Plot Struggles

Today's Mood: Relaxed. Today's Music: The Call. Today's Writing: IFFY. Today's Quote: Nothing handy at the moment.

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Is it possible to have a novel be both a journey story (a Bildungsroman?) and a romance? And is Science Fiction a plot structure or just a way of telling a story?

I am, of course, thinking too much. But I am looking at where this story is going (with my other 2 novels I did quite extensive outlines before starting to write. With this one I wanted to try writing and seeing where it took me. No where fast, I can tell you that for sure!), and I went back to my original notes (I didn't jump into it totally blind--I'd have to change my whole personality in order for me to be able to do something like that!). I had gone through the book Story Structure Architect and found that the story I wanted to tell could be considered either a female journey story or a romance. And although there are many elements the same--conflicts and climax, and resolution and all that, certain elements are different.

Say for instance, it is a romance. In that case, the love interest has to show up early on in the story. Probably within the first 30 pages. It's not that I can't make that happen, but I am toying with the idea of making this more than one book. Possibly even a trilogy. Which may be insane seeing as I haven't even finished one rough draft yet! But it matters to how I proceed. If the main plot is journey story, I think romance can still be in the book--maybe like a subplot or something. And then the love interest can be mentioned, but not really play a big part right away--or even in the first book much at all.

If the main plot is romance, then... hmmm, even as I'm writing this I'm thinking that romance isn't enough for me to arc it over more than one book. Not that I can't come up with obstacles, but there has to be something more than that.

And at what point do I have to decide if it is going to be more than one book? Makes me think I need to take time to do a detailed outline. But I'm trying to allow more spontaneous creativity. I feel like I write a lot like I draw or paint. Put down one layer. Erase it. Put down another layer. Probably erase at least part of it. Put down another layer. Like I'm building a shithouse out of bricks made from straw and mud! Somehow I think that if I were a real writer, writing would be easier. I would be more creative and I could imagine the story in one fell swoop instead of slowly and painstakingly coming up with details to pile on top of each other until I have something that resembles a story.

How can I love something that drives me so crazy? Yet I do, and I'm not just talking about my husband and kids here! Writing is wonderful--and torturous at the same time. And I suppose I'd better just go to bed at this point before my head implodes. Happy writing!

Setting

Today's Mood: Good. Today's Music: Bent - Matchbox 20. Today's Writing: IFFY (This week's sign of the apocalypse) Today's Quote:

"The road to hell is paved with adverbs." -Stephen King

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Recently it occurred to me that I could do more with the setting of my story. Granted, the setting isn't crucial to the plot--although maybe that is my problem. Maybe it should be. Or is it okay if it isn't?

I mean, I need it to be somewhere with a high school where there are students who are not very tolerant of differences. Oh wait! That is every freaking high school. I need it to be in a city/town where parents worry about keeping up appearances. Oh wait, that could be anywhere as well! Okay, I guess I want it to be on the big lake. Or I suppose it could be the ocean. Hmm. Doesn't really matter which it is. I mostly just want some large body of water. And a cemetery. But that is a lot of places as well. And I don't want it to be a huge town, but it can't be a podunk nowhere place either. (Nothing up in the U.P. : ) That's for you, Mark!)

Is it better to just imagine a place so I can make it whatever I want? Or is it better to locate the story in a real city? And if I put it in a real place, does it have to be accurate? I mean, can I mix imaginary and real? Do I have to get the street names right and all that?

I'm afraid I have little budget for an information gathering trip. Although, if I did, I'd make sure I located the story somewhere wonderful and warm! With great beaches.

The Internet gives me lots of information, but there is nothing quite like actually going somewhere and walking the streets and smelling the air and tasting the food.

So, are there good stories where the setting isn't all that important? I guess I can think of a few. Maybe they tend to be more character driven books instead of plot driven books.

What do you do when creating a setting for your story?

Spring Madness

Today's Mood: Tired. T0day's Music: Random play. Today's Writing: IFFY. Today's Quote:

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Lately I don't feel much like a writer. I don't seem to be getting anywhere. Yesterday I put in capital letters, bright red font: STARTED 3RD PERSON HERE!!!!!!!! And then I wrote a paragraph in third person. Today I took out the capital letters in red font and rewrote the paragraph in first person.

What is my problem? Why is writing so hard? How will I know what is the right POV for this story? When will I stop asking questions?

Okay, sorry, had to slap myself there to end the madness. Does anyone else feel nuts this time of year? (another question, I know.) Maybe it's my job. Everybody is feeling the crunch and trying to jam in every last project before they run out of time. And I SWEAR that equipment--especially computers--always start flaking out once it hits April. It's like they know the end is near and no one in the tech. dept. wants to bother fixing them until summer, so they can glitch out all they want and stay safe from being re-ghosted. Of course, I might just chuck them out the window.....

I'm flaking out. I'm stretched too thin. I'm not writing enough. I can't think. I think too much. Aaaaaaaaaaaah!

So what is the fix? Anybody got any ideas on how to get through tough spots in their writing in only 25 minute writing increments a day? I just start to get to that zone and zing! Time's up.

And then there is the whole publishing thing. Still considering. You should hear something soon. Of course, since it has been over a year, soon has lost its glisten. If only I had an agent. Of course, to get an agent you have to query and query and query some more. And even that doesn't promise anything if you are a never before published writer. I guess I'd better call again. Sigh.

Maybe tomorrow.

Creative energy

Today's Mood: Relaxed. Today's Music: U2--The Joshua Tree. Today's Writing: IFFY. Today's Quote:

The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.~ Robert Cromier

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I was hot today. The writing was flowing and I was working the words and then... I had to quit because it was time to go to work. No wonder I've been stuck on this dang chapter forever...well two weeks anyway. Oh, I wish I had more time!

Of course, when I do have time, what do I do? Work out in the yard. Watch the birds. Eat Popsicles. Read Francine Prose's book How to read like a writer. Great book by the way. Makes me want to go back and read the classics. Not that I have time.

I can't WAIT until Glen Lake!

Are there certain things that make you want to write? I read the book City of Ashes. Started it in the evening and read until 1:00 in the morning. The kids were in bed and my husband was gone and all I was doing was sitting and reading. But the story was so intense and I was so into it that I was sweating! Literally! I even ended out unbuttoning my shirt. The next morning I got up and read during my writing time. I finished the book later that afternoon. But even though I had little sleep, I was fired up. And the really awesome part is that it made me want to write! Ideas crowded into my head and the I'd think of new plot twists, scraps of dialogue, and descriptions of thing. The City of Ashes characters would keep cropping into my thoughts, but they weren't interfering.

Sometimes when I read a great book, it stalls my writing. It saps my energy and I end out thinking, I am never going to be able to write like this. I wish I could write a book that makes someone forgot to sleep, eat, take care of kids..... So why is it that some books feed my own creativity, and some make me feel like such a novice that I despair of ever being able to write a book good enough to obsess readers? Is it just mindset to begin with?

Have any of you ever had experiences like that? Do some books make you feel like you will never be that good a writer? Do some books pump you up and make you want to write? What do you think makes it go one way instead of the other? 'Cause personally, I like the energy created in the later!

What I enjoy

Today's Mood: Capable. Today's Music: Random play on music library. Today's Writing: IFFY. Today's Quote:

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. ~Ray Bradbury

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The gremlins have been talking. I'm trying to drown them out using various different methods: chocolate (extra dark--or any really), alcohol (Mike's hard limeade is awesome when it is really cold!), sleep (gotta love those 1000 thread-count sheets!), music (lots of Robert Pollard--always good for upbeat stuff), painting (pictures not walls), and my oh so wonderful writing friends.

The upshot of this intervention is that I was forced to confront my fears, one of them being what if I never get anything published? And after finally facing that fear, I found that it really wouldn't change much of anything in my life. I wouldn't starve since my day job pays enough to buy something beyond Ramen noodles. So why was I getting all stressed and listening to gremlins?

It was time to focus on why I write. Which isn't to get published. It is because writing is something I enjoy--along with chocolate, hard lemonade, good sheets, music, art, and writing friends (and a few other things as well). Funny how easy it is for me to forget why I write. As soon as that deadline draws near and I have to face the possible rejection, the gremlins start talking and I can't remember all the joy and delight (and sweat and tears--but I'm not talking about that right now because I made the heading What I enjoy) of putting words on paper.

I need to write myself a love letter. A letter about how much I love writing. Even if I don't get published ever. But that's gotta be the gremlins talking. Right?

Imagination

Today's Mood: Industrious. Today's Music: Tori Amos-Tales of a Librarian. Today's Writing: working on a poem. I think, however, that it needs to grow a little before it is ready to see the light of day. Today's Quote:

The novel is an event in consciousness. Our aim isn't to copy actuality, but to modify and recreate our sense of it. The novelist is inviting the reader to watch a performance in his own brain. -George Buchanan

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Today was the last day of spring break. At least I have the weekend to transition into the school week. I've been working on a painting I call Window to Imagination. People are always asking authors where they get their ideas. So what is imagination? Is it a pool of things we have read, seen, experienced, dreamed?

In my painting I portrayed the positive, whimsical side. But really, imagination can be dark and scary too. I used to frighten the heck out of myself imagining what might happen if someone broke into my house when my husband was gone and attacked me and my kids. (Okay, so I still frighten myself with that one now and then.)

And think of the horror writers like Stephen King. Definitely takes some kind of imagination to write those kind of stories. So our imagination must be fueled by our fears and desires as well. I imagined what I'd like to say to the idiot driver who passed me on the right going at least 80 miles an hour.

Sometimes imagining is a way to re-do things. When I don't like the way I handled something, I find myself imagining it a different way. Like I'll imagine saying something much funnier than what I actually said. Or sometimes I imagine myself pouring on the righteous anger. I'm always way funnier, stronger, smarter, and definitely sexier in my imagination. Funny how that works.

Maybe imagination is a way to try out new behaviors. I can say things that I couldn't really say in real life. Or at least I can say things and not have to pay the consequences. I guess if I was really looking through a window into my imagination, it would definitely have some dark things lurking in it as well as things like fairies and unicorns. Because if I can work out the nasty, petty, mean things by imagining them, then maybe I won't need to say or do them in real life.

By the way, this week I have watched two movies with authors as characters. Both movies (Stranger than Fiction and Nim's Island) portrayed the writers as neurotic. So see? There is no reason I shouldn't be an author!

Proper Opening Sentence

I want to start an article with a quote. When man invented the shovel, he could plant a tree. When the axe came along he could chop it down. Aldo Leopold.

Is that correct or acceptable as opposed to Aldo Leopold wrote?