Building a novel person by person

I recently entered a stage of writing where I had a lot of scenes, but I needed to knit them all together to make them into a draft. Not a hodgepodge of scenes, but something more flowing, something that could make sense, that would draw a reader along. So I sat down to do just that. What I realised when I did was that characters popped up here and there, after being in hybernation for a chapter or two or five. Suddenly, there they were demanding to be let back into the story. Well, I wanted to let them in, but I had to ask them first "What have you been doing all this time?"

So here's what I did. I started right back at the begining and read over the manuscript with one character in mind. Is this somewhere we see that character? Should we have a little reference to her here? I did this four times with found main characters, and somehow, now my scenes flow together. There's still a l of work to do to get this manuscript finished, but there's a lot less than there used to be, and the characters seem way way way more alive.

Happy Canada Day

St. Peter's Abbey in Saskatchewan

Writers often crave quiet time to write. I've had the pleasure of staying at St. Peter's Abbey near Muenster, Sasketchewan several times. This photo was taken in 2006 when Kari and I were both working on manuscripts. That's me on the far right, white shirt and skirt, and Kari in red shirt, brown slacks. In the background are the beautiful paintings of one of the participants of the Writers and Artists' Colony. You can click on the photo and see an enlarged version.

What's the next scene?

Just thinking of the novel in terms of structuring scenes. It's the emotional content that often determines what scene comes next. Happiness than tragedy. We've all seen that pattern. When the protagonist is at her happiest, look out, tragedy is sure to follow. We've seen it before because it works.

A sad scene followed by a funny scene. That works well too. Humour can bring us out of our sadness. It can heal the wounds. What doesn't work? Tragedy in one chapter. Happiness in the next. How did the character get there? We're not convinced. Too fast.

Generosity. There always seems to be room for characters to be generous to each other. After anger, generosity. After sadness, generosity. After misunderstanding, generosity. Generosity that surprises the protagonist (and the reader) is satisfying. If it comes in an interesting form or it comes from an unexpected person, that's nice.

Sometimes when structuring the next event in my novel I tried to follow logic, but it often didn't work. It was only when I paid attention to the emotional experience of my protagonist and my reader that I got it right.

the problem of outines

The question of whether or not to do outlines always plagues me. I always think I should, that there would be so much less muddling around if I knew what I was doing, where my characters were going. But here's the thing. I just spent the last hour writing a scene in which my main character offers something to help another character in trouble, and that character refuses it. I didn't plan that. I didn't know it was going to happen. But it makes so much sense in the story, because the boy in trouble is actually trying to protect someone else by refusing the gift, and by doing so he deepens the story enormously. I love this new twist. It makes everything that comes after it more meaningful because of this added layer. But I would not have been able to include this element if I'd been working to an outline. That's not to say I don't know where the story is going...loosely... just not precisely. And really, that's part of the joy of discovery isn't it?

editing wisdom...

Reading Susan Bell's book The Artful Edit. I love how she separates macro from micro editing. It makes so much sense--why edit for language when you haven't got the storyline down? Here's what she says:

When doing macro editing, consider:
intention
character: palpability, credibility, motive
structure: rhythm, tension
foreshadowing
theme: leitmotiv
continuity of tone

When doing micro editing consider
language
repetition
redundancy
clarity
authenticity of image and dialogue
continuity of visuals and character
show and tell
beginnings, ending, transitions.

Fantastic eh?

Ella Fitzgerald : One note Samba (scat singing) 1969

Writing about music...

"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture."

No one seems to know the true source of this quote, but it could have been Elvis Costello or Frank Zappa, or someone well before their time. Regardless, it's what I'm attempting in my novel. I'm deep into researching jazz women singers and writing about them, their images, and their songs. As long as I don't get too distracted by all those amazing YouTube clips. Check out Ella's One-Note Samba for instant chills.

Gems

• When I cut things out of my writing it's often because it's not the right place for it. It's a bit of "telling" that slows things down so I chop it and put it in a file called "Edits."

• Later, I'll go back to this file, rescue a few gems. I've learned that sometimes I can get these bits in at the beginning of chapters when the action hasn't ramped up yet, when the reader might be wanting something a little different, something to ponder before the scene kicks in.

• I like these bits because they're different, not so forward-marching. I like the background they provide or the humour. I like the colour and shine of them. I'm hoping the novel will be stronger for having them in there.

writing workshops

Yesterday I attended a writing workshop hosted by fellow Wildwood Writer Julie Paul. Fantastic and inspiring. And the main thing I learned was, no matter how far into a writing project you are, never close your mind to looking at things from different angles. Julie had us doing exercises that made me look at my characters from new perspective, and opened my mind to a different approach to some of the material I have been finding difficult. Here's an exercise I particularly liked. Think of all the worlds you know. Everything from your own kitchen to the landscape you live in to the kinds of books you read. This is a simple activity, but doing it made me realise how rich my material could be if I brought in some of these worlds. My characters have worlds that they know, which I can explain, describe, make them live in. This brings more life to the story as a whole. Thanks Julie

showing and telling

We talked today in our group about how much has to happen in a story. How when we tell each other stories we only tell the highlights, we leave out the mundane parts of life like how much trouble we had finding matching socks or what we ate for breakfast and skip right to the parts where we met a man walking on the beach in nothing but a sarong in February. How does this translate into writing a novel we asked? Do the low points, the rest points, still have to have something happening? And what does happening mean? Can two people be talking? Is that happening? It is not happening, we agreed, if two characters are talking about something else that happened. That would be us as writers, showing people telling, which goes against the maxim: show don't tell. Maybe if we think about watching a play. What takes place off stage, what takes place on stage? Ahh.... so complicated!

revisions

Many writers don't like revising, but I do. To me revising is like building on a skeleton, adding flesh and bones. I love the feeling of adding tints in the colouring on the cheeks, highlights on the hair, sharp edge to the fingernail. Through revisios I round the curve of a shoulder, smoothe out the bulge of a hip. These are the things that bring the writing alive, make is sparkle, make it real. what's more real than a person, fully formed, living in front of you on the page?

Writing a Novel: Images

Lately I've been thinking about images and how they differ from description. Seems to me that they shimmer with a certain luminosity not found in the usual description of a scene.

So, as I revise, I'm reading for images. When does the moment occur when the reader pauses and really sees something. Do I have enough of those moments, ordinary moments that glow?

That's today's challenge.

rituals for writers

Sometimes getting down to writing is the hardest part, even when I've managed to wrangle life into clearing a whole day for writing. Even then, sometimes I find myself doing laundry and washing the dishes instead of sitting down. So I've developed some rituals. Little ones, that don't take much time. I put the kettle on for tea, and make sure the living room is tidy and the coffee table is clear. Then I bring my computer out of the office and plug it in to the plug next to the table and find myself a cozy blanket. Then I make the tea and grab the phone so I won't have to get up if it rings, and I settle down on the sofa with a blanket across my lap and the computer on top of that and a cup of tea on the table. Somehow all that makes me ready.

tools for writers

i spent too much time today browsing around the webosphere, and look what I found.
http://www.pw.org/toolsforwriters

Spring 2010

A little flower for you.

Remember Smith's List?

Remember the old Smith's List? home of all Canadian writing contests? It disappeared for a while, but it's back. Only now it's called Writers Circle of Durham Region Contests/Events Calendar (which doesn't trip off the tongue as nicely, but oh well.)
Here's the link, in case you're looking. http://wcdr.ca/wcdr/?page_id=2373
Also, here's another that has tons of listings.
http://www.manuscriptediting.com/contests.htm

Advice from Joy Fielding

I love this line that I wrote down from a workshop with Joy Fielding:

"Get to the interesting part of the story. Bring on the three bears!!!"

First Meetings

Thanks for your help around how to get two characters to meet for the first time. I have changed the first meeting between my two main characters so that one of them hurts himself and the other helps him. This gives the two boys a reason to talk, something to talk about, and a shared experience. It also allows me to take the two boys from a central location to one of the boy’s houses.
My lesson here was to take up the tensions. Why have two people just meet, when they can have a dramatic moment right?

The Writing Life

Annie Dillard wrote this passage in her book, The Writing Life:

You climb a long ladder until you can see over the roof, or over the clouds. You are writing a book. You watch your shod feet step on each round rung, one at a time; you do not hurry and do not rest. Your feet feel the steep ladder's balance; the long muscles in your thighs check its sway. you climb steadily, doing your job in the dark. When you reach the end, there is nothing more to climb. The sun hits you. The bright wideness surprises you: you had forgotten there was an end. You look back at the ladder's two feet on the distant grass, astonished.

Writing a Novel: Totems

Over the months, people have given me things to hold onto while I write my way into a novel. A skull of a small animal, smooth and white. A book about survival. A red tulip. A ticket to the ballet. A chai tea. A hand-knit shawl, blue. A Mickey Mouse watch. A spiral shell.