Musing about Fiction - HOW

Wow, my random Musing about Fiction series is just about over!

A few thoughts about How to write. On the one hand, it's not my business how you write. Though for that matter, it's not my business what you write either, is it? Even if you write one of the worst books ever, it's a free country so I guess you can. And if you're famous or fortunate, you might even make money!

How do you write? There are at least two different kinds of writers. Some writers plan a strict outline before they start. Others are often called "seat of the pants" writers, who seem to thrive from the adventure of discovering a story. A lot of people are somewhere in the middle, doing a little planning but a lot of wandering along the way. For myself, I've tried outlining but it doesn't seem to work. But when I just make up stuff as I go along, it takes a prodigious amount of editing. Like every NaNoWriMo I've ever done. (See About Me and my Writing!) It can be hard to put a story together. How do I make it come together? Honestly? I don't know!

You know what's almost certainly more important than how you write? It's THAT you write. Most people don't even finish the stories they start. People spend all their time planning, or editing, or...ah...playing on the Internet...::shifty eyes:: You can't spell writer without write!

As to how to make yourself write? That's tricky. I've gotta say, just shut up and do it. That's what NaNoWriMo, and deadlines, are all about. Yes, I kind of love deadlines, because they force you to work. It's really hard for a lot of people (certainly myself!) to stay self-motivated.

Writers often say their muse is gone, they've got writer's block, etc. I'm not saying writer's block never exists. But if I wanted to run a marathon (ha ha ha ha!) yet never went jogging, what are the odds I'd ever be considered a runner? I can't think of any other fields besides writing and other arts, where people can just say "I just can't do this" for weeks on end, yet still be considered a practitioner without having actually accomplished anything. I think most cases of writer's block are really more cases of a writer just wanting to do something else besides write.

Or maybe that's just me! Someone wise once said "Writing is 1% inspiration, 99% not getting distracted by the Internet."

How not to get distracted? If I knew the answer...I'm not sure I'd be blogging tonight. I'd probably be off writing. :)

Musing about Fiction - WHY

Still musing about fiction! Almost through the series, too!

So WHY...Why write? I won't say too much because I've already addressed the topic here and here.

Most writers seem to be driven to write for some reason. I think I've mentioned that for myself, I just like to tell a story. At work I met someone today who writes screenplays (!) with a writing partner and evidently even made a documentary! People have encouraged her to write novels or non-fiction, but her passion is screenplays, and from what she said, it sounded like she'd probably write without an audience to read it.

I try to be the same way...before the Internet was big (and before I was working full-time!), I was definitely the same way. Now I find it's too easy to just read and post to messageboards and Facebook, and get my writing bug out at work (I spend all day writing sternly-worded letters) instead of writing fiction for fun. I do still write fiction, of course, but not as much as I used to. Some of the fun does drain away (for me, anyway) when you actually have people critique it...

Still, as my dad likes to say, "Writers write." While I'd like to make a living off my writing, mainly I'm just driven to do it, and I like to think led to, as well.

But other WHYs.

A big one I hear from people who critique me seems to be "Why are your characters doing that?" I've had compliments on my characters, yet sometimes they seem to act to advance the plot more than doing what comes logically. I'm not sure how to prevent that, but I think the only way to SPOT it is to get some third party to look at my work. I just don't see it when it happens.

Which explains WHY you need someone to critique or give some sort of feedback on your work! Even if it's not fun! (That someone can be an editor, critique partner, beta reader, or even WRITING partner, but if you're just writing on your own without any feedback, your fiction will probably be a lot weaker than it could've been.)

One more WHY would be the overarching message of your work/s. When I was younger, I just wanted to write, yet my first full-length fantasy novel (high school; not so good) literally had a Jesus figure show up. My dad charitably commented that he'd read books worse than mine, and that it got awfully religious at the end. LOL. So on the one hand, I just want to write. But on the other hand, God seems to creep in anyway. The majority of the things I've written have had substantial express Christian content and much of the rest has had at least some in there.

I think whatever the writer believes will probably seep through into his or her work, really, whether those beliefs are the motivation for the work or just something that slips in unbidden.

Musing about Fiction - WHERE

So Blogger saved this as a draft and published the next entry early. I forgot I need to check to make sure every single entry is set to publish properly...sorry about that.

Anyway...I've been musing about fiction (Who, What, Where, When, Why, How). Here are a few thoughts on "Where."

Where do you set your novel? Settings aren't really my strong suit--or at least not physical settings. I'm not so interested in the physical world as much as the realm of ideas, so I don't always do the best job of describing places. When Maggie and I are playing around while writing, it can cause problems because I failed to describe a scene so she "saw" it differently! I need to work on "seeing" the world and painting it for others.

"Where" can bleed over onto genre. I've heard it said that if you can tell your story WITHOUT using magic, it shouldn't be fantasy. (I think "The Healer and the Pirate" passes that test, even though it's really a rather light fantasy.) I guess the reasoning is that if fantastical elements aren't an integral part of the story, it shouldn't be fantasy. As a reader, I don't know if I subscribe to that notion, but I imagine most serious fantasy readers do.

One aspect of "where" that I DO find fascinating (and that I might have some talent for?) is history. What kind of technology did people use to get around? How did people think? How did people talk? Dialogue can often establish setting as well as character. If a male lead is calling people "darlin'," you might just have a Western setting.

Unfortunately, with Google always available, it's very, very, VERY easy to tumble down rabbit holes when trying to find out, say, what kind of cookie my historic character may have consumed. Even when critiquing others' work, I get caught up Googling to see if something existed.

One of my favorite sources for words is the Online Etymology Dictionary. You can use it to see if your word would have been used back in the day. Now, granted, if you're writing something taking place in the Middle Ages, you can't use a lot of the words that were used then (or the reader won't understand). And you're going to have to use a lot of modern words. But if a word just "sounds" wrong to you OR your critiquer, this can be a good source. It may also remind you not to have your 1920s characters skateboard!

One thing that drives me crazy in historicals is when major characters have names that aren't accurate for the era. A great place to check American names is the Social Security website, of all places. You can check what the popular names were when your characters were BORN.

One particular problematic example I can think of is the American Girl book series, and specifically, the most popular girl, Samantha. Samantha was meant to be the quintessential wealthy 1900s orphan, and the books inspired probably tens of thousands of girls to enjoy history. (I was more obsessed with Kirsten, thanks to Laura Ingalls Wilder.)

But Samantha's name? Not so accurate; in 1895 (the year the character was born), 16 girls listed had that name. Now, the database isn't comprehensive this early, but the top female name, Mary, had over 13,000 girls given that name that year.

Now, on a fictional level, the name "Samantha" actually works; it SOUNDS old-timey. It's just not statistically very likely. Obviously authors want to come up with interesting and memorable names for their characters, but I'd still try to stick to something probable...or if not, something that sounds right. Your heroine born in 1895 would be much more likely to be named Letha, Pearlie, Elsa, or Birdie than Ashley, Madison, Addison, or Avery. (Though all of those were listed as rare boy names for that year!)

Musing about Fiction - WHEN - edited

I like to write (and in theory) read fiction. I've discussed my reasons before, but when it comes down to it, I like an escape. I like to read worlds where everything ends happily, where people are better (and more interesting) than they are on Earth, and so forth. I do believe in happy endings, but in many cases they don't come this side of the grave. Between sickness, death, and our own fallen natures, things can get pretty grim.

Though now that I think about it, I reckon almost any story can have a happy ending or a sad ending, depending on where you say "The End."

Pretty much every romance novel (at least, in the Christian market) has a happy ending. But much of the story (at least most the good ones) aren't necessarily happy throughout. For an example, I'll use Beauty and the Beast because everyone always seems to choose Cinderella lately.

Spoiler alert for the Disney version if you skipped the years 1991 through the present, or maybe if you don't like cartoons and haven't had kids in your life!

So imagine the story ended when Gaston stabbed the Beast. Story instantly becomes a tragedy, for lack of a few minutes of storytelling. In the alternative, what if it ended 50+ years in the future? OK, so they say "happily ever after," but if they were real people they surely experienced some disappointment or heartbreak. Belle's dear father had to pass away at some point, never mind Belle and the Beast's eventual fates.

Also, you could tell a story about the same characters but in a different timeframe, and have something completely different. What if it started when Belle's mother met her father Maurice? At some point Belle's mother presumably died (or otherwise left the picture)--what if the story ended there? Or what if the story ended with Belle and her father finally coming to a new town where they were, if not accepted, at least tolerated? OK, yes, I'm sure there have been countless fanfictions writing about Belle's early life (and the Beast's!) but still. There's a story there.

In my opinion good fiction figures out exactly where to

OK, ironically (?), Blogger uploaded this before I meant it to! LOL. Though I guess the above is a good lesson--you have to know exactly when to end the story to match with your beliefs, and (unless you're trying to turn the audience for a loop) the expectations of your audience as well. An optimist and/or someone writing for an audience that expects happy endings will end with a happy ending. Few people who want their stories to be enjoyed end with a completely unhappy ending, no matter how dark the story. Myself, I figure, why not end with something happy?

My favorite happy endings are the "deliriously happy" endings like the Disney films Bolt and Princess and the Frog, where everything ends up just unbelievably happy for the characters. If you're still here, how about you?

Musing about fiction - WHAT

So last week, in a fit of desperation for a topic, I decided to talk about "who" (in the Who, What, Where, When, Why, How list). Which means this week, what I talk about, is "what."



You knew it had to come at some point. Might as well get it out of the way now!

Anyway, so "what." What do you write about?

I've always been drawn to writing fiction. And when I write fiction, I tend to write about the improbable and fantastic. Why is that, I wonder?

I think I tend toward writing speculative because if you stick with stories of what is plausible, or even possible, then I think you might as well write non-fiction. I do like historical fiction in principle; of mainline Christian romances, the only ones I've even tried reading are historicals. I also enjoy and fiction that involves substantial non-fiction elements (like the Little House books being semi-autobiographical and My Side of the Mountain doing quite a lot of downright "telling" about survival and the wilderness). I've heard kids nowadays aren't interested in the "Little House" books because they're really divorced from the natural world. That could definitely be true (not sure many kids want to hear about the fun of roasting a pig's tail and playing with an inflated pig's bladder). But on the other hand, I imagine young adults enjoyed the details of "The Hunger Games," like purifying water with iodine.

As I argued last week, it's not necessarily about writing "what you know." But if not what you know...then what?

You know those weird passions that you get for no reason and don't even know where they came from? (Mine is the old Coney Island, given I don't like rides that are TOO thrilling (the Cyclone is scary but fine), don't care for beaches, and dislike crowds and seedy places.)

Do you think when you get those random things that fascinate you for no reason, that's what you're meant to write? I don't know.

One thing I can say--at least for speculative/children's and young adult series--is that a bit of inspiration can be honed into something wildly successful. Reportedly, C.S. Lewis was inspired by an image of a faun holding an umbrella and parcels which (obviously influenced by his background and childhood imaginings) eventually led to the Narnia series. JK Rowling says the idea for Harry Potter just fell into her head on a long train ride. And I haven't read the books, but I've heard it said that Stephenie Meyer had a dream of a human girl and a vampire who loved her and also wanted her blood, which inspired "Twilight." Wikipedia even reports that Suzanne Collins was inspired to write "The Hunger Games" when she was flipping through channels on TV!

I'm sure there are many successful series that weren't built on a flash of inspiration, and I imagine it's possible that authors would lie about where they really got their ideas from. But it sounds like when you get that inspiration, you might want to follow it.

So, how do you decide which "what" is worth pursuing? Honestly, I'm no closer to knowing than I was a month ago. I'm starting to seriously think I need to pray for inspiration!

Or, perhaps, pray about which thread I should follow.

What do you know? At least one of those threads (2 if you count a potential collaborative project) involves Coney Island!

Musing about fiction - WHO

So since I am a writer and I hear some people like to hear about writing, I figured I'd throw some random writing-related musings out there.

I started typing some stuff and it came out sounding a lot like the old reporters' guidelines: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How. So I'm gonna step out on faith and hope that I can get 6 entries out of those topics...

So, what's up with WHO? A few ideas:

WHO are YOU?

You need to write about something you're passionate about. I don't consider this exactly the same as "write what you know" (if everyone did that we'd have a lot of really boring stories, IMO). But write what you LOVE is fair. If you despise researching history, you maybe shouldn't try to write straight-up historical fiction (though you could definitely consider steampunk or another speculative genre).

This has been a challenge for me because I wanted to go back and finish a novel I mostly wrote in college, currently titled Chosen: Bonnie of Sheshack. I was something like 20 (and very into Anime) when I wrote it. I'm rather older now, and I haven't been able to get back into the young adult mindset of the POV character. Doesn't mean I couldn't get there, but it's not working so well for me right now. I'm not sure I can finish it unless I just take what I've written, edit lightly, and finish it. I just can't make it mesh with 2011 Julie.

WHO are your characters?

The more you know about your characters, the better your story will probably be. You also need to have characters who are flawed enough to be interesting--but in my opinion, they don't need to be too realistic, and personally, I'd rather they aren't too realistic.

Regarding "The Time Traveler's Wife", the concept of a man who randomly slips backward in time was absolutely brilliant. The reason I couldn't finish it was because the characters read to me like college students (and rather shallow ones at that). Part of my problem was expectations; I may have liked it better if the book jacket hadn't called the male lead Henry "dashing." This dashing character spent a fair amount of the novel shaping a young girl toward being an atheist or agnostic (which I found disturbing). But the point I gave up was where he joked with his true love Claire that if she didn't perform a certain sexual act with him, he would wither away and die. (Page 230 in my paperback which I got from Paperbackswap.com) I don't know; maybe I have a different definition of "dashing" than most.

Some of the questions the book raises are interesting--what would you do if you went back in time as an adult and met your significant other when they were a child? and you were naked?--but IMO just because a question is interesting doesn't automatically mean it should be considered at length.

So anyway, is Henry the librarian realistic? Possibly--it's hard to say what someone would do in his situation. (Although I'm not sure how many "dashing, adventuresome librarians" exist!)

Is Henry likable? The huge number of copies sold would say so; a romance author in a panel I went to at the Tucson Festival of Books even cited Henry and Claire's relationship as one she remembered and loved. (And it was an author who I would have expected to share my conservative biases, by the way.)

Would I rather read about a dashing thief with a heart of gold, even if such people are almost impossible in real life? Absolutely!

WHO is the story filtered through?

I started writing a short story recently (in the universe of my novel "Flight from Endwood") and it wasn't quite working. I had one POV character in mind, even though the other main character is the one who experiences change and who is involved in a couple integral scenes.

Captain Obvious says, why not make that character the only POV character? Problem solved? Well...I'll let you know how that goes. At least I'm excited again!

Do you have any WHO ideas?