Okay, so I'm in that stage of writing where things have to be consistent. Not only plot items, but character relationships, reactions, world-building items, the full monty. And it's not just in a single book, but through an entire series, with one book which is completely unchangeable.
Let's define. Consistency: agreement, harmony, or compatibility, especially correspondence or uniformity among the parts of a complex thing.
I know, you're running scared. You should be. Because novels are COMPLEX THINGS. I think consistency is the hardest part of an author's job. We need our characters to act a certain way in a certain situation, but then we need them to do the opposite later on. That can't really happen, unless the arc the character has gone through is pretty big.
And in my novels, that's not the case. I'm a self-proclaimed "discovery writer" so I often have major consistency issues in my drafts. As I'm editing, I've devised a system to help me organize the chaos and achieve consistency.
The highlighter tool. It may seem lame, but I like all those pretty colors. I pick a color for language of a specific character and I highlight it. It's super-easy to check for overuse and consistency; simply make the zoom 20% and you can see 20 pages at a time to see if the color appears too much or not enough.
I repeat this highlighting process for relationships. Do they start and end the same way? If not, why not? Is the arc sufficient to support the change? If so--and that was the goal--yay!
I use the highlighter for many different aspects, but mainly to alert myself to things that need to stay consistent.
How do you stay consistent?
Documentary Inspirations
Some people are inspired by art, others by music. Me, I’m a documentary junkie. And one of my favorite ways to get into the writing frame of mind is to watch a good one or three. (I’ve been known to binge.) The best ones not only tell a good story but they challenge the way you think about things—and may even piss you off. (Or make you marvel, depending on the subject matter.)
Here’s a couple recent faves:
Waste Land (2010)
Waste Land follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world's largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of "catadores" -- or self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. Not only are the setting and people are fascinating (and heartbreaking), but the artist realizes (about half way through the process) that what he’s doing irrevocably changes his subjects.
WASTE LAND Official Trailer from Almega Projects on Vimeo.
Parking Lot Movie (2010)
Over the course of three years, the filmmaker chronicles the lives of the attendants working at a parking lot near the campus of the University of Virginia. These disaffected asphalt philosophers wrestle with their place in the world in a very well-to-do college town.
Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)
This is the story of how an eccentric French shop keeper and amateur film maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner with spectacular results.
And here’s a few old stand-bys that always get my creative ire flowing:
The Corporation (2003)
The documentary examines the modern-day corporation, considering its legal status as a class of person and evaluating its behavior towards society and the world at large as a psychiatrist might evaluate an ordinary person.
Four Little Girls (1997)
Spike Lee’s masterful documentary about the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama on September 15, 1963. The genius part of this documentary is that Lee tells the story of the civil rights movement through the lives of the four young girls killed in the bombing.
The Up Series (7 up through 49 up)
In 1963, director Michael Apted made a deceptively simple documentary, 7 Up, for Britain’s Grenada Television. He interviewed a handful of seven-year-olds from a cross section of British classes. The film's hook was the old Jesuit saying, "Show me the child until seven, and I will show you the man." Then every seven years Apted returned to interview the same kids (and then adults). The series concluded with 49 Up in 2007.
Any favorite documentaries? What are your inspirations?
Here’s a couple recent faves:
Waste Land (2010)
Waste Land follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world's largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of "catadores" -- or self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. Not only are the setting and people are fascinating (and heartbreaking), but the artist realizes (about half way through the process) that what he’s doing irrevocably changes his subjects.
WASTE LAND Official Trailer from Almega Projects on Vimeo.
Over the course of three years, the filmmaker chronicles the lives of the attendants working at a parking lot near the campus of the University of Virginia. These disaffected asphalt philosophers wrestle with their place in the world in a very well-to-do college town.
Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)
This is the story of how an eccentric French shop keeper and amateur film maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner with spectacular results.
And here’s a few old stand-bys that always get my creative ire flowing:
The documentary examines the modern-day corporation, considering its legal status as a class of person and evaluating its behavior towards society and the world at large as a psychiatrist might evaluate an ordinary person.
Four Little Girls (1997)
Spike Lee’s masterful documentary about the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama on September 15, 1963. The genius part of this documentary is that Lee tells the story of the civil rights movement through the lives of the four young girls killed in the bombing.
The Up Series (7 up through 49 up)In 1963, director Michael Apted made a deceptively simple documentary, 7 Up, for Britain’s Grenada Television. He interviewed a handful of seven-year-olds from a cross section of British classes. The film's hook was the old Jesuit saying, "Show me the child until seven, and I will show you the man." Then every seven years Apted returned to interview the same kids (and then adults). The series concluded with 49 Up in 2007.
Any favorite documentaries? What are your inspirations?
Very Superstitious
So I got to thinking about my writing process the other day. You know, the whole pantser vs. plotter thing.
With my last two books I started writing as soon as I had two things: a general idea of where I was heading and a strong opening image. That's it. Well, I'm just now starting my 3rd book and for various reasons that wasn't going to fly this time around. This time I needed to do a good bit of planning on the story, including writing a full synopsis, before I wrote the first actual word of the manuscript. Needless to say this caused me a bit of anxiety. It doesn't take too much to get those writerly hobgoblins going. You know the ones, the conniving voices in the back of your head that are always trying to convince you you can't really write.
"This isn't the way you do things," they say. "You need the process of discovery. If you abandon the process that got you here you're screwed."
But the more I thought about it the more it seemed like sometimes the things we tell ourselves about what we need to do in order to write a book--I must write 1st drafts longhand while drinking this brand of coffee out of this mug. I can only write in the mornings. I need to plan every detail. If I plan anything I'm sunk!--aren't all that different from going out of your way to avoid walking under ladders and staying out of the black cat's path. Common superstitions.
Now, I'll cop to being a pretty superstitious guy so I know that the thing about superstitions is that they can be incredibly comforting. They help us convince ourselves that there's order to the universe, that we maybe even have some kind of control over uncontrollable things. If I do this, the universe reacts this way.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with being comforted and maybe in some way believing in the reality of these things can be helpful. If you really believe you need that coffee mug then maybe having it calms something in you that helps you write. That's all well and good, but the thing is one day the cat is going to knock that mug off the table and it's going to break and you're still going to need to get up and write the next day. Just like one day an avowed pantser is going to be in a situation when they just have to plan it out first. The show must go on!
I guess I'm trying to remind myself that my habits and rituals and usual ways of working can be good and helpful but I have to beware of becoming dependent on them, of defining my process into a corner I can't get out of
How about you all? Any good writing superstitions to share?
Drafting in the fast lane...
With copy edits completed on TRUTH (the sequel to XVI), and another book with my editor (fingers crossed!), I'm back in drafting mode. Drafting mode, at least for me, is quite similar to NaNoWriMo. Or perhaps I should say it was, until I discovered Scrivener.
I love my Scrivener! I do! But, it has suddenly organized me in a way with which I am not familiar. Okay... maybe it's just organized me & I am not familiar with organization! (Yeep! Little truths leak out!)
Now, instead of scribbled post-its stuck to my computer, the wall, the dog, the cats, tea cups, and water bottles -- I have an actual area within my main document where I can put notes, names (so I don't forget who I called what), research, and other pertinent data. This kind of organization is shocking to me! Instead of three composition books (and I can never remember which has what notes in it) full of backstory, motivation, and description... well, it's all just a mouse click away - while I'm actually writing on the draft!
Right now my Scrivener document looks like this...
Main Document
Prologue
Prologue 1
New Chap 1
New Chap 2
New Chap 3
4
5
Research
Characters
Locations
Slang
Unbelievable! I can be writing away and forget what so-and-so's family name is. I click on Characters - and - Ta Da! There's the name!
This is like going from a manual to an automatic transmission! (Altho' I love me my little 5-speed!) My goal is 2500 words a day until this 1st draft is finished. And - I think I'm gonna make it!
How do you get through those first drafts? Any tricks or methods that you find work really well for you? Or is each book different? I'd love to know! I'm ready to take notes!
I love my Scrivener! I do! But, it has suddenly organized me in a way with which I am not familiar. Okay... maybe it's just organized me & I am not familiar with organization! (Yeep! Little truths leak out!)
Now, instead of scribbled post-its stuck to my computer, the wall, the dog, the cats, tea cups, and water bottles -- I have an actual area within my main document where I can put notes, names (so I don't forget who I called what), research, and other pertinent data. This kind of organization is shocking to me! Instead of three composition books (and I can never remember which has what notes in it) full of backstory, motivation, and description... well, it's all just a mouse click away - while I'm actually writing on the draft!
Right now my Scrivener document looks like this...
Main Document
Prologue
Prologue 1
New Chap 1
New Chap 2
New Chap 3
4
5
Research
Characters
Locations
Slang
Unbelievable! I can be writing away and forget what so-and-so's family name is. I click on Characters - and - Ta Da! There's the name!
This is like going from a manual to an automatic transmission! (Altho' I love me my little 5-speed!) My goal is 2500 words a day until this 1st draft is finished. And - I think I'm gonna make it!
How do you get through those first drafts? Any tricks or methods that you find work really well for you? Or is each book different? I'd love to know! I'm ready to take notes!
Doctor Who Trailer!
I....am going to cop-out today. It's been a rough weekend! But one thing I *would* like to show you all is the new Doctor Who trailer! If you've not been watching the show....you should. There's no two ways about it; it's the best show on television right now. And if you *have* been watching the show, yay! Also: I'm planning, I think, a whole Who week on my blog soon, once I get my act together...
Writing Tips: Knowing When To Fold 'Em
Today, I'm going to start with a quote: "It's not wise to violate rules until you know how to observe them."
~T. S. Eliot
I think that any writer who spends any amount of time trying to improve themselves as a writer has heard/read some rules. You have, right?
You've been in classes, attended conferences, bought books on character and craft, maybe even read a few thousand industry blogs. The "rules" for good writing and good storytelling could fill the ocean.
For me, it's knowing when to hold 'em, and when to fold 'em.
I like this quote by T.S. Eliot because it reminds me that I do need to know the rules before I go about breaking them. Do I observe proper grammar? Hold--most of the time. Do I avoid all flashbacks? Fold--heck to the no.
As an author, we need to have adequate practice time. I have entire novels that were purely for practice. A regimen to learn the rules, so to speak. Now, when I write (and it's not for practice, because I still do that), I have to decide when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. I have to rely on my previous experience, and I have to know what kind of writer I am.
When I do that, then I know which writing rules I should keep and which ones I should release.
What about you? Are you still holding tightly to all the rules? Or have you been folding a few hands recently?
~T. S. Eliot
I think that any writer who spends any amount of time trying to improve themselves as a writer has heard/read some rules. You have, right?
You've been in classes, attended conferences, bought books on character and craft, maybe even read a few thousand industry blogs. The "rules" for good writing and good storytelling could fill the ocean.
For me, it's knowing when to hold 'em, and when to fold 'em.
I like this quote by T.S. Eliot because it reminds me that I do need to know the rules before I go about breaking them. Do I observe proper grammar? Hold--most of the time. Do I avoid all flashbacks? Fold--heck to the no.
As an author, we need to have adequate practice time. I have entire novels that were purely for practice. A regimen to learn the rules, so to speak. Now, when I write (and it's not for practice, because I still do that), I have to decide when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. I have to rely on my previous experience, and I have to know what kind of writer I am.
When I do that, then I know which writing rules I should keep and which ones I should release.
What about you? Are you still holding tightly to all the rules? Or have you been folding a few hands recently?
Writings Tips: Neil Gaiman's 8 Good Writing Practices
- Write.
- Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.
- Finish what you're writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.
- Put it aside. Read it pretending you’ve never read it before. Show it to friends whose opinion you respect and who like the kind of thing that this is.
- Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.
- Fix it. Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.
- Laugh at your own jokes.
- The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it’s definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can. I'm not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.
In general, I like Neil Gaiman's tips because they're so straightforward. He saying they're no real secrets to writing. None that matter, that is.
Check out other writers' tips in this Guardian article. Let us know if you have any other favorites!
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