A Hero’s Epiphany

No, this isn’t an epiphany my protagonist had. It’s an epiphany I had about my protagonist. Which, now that I think about it, might enable my protagonist to have her own epiphany.

I’m well over 20,000 words into my “new” (haha) first draft. (It’s almost a total rewrite and re-plotting of a previous “first draft”.) My protagonist up until now hasn’t really had a clearly defined character arc. She’s basically been an ordinary, nice person, thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Those intense, life-altering events bring out her inner character and show what she’s really made of, and she perhaps is stronger because of it, but she doesn’t really have a dramatic character arc of her own.

And that’s not such a bad thing. Many fine novels have characters that don’t change much. But I’ve always felt a good story can be made richer with a realistic, dramatic character arc. It’s something you can’t force. It has to grow organically out of the story. At least for me it does. I have to follow her around, writing down what she does, until I “get” her. Quirks and all.

Today, I “got” her. She’s still basically a nice person from the start, but she’s got some growing to do if she’s to end up happy. Well, as happy as she can be after all the trouble I throw her way.

I’ve seen a discussion of character arc presented in many different forms, some more complicated than others, but my favorite is based on Michael Hauge’s brilliant lecture from The Hero’s 2 Journeys.

This is psychology 101, but the gist is that your hero has a wound. It can be a specific traumatic event in the past, or a period of time in their past that did some damage. They then build up armor to protect themselves from suffering that wound, either the past one or anew. Their armor is their outward personality they’ve built up to control and deal with the world. It’s based on fear of suffering the wound again. And the armor generally works. It protects them. But it also prevents them from living in their essence, or who they are beneath all the armor. And it’s difficult to love and be happy if you’re not living your essence.

So, character growth is about someone learning to go beyond their armor and live in their essence. That’s typically not a pleasant process, nor a process one undertakes voluntarily.

And speaking of epiphanies, you can’t just throw in an “Aha!” moment and have your character change. You’ll lose your audience. There must be a continual struggle, back and forth throughout the story, a glimpse of essence, falling back into armor, a greater glimpse, retreating back, and on it goes. Then the change, which may not be complete, will be much more believable.

If you want to get deeper into this, check out Michael Hauge’s work. He’s a master at the craft.

As I write this, I’m 24% into draft one.

I have a bit of work to do on my next draft to weave in my protagonist’s character arc up to this point, but it’s very exciting.

Perfectionist

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I used to be a first draft perfectionist. Never finished a first draft. Finally, I took the advice of those with more experience, and turned off my inner-critic during the writing of a first draft. And I blazed through it.

Now I’m an outlining perfectionist (for my second draft). I’m finally realizing it’s best to just go forward and finish the thing.

Then I suppose I’ll be an Nth draft perfectionist, trying to get it ready for submission to an editor.

It’s a good thing I have other ideas, itching to be written. Great motivation to complete a project and move on to the next one.

True Love

My current wallpaper

I can’t help it. I’m getting all swept up in the Twilight Saga, by Stephenie Meyer. I just finished New Moon, am about to start reading Eclipse. What is it about this series that has me so hooked? Yes, vampires are my favorite supernatural being, provided the universe allows them to “have a soul” and be good (well, at least as good as they can).

But there’s something else in the series, I realized tonight, that draws me. Bella and Edward are soulmates. How many people entertain the idea of finding their soulmate when they are young, and eventually “grow out of it” after life sends them a bunch of duds, and “learn” to settle for compromise? Yes, the Twilight Saga is “young adult”, and the soulmates here are teenagers (sort of), but their love is that special miracle that touches a deep chord in anyone that’s ever been a hopeless romantic.

And that’s worth writing about.

Inspiration From the Kitchen

Yesterday my copy of Writing a Great Movie: Key Tools for Successful Screenwriting by Jeff Kitchen arrived. This looks like a real gem. But it’s the kind of book that needs to be slowly savored.

Already, in Chapter One, he covers some ideas discussed by Aristotle almost twenty-five hundred years ago. Kitchen says:

Dilemma may be defined as “a situation with a choice to be made in which neither alternative is acceptable.” Two equally unacceptable alternatives–two equally painful choices. The story of someone trapped in a challenging dilemma can be riveting.

…a solid dilemma of this sort can always improve the plot. …a writer may come in with a well-plotted story, but creating a new dilemma or strengthening an existing one will inevitably improve the material.

So naturally the first thing I did was ask myself if my WIP had a dilemma (as defined above). Well, not really. I have a compelling hero with a visible goal facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles. But my hero isn’t faced with two equally unacceptable alternatives.

So next I thought, how can I add dilemma in a way that will improve the story? The answer hit me. It fit right in with my existing idea, and enriched it. It fits in with the theme I had been discovering from my first draft. And it makes the story much more riveting.

All this from the first part of the first chapter in this book! This book has already paid for itself, and I’m eagerly looking to see what else is in store.

Two New Craft Books

In my endless effort to check out every highly-recommended book on writing, I got these two books from Amazon yesterday:

Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell

This looks like a very solid book. After a quick skim, it seems to cover many of the same ideas that have inspired me by Michael Hauge, although with a bit more verbiage. But that’s fine. It’s still well written. He even seems to incorporate a method very similar to the Snowflake Method by Randy Ingermanson. My first impression is that there’s not much new for me, but considering how many bad writing books are out there, this one stands out pretty far above the rest.

Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain

This one has some high recommendations, so I had to check it out. First, the bad news. This book made my eyes bleed. Originally published in 1965, the dated prose is frequently stilted and the author rambles on about his psychological theories of what makes good story-telling, with detailed loquacious systems of what makes good craft. Isn’t it a bad sign when you’re trying to learn how to write from someone whose writing style makes you cringe?

In spite of all this, there is some excellent writing advice sprinkled throughout the book. Yes, you’ll have to hunt for it. Yes, you’ll have to translate ridiculous terminology into practical instruction. But if you’re up for it, it’s there waiting for you in the pages of this book. Consider the opening sentence of the book:

You need to know only four things in order to write a solid story: how to group words into motivation-reaction units; how to group motivation-reaction units into scenes and sequels; how to group scenes and sequels into story pattern; how to create the kind of characters that give a story life.

Scary, isn’t it? You can check out a streamlined explanation of motivation-reaction units (ouch!), scenes and sequels by Randy Ingermanson here for free. A final word of caution to anyone who dives into this stuff. As Swain and Ingermanson suggest, don’t use this stuff to write by. Use it to analyze and revise. At least until it becomes second nature and flows naturally in a creative manner. And even then only if it helps you fix what isn’t working for you.

Progress

I’m doing fairly well with my self-imposed deadline for IA’s 2nd draft outline. Made it through Act 1:

• Stage I: Setup
• Turning Point #1: Opportunity
• Stage II: New Situation
• Turning Point #2: Change of Plans

Now I have a week for the first half of Act 2:

• Stage III: Progress
• Turning Point #3: Point of No Return

Oddly enough, I’m mixing Michael Hauge’s story structure (above) with parts of Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake Method. Even though I only snowflaked Act 1 through all the snowy steps (up to the spreadsheet), I did the first three steps for the entire story.

I found Michael’s character motivation matrix (sorry, to get the scoop on this you’ll need to purchase Writing Screenplays that Sell) very insightful. While the information isn’t much different from Randy’s step three, the organizing of the information in table form, along with Michael’s guidelines, shed light on dynamics I had not seen before. And yet the more complete sentences and paragraphs Randy had me writing clarified aspects I hadn’t seen in the matrix. I realize this may seem vague without an example. I suppose my point is the systems mix well.

I realized the other day that my quest to do a 2nd draft outline (after writing the 1st draft in pantzer mode) entailed far more education than I ever dreamed. I naively thought I could open Word, dash out an outline of the 1st draft, fix the outline and move on. Nothing could be further from the truth. Outlining well, at least for me, is anything but trivial. But I’ve learned a lot since mid-July, wandering blindly through this educational process. I’m very curious to see how it works out for me when I start from scratch on my next project.

Let it Snow

I just stumbled upon The Snowflake Method, a useful technique of building up your story progressively, from a single sentence to a detailed scene-by-scene outline, and more. Invented by Randy Ingermanson, it’s free! Be sure to check out his sites (the two previous links) for additional goodies.

I’ve already integrated some of Randy’s ideas into my current process. In particular, I’m mixing in ideas from Michael Hauge. The two systems play well together, and are helping me sharpen my focus as I work on my second draft outline deadline.

Passion

I got my copy of Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds yesterday. More great stuff from Michael Hauge.

One thing he talks about is the passion and inspiration you first felt that motivated you to spend months, and even years on a story. While he’s talking about it in terms of how to get your screenplay or novel read by prospective agents (or editors, producers, etc.), I had to take a minute to recall what my initial passion and inspiration were for my WIP. Mine began with a “what if” question, based on a situation. It was pure setup, with no visible plot or characters yet. But my passion was also fueled by my love for good vampire fiction, and the qualities in that genre that appeal to me.

I then looked at my WIP plot, and realized it didn’t focus on the “what if” question. In other words, I could remove the “what if” setup and my story wouldn’t really change. And by doing that, I lessened the emphasis on those qualities I love about the genre.

How did this happen? Because I wrote the first draft in pure pantzer mode. My plot got increasingly complex, and I began noticing a couple of inconsistencies (as unbelievable coincidences) and unrealistic character motivations. These sneaky little problems aren’t easy to detect (at least for my CP and me) because of the way the story moves and the separation of the elements that cause the problem, but once they’re pointed out, it’s one of those “Oh yeah, that doesn’t add up” reactions.

Here’s another thing about passion. If you don’t really have it for your project, I can’t imagine the nightmare it would be if your first book in a series sold, and suddenly you had to write a bunch more.

I don’t think this means I have to start over from scratch. But it does mean I need to focus on and emphasize my passion about the project as I work on the second draft. Which may very well include significant redoing of the outline. That’s fine with me. I’m willing to trash everything I’ve sweated over, if it’s the right thing to do. After all, I’m not in this for the money (ha!) or public recognition. It’s the passion of writing itself that moves me. The passion of bringing a world and characters to life, and creating a story I would love to read.

Sites

…you may want to check out:

• Double-Tongued Dictionary – Undocumented or under-documented words from the fringes of English, with a focus on slang, jargon, and new words.
• Free Online Courses & Lectures from Great Universities – Get your research here!
• Guide to Literary Agents – An editor helps you find the right agent.
• Language is a Virus – All sorts of writing goodies.
• The Book Deal – Famous writers give their advice.
• Pub Rants – An agent speaks her mind.

Word Painting

I’ve recently dusted off a wonderful book on my shelf, Word Painting by Rebecca McClanahan. I’ve always thought one area I needed work on in my writing is expanding my palette.

When I first started writing seriously, I saw there were many ordinary actions I had to repeatedly describe throughout a novel: walking, standing, sitting, etc. Not to mention all the emotional reactions of my characters: surprise, annoyance, interest, etc. I discovered two things:

1. I didn’t have enough effective ways to describe many ordinary human actions and emotions.
2. Many descriptions I used lacked depth.

In short, my palette was too limited. It’s not that I want to sound more poetic or have readers swoon over my prose. I’m a big fan of simple and direct writing. But writing must be truthful to what is being described. I want to find the correct simple and direct words to use in my descriptions.

As Rebecca McClanahan points out, you can’t learn a bunch of tricks and spice up your writing to make it more descriptive. You can’t toss in a bunch of adjectives, similes and metaphors and produce richer prose. There are specific craft techniques, and the author gives you plenty of them, but more importantly she teaches you how to awaken your own senses and translate them into words that are effective and appropriate for your writing.

My writing style will probably always be simple and direct. I favor Hemingway over Faulkner in terms of technique and style. And I realize I’ll never be a great writer. But I want to realize my own potential and be as good as I can be.

Word Painting is helping me get there.