Writing Excuses

I am a fan of Brandon Sanderson for four main reasons:

1) Mistborn.
         One of my favorite series.
2) His BYU writing class lectures (on YouTube).
         I enjoy his nerdy, kind, wise teaching style.
3) The idea of authors having a 'Brandon Sanderson File".
4) The Writing Excuses podcast.

Link to the podcast website.

Lately I've been listening to "crunchy" episodes while cooking or doing dishes. I don't take notes like I do with the Bird book. In fact, I'm often distracted and not listening as well as I should.

Authors and hosts (2017) Mary Anne Mohanraj, Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Wesley Chu

As often as I think, "Ah! Great idea. I'll have to remember that," I find myself nodding and thinking, "Yup. I do that," or "Right. That's how it works for me too."

Overall, listening to the podcast makes me feel more like a writer than a student of writing, though I'll probably always be a student of the craft. That's a pretentious word I've started to use, by the way. Craft.

Some lessons...

Groups of people within a culture are not homogenous (i.e. all wearing hats).
Remember that there is variation within religious belief and practice.
Doing diversity well means adding intersectionality within characters to avoid stereotyping.
Minor characters need quirks and interests beyond their plot function.
Various authors write in various ways. I mean, duh. But seriously.
And they really use each other as alpha and beta readers. A lot.

The best part?
"You're out of excuses. Now go write!"

Tad Williams Crushes It

So begins The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams. 

On my personal journey of learning in preparation for writing a created world series, I felt ill prepared to write about life in a castle. But I had a vision of a medieval Minnesota, and that included stone forts and palaces.

I raided my local library, read a lot online, and imagined what it would be like to live and move about within a castle's walls. Still, a sense of inadequacy stopped me from actually writing scenes. So I went to England, twice, specifically to tour castles and take notes. Those trips were wonderful -- inspiring, clarifying, and solidifying my vision.

I'd say the most influential of the castles I visited were Hampton Court Palace...

HCP: These pies figure into my story in a clever way.
They are also the bane of my revising process. 

HCP: When I picture the main Aco Castle kitchen oven, this is it. 

Onr of imagined kitchens has this type of "stovetop."

...and  Conwy Castle, in Wales...

These are the castle walls in my mind, built on a rock foundation.

A view of Conwy from one of the castle's towers.
This perspective is essential to the plot of my story.

...though each one I visited added some small, important bit to my cache of castle knowledge. 

The inspiration for an important "window nook."
Leeds Castle

Also at Leeds, an undercroft cellar. 

I love the artistic hardware in most castles.
This lovely example is from Arundel Castle.

The bailey at Caernarfon Castle, Wales.
Here, the size influenced my thinking. 

I sketched my realm's map, including half a dozen important castle locations. And I finally got down to the business of writing scenes in one of them, Acomount/Aco Castle. My writing was informed by what I had seen, and I was pleased with my efforts.

Then I read the opening of Tad Williams' novel. In four quick sentences, he invokes the images, sounds, and most important, the feel of a castle. IN FOUR SENTENCES. In that opening paragraph, he creates as much atmosphere as my first four CHAPTERS. If you can't tell by my flagrant use of capital letters, this astonishes me. 

Lately, my emotions have been swinging wildly back and forth between "Lio and Lamb is the best story ever -- I love writing it and people are going to love reading it!" and "What a load. There is so much to add and fix and improve in this draft -- it'll never be ready for other eyes. It'll never do, in all its chapters, what Williams did in that one paragraph."

I guess what I need is some perspective. 

I am not a beginning writer, but I'm not an expert. Yet. I can't compare my work to the illustrious Williams without falling short, so I need to read it and be inspired instead of downcast. Then I need to keep writing, keep revising, and grow into expertise. I need to recognize my strengths (plotting, mechanics, leanness, and commitment) and work on my weaknesses (incorporating what I know in beautiful prose, letting readers see and experience the scenes as I do in my imagination, and commitment).

I'll get there. 

Matt Bird's Book: A Vacation Tradition

A few years ago, I started reading Matt Bird's The Secrets of Story. I must have been on vacation in Florida because I remember sitting in the sun while reading and needing to stop and search for a highlighter because everything Bird wrote was so applicable, practical, and wise.

Highlighter in hand, I got a few chapters in and was so inspired that I put down the book to go write.

A year later I packed it for a return to Florida. While sitting on the lanai, I reread all my highlighting, read/highlighted a little further, and was inspired (again) to go write.

Last week I packed for Florida. I made sure to include Bird's book and lots of highlighters.

You'll never guess what happened.

PS

My sister and I were discussing our recent disappointment with the current season of The Walking Dead, and something she said resonated. I grabbed the Bird book, and we read his rules for creating a hero together. It was astonishing -- the series is breaking all Bird's rules. No wonder we are both ready to stop watching.