Wednesday ROW80 Check In (10.26.11)

While I'm not meeting all of my goals, I am moving forward with my writing, so overall this has been a very positive experience. I have found myself focusing on different aspects each week and spending a good deal of time dealing with distractions, albeit important ones (like making money). This week was "query/submissions" week. I sent out quite a few.

I've also coded them red, yellow, or green depending on my success for the week. Anal, I know, but a throw back to my days in corporate America. Also, if I don't meet a weekly or monthly goal I'm not going to worry about making it up. I plan to start each week/month as a clean slate.

Here then is an update on my goals:

1) Read three writing magazines each month: I've read one so far this month and am in the middle of another. YELLOW.

2) Participate in Three Writer's Digest On-Line Seminars: I might skip this one and just watch youtube videos instead...they are kind of costly...it's like paying for on-line video chess lessons when there are plenty of them free on the Internet. RED.

3) Write One Short Story or Article Each Month: I sketched out an article for Parent's magazine and an accompanying query, but I have not written an original short story for a while. YELLOW.

4) One Submission/Query a Day: I smoked on this one last week...sent out quite a few queries and submissions. GREEN.

5) Three Blog Entries/Week for This Blog and My Customer Service Blog: I haven't kept up on this as much as I should have. I'll have to do more entries this week. I have a few sketched out. See also Zen of Customer Service. YELLOW.

6) Sign Up For a Spring Semester Class: Nothing yet. YELLOW.

7) Customer Service / Techno-Thriller Book: Haven't done much on these this week...took a break to work on other projects. Hope to get back to the techno-thriller this week. Holding off on the Customer Service book until I get an agent, although I may start marketing my concept as a speaking engagement/workshop/seminar. YELLOW.

8) Read Three Craft Books: Reading The Art of Compelling Fiction. Good so far, but very detailed, making it a slow read. GREEN.

9) Read More Fiction: Reading "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown since his work is similar to what I'm trying to write. I also checked out a collection of short stories by Raymond Carver and EL Doctorow. GREEN.

10) Read More Blogs/Emails: Haven't done as much of this as I would have liked, but I will try to get caught up this week. YELLOW.

I will probably spend the day working on my ROW80 goals and will update this post later.

ROW80 Wednesday Check In

After two weeks with ROW80 I'm doing well on some goals and falling behind on others. Having said that, I will say that ROW80 has helped me complete the revised proposal for my customer service book, get re-started on my techo-thriller, and query some of my other completed work. I have also been reading much more about the craft of writing and have been expanding my on-line presence (although not as much as I would like).

Here then is an update on my goals:

1) Read three writing magazines each month: I've read one so far this month and am in the middle of another.

2) Participate in Three Writer's Digest On-Line Seminars: I almost signed up for a webinar on finding an agent, but it was $90 and I wasn't sure it was worth it. I went to the library and borrowed a book on the same topic. I'm sure I'd get more out of webinar, but I don't think I have the attention span for one either. I may drop this goal.

3) Write One Short Story or Article Each Month: I've been doing a lot of rewriting/reworking.

4) One Submission/Query a Day: I queried my book, an article, and two short stories. Not one a day, but they are taking longer to write than I originally thought.

5) Three Blog Entries/Week for This Blog and My Customer Service Blog: I've nailed this and have been on a roll. I also discovered the #custserv hashtag and have those in the customer service business reading and commenting on my customer service blog (http://zenofcustomerservice.blogspot.com)

6) Sign Up For a Spring Semester Class: Nothing yet.

7) Customer Service / Techno-Thriller Book: Last week I was stuck on my prologue. I am now 1/2 through the second chapter. By next week I hope to be through chapter three. Haven' t done much on my customer service book since finishing the proposal.

8) Read Three Craft Books: Read the second chapter of The Art of Compelling Fiction.

9) Read More Fiction: Reading "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown since his work is similar to what I'm trying to write. I also checked out a collection of short stories by Raymond Carver and EL Doctorow.

10) Read More Blogs/Emails: I've been reading a lot of blogs, and have started to catch up on some of the many emails I get on a daily basis. It's been somewhat of a morning routine.

I will probably spend the day working on my ROW80 goals and will update this post later.

How Story Structure is Like a Chess Game

It's amazing how similar plot structure is to a chess game. Like a good story, a game of chess has an opening, a middle game, and an endgame.

During the opening, players develop their pieces, protect their king, and set up future attacks, much the same way a writer sets up the story in the first act. In the first act, we meet the characters (develop our pieces), introduce the conflict (set up for future attacks), and keep turns and twists close to the chest (protect the king). A good chess player never needs to move the same piece twice, just as good writers should never revisit a scene. A good story always moves forward.

Most of the action takes place during the middle game. Pieces are exchanged, plots are devised and foiled, and traps are set. Very similar to the second act of a book. This is where we see the action as the conflict plays outs. Of course, the story would be boring if the protagonist reaches his goal unfettered, so as writers, we have to throw a lot of obstacles in his way for him to overcome, exactly like a chess game. I've played a lot of chess in my life and this all happens in a game. There are times when I think I have a plan all worked out only to see my opponent make an unexpected move and foil my plans. Or maybe I make what I think is a brilliant move only to realize I blundered (yes, that's an official chess turn). A good story has all of these elements. That's what makes for a good story. Maybe your protagonist has devised a way to overcome the conflict, only to have the antagonist make an unexpected move, or maybe she takes and action that ends up being a mistake. How dramatic and what a page turner that would be!

The game comes to a close during the endgame. After the dust has cleared, a few remaining pieces fight it out for final victory. Each player uses what he has left to bring a game to a close. Moves are made and countered, pawns (minor pieces) are pushed to the other side of the board to become queens and finally, the opponent is trapped and checkmated. How does this relate to your story? Maybe a few characters have been killed or incapacitated, or maybe you have a minor character who rises to the occasion and becomes a hero? Either way, this is where the game, and the story, ends. After the game, each player signs the score card, shakes hands with his opponent, and moves on to the next adventure, er, game.

Next time you plot a story, think about chess.

Write What You Know, Part 1

A writer friend of mine and I were sharing a bottle of wine and a beautiful view of the Mississippi River high atop the Grafton Bluffs discussing, as writers always do, the craft of writing. I remember telling her how envious I was of writers like Tony Hillerman and Neil Gaiman who could weave mythology and folklore into their stories, wishing I could do that myself. I had tried a few times and just fell flat. That's when she reminded me that writers need to write what they know. I had heard that before, but in my ambition to be like the writers above, had abandoned that idea.

What do I know? I know what it's like to be a middle aged man who grew up during the Cold War and came to age during the Information Age. I know what it's like to fall in love with the wrong person and hang on too long, and to fall in love with the right person, only to drive her away with my inner demons and insecurities. But do writers have success writing about such mundane, every day events? I'm sure they do.

When I started seriously writing three years ago I fell in love with the work of Ethan Canin, who himself was inspired by John Cheever. I read their works voraciously. I also read a lot of E. L. Doctorow, whose RAGTIME remains one of my favorite novels - every day people dealing with every day events, but events people just don't discuss much. I like stories about the every day person -- they make me feel connected and not alone in my own struggles.

I think I tried to fly too close to the sun like Prometheus and thanks to some good wine and great discussion, I think I've once again found my roots, and am happy where I am.

Three Important Questions

I was reading an on-line column (Writer's Digest, Thomas Young) about plotting. According to Young, a writer must ask at least one of the following questions:

- What is wrong in my character's world that needs to be put right?
- What does my character want and what does he need to do to get it?
- What event propelled my character to go on this journey?

He goes on to talk about how some writers want to write about a particular place, or person, but without any conflict or direction.

I know writers who craft beautiful prose (that makes me jealous) but their stories are absent of conflict, which is what turns pages. I love reading books like that, but without conflict there really isn't any reason to turn the page.

Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is very heavy on description and narrative and does get slow at times, but he knows how to weave conflict into this three-volume work. There is the over-arching conflict of the coming war and destroying the ring, then sub-plots like Saruman and the Rowan-Gondor conflict, and then little conflicts like Gandalf and Bilbo arguing about the fate of the ring, or the four Hobbits' trip across the old forest. It's a long trilogy, but it's a page turner.

I look at my own techno-thriller and I'm glad to see my conflict present.

On a related note, Sue Grafton had some good advice in a 2010 interview with Writer's Digest (Diana Page Jordan). She talked about how a new writer will write one book and want to market it to agents and publishers. She tells writers to "give yourself time to get better." This is exactly what Mark Twain advised in his autobiography. Too many writers want to jump on board and write a bestseller without putting in their time and due diligence. Again, I know writers who do this. They won't bother with short stories because they don't pay but while they don't pay, but they garner three important intangibles: exposure, experience, credentials. Those will pay off in the end. It's like the tortoise and the hare, and we all know how that ended.

ROW80 Wednesday Check In

After one week with ROW80 I'm doing well on some goals and falling behind on others. Having said that, I will say that ROW80 has helped me complete one important task/goal: finish the revised proposal for my customer service book. It is done and off to the agent!

Here then is an update on my goals:

Okay...I've decided to plunge into ROW80 and here are my preliminary goals:

1) Read three writing magazines each month: I've read one so far this month and plan to stop by the library this afternoon to pick up more.

2) Participate in Three Writer's Digest On-Line Seminars: Nothing yet.

3) Write One Short Story or Article Each Month: Nothing yet.

4) One Submission/Query a Day: I sent out five queries this week so far: two on a non-fiction article I wrote about St. Albert and three on my customer service book.

5) Three Blog Entries/Week for This Blog and My Customer Service Blog: I've nailed this and have been on a roll. I also discovered the #custserv hashtag and have those in the customer service business reading and commenting on my customer service blog (http://zenofcustomerservice.blogspot.com)

6) Sign Up For a Spring Semester Class: Nothing yet.

7) Customer Service / Techno-Thriller Book: I'm stuck on my prologue. Much pressure to make sure the first few pages are spotless. Hoping to get past this soon.

8) Read Three Craft Books: Read the first chapter of The Art of Compelling Fiction.

UPDATE:

9) Read More Fiction: Nothing yet. Stuck on a book about Saratoga.

10) Read More Blogs/Emails: I've been reading a lot of blogs, but not the emails or every day fiction as much as a I should.

I will probably spend the day working on my ROW80 goals and will update this post later.

A Few Thoughts on Writers' Groups

I belong to two writers' groups, each loosely connected to the other. There are certain things I like about each group and certain things I don't like. With that in mind, here are my own "writers' groups dos and don'ts."

DO find a group you mesh with personally and aspirationally. Sure, there will be some in the group you don't mesh with, but on the whole you want to work with people you get along with and who have similar goals. Our group might have its moments, but any dispute or ill-feelings is quickly rectified. We also share the goal of being published and those of us already published yearn for more.

DO attend on a trial basis and DO check out more than one group. When my son joined Boy Scouts we just automatically went to the troop attached to the pack. Big mistake. We should have shopped around.

DON'T join a group steeped in formality. When I joined my current group (a small group of about 6 writers, which I think is ideal) it was just coming out of the throws of uber-formality. It had a registered name, officers, and a budget. What happened? Power struggles and ill feelings. Unless you have a super-large group this type of formality isn't really necessary as certain individuals will step into informal leadership roles. In my group, I'm usually the one to send out the "who is going to be there this week" email.

DO be open to feedback - that's why you're there. If you are there to reap praise on your work, have your mom read your stuff. But if you want serious feedback on how to become a writer, be open to suggestions. You don't know everything.

At the same time, DO be respectful with your own feedback. Early on, a member of my group (who is no longer with the group) told me she'd chuck my writing in the trash. Ouch. Instead of making a blanket statement like that, offer suggestions for improvement. It's a give-and-take. You offer some suggestions, you take some.

DON'T argue your point unless you are explain your reasons for a particular passage or wording and are ready to receive feedback on its effectiveness. "That's just the way I want it to read" is not a good defense. Just take the feedback and if you don't want to make the change, don't. However, there have been times when someone has asked my inclusion of specific information at which point I offer my reasons, such as trying to set up a future plot point, or giving insight into the character's personality.

DO remember that you are there to learn and become a better writer, but ultimately it's your own work. At first, I wanted to incorporate all of the suggestions made, but many of them were contradictory and sometimes I'd lose my own "voice." That's not good. It takes time to find the right balance but I am the first to say that I'm a much better writer now than I was three years ago when I first joined the group and anything I write that gets published is as much a credit to them as it is to me.

What about you? Do you have anything you'd like to add to the list?

Happy Writing!
AFW

Story Structure

Kristen Lamb is a well known blogger in the writer's world, and in a recent blog post (here) she discusses the basics of story structure. In her posting, she discusses "Scene and Sequel" (from Jack Bickham’s Scene and Structure) as follows:


The scene is a fundamental building block of fiction. It is physical. Something tangible is happening. The scene has three parts (again per Jack Bickham’s Scene & Structure, which I recommend every writer buy).

• Statement of the goal
• Introduction and development of conflict
• Failure of the character to reach his goal, a tactical disaster

Goal –> Conflict –> Disaster

The sequel is the other fundamental building block and is the emotional thread. The sequel often begins at the end of a scene when the viewpoint character has to process the unanticipated but logical disaster that happened at the end of your scene.

Emotion–> Thought–> Decision–> Action

Link scenes and sequels together and flesh over a narrative structure and you will have a novel that readers will enjoy.

Now, I am not one who generally buys into formulas. In my experience, they are too often projected from a novice in one of my writing groups onto my work without the person having a clear understanding of the formula or the ideas behind it. For example, a woman in my group had just read Bickham's book and tried to apply the "sequel" part of his idea to the beginning of my chapter. It was very confusing.

However, Kristen does an excellent job explaining Bickham's ideas and goes on to say that the formulas (and I hate using that word) don't have to be used the same way every time and compares them to ordering pizza -- we know what a pizza is, but it can come in many different varieties.

I am going to take these ideas, rework the first chapter of my story, and hope I'm the lucky winner of a five page critique by Kristen.