Chris AndrewsChris Andrews

My writing plan for March

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  1. Write at least 250 words a day on my Work In Progress novel: Welcome to Earth. I want to do this just to stay in the habit of continually writing something new, but it should add over 1500 words a week to the novel.
  2. Add more tension to the ending of Prophecy of Power: Werewolf, in preparation for the Angry Robot Open Submission 2012 period.
  3. Plan out/brainstorm ideas for the next two novels I want to write: A sci-fi set 200,000 years into the future, and a bodyswap story.
  4. Write a weekly blog about my progress (to keep myself honest!).

Find out more about writing.

The silly thing about Theme

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The silly thing about theme is that most people don’t understand it, giving you a kickarse opportunity to put your story on a better footing than most.

Ever seen a movie where there’s lots of special effects but little else? How about the book where the story seems to go nowhere and takes forever to let you know? What of the otherwise entertaining story you enjoyed, but never seemed to get around to recommending?

They’re the sorts of stories people tend to forget as soon as they put the book down (or walk out of the cinema).

Why?

Because the story isn’t saying anything worthwhile.

And that’s what theme is – it’s a statement about something.

It’s not a word like Love or Sacrifice or Hope or Despair. They’re feelings! Its not a concept either, or even a metaphor. They may be strong elements of your theme, but they’re not all of it.

Your theme is one side of a debate – its what your story is saying about a given topic.

Here’s how to figure out your theme.

Make a statement about the topic your story is exploring (or could be exploring). For example. “The brain is the sexiest part of the body.” Perhaps its a story about a genius.

Your theme argues for or against that statement. Its that simple. If it doesn’t fit, keep working on it – or change your story to fit. Either way, your theme is in there, you just have to find it.

A theme provides a story with additional meaning that gives value to the plot. It also has to be subtle – try to force it on your readers and they’ll throw your book across the room. They’re not reading to hear you preach. Well, not normally.

On the subject of preaching: “God is great!” There’s a strong statement. Use it if it fits, but your story must demonstrate exactly why the statement is true or false. Illustrate your point with such finess that your readers don’t even realise you’re telling them something important.

“All men are bastards.” Sure, if that’s what’s important to you, but prove it – or prove there’s at least one good man out there.

“Life is cheap.” Again, that’s fine. Just show me just how cheap it is – or show me the true cost of treating it cheaply.

Save the Cat – Blake Snyder

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Save the cat Book Cover Probably the best book I’ve ever come across on the subject of structure, Save the Cat is the book you need if you want to write fiction of any variety.

Although  designed as a tool for scriptwriters, most of the information works just as well for novels, and a lot of it could, and probably should, be applied to short stories.

It’s not about the nitty gritty stuff like punctuation, grammar or formatting – it’s about what goes where in your story and why. Think The Hero’s Journey made clear and concise. It’s very easy to read and simple to refer back to.

No matter how much you might like to avoid the subject of structure, your story needs more than just  a beginning, middle and end.

Believe it or not, those broad categories actually have to do something – readers expect certain things from a story – and if you don’t give it to them, they’ll walk away feeling as if something wasn’t  quite working.

Save the Cat teaches you what each part requires and how to make it all work together.

The most useful thing Save the Cat taught me was how to answer to the simplest, most basic question you need to ask before you start writing – What’s the story about?

There’s a pretty simple reason Snyder promotes discovering the answer to this question.

Have you ever taken a thought, concept, image or idea and just ran with it?

Unless you get really lucky, it’s hard to edit ‘freewritten’ stories after the fact. Even with the story on the page, you probably still haven’t defined what it’s actually about.

Save the Cat will explain how to distill your story into a single sentence, and that’s just the start of what it will do for you.

Highly recommended.

Missed out on Manuscript Development Program

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I heard yesterday that I missed out on the Varuna HarperCollins Manuscript Development Program. Bit of a shame as it would have been a fantastic opportunity, but there’s always another opportunity. Just got to get myself ready for the next one.

A big cheer for both Varuna and HarperCollins for putting it on in the first place. To have made the top twenty is a pretty good achievement in itself and I’m pretty thrilled about that. It means I’m getting closer.

The winners were:

  • Antonia Baldo  “Hannah and Celeste”
  • Jewelene Barrile  “The Cartography Lesson”
  • Eleni Hale  “Rock Girl”
  • Kathryn Hall   “The Discarded”
  • Megan Jennaway  “The Water Jar”

Congrats to all the winners!

Varuna are offering me a discounted consultation for making the top twenty, and I’m seriously considering taking them up on it. Feedback’s always a good thing.

Making the shortlist was good feedback – tells me the beginning’s very strong (which is what I had to submit initially).

Missing the top five also told me a few things – the ending’s not compelling enough for them to want to take it further (had to supply the entire novel so I’m guessing something in the ‘rest’ didn’t quite work for whoever read it). I’m sure the experts at Varuna could expand on that.

My suspicions lay in the ending. I basically cut the original novel in half and rewrote the ending. Don’t think I did a good enough job re-working it.

Regardless, the next opportunity for me is the Angry Robot Open Submission 2012. They’re looking for High Fantasy, which is exactly what I’ve got. Not sure if it will fit neatly into their lineup as it’s fairly commercially-orientated, but I’ll never know if I don’t try.

I’ll rework the ending again on the assumption that’s what’s letting me down, and see where it takes me.

After that I’ll be trying the Terry Pratchett first novel contest – a new book this time. Urban fantasy. It’s written, though still mostly in its first draft stage. Will have to polish it up, but I should have the time.

Hopefully by this time next year I’ll have a third book doing the rounds as well. Got one half-written. Just got to finish it. The more I’ve got out there, the better my chances.

Make a decision

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Why is it so hard to complete a novel and get it on bookshelves?

It’s not really all that difficult if you stand back and look at it objectively.

  • You write, the word add up, and eventually there’s enough words to call it all a novel.
  • You rework it, get some feedback, fix it further, add a final coat of polish and send it away.

Its a process. Its simple. Repeat it often enough and you’ll eventually hit gold.

Why then do so many people get bogged down?

The fact is, it takes time – a sustained effort over a long period – to complete a novel, and then it takes a whole lot more time and effort to get it published.

Any sort of sustained effort is difficult because real life inevitably throws road blocks at you.

So how do you keep the enthusiasm up?

Make a decision.

“Yeah, I did that, but…”

No! Make a decision. A real decision! The kind of decision that goes like: “I’m going to do this no matter what!”. Not the “I’m going to write a novel” kind, because that’s giving yourself leeway to ‘always be writing a novel’. As Yoda says, “Do, or do not. There is no try.”

The moment you commit to it however, it becomes easy.

Real life stops throwing road blocks in your way because you can see them for what they really are: speed bumps. They may slow you down a bit, but they can’t stop you any more.

Once you’ve made the decision, there isn’t a speed bump out there big enough to stop you. You’re going to get a novel on the shelves no matter what!

Threat Vs Conflict

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Everyone says you need conflict in your story, internal or external.

But what about threats? Are they the same thing?

Is the evil overlord presiding from the mountain of doom who wants to rule the world the conflict in the story, or some sort of threat?

Think of it this way: the threat’s coming from the evil overlord. If not stopped, the threat will realised.

A threat is the potential for all sorts of nasty things, but of itself isn’t conflict.

Losing the world, in this case, is the threat.

So what’s the conflict?

Conflict is immediate. It’s happening.

It comes from the minions trying to kill the good guys, the ally who says ‘I’m not helping you today, I’ve got a High Tea to attend’, from the evil overlord (when they finally get face-to-face), and even the self doubts and fears your characters carry.

Conflicts are immediate – threats have potential consequences your heros aren’t going to like.

Read about creating a writing/editing plan for your novel.

Don’t take the piss out of success

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Recently I was talking with a bunch of writers about editing and structure, and I used Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight as an example to illustrate a point I was making.

The moment I mentioned the book the room erupted into derision. I can understand that: Twilight’s certainly not for everyone.

However, it did break out of its genre and go global in a big way, selling millions of copies and spawning some very successful movies. The Twilight books provided everything a growing author needs – enough money to quit their day job. The rest, of course, is cream.

If you want that kind of success, why dump on it?

The point I was trying to make was that if you don’t hit all the plot points that your readers are subconsciously expecting, they’re going to walk away with the feeling that ‘something just didn’t work’.

They probably couldn’t tell you why, but they’ll know it regardless. What’s more, they’re not going to recommend a book that ‘didn’t work’ for them. Your book, in this case.

Stephanie Meyer did everything right in Twilight – she hit all the right plot points and made her readers care – very deeply – about her protaganist, and finished it off with a very satisfying ending.

That doesn’t mean your story needs sparkly vampires, but when an author sells millions of copies and smashes through genre boundaries, it’s a good bet they’re doing something right.

Take note, even if its not a story for you. Study what works and emulate it.

Create a writing/editing plan for your novel!

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Here’s a few steps that might help you in drafting and editing your novel.

1. What’s it about? Write one sentence describing your story in 25 words or less.

Yes. 25 words or less.

Rework the story to reflect this sentence, or change the sentence to reflect the story.

I’ve seen several publishers asking for this sentence in their submission requirements.

2. What’s the theme?

This is the point of your novel, and arguably the most important aspect of it. It’s what you’re trying to say – one side of an argument.

Without a theme your story’s just explosions and pretty sunsets. Pointless.

The theme itself is a statement. For example: “Behind every good man is a greater women.” Your story is the argument supporting either the positive or the negative side of that statement.

Think of your story as one side of the debate.

3. Separate the Threat from the Conflict.

Conflict is immediate, while the threat is the potential. Work out the difference in your story.

4. Need Vs Want.

What does your character(s) want? What are they actively pursuing? This is an external goal.

What does your character need? This will be something internal, something they aren’t likely to be aware of – a lesson to be learned, perhaps. The moral of the story.

For example, a high school student wants to be part of the ‘in’ crowd, when what they really need is to be happy with themself first.

Getting what they need will affect how they see what they want, while getting what they want before getting what they need won’t fulfill them.

What they want drives them. What they need completes them.

Getting what they need may make what they want even more worthwhile or it may render it totally obsolete. They may even have to sacrifice what they want entirely if it gives them what they need.

When they get what they need they can finally see what they want in its true light.

5. Identify the main plot points and transitions – beginning, middle, end, inciting incident, midpoint, etc.

If you don’t know what these are, and there’s lots more that I haven’t listed, I’ll be writing another post (or several) in the future covering them. For the moment though, I’ve drawn a diagram.

  • Do they work to best effect?
  • Can they be made to work better?

6. Chapter outline – write a brief sentence describing each chapter.

This will help you identify weak chapters or chapters that do nothing for the story.

You need to justify each chapter’s existence. Each sentence should:

  • State what the chapter’s trying to convey
  • Show how the chapter moves the story along.

7. Write a Cause and Effect. “Because of this, this happens. Because this happens…”

Start big, Ie:

  1. Beginning: Bella moves to Forks – meets Edward.
  2. Middle A: She’s attracted to him – discovers he’s a vampire which is part of the attraction.
  3. Middle B: They hook up – she becomes involved in the ‘vampire world’.
  4. End: Bad vampires come after Bella – Edward and family try to protect her.

Each cause has an effect, which leads to the next cause. It’s a logical progression. If you can’t find the logical progresssion, your story has a problem.

Once you’ve got the big steps down, break them into smaller steps.

Your breakdown for the beginning might be two or three pages long (although it can be much less or more). And like the big steps, it needs a logical progression. Find it.

Everything outside the cause and effect must be essential to moving the story forward in some other way.

8. Identify the big structural changes you need to make.

For example: ‘the ending isn’t satisfying enough – must rewrite to ensure the main character struggles more to achieve their goals’.

Like the example, write a list of big points that need fixing. Make these changes before going on. There’s no point in polishing text if big swathes of it might be cut or largely altered.

9. Identify the smaller but important changes you need to make.

For example:

  • Make outer space/ocean/sword/city/weather more of an influential ‘player’ in the story
  • Make the main character more sympathetic
  • Make the antagonist appear nice at first [misdirection].

Write a list of things that need to be done, and make the changes before going on.

10. Edit the words.

Only after you’re happy with the overall structure should you start playing with words, sentences and paragraphs.

Do a complete pass from beginning to end, and once you move onto the next chapter, don’t go back until the next full pass. It’s too easy to get bogged down in the process of polishing something to imperfection. Set some sort of goal and stick to it.

11. Finally, figure out when its ‘good enough’ and get it out into the world.

If you found this post helpful, subscribe to Fandelyon.com to receive more useful posts on the craft of writing.

Camping week

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Last Monday I was waiting for Varuna to post the winners for the Manuscript Development Program on their website before I went camping for the week. I was going to be completely out of range so I couldn’t even use the phone to dig up the details – I had to know!!!

After a very tense morning, they finally announced the results would be delayed a month until the end of February. They didn’t give a reason why, but I expect that with the holidays HarperCollins were probably short staffed and having trouble either getting through the manuscripts, or nailing down the Powers That Be for a decision.

At least it means I’m still in the running. Fingers crossed for the end of February.

HarperCollins Varuna update

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A mere four days to go before the winners of the HarperCollins Varuna Manuscript Development Program are announced.

Do you think I’m nervous?

Well, not really, but maybe a little tense. I mean, it would be really great, but if I miss out, I’ve only got myself to blame. So…

What does that mean?

It means I’m close, regardless of winning or not, and if I’m close, it’s only a matter of time before I get there.

The next novel is written and I’ve started editing it. The one after that is ready to be written. If I miss out this time, I’ll just try again. And again. And again. Etc.

The Steel Remains – Richard Morgan

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A friend told me Richard Morgan’s books were difficult to put down, and as Altered Carbon had given Morgan a huge fan-base (though I still haven’t read it), I figured I’d rock up at a book signing and grab a copy of his latest novel, The Steel Remains.

I met Morgan at the Gaslight Bookshop in Fyshwick (along with about a hundred devoted fans). The Gaslight Bookshop is a fantastic little new and second-hand bookshop catering to lovers of speculative fiction in the Canberra region.

My first impression was that Morgan seemed like a pretty nice guy, and that didn’t change as he remained happy to sign book after book for hours – plenty of them dog-eared copies of previously published works.

Because the line was pretty long, I didn’t get to chat beyond a couple of pleasantries, but his genuine appreciation that people were waiting was obvious.

Once home with my shiny, newly-signed copy, I made a start – and found my friend was right – it actually was pretty hard to put down.

To say it’s ‘in your face’ is being mild. More like a kick in the face.

My second impression was that Morgan knows how to write. It started a little slow, but when things began moving, they moved like a bucking horse.

The action takes place in a richly imagined universe so detailed and real you can almost step into it. It begins with the main character Ringol taking a commission to investigate missing girls, and before long he’s shoved into the middle of a conflict that threatens to destroy empires.

Mix in some magic and human-like creatures from another plane of existence, and you’ve got everything you need for a powerful fantasy story.

If I have a criticism, it’s that the protagonist, Ringol, is a rather sullen bastard with a truckload of baggage and a brutal attitude – most of it stemming from the fact he’s gay in a gay-hating society.

It probably doesn’t help that he’s also the hero of Gallows Gap, a war a decade or so in the past, and has to suffer the expectations that everyone places on him. Because of his attitude, I found it hard to get on Ringol’s side. He’s basically a decent guy, but I found I didn’t particularly like him. What empathy Morgan develops through Ringol’s good acts, he peels away with Ringol’s ‘screw you’ attitude.

  Overall, The Steel Remains is a grim and gritty book and leaves you feeling wrung out, if satisfied. It’s pretty difficult to find something this powerful and original, so for that alone I’d recommend it.

Morgan doesn’t leave too much to the imagination either, so just prepare yourself for some pretty graphic imagery and brutal character development.

Oh, and be prepared for a sequel or three. It is a fantasy, after all, and there’s some pretty big hints at the end.

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

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On Writing Well: William ZinsserI first came across this book just after I became interested in writing fiction, and it’s one of the best books on writing I’ve ever found.

My first copy was the ‘Third Edition: Revised and Enlarged’ edition, and it’s somewhat dog-eared now from so many years of use and being leant out.

It even had a helpful section called ‘Writing – and rewriting – with a Word Processor’. Ahh, word pricessors, those new-fangled things on them fancy computers.

Yes, I’m almost embarrassed to say it was that long ago.

The book’s currently on its ’30th Anniversary Edition’, which suggests Zinsser’s doing something right.

The most valuable part about On Writing Well is that it strongly promotes simplicity and keeping things clear and concise. Zinsser argues there’s no room for wordiness – and he shows you how to achieve clear and accurate text with a range of examples.

Although designed with non-fiction in mind, the book is for anyone who wants to write, and any fiction writer will benefit from reading it.

The book is broken into four parts – Principles, Methods, Forms and Attitudes, but it’s Principles and Methods that give the book its value.

For example, the topic on Simplicity begins with: “Clutter is the Disease of American Writing.”

Of course, the problem isn’t limited to just America, but the entire English language.

The paragraph finishes with: “We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills and meaningless Jargon.”

What was true thirty-odd years ago holds true today.

If you want to get the basics right, On Writing Well is the book you need.

The problem with editing…

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The problem with spending hours editing a story is that at the end, you don’t really have much to show for it.

The word count might have changed a little, sentences and paragraphs irrevocably altered, even some chapters moved or removed, but from a distance it’s pretty much the same as it was before. The same story, at least – but hopefully better.

When you’re writing something new, there’s a growing word count you can point at and say ‘Ah-hah! That’s what I did today’. It adds up, too, swelling that sense of achievement.

With editing though – it’s malleable. Unless you’re making big, blatant changes, it can be really hard to tell the difference between the third and fourth layers of polish.

So, how do you get a sense of achievement, a clear indication you’re not on a never-ending treadmill?

Start with a plan. Work out what you want to do before you start, and stick to it.

First, review the story. Read it through, make notes, work out what you’re going to tackle and in what order, and decide how much you want to achieve each session.

Then, work your way through the story, stick to your plan, and at the end of it you’ll have edited the full draft.

Then, of course, repeat. Figure out what’s working, what’s not, and what could be better. Work out how to fix those things – and set to it, doing specifically that.

Repeat again as necessary, but try not to get into the habit of doing it over and over. Figure out exactly what you want to end up with, aim for it, and then get it out into the world when you’re done.

Game over. New project.

HarperCollins Varuna Awards

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Only thirteen days to go until I find out if I’ve topped the shortlist for the HarperCollins Varuna Awards for Manuscript Development.

They’re only taking five out of the twenty-one shortlisted applications, so that leaves me with about a one-in-four chance.

They’re pretty good odds, really. Much better than a random query letter.

It’s the second shortlisting for that particular novel too, so it suggests I’m doing something right.

Hopefully this time it’s right ‘enough’ and I’m able to get a foot in the door with a major publisher.

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