Brainstorming Day; or Can You Catch Ideas By Going Out And Hunting Them?

Posted on May 14, 2010 by sheilamcclune

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)

I find myself in a situation that’s unique in my life so far: I have more paid time off from work than I am allowed to carry over into the next fiscal year. I’m in a “use it or lose it” situation. As a result, I’ve scheduled several days off for various purposes.

I’m planning to use one of those days for “writing research” — a friend and I are going to drive up to Kimball, Nebraska to visit the hometown of Phoebe Caldicott, the MC in my space pirate series. I’ve been to Kimball before, but not recently, so I thought it would be fun to go up, have a look around, maybe even pick out the “house where she grew up” and “the place where she lived at the start of the story.” And of course we will visit the Kimball Public Library, Phoebe’s place of employment.

Another day (next Tuesday) is blocked out as “writing brainstorming day”. Since I signed up for a summer writing challenge, and since I decided to make it a real challenge for myself by writing short stories (or perhaps novellas, knowing me), I need to start stockpiling story ideas and writing prompts now. The problem is, as everyone knows, that ideas can be elusive little critters. The surest way I know of to draw a complete and total mental blank is to sit down at my keyboard and say, “Okay, I’m gonna have an idea now.”

So this is going to be an experiment for me. I’m going to see if it’s possible for me to generate ideas “on command”. My plan — such as it is — is to take myself out somewhere, outside my usual routine, and see what happens. I plan to go somewhere where there are lots of people to watch — perhaps the 16th Street Mall downtown* — and just watch people interacting with each other and with their environment. I’ll ride the mall shuttle and eavesdrop on people’s conversations (sometimes snippets of overheard conversations make the best writing prompts!). I’ll take my new camera and try to take pictures that tell stories, or at least ones that could inspire stories. And hopefully, I’ll come up with at least a few new story ideas.

I’ve never done this sort of thing before, so I have no idea whether it will work or not. I’ll report back next week and let you know how it went.

When you try to generate story ideas, what works best for you?

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* For those of you who aren’t familiar with downtown Denver, the 16th Street Mall is a pedestrian mall that runs from Broadway to Union Station. Basically, they completely closed down the street to motorized traffic, except for the mall shuttle buses that run more-or-less continuously along its length. When they created it, back in the early ’80’s, a lot of people were sure it would never work, that it was just going to finish the already-advanced decay of downtown Denver. Boy, were they wrong. Thirty years later, it’s a bustling, thriving part of downtown. It also has free wi-fi.

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A Writing Challenge; or, Keeping a Long Story Short

Posted on May 7, 2010 by sheilamcclune

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)

This week, I signed up for a summer writing challenge with some friends. It’s a challenge where you get to set your own goal for how many words you will write between June 1 and August 31 (15,000 minimum). One of my friends chose 30,000 words as her goal, so I signed up for that, to keep her company.

Okay, so I can hear at least some of you thinking, “Yes, but haven’t you done NaNoWriMo, which is 50,000 words in one month? Isn’t 30,000 in three months a little, well, lame, at least for you?” And it is true that my last project, The Daughters of August Winterbourne, came in at 180,000 words in about three and a half months.

So in order to make it more of a challenge to myself, I decided that I will reach my word count by writing shorter works of fiction. I don’t know that they will necessarily be “short” stories, but I’ve decided that in addition to the minimum word count, I will deliver at least two complete stories of less than 30,000 words total — and preferably more than two.

Writing short has always been a challenge for me. I did take creative writing classes in college where we were required to write short stories, and some day perhaps I’ll even post the stories I wrote then, just for giggles. And I’ve entered a couple of contests since then — even earned an “honorable mention” in one — but short stories have never been my forte. It’s one of the reasons I was so surprised that when we had our little exercise writing to a prompt here a couple of weeks ago, I actually produced a complete story in 7,500 words.

So this summer, you’ll undoubtedly get to hear more about my trials and tribulations as I struggle to write two or more works of short fiction. I’m already starting to think about story ideas, because even though I’ve got a whole file of story ideas squirreled away on my hard drive, those are almost all novel-length ideas. Short stories require a different kind of idea, and I’ve almost none of those stored up. Perhaps my best idea would be to solicit a number of writing prompts and see where that takes me.

Hey, that’s an idea: If anyone has a writing prompt they’d like to throw me, would you be so kind as to post it as a comment to this entry? I won’t promise that I’ll use all of the prompts I receive, but at least it’d be somewhere for me to start. Thanks!

So since summer is coming, is anyone else setting some kind of summer writing goal?

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Writer’s Workshops and Other Conventions

Posted on April 30, 2010 by sheilamcclune

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)

Since Samantha posted earlier in the week about conferences, I thought I’d chime in with some other opportunities to learn more about the craft of writing.

I’ve gone to many useful panels and connected with other writers at the World Science Fiction convention. Last year’s WorldCon, in Montreal, got me some feedback from professional writers and got me involved in a great on-line critique group. This year’s WorldCon is in Australia, so I won’t be able to attend, but next year’s is in Reno, and I’m already signed up to go.

On the local level, my area has a couple of good literary science fiction conventions every year. COSine is already over for this year, but it’s an intimate convention with focused programming, and I always come away with valuable insights. MileHiCon is a bit larger, and usually features many of the local authors, such as Connie Willis and Carrie Vaughn. Listening to people like these and like the many well-known guests of honor that have come to MHC is an education in itself.

Of course, the workshop that really has me drooling and wishing I could attend is the Taos Toolbox — a two-week, intensive workshop led by Walter Jon Williams and Nancy Kress, with Carrie Vaughn as a guest instructor. Although I’m not sure I’m quite ready for something of that caliber, it sounds like it would be a great experience. Unfortunately, the price tag, while quite reasonable for what you get, is a little out of my price range this year. Perhaps if I start saving my pennies…

Do other folks have a “dream workshop” or convention they’d like to attend?

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My Response To The Prompt

Posted on April 23, 2010 by sheilamcclune

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)

So this week, as you’ve probably noticed, we’re doing something a little different here on The Melt-Ink Pot. Earlier in the week, we posted a prompt: “Late into the night, the snow fell and fell.” We’re posting our various responses to that prompt, just so we can see how many different directions one prompt can take us.

I have to confess that my response is a little longer than I expected. But the prompt seems to have landed in a part of my brain that grabbed it and ran, and so … 7,500 words or so later, a story fell out.

Rather than cluttering up space here, I’ve posted it on one of my other blogs. But here’s a teaser:

Christmas Wishes
by Sheila McClune

Late into the night, the snow fell and fell. Risa’s aching hands clenched the steering wheel in a death grip. This is stupid, the nagging voice in her head told her for the thousandth time. Turn around. Go back. The voice got louder, grew strident as she approached another in-the-middle-of-nowhere exit. She turned up the iPod, patched into the radio with a makeshift cable, to try to drown it out.

That, too, was a bad choice. Bohemian Rhapsody ended, and the next song began. Three notes were all that had a chance to play before Risa mashed the skip button, but it was too late. The three notes had already stabbed their way into her heart. Their song. Her eyes flooded with tears…

A mile marker – 420, some idiotic portion of her mind noted – loomed in her headlights, straight ahead. Risa yelled a few words she’d never repeat in front of her mother and fought the urge to yank the steering wheel sharply to the left. Instead, she eased it to the left as gently as she could while still having a chance of not biffing the signpost.

The car almost-but-not-quite scraped the signpost and headed back toward the center of the northbound lanes of the interstate, but then the back end started to skid. She knew she was supposed to steer into the skid, but that would head her straight into the median, so she yanked the wheel back the other direction. The car fishtailed, then described a graceful three hundred and sixty degree turn…

(Read the rest here)

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Procrastination; or, Why Do Today What You Can Put Off Until Tomorrow

Posted on April 16, 2010 by sheilamcclune

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)

Short entry tonight, because I’m about to fall asleep…

Okay, I admit it. At 11:38 pm on 4/15, I was in my car, in line, at the post office, waiting to mail an envelope. No, not my tax return. An extension. Yes, I’m a procrastinator.

Although to be fair, I probably would have gotten it done during one of the weekends between the middle of March and now, if I hadn’t been sick enough to sleep through all of those weekends.

When it comes to writing deadlines, I procrastinate on those, too. I was late with an article for work recently, but after two weeks of staring at the data, inspiration failed to strike. I finally stared long and hard enough that I found my story, but it was a challenge.

On the other hand, I have had good luck with “speed editing.” Seems like the longer I take to think about it, the harder editing is. So in that case, procrastination actually helps.

How do others deal with writing and procrastination? Do deadlines help or hinder you?

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Those Little Habits; or, "You Might Be A Writer If…"

Posted on April 8, 2010 by sheilamcclune

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)

Came across a blog posting this week that made me laugh, called, “You Might Be A Writer If…” Y’all should go read it. Go ahead. I’ll wait. Just don’t forget to come back, okay?

*

*

*

You back?

‘K.

So after I read that and laughed, I got to thinking. The reason it’s funny, of course, is because it’s about things we all do. Maybe we don’t do all of them (I don’t have kids, but if I did, I probably wouldn’t name them after famous authors), but we do at least some of them.

But they — or at least most of them — are also habits we’ve gotten into because we write.

I’m still editing my Regency romance (almost halfway done, yay!), and as I’ve been going through, I’ve found myself thinking, “Why did I ever write this scene that way? Didn’t I realize that it’s wordy, that it’s overwritten? Do I really need to tell the reader the entire guest list of Annalise’s breakfast party?” (Yes, I edited that out today. For a guest list, it was actually reasonably well-written, but it still needed to go. But I digress…)

And then I realized that the reason some of what I’m editing is so cringe-worthy is because I’ve developed new writing habits since I wrote this story. I’ve gotten much better at recognizing passive voice, for example, and knowing when I’ve included too much exposition.

Which doesn’t mean I don’t still write that way sometimes. But at least when I get around to editing, I’m better at recognizing what to take out.

I’ve also gotten used to writing (and now, editing) in short bursts. If I have a spare half-hour or so, that can be 500-800 words written, or half a chapter edited. I don’t need to wait until I have half a day free to get anything done.

Of course, some habits are less beneficial, like my need to hop into a hot shower when I have a plot point to resolve. Makes it mighty inconvenient sometimes!

What writing habits do other people have? Have they changed over time, and if so, how?

(p.s. Bonus points to folks who figured out that posting to this blog is another habit I’ve been trying to develop!)

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More Thoughts on Editing; or, Getting Down To The Nitty-Gritty

Posted on April 1, 2010 by sheilamcclune

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)

Because I’m still in the process of editing the Regency romance, I thought I’d post a few more thoughts on editing this week.

People are always telling me that it’s easier to edit stuff out than to add more stuff in. Just once, I think I’d like to be on the “add more stuff in” side of the equation, so I could tell whether it’s true or not.

The first draft of the Regency romance came in at about 200,000 words. So far, I’ve edited chapters 55-77 (working my way back from the end), and I’ve taken out maybe 5,000 words, net, just by reducing wordiness.

Here’s an example of the sorts of edits I’ve been making:

Before:
——————————————————————————————-
Farlsborough took in the scene at once. Seeing the smoldering pile of clothing on the fire — for it was too wet to burn right away — he wondered what could have befallen the girl for her to end up in such a state. He rather suspected he would find out, in due time. “That’s better,” he said, gesturing toward her. “At least now your lips don’t look all blue.”

Involuntarily, one of her hands stole up to her lips. “They were blue?”

He nodded.

“Well …” She paused while they listened to the sleet rattling against the windows concealed behind heavy drapes. “It is rather cold outside.”

“Not a fit night for man nor beast to be out,” he agreed. Then he gestured toward a pair of chairs that were somewhat more comfortable than the hard wooden one Hughes had placed by the fire for her.
——————————————————————————————-
[Word count: 147]

After:
——————————————————————————————-
Farlsborough saw the smoldering pile of clothing on the fire — for it was too wet to burn right away — and wondered what could have befallen the girl. “That’s better. At least now your lips don’t look blue.”

One of her hands stole up to her lips. “They were blue?”

He nodded.

“Well …” She shivered, listening to the sleet rattle against the windows. “It is rather cold outside.”

“Not a fit night for man nor beast.” He gestured toward a pair of comfortable chairs.
——————————————————————————————-
[Word count: 86]

That’s a difference of 61 words, or 41%. Now, if I were able to reduce the entire manuscript by that same amount, that’d be roughly 82,000 words, which would at least be getting me into the right ballpark. Sadly, there are some sections which defy further streamlining.

I thought it would be interesting to look at what I changed and why:

Farlsborough took in the scene at once. I don’t need to tell the readers that he’s taking in the scene when I immediately launch into a description of what he sees.

Seeing the smoldering pile of clothing on the fire — for it was too wet to burn right away — he wondered what could have befallen the girl for her to end up in such a state. The “for her to end up in such a state” part can be implied if I just say he wondered what could have befallen her.

He rather suspected he would find out, in due time. Since that is the point of this scene, I don’t need to tell the readers that’s what’s going to happen. They’ll figure it out pretty soon. Also, by getting rid of this sentence, I don’t have to go back and delete the unneeded comma.

“That’s better,” he said, gesturing toward her. This dialogue tag is not needed.

“At least now your lips don’t look all blue.” Readers can infer that her lips are “all” blue if I just say they’re “blue”.

Involuntarily, one of her hands stole up to her lips. “They were blue?” If I say that her hand stole up to her lips, the reader probably knows it’s involuntary.

He nodded.

“Well …” She paused while they listened to the sleet rattling against the windows concealed behind heavy drapes. I seem to have my characters pause a lot. I’m trying to break that habit. Also, while it’s nice to know that the drapes are heavy, it’s not really necessary to this part of the story.

“It is rather cold outside.”

“Not a fit night for man nor beast to be out,” he agreed. “To be out” really isn’t necessary; nor is the dialogue tag. We know who is speaking.

Then he gestured toward a pair of chairs that were somewhat more comfortable than the hard wooden one Hughes had placed by the fire for her. Comparing the comfortable chairs to the uncomfortable one probably isn’t necessary. Also got rid of a “then” at the beginning of the sentence. I have way too many “thens” in my writing.

The revised scene still contains the meat of what I was trying to get across — that it’s a cold night, that the girl was out in it but is warmer now, that Farlsborough isn’t unsympathetic to her plight, and that they’re about to sit down and have a chat. Oh, and that she burned her wet clothes rather than have him see what shape they were in (she’s in a dressing gown during this scene, by the way).

So that’s how I approach an in-depth edit. How do other folks go about it?

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Editing; or Why Didn’t I Write This In The First Place?

Posted on March 26, 2010 by sheilamcclune

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)

I was asked about my editing process earlier this week, and since I’ve been doing some pretty heavy-duty editing this week, I thought I’d share that here (with a few extra embellishments):

1) Initial Read-Through: When I finish a book, the first thing I do — because I’ve tried, and I absolutely cannot resist — is to read it all the way through to make sure I got the ending in the right spot.

2) Dusting and Vacuuming: Once I’ve done that, I go back and do my initial “dusting and vacuuming” pass, where I correct any blatant spelling and grammar errors. This is where I also do my first round of “pull out the excess commas.” (I’ll do at least three more rounds of this before I’m done.) This is the edit that gets sent out to Eager Alpha Readers (my small but loyal fanbase).

3) Rest: I’m firmly of the opinion that, like a roast turkey, writing needs to sit and “rest” a bit before you carve into it. I’m trying very hard not to even look at The Daughters of August Winterbourne for two months before I start the real editing process. That helps me put a little distance between me and it, which makes it easier to see things that just plain don’t work.

4) The Process of Elimination: I tend to write long, so for me, the editing process consists in large part of seeing what I can cut out while still keeping the story intact. So once I start editing, I’ll begin by going through and giving it a read to see which scenes can be combined or eliminated altogether. Note that I don’t plan to edit for spelling, grammar, etc. at this point — because there’s no point in polishing up things I’m just going to hack out anyway.

This phase also includes making sure each scene starts and stops in the right place. I usually find that most scenes could end a few sentences or even paragraphs sooner.

Something I want to try on one of my stories is writing a synopsis of each scene on an index card, along with why it’s important to the plot, then laying them all out on a table. I’m hoping that will help me see where things could be cut out. For instance, if I’ve got a ten-page scene where the only contribution to the plot is to show how two characters interact, perhaps I can work that interaction into another scene and eliminate the first one.

5) Nuts and Bolts: After that,I start working on grammar and style:

– I go through and edit for my list of problem words. These are ones that are either weak words (“seems” is one I tend to use way too much), or unnecessary words (“then”, “suddenly,” “very”).
– At this point, I also look for things like passive voice, and fix those.
– Another thing I get rid of at this point are excess dialog tags, and fix the ones that got away from me (“He screeched” “She intoned” “He glared”)
– While I’m at it, I’ll yank out another round of excess commas (Have I mentioned my comma problem?).
– I’ll also incorporate any feedback from alpha readers, both here and in the previous step.

One thing I had suggested to me was to try editing from the end backwards — take your last chapter and do a style edit on it, then the one before that, then the one before that. I’m currently trying that on my Regency romance, and it’s working pretty well.

6) And then I’ll give it a read and see how it flows. If I’m satisfied (unlikely), then I’m done. And if not, repeat process from step one (though perhaps with a shorter resting time). I might also run it past a critique group before digging in to edit again.

That’s my plan, anyway.

How do other people approach the editing process?

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The End; or Finish What You Started

Posted on March 19, 2010 by sheilamcclune

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)

Last Saturday, I completed the first draft of my work in progress, The Daughters of August Winterbourne. It’s always a strange feeling for me, finishing a book. For some reason, the endings almost always creep up on me unexpectedly. In this case, I was pretty sure I had another chapter or two to go, and that it would take me another day or two to get there. That’s because, while I knew where the story ended, I didn’t know for sure where I would stop telling it.

Does that make sense?

I knew, plotwise, what I needed to accomplish. But what I hadn’t yet worked out in my mind was a good, satisfying place to stop once I’d gotten those plot points down. I could easily have spent another chapter or two detailing what happens after Our Heroine, Celia Winterbourne, and her party return to England after adventures abroad. There were certainly consequences aplenty to face as a result of their adventures. And yet, that seemed to draw focus away from where I really wanted to leave the story. So in the end, I summarized everything between the return to England and the end of the school year in a short epilogue, and then ended on a bittersweet, wordless exchange between Celia and Nicholas Fletcher.

I knew I’d found the right spot when I typed the last line and got all teary-eyed. Yeah. That’s a good spot. It felt right, and it felt final. “The End” would flash on the screen at that point in the movie version. Yup. Done.

Then on Sunday, for the first time since about the second week in November (when it was much shorter), I read the whole thing through from start to finish. I was surprised that the bits that felt slow and draggy when I was writing them didn’t seem nearly so slow and draggy upon reading. Yes, there’s still some tightening up to do, and a couple of minor subplots I’m planning to yank out on the first major revision pass, but for the most part, the story holds together reasonably well. Overall, I’m pleased with it.

So that’s the good news.

The bad news is that the first draft weighs in at roughly 186,000 words; in other words, about 86,000 words longer than it should be if I have any expectation of publishing the story. It looks as though I will need to lose more than one or two minor subplots, and I’m gonna need to do a LOT of tightening up. There are some places where I think I can do this; I go into far more detail than is needed about a lot of things. But just as you shouldn’t carve a turkey the instant you pull it from the oven, you should also let a story rest a bit before you go about hacking it into bits. So at this point, while I am giving it a quick once-over before sending it off to my alpha readers* (they’re an impatient lot, and really wanted to read it before it was even finished), I’m otherwise not planning on touching or even looking at this story for another month, maybe two.

What am I going to do with myself in the meantime? Trust me, I won’t be bored. I have some extensive edits to do on the first volume of my space pirate adventure series. I’ve also got a Regency romance that needs to be pared down a bit (why does it seem as though everything I write comes out at approximately 200K words?). And I’ve got the beginnings of a fantasy story that I want to post to my website as I write it, as an experiment. Website, you say? Oh, yeah, that’s something else I can work on.

And of course, I’ll be posting here every Thursday, sharing my words of wisdom/incoherent blatherings with all of you. Maybe next week we’ll even get that “topic of the week” thing going, like we’ve been planning!

* If you wish to join the ranks of my eager alpha readers, drop me a comment and I will add you to the list.

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Secondary Themes; or, What’s That Lurking In The Background

Posted on March 12, 2010 by sheilamcclune

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)

This week, I finally found the secondary theme of my current WIP, The Daughters of August Winterbourne. The primary theme, of course, is that of family, and of working together to accomplish a common goal. But this week, with only a very small amount of the story left to tell, I discovered that the story had a secondary theme all along: the end of childhood.

When I told this to a friend of mine, her reaction was, “Oh, that’s sad.” And yes, in a way it is. But it’s also happy and exciting, because the end of childhood is also the beginning of adulthood, and of the adventures that go along with that. It’s also a little scary, because with adulthood comes the obligation to take responsibility for one’s actions, and for the consequences of those actions. Some of my characters are about to learn about that in a big way, when one of their actions has consequences much more far-reaching — yet closer to home — than they bargained for. Another character is already regretting a decision regarding the priorities in their life. (And yes, I am playing a little fast and loose with the pronouns here — sorry!)

When I am planning a story, the primary theme usually reveals itself fairly quickly. But the secondary theme(s) can be trickier; some stories never reveal one at all. Are they necessary? Well, not in the strictest sense. You can tell a story with just one theme. It’s just not as interesting. Is it okay to start writing the story not knowing what the secondary theme is? Yes! Sometimes you can’t find it until you’ve had time to sit down and play with your characters and get to know them better, see how they interact with each other.

And then, sometimes (much to my annoyance), a tertiary character who was only ever planned to be around for one or two scenes wanders in and serves it up on a platter for you. (Yep, that’s what happened this time around.)

So how do other folks work with themes? Are they there for you, up front, or do you find them as you go along?

——————–

Housekeeping: Starting next week (hopefully), it looks like we’ll be changing gears a little bit here at The Melt-Ink Pot. We’re going to try selecting a theme each week, and having each of us posting our take on the subject. Looks like fun to me! Stay tuned!

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Into The Home Stretch; or, The End Is Near

Posted on March 5, 2010 by sheilamcclune

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)

After writing a few difficult scenes for my current work in progress, The Daughters of August Winterbourne, I can definitely tell that I’m on the home stretch. I’ve begun the big, climactic scene, and it’s rolling along nicely. I can see the end of the story, and it’s suddenly not very far away at all.

I love this part of a story. It feels like everything I’ve spent the last several months building up has finally fallen into place, and all that’s left for me to do is to stand back and let gravity take its course. To me, it feels almost like flying, or at least gliding. The words are pouring out of my fingertips almost faster than I can catch them. Certainly my poor little keyboard has taken a pounding these last few days!

And yet … I also hate this part of a story. By the time I’ve reached this point, I feel like I’m finally really getting to know my characters, that they’ve become my friends. I’ve spent time with these people almost every single day (with one exception) since the beginning of last November. And in a few more days — maybe as little as a week — it will all be over. I will have told their story, and I will never be able to tell it for the first time again.

Oh, I know, there will be months and months of editing. And there are always the sequels I have planned. But good, bad, or indifferent, this story will be finished. If and when I write about Celia and Nicholas and Papa and Celia’s sisters again, they’ll be different characters than they were at the beginning of this story. Their adventures will have changed them, shaped them. They’ll be the same people, but different, just as their new story will be different.

Ah, well. That’s what it’s all about, right? And in the meantime…I’ve a book to finish.

How do other people approach the end of a story? Do you wax nostalgic, or are you just so glad to have it over with that you don’t even care any more?

(p.s. Although I’m a little late getting the word out, today is National Grammar Day! And a bonus link: Grammar Girl often has answers to life’s nagging grammar questions. Check out her website!)

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A Hint of Things To Come; or … Foreshadowing

Posted on February 26, 2010 by sheilamcclune

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)

Last week, I did something disconcerting.

I threw Celia, the main character in my work-in-progress, off of her airship while it was in flight.

Don’t worry, she’s fine. She was wearing a harness and had a rope tied to it. Of course, Nicholas Fletcher, her love interest, was pretty upset about it anyway, because he wasn’t expecting it.

He should have been, though, because I foreshadowed it a couple of times earlier in the story. I mentioned a couple of times how, when Celia was younger, her father used to have to tie a rope around her so that when she fell — or perhaps jumped — over the edge, he could haul her back in again. And after I’d mentioned that a couple of times, I pretty much had to have a scene where Celia went over the edge of the gondola, didn’t I?

I have to admit that my foreshadowing doesn’t always work out that well. Quite often, I have to go back after the fact and say, “Hmm, how can I foreshadow this major plot point earlier on in the story?” Sometimes I can find a way to tuck hints in seamlessly, but sometimes it doesn’t work out so well. That’s why it’s so satisfying to me when I can put the foreshadowing in, well, ahead of time.

Then, of course, there’s the question of how much foreshadowing you should do, and how much is enough, and how much is too much. As a reader, I like there to be surprises; I don’t like everything to be laid out too clearly ahead of time. And I certainly don’t like to be hit over the head repeatedly by the author, who is determined that I not miss what’s coming because I just wasn’t paying attention.

So I don’t foreshadow everything. I don’t even do all the major plot points. But I do like to throw in a few hints, just to see who’s paying attention.

How much foreshadowing do other folks do? What are some of the best and worst examples you’ve read (or written)?

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Let Your Enthusiasm Show; or Play That Air Guitar!

Posted on February 19, 2010 by sheilamcclune

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)

Watching the Olympics tonight, I saw snowboarder Shaun White take the podium for the gold medal in half-pipe. I know there are stuffy, old-fashioned sorts who would have preferred that he stand respectfully while the national anthem was played, but Mr. White chose instead to play along on the air guitar for a few seconds. I was charmed. He wasn’t afraid to let his enthusiasm show.

When you love what you’re doing, it’s really hard not to let it show.

One of my favorite recordings is of Gene Kelly, “Singin’ In The Rain”. The song is okay. Mr. Kelly’s voice is fine, but not extraordinary. What makes this recording special to me is that you can hear him smiling as he sings. Here, have a listen and you’ll see (or rather, hear?) what I mean.

When I’m enthusiastic about what I’m writing, I think it shows, too. Phrases fall neatly into place; words flow effortlessly from my fingers onto the keyboard. Writing is tight, clean, energetic. The characters and settings sparkle. The action doesn’t just flow, it dances.

And when I’m not enthusiastic … it’s more like wading through wet cement. Wearing lead weights chained to my ankles.

Now all I need to figure out is how to maintain the enthusiasm. I know that part of the secret is that if I’m not enthusiastic about the section I’m writing, it’s usually because I’m either starting the scene in the wrong place, or I’m writing a scene that doesn’t need to be included at all.

What are some tricks other people use to maintain enthusiasm for their writing?

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Cliffhangers; or Did It Just Get Angsty In Here?

Posted on February 12, 2010 by sheilamcclune

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)

Cliffhangers. When done well, they draw your reader into your story.

It’s easy to see them in action. All you have to do is turn on your television set.

Every week, when I tune in to watch my show — Supernatural — I inevitably catch the last few minutes of The Vampyre Diaries. And every week, at the end of The Vampyre Diaries, there’s angst aplenty. Teenagers being sucked dry by vampires, teenagers’ hearts breaking due to unrequited love, teenagers betraying one another, all set to dramatic music, embellished with special effects.

And all designed to make sure the mostly-teenaged audience is back next week, tuned in and dying to find out how the crisis resolves itself.

Cliffhangers aren’t anything new, of course. Scheherezade figured it out when the sultan was piling up his body count. The original Buck Rodgers left ’em hangin’ once a week back in 1939. And does anyone remember what a fuss it caused when, on the last Dallas episode of the season, someone shot J.R. Ewing?

So as authors, how can we more effectively use cliffhangers to keep our readers reading?

A lot of people suggest that every chapter should end on a minor cliffhanger. I still haven’t quite gotten the hang of this, however. I can certainly recognize it on the rare occasion when I do it, but I don’t know how to make it happen every time. I’m not even sure I want it to happen every time. I’m firmly in the school of thought that says that giving your reader a chance to run to the bathroom or to even close the book and come back later is not a bad idea. The trick is in making sure they come back. And that trick is one I’m not sure I’ve mastered yet.

Do other folks try to end chapters on cliffhangers? Or do you just stick in a chapter break when it seems like there’s a logical pause in the action?

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When Inspiration Fails To Strike; or, Technical Difficulties

Posted on February 4, 2010 by sheilamcclune

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)

I’ve known this moment was coming since the beginning of November, and I really hoped that when it got here, I’d have the answer I needed, but I don’t. Inspiration has failed to strike, and I’m stuck.

I’ve reached the point in my current Work In Progress, The Daughters of August Winterbourne, where I need to describe a bit of technical gadgetry. Dr. Winterbourne has designed a small weapon that can be made up of parts from four ordinary-looking items. And he has given one of the items to each of his four daughters.

The weapon is a small gun that fires poisonous darts using compressed air. That much I know. I also know that three of the four items Dr. Winterbourne gave the girls are:

  • A circular slide rule (looks like an oversized pocket watch, but when you open it, it’s a slide rule. Such things do actually exist, although they weren’t invented for at least sixty years after my story’s time. But it’s an alternate universe, so I’m cheating and using it anyway.) I think that it doesn’t actually get used as part of the weapon, but rather serves as a place to hide the instructions for assembly.
  • A very nice, top-of-the-line fountain pen. I’m figuring this is the barrel of the gun, and it might also serve to compress a small amount of air into a chamber.
  • A brooch that uses the poison darts as design elements that look like stylized flower petals.

But I’m stuck as to what the fourth item should be, and how it could fit into the weapon. All I know is that it needs to be something a female university student could carry or wear on a daily basis without exciting comment. It should be the kind of thing that (to use a modern analogy) you could take through airport security without getting pulled out of line and strip-searched. But I have no idea what the item could be.

So now what do I do?

Perhaps it’s time to consult The Oracle (a.k.a. my friends on the Internet) once again. They were certainly helpful in the matter of Mr. Fletcher’s name.

In the meantime, I’m not sure how to proceed. I’d really like to know what Mystery Item #4 is before I write the next section, but failing that, I might just have to put up [[And A Miracle Happens Here]] signs in the manuscript and come back to them later. I hate doing that — when I’ve done it in the past, when I go back to fill stuff in, I always end up having to change more than I expected — but it may be my only choice.

What do other people do when technical inspiration fails to strike?

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First, You Must Entertain…

Posted on January 29, 2010 by sheilamcclune

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)

I attended a small local science fiction convention (COSine) this past weekend. The guest of honor was author L.E. Modesitt, and I was lucky enough to sit in on a couple of panels he was on.

One of the panels was about whether or not there is still a place for the stand-alone novel, or whether all books should be part of a series. The general consensus, as you would expect, was that some ideas truly are one book long, and some require more than one to tell the story properly.

However, in the course of the discussion, Mr. Modesitt said something that to me summed up all there is to say about writing:

“The first thing you have to do as a writer is to entertain. If you don’t do that, it doesn’t matter. No one is going to be reading the next book.”

Wow. It’s one of those things that should be dead obvious, but for me, it wasn’t, or at least not until he spelled it out for me. As writers, we often get so caught up in the whole business of not having cardboard characters, and showing not telling, and what point of view is appropriate for a given story, that we sometimes forget what we’re really here to do. We’re here to entertain. It’s that simple.

It also explains why sometimes books about boy wizards, religious conspiracy theories, and sparkly vampires get published and sell phenomenally well when many works that are technically better do not: Because the latter failed to entertain and the former succeeded. Period.

And not only do we, as aspiring authors, need to entertain our potential readers, but we also have to entertain agents and publishers and editors along the way, at least enough to compel them to pick our story out of the vast sea of submissions. And on top of all of that, we have to entertain ourselves. Because if we’re not having fun writing something, then why are we doing it? Right?

When you look at it that way, it seems like a daunting task. And yet, it helps to put everything else into a proper perspective. Yes, having good grammar and “showing not telling” and all of that are still important, because they allow you to get your story across to your readers more effectively, but first you need to make sure the story is worth telling.

That’s it in a nutshell. Thank you, Mr. Modesitt!

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Trembling On The Brink

Posted on January 21, 2010 by sheilamcclune

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)

In all of the stories I’ve written so far, I’ve reached a point where I feel as though all of the setup, all of the tension-building, and all of the background work is done. From here, it’s just one long unstoppable downhill ride on the roller-coaster hill. Granted, there may be a twist or two before we actually hit the bottom, but from here, the story should be a quick, thrill-packed ride.

(Or so I hope. It hasn’t always worked out quite that way. When I reached that point in last year’s NaNoWriMo story, it turned out that I was still four months and more than 150K words away from where the story said it wanted to end. I’m seriously hoping that doesn’t happen again this year.)

I think I’m a hair’s-breadth away from that point in my current WIP, The Daughters of August Winterbourne. There have been three abductions and a second murder, although Celia and her sisters thus far only suspect one of the abductions. I’ve put in all the clues and hints that are needed (I think) for the revelations that are about to happen. All of the background is finished; all of the little character beats I wanted to establish have been established. I’m well aware that, in fact, the story so far is overwritten, but I’m trying hard to keep things moving in spite of it.

Now comes the tricky bit: Making it dramatic without crossing the line into melodrama, keeping the action rolling without wandering down too many side roads, and remembering that this part of the story is supposed to be fun (at least for the readers, if not for the characters, who aren’t going to enjoy it at all). Got to remember to keep the angst at bay. If people want that, they have plenty of television-viewing options available to them.

{puts foot firmly on neck of Inner Editor} And you, troublesome thing, can just sit there and shut up. Yes, I know we can — and will — need to edit for pacing later. Key word in that phrase is l-a-t-e-r. As in, some time other than now. Got it?

So how are other people’s projects progressing?

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Letting The Story Flow

Posted on January 14, 2010 by sheilamcclune

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)

Sometimes, I hate my inner editor.

Right now, she’s giving me all kinds of grief, because she’s reasonably certain that about 3/4 of the last 40,000 words I’ve written on my WIP, The Daughters of August Winterbourne, are totally unnecessary and should just be deleted now. Right now. Before I go any further.

She’s probably right about the fact that they need to be deleted, or at least condensed, but the problem is this: Each of the sections she wants me to delete contains at least a small nugget of plot detail that’s important. Some of these can be moved to or combined with other scenes, but until I’ve written the whole story, I won’t know for sure which ones can be moved where, and which ones need to remain.

Part of the problem is that I did something totally out-of-character for me and posted a couple of chapters of my first draft to my WorldCon critique group. The feedback was overall very positive, with the biggest criticism being the story’s pacing (which I’ve noted a couple of times is very lackadaisical and needs to be tightened up), so there weren’t any surprises there.

The problem is that the sample I posted, while largely unedited (I did go through and correct spelling/grammar errors and take a stab at getting out the excess commas), was actually remarkably clean and tight for a first draft. So now Inner Editor keeps pointing at it and saying, “Don’t you think the rest of the story should meet this standard?”

Well, that would be nice, but when I try to do that, it interrupts the flow of the story. Sometimes you just have to dare to suck. Sometimes you have to leave in the three-paragraph scene where nothing much really happens until you’re sure you don’t need it. Sometimes the dialogue in this Victorian-era story is going to sound way too twenty-first-century, at least on the first pass.

The point is to get the story down on paper (or at least, stored away in computer bits) first. It can be primped, tidied, pared and prettied later. But if I spend all of my brain power trying to do all of that as I go, I’ll flail around forever and never get it done.

So:

Dear Inner Editor,

Please shut up. NOW. Your turn comes later. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Me

–:–:–:–:–:–:–:–:–:–

And since I found a good one on Twitter, I’m going to close with an inspirational quote, this one from Nancy Springer. If you’re not familiar with her work, you should be; she has a way of writing a male lead that will make you fall heartbreakingly in love with him every time. I want to write like her when I grow up.

My two favorites of hers are Larque on the Wing and Metal Angel. Go find them and read them (you may have to hunt down used copies on abebooks.com). You won’t be sorry. You should also be following her on Twitter (NancySpringer). Lots of good writing advice.

Anyway, today on Twitter, she writes:

“Don’t let the success of others get you down; don’t compare. Go where the joy is. Know what your writing means to YOU.”

It’s so simple, so obvious, yet so hard to do: Go where the joy is.

I’m going to try. How about you?

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Charging The Batteries

Posted on January 7, 2010 by sheilamcclune

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)

 

It’s becoming kind of normal for me around this time of year.

My “writing batteries” start to run down.

Thanks to NaNoWriMo, I’ve written at least a little bit every day (but one) since November 1. I even wrote on Christmas Day. On one of those days, I wrote more than 10,000 words.

But over the last couple of weeks, my output is dropping and my story is dragging. I’m losing focus.

So it must be time to charge the batteries.

I only wish it were as easy as plugging a cord into an outlet in the wall (like I just did with my cell phone, and a good thing this reminded me to do that!). But it’s not.

For me, recharging the “write-fu” usually involves:

  • Crawling out of the “writing cave” and interacting with people. When the writing is good and the words are flowing, I want nothing more than to keep writing — to the exclusion of just about anything else. But too much of that turns me into a hermit, and that’s not good, either. So I need to get out and interact with people. Plans are underway for that.
  • Getting new input. Reading new books, watching new movies, going to concerts, listening to new music, brainstorming with writer friends — these are all good and helpful things to get the current flowing again.
  • Travel. Road trips are usually great creativity triggers for me. I love car travel; if I won PowerBall, the first thing I’d probably do (after buying a new car) would be to just drive around for a couple of months, taking pictures and blogging and making notes and having new experiences. Unfortunately, we don’t have any travel planned for the near future, but my Beloved Husband and I usually try to at least make a long weekend out of our anniversary. I’m hoping there will be hot springs involved, too, because another of my recharges is …
  • Hot water. Standing under the shower usually gets me at least and idea or two, but a couple of hours at a hot spring — especially if I have someone to bounce ideas off of — is worth a month of hot showers. Now if only I could figure out a way to waterproof my netbook!
  • Other creative activities. A good day of sewing or crafting can usually catapult me back into power writing mode, too. Or maybe a day with the camera, or some creative cookery, or any of the billions of other things that try to distract me from writing.

What do other people do when their creative batteries run down?

Oh, and does anyone have any good recommendations for books, movies, or new music?

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Maintaining Focus; or … Oooh! Shiny!

Posted on December 17, 2009 by sheilamcclune

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)

 

This time of year is hard on our inner seven-year-olds. So many distractions, so many things we could be doing, along with the things we should be doing, and there’s never enough time for everything. I should write. I should also finish decorating the living room, shopping for presents, and planning for the party at my house on Sunday. Somewhere in there, I need to find time to wash my hair, clothes, and bathroom floor, and oh, yeah, I’m going to a concert tomorrow night.

I have — so far — managed to write every single day since the end of NaNoWriMo. Granted, my word count on one of those days was a whopping 22 words*, but it was still progress in a forward direction. I did write a mile worth of words (5,280) the Sunday before last, however.

It’d be easy to say, “Well, it would be all right if I didn’t write until after the holidays.” After all, it’s not like the writing police are lurking outside my door, waiting to haul me off if I don’t put fingers to keyboard for at least a few minutes a day. I’m only doing this for me, and no one will know the difference. Right?

Right … but … (You knew there would be a “but”, didn’t you?)

But … I’m doing this for me. I’m doing it because it’s something I really want to do, and because it makes me feel good to do it. I’m enjoying the heck out of writing this story, and I’m looking forward to sharing it with my beta readers — which I can’t do until it’s done. And yes, it is good for my sometimes-tenuous self-esteem to be able to say, “Look! I wrote every damn day in December, and I’ve written a hundred thousand words since November 1.” It will be even more satisfying to say, “I’ve finished another book, and I don’t think it sucks.”

It’s also important to me to keep my momentum going. I can sit down right now and pretty much remember where my brain was when I left off last night. Two weeks from now, I might not have a clue. And once I reach that point, it’s just that much easier to let it slide just another day or two … another week … another month … forever … while I wait for inspiration to strike, or the muse to return, or the planets to be in just the right conjunction, or — even less likely — my brain to go back to where it was when I left off.

So, yeah. I’m going to keep writing every day. I might — MIGHT — give myself a day off on Christmas. (Though we will have to drive back from my parents’ house in Fort Collins, and that would be an hour of writing time, if I can persuade the husband-unit that it’s his turn to drive …) And I honestly don’t think I’ll be doing any writing on January 2nd, since I’m helping cook an SCA Twelfth Night feast that day.

But other than that, I’ll be writing. Butt in chair, fingers on keyboard. One word at a time. Because I am determined that it shall be so.

(By the way, for folks who were wondering about the fate of poor, first-name-less Mr. Fletcher, to whom I introduced you last week, worry no longer. This time around, the poll was conclusive, and we have settled happily on Mr. Nicholas Owen Fletcher.)

* Yes, that was the day of the holiday party thrown by my employer. Yes, the one where they put me in charge of the drinks tickets. Yes, the one where I used my two and then some. And?

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