I thought, why not combine these two? and BOOM, my current novel was born. (Well, the idea anyway. The actual prose is a whole different can of worms.)
I rarely get ideas. This is a toughie, but there are a few solutions. The first is to read anything you can get your hands on. Pretty soon you'll start to think, hey, I could have written that. Maybe I could have done it better. Maybe I could take this character, or this plot point... and you'll begin piecing together ideas for a story.
The second solution to this problem is to sit down with your notebook or at your computer and write down everything that comes into your head. You can write about anything you want. You can write about how useless this exercise seems, if you want. I don't care. Just write, and pretty soon your brain will start waking up, turning out all kinds of things for you to write, and eventually you'll find some hint of something that could be the first something of a story.
The third solution is a bit like the second-- you're still going to be making yourself write. But this time, you're only going to write story ideas. Anything that pops into your head. Don't stop until you reach at least ten ideas. At first they'll sound incredibly lame. But once your brain sees that you're nice to the lame stuff it turns out, it will start to work harder, giving you better and better ideas.
My ideas all sound really stupid. Most of the time, this is just you being mean to yourself. Once you have a list of ideas, show them to someone you trust. Ask them if any of your ideas sound good, and how they would change them. Oftentimes a good beta reader will see things you won't.
Now, remember, this is all just what works for me. Tell me if this works for you, or if you have a different strategy.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Imma Write Some Poetry. Because-- Poetry
I promised myself I'd limit myself to one post a day, but I'm really bored, so Imma write some poetry because I'm in the mood for it.
Dream
The sky is blue
Not grey
Why?
Am I free?
I can see a thousand colors
Reflecting from the lashes of my eyes,
They sing songs of joy
I see the green of the grass
The blades blur together
Like water
I feel heat.
Finally, heat.
The warmth touches my soul
my skin glows
I'm alive again
My eyes open
the sky is grey
the walls are grey
the floor is grey
I am a prisoner once again
So, whaddya think? Pretty terrible, right? I'm a horrible poet. Tell me in a comment how I can make this better.
Dream
The sky is blue
Not grey
Why?
Am I free?
I can see a thousand colors
Reflecting from the lashes of my eyes,
They sing songs of joy
I see the green of the grass
The blades blur together
Like water
I feel heat.
Finally, heat.
The warmth touches my soul
my skin glows
I'm alive again
My eyes open
the sky is grey
the walls are grey
the floor is grey
I am a prisoner once again
So, whaddya think? Pretty terrible, right? I'm a horrible poet. Tell me in a comment how I can make this better.
The Art of Cutting -- Kill Your Darlings?
First of all, let's get a few things straight: "kill your darlings," doesn't mean murdering your favorite characters (like I thought it did). You can do that of course, but that's not what we're talking about today. It also doesn't mean "delete everything you love." It simply means that there are some passages or characters that you will love. You'll want them tattooed on your forehead so you can broadcast them to the world. But some of those won't fit into your story and will need to be taken out.
Editing is a hard process to begin with, and getting rid of your favorite material is the worst bit. For example, when I changed the narrator of my current story, I had to get rid of a whole chapter (a short chapter, but a chapter nonetheless,) that I had already gotten multiple compliments on. I loved it, but it didn't fit anymore.
But, while reading Gail Carson Levine's Writing Magic, I found a solution. I made a new Google Doc (if you're not writing on Google Docs, you're really missing out,) and called it "Things I had to cut." I parked my "beautiful but useless" prose there. Now I can visit it whenever I like, along with countless other bits and pieces of writing I couldn't bear to part with.
So, don't kill your darlings, just move them to another Doc. But there's still the process of deciding what to move. With any prose you aren't sure about, ask yourself these questions:
~ Does it have a purpose? If it doesn't advance the plot, reveal character, convey the theme, accurately describe something, or give the reader crucial information (emphasis on crucial), then it has to go. No further discussion. You don't want useless words in your story, the same way you don't want a taxidermied duck taped to the windshield of your car. They serve no purpose, and get in the way.
Another way to reframe this question is: If I take this out, will I lose something important? Taking the taxidermied duck off your windshield improves your car, and taking wasted words out of your prose will improve your story. If you really like the duck, you na always put it in the trunk.
Another way to reframe this question is: If I take this out, will I lose something important? Taking the taxidermied duck off your windshield improves your car, and taking wasted words out of your prose will improve your story. If you really like the duck, you na always put it in the trunk.
~ Did I say the same thing somewhere else? Redundancy in writing is a big no-no. If you already described your MC's hair as being blonde, you don't have to say it again. Your readers are smart; they can remember somebody's hair color without being reminded.If your description is vivid enough, it will stick with your reader and keep a clear image of that character in their heads.
Also, don't have your characters review something they all already know.If they went over the plan to overthrow the evil overlord in Chapter Three, they don't need to go over it again in Chapter Seven. All you really need your character to say is, "Do you remember the plan?" If the plan was made clear in Chapter Three, readers will remember along with your characters.
~ Does it fit the story I wanted to tell? Sometimes your writing will take you in an unexpected direction: for instance, you might find that your MC has abandoned his goal of stealing back his lost fortune and become an intern at a shoe factory. That's great and all, but did you want him at that shoe factory? If the answer is no, cut it and begin again. You want him to find that fortune, don't you?
These are the questions I ask myself when I'm about to cut something. You may have read a different set of questions in the past. Maybe you've created your own. But give these a whirl and see if they make cutting easier, and your story better. And if they do, leave me a comment. If they don't, tell me what worked for you alternatively. This advice is just my humble opinion; don't take it as gospel.
These are the questions I ask myself when I'm about to cut something. You may have read a different set of questions in the past. Maybe you've created your own. But give these a whirl and see if they make cutting easier, and your story better. And if they do, leave me a comment. If they don't, tell me what worked for you alternatively. This advice is just my humble opinion; don't take it as gospel.
Welcome To My Blog!
Hey everyone, welcome to Saga.I'll be posting daily writing tips, prompts, and advice. I hope you'll enjoy reading my blog, and please check out my favorite writing advice Youtubers, M. Kirin and Vivien Rei, and my etsy shop, Sensory by Willow.
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