Red Herrings and Guns on the Mantle

The main challenge of this part of writing a novel, the last 25%, is pulling off the magic trick that is a tight plot. I had to create a lot of foreshadowing, placing several of Chekhov's "guns on the mantlepiece" so that characters can pick them up and "shoot" now. I had to introduce a few red herrings, so the reader wouldn't get bored by seeing too clearly exactly how it would all unfold.

It's like...
...getting to the point where you can see the picture behind the puzzle pieces, but essential chunks are still unpieced. You hope you haven't lost any pieces (under the table, behind the box).
...weaving a tapestry, where all the threads are aligned and all you have to do is pull them taut for it all to come together.
...decorating the house that has been built.

I read somewhere, or perhaps I heard it on a podcast, that a reader wants to anticipate a good plot twist or reveal about a paragraph before it happens. That way the reader thinks, "I'm so smart! I figured it out before the characters did!" and stays engaged to solve the next piece of the plot puzzle. I like that idea.

One of my favorite parts of writing SPOTD was assembling the plot. You know how the final Marvel Avengers film drew on all the previous films, fitting together what seems to have been an intentional resolution? It was so satisfying. That's what I strive for. And that's the fun part of writing for me.

But it's also tough as diamonds to do. My aging brain doesn't hold as much information simultaneously as it used to. I have notes everywhere -- on little pieces of paper, on rambling voice messages, and in an inch thick of printed notes. It's probably time to start ONE doc called something like "THE END." Then I'll reread the whole story and take notes on what has been set up, what needs more setting up, and what needs to happen in the end.

Oh my. I just realized that this is work I can do while sitting outside in the sun. YAY! Can't wait!

Writing Violence

It makes my students laugh when I casually mention how fun it is to kill off a character.

But the truth is, I struggle with writing violence.

I once wrote a short story in which a cowboy did NOT get into a bar fight. He clearly should have.

There's no big fight scene in SPOTD, just a lot of running away from danger and (spoiler) one well-thrown punch. What kind of superhero avoids the epic battle?

Last November I wrote a scene where a character goes off (into the woods) and returns injured. I didn't write the scene where the injury takes place, just the reactions by the other characters when she stumbles back into camp. And I don't have any great desire to change my approach. Since then, I've been revising heavily and working more on the original chunk of the series, so I haven't written past that particular injury. I don't even know if the character survives. I only know that she's been languishing away these past seven months. It would have been more merciful to finish her off right away, I suppose.

So my attempts at violence have sometimes been weak.

Then again, the original Lio and Lamb opening, from the middle volume of the series, begins with an instigating act of extreme violence that shadows the entire novel. And that novel is, essentially, a murder mystery. It is full of killings.

I guess I'm all over the map.

There is one place I won't go, however.

I've been so frustrated lately with television shows that break audience members' hearts by offing the characters that they identify with most. And it's one of Matt Bird's rules to avoid that, as he specifically states in Law #6 of Writing for Strangers: "It's very hard to get audiences to care about any hero because they're afraid of getting hurt." To paraphrase: Once you earn the audience's trust, don't betray it.

So here's the deal. I promise not to kill off Lio or Lamb. Even though their names allusively suggest that it could happen (à la Jesus/Aslan, sacrificial lambs), this will not be a "heroes sacrifice all" story.

I make no promises for the others, however. After all, sometimes it is fun to kill off a character. 

Is That Sunshine I See?

It seems the last time I looked at a calendar it was mid-February, and here we are in JUNE. Which means...

...my day job has reached its annual hiatus. Already, I have celebrated various life events with loved ones, attacked house and yard jobs with the short-lived glee of early summer freedom, and requested a pile of books from my local library. The best part is finally being able to sit in the midday sunshine reading.

Over the course of the spring months, I didn't make the writing progress I had hoped for, but small Lio and Lamb adjacent projects were on my mind daily. For example, I was constantly looking up the derivations of cool words that I ran across in order to make up new words and names for the story. I've also been on a brain-hunt for nicknames for various occupations, ranks, and positions in my realm.

Alas, I have decided not to travel this summer.

I'm grieving a bit over not being able to see the RSC reverse-gender Taming of the Shrew or Aaron Sorkin's adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird on Broadway. There will still be Minnesota trips and lots of theater to see, but no long plane flights or overstuffed luggage.

Instead, I've decided to commit to finishing both Lio and Lamb drafts. It's slow going so far. But I feel like I'll get back in the groove today. As long as that lovely sunshine and the pile of library books on my kitchen counter don't tempt me outside all day.

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.

More Snowy Days

It turns out the December snowstorm (see my blog post for December 28) was just the beginning. During that event, I revised the Haven section of L&L. Then, in January, I continued working and revised most of the Queenswood and Storm sections.

At the end of January, we had a blizzard that closed school for three full days.

I was kept busy online -- creating and posting assignments, correcting student work, and connecting with students -- from 6:30 in the morning until 3:00 in the afternoon. But once 3:00 rolled around, I was free.

Note: It's a common misperception that teachers only work to 3:00 in the afternoon. Usually, I leave our building around 5:00, brain weary and exhausted. I get home, cook, and sit down to eat. And once I'm down, I'm useless. Nanowrimo is a great motivator because once the month starts, I don't want to miss posting my progress a single day. I end up writing after 9:00 pm, when I get a second wind (composed of guilt, mostly).

But these snow days were so much less taxing. At 3:00 in the afternoon, I still had plenty of mental energy. It was wonderful.

Not a blizzard. This was just a nice, normal day in January. With a sun dog.

So, during the January blizzard, I dove into the "middle" story of the series, which is the first bit I drafted. I call it the Prison and Princess section. It was amazing. I hadn't read it in over two years. It was like reading someone else's novel -- engaging and even surprising!

I had more ridiculous glitches to fix, of course.

* One character's name was so dumb. So. Dumb. I plan to change it. The right name just hasn't popped yet. I'm not sure why this guy is so hard to figure out. Maybe I need to write a chapter from his POV and see what's happening in his head.

* Lamb's magic was too understated, so I had to pump that up. It took a good week of mulling to think of 4-5 possible "magic" moments. Then when I looked at the text, only 2-3 of those moments actually made sense. Drafting them was a challenge. When I'm in the zone, I usually write 400 words an hour. But writing a short paragraph (maybe three sentences) to insert into previous work took over an hour.

* And for some reason, a particular pie had various different meats -- pork, lamb, etc. -- each time it made an appearance.

After that blizzard, we had a balmy break.

Only in Minnesota is -2 F considered "Not as cold."

Now this week, in February, we had another blizzard that shut us down for two more days. Like before, when 3:00 rolled around, I was ready to dig in. I thought I would be able to make all the corrections I had marked while rereading P&P, but I ended up using my time to type up a list of chapters, by POV character, with short summaries for each. I needed to sort out that pie business (was it one meat pie, or several?), and seeing the timeline of events was the only way I could keep it straight.

After I finish my revisions, I need to outline the end of the novel. Since it has been two years since I shifted to the prequel, I don't remember all the particular choices/ideas I had planned for the middle story. So I guess my next step will be to ransack old files, looking for notes.

Fingers crossed for a March blizzard?