Monday, October 27, 2014

Writer's Block

Writer's Block

Here's what you need to know about writer's block. It is of the devil. It is a creation of evil designed to make us writers go insane and want to throw our laptops against the wall and vow never to write again.

Now that you know about the perils of the dreaded writer's block, what can you, as a writer, do to combat it? There are several different steps, and every author's weapon is different.

Some writers find making a playlist for their book or their story line helps spark their creative juices. You've got to admit, that a big part of every movie is the soundtrack--it might be background music, but it gets your emotions as the viewers going. Why not have the same thing for your book? If you're stuck on finding the right song that fits your story, may I suggest the band known as Two Steps From Hell--the creator of some of the most epic music you've ever heard of.

If music doesn't aid you, try giving yourself some alone time. I know it's a cliche, but you can have some surprising bursts of inspiration while in the shower--or just quietly walking down the campus paths and just observing the world around you. Or the next time you drive home for the holidays. Spend time thinking about your plot line during that long trip.

It's also important to consider why the writer's block has struck. Sometimes it's just because as writers, we're tired and need a break. Other times it's because something is actually wrong with our book. Maybe it's a plot hole you need to work on. Maybe it's a lagging scene. Maybe it's a character that's turning out to be completely pointless. Don't be afraid to kill that scene--or that character. If it doesn't aid, it hinders.

Don't let the writer's block get you down. Beat it at its roots.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Back Stories

Hi guys. Sorry this post is late but I got sick and then I had two papers to write and when I went to the Writing Center they made so many edits I practically had to rewrite one of them completely. From scratch. And then I went to down my sorrows in chocolate but as I had spent the whole night writing the Creamery was closed...

See all that? That is what we in the writing business refer to as back story. Back story is literally as self-explanatory as it seems--it means describing what happened to your character in the past to shape their state of mind and their actions in the present. What makes them the character you know and love (or hate, villains should have back stories too.)

However there is such a thing as too much back story. You probably weren't interested to hear all the details about my academic woe, but it would have been even worse if I'd added in how I woke up at 6:30, brushed my teeth, ate a bowl of Lucky Charms...those details are even more unnecessary. Follow the sacred law of writing--show don't tell. In Harry Potter, we know that he was sent to live with his horrid aunt and uncle, and little details such as the fact that Harry is super skinny and has to wear his cousin's hand me down clothes are enough proof that he's been neglected during his childhood. We don't need a full out explanation of all the past eleven years of his life. That's just info dumping.

So how do you create a back story? Well...work backwards. For example in the recent movie Maleficent the plot is all about Maleficent's back story. Why did she curse baby Princess Aurora? Because Stephen, her lover, betrayed her trust and cut off her wings in order to become King. Here's another important part of back story--don't make it simple. Maleficent doesn't hate Stephen just because he is the human king and humans are awful to fairies. She hates him because he emotionally manipulated and deceived her. Make your back stories complicated. People are complicated. That's just who we are.

However just because your character might have a long and complicated back story, doesn't mean the reader needs to know every detail of it. Think of J.K Rowling's tidbits she posted on the Pottermore website. (And if you don't have a Pottermore account GET ONE NOW.) She has pages of back story on Remus Lupin's tragic and horrible life, but she doesn't include all of his childhood in the books. Why? Because what furthers the plot is his grief over his dead friends and his determination to help protect his best friend's son. That's what matters.

Above all when it comes to back story, listen to your character. This is their story. They know what you want.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Planning Out Your Plot

This week we discussed one of the most important moments of the book--like literally, you can't do without it. Yes I am talking about the plot of your book. Whenever you begin a new book planning out the story line can feel overwhelming. Where on Earth are you supposed to start?

Well you can begin by asking yourself three important questions about your plot; does it have passion, potential, and precision?

Passion: Trust me. You're going to be writing this story for a long time. In fact, you're going to be writing this story in several different variants, constantly changing your characters, your plot, your world. You're going to write the same chapter over and over again, constantly "improving" it. In order to go through this without going absolutely insane, you have to really, really love your story. You have to unless you want to risk smashing your laptop in frustration after the fourth, fifth or sixth rewrite.

Potential: You may think that your book is going to be the biggest deal since Harry Potter; but it's important to remember that most of the stuff that you're getting for your story isn't completely new or groundbreaking. We all draw from sources such as other books or movies for ideas in our story; we have to. It's how we grow and develop as writers. As has been said before, there are no original plots. However it is important to keep track of where exactly you're getting your ideas from, to make sure your story isn't too similar. Split your novel into world building, character development, climax and plot, and write down where you got each of your ideas in each of these areas from. You might surprise yourself, and you might be inspired to come up with even more ideas.

Precision: This has more to do with the structure of the plot itself. How so? Well you want to make sure that you have all the necessary steps in a plot arc--rising action, the climax, falling action, and then denouement. You cannot begin a story at the climax with nothing to set it up, just as you cannot bore the reader by only having rising action with no pinnacle. When you are organizing the main arc of your story, it is also necessary to figure out your key scenes. What are key scenes? The scenes most important in progressing the plot--the ones that lead from the rising action to the climax to the falling action and so on.

                                                                                  Conflict
However despite all these points, the most important part of a plot is the conflict. You cannot have a plot without it. And there are three major kinds.
                                                                              Man VS Man
                                                                            Man VS Nature
                                                                              Man VS Self
. Examples of Man VS Man often include the main character struggling against a human antagonist--the evil sorcerer or the corrupt government. An example of Man VS Nature can be seen in the book "Hatchet", where the teenage boy struggles to survive on his own in the Canadian wilderness. And Man VS Self is the personal growth of the character as they combat against their inner demons. What do all of these have in common?  All of them have one main element in common--they both represent something major at stake. Something is at risk, and it doesn't necessarily have to be the fate of the entire planet or the extinction of the main character's race. It can be something as simple as the risk of failing school or dealing with family issues. However a good novel will have the stakes at risk continue to increase--sometimes dramatically as the story goes on. Smaller stakes will help us relate to the character in the beginning, but don't make the entire plot about only boyfriend troubles or school issues. We get enough of that in real life.

Here are some links to older posts discussing plot:
http://ypublish.blogspot.com/2014/03/plot.html
http://ypublish.blogspot.com/2013/07/being-unique.html
http://ypublish.blogspot.com/2013/05/openings-for-your-story-novel.html