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After a tumultuous ten days (whoo, boy, was it!), I'm back to report some real progress on a number of fronts.
I rediscovered in the Long Project work that beginnings are not always hard. I expected problems visualizing the scene, as I really hadn't "seen" it in my head (scenes of my work tend to go though my head like movie trailers; it's how I roll, especially early in the process). The notes I had taken were enough to manage and I blocked the first scene of the work at surprising speed and dexterity, complete with OS and OHS moments. Now I see it all right, including lighting and costumes and I can hardly get it out of my head. I'll be filling in some of the supporting notework next time (useful in the rest of the work, so I don't have to watch for detail slip-ups in editing) and it's on to the next scene. I'm especially pleased about this as it's a sort-of rescue of a work that has been manifesting itself in fits and starts since November of 2009. I knew the project was important (both to myself and the Turning Springs world) and kept hacking away at it until it became what I wanted it to be. Don't give up; change it until it becomes what you wanted. Here endeth the lesson.
The Short Project progresses apace, and I'll be working now in the last part of scene five. I can see the end of the tunnel there. I'm having a lot of fun with this project. Though I don't write in dialect for foreign English speakers, I try to portray the words and rhythm of the language that a foreign speaker might use. Throwing in bits of the native language helps, too, which is why I took some time to research Swedish while writing. When dealing with familiar accents, that works, but if I was to make up a nationality, I'm not sure how I'd proceed. Probably the same way. Solutions do present themselves to the things that require doing, it seems. Hmm. Guess the lesson wasn't quite over. Eth.
I'll close this update with the Marketing that I've been doing for Turning Springs. I've enlisted help from my wife for ad placement (thankyouthankyouthankyou), which will help a lot. Primarily, I've been working on a re-release/re-edit of the book to be issued at the beginning of September. How close to the beginning is anyone's guess, but that's what I'm shooting for. I don't plan any sweeping changes, just a few word choices, closing a hole or two, and adding a bookmarked table of contents (a feature not available at Smashwords dot com for the first release). I'll then use that version to issue a print copy (!) through WordClay. That will take me a bit of time, so, in the meantime, I've got a few ideas for a coupon-for-review program. Do a review, get a discount on the next book. Don't know how I'll work that, but I'll make it work somehow.
In the process of re-editing Turning Springs, I have to re-read it, of course, something I haven't done since I finished it over a year ago. It's been a surprisingly positive experience, a reminder that the reason why I'm selling this is because it's a good story with captivating characters and exciting situations. Not just worth buying but worth the work to sell it. Don't forget to re-read your finished work every so often; it restores your faith in your abilities during periods of flagging sales and indifferent response.
Okay, now I'm done. Eth.
Showing posts with label Craft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Craft. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Where I am thus far
I get points for persistence, right? Checking in every six weeks or so (!) is good, right? Better than not at all, rather. This summer has been rough on my writing time, but I'm looking forward to a calm week. Yes, I wrote that aloud and have surely damned myself to complication. Just like the last...six weeks? Well, I lived through that, so no harm in optimism. At least it's too hot and dry to mow.
Little progress on any of the four parts of my projects, except for little dribs and drabs here and there.
The long project is still sticky with the details, but it hasn't left my consciousness completely. I keep having thunderbolt revelations about one or the other of the characters, so it's still building in the musty recesses of my brain. It's just big and without a lot of attention, things are going to happen this way. Remember, the ideal for me right now is to spend just one and a half hours on each project per week. Tough to get a lot done that way, but I'm happy with something. With my schedule, I pretty much have to be.
The short project is just the same way, although the dribs and drabs are producing more wandering from the plan than I like. My last writing session involved scrapping much of what I'd done the session before and getting back on the plan. Perhaps for the actual writing of a project, I need to set aside a full day's 1.5 hours rather than split it up, in order to maintain focus.
And since I tend to focus on the writing before marketing Turning Springs or posting to the blogs (ahem), nothing whatsoever has been done on those, except some half-hearted work on a press release. I'm not really comfortable with projects, so I tend to push those to the bottom of the pile. Both of those items could benefit from a big chunk of time once a week rather than a couple of small chunks twice a week.
Seeing a pattern here? I am. All of my projects could potentially be better served by working on them once per week for the full hour and a half allotted. It's not like I'd lose track of what I did last, since I do keep a journal of what I do in each session. And here I am at the start of a new week. No better time to start to make things better than today.
Since I've nominated today as Blog Post Day, I'd better get cracking on Knews Not News, too. Thanks for listening as I dissect my work habits to uncover the obvious.
Little progress on any of the four parts of my projects, except for little dribs and drabs here and there.
The long project is still sticky with the details, but it hasn't left my consciousness completely. I keep having thunderbolt revelations about one or the other of the characters, so it's still building in the musty recesses of my brain. It's just big and without a lot of attention, things are going to happen this way. Remember, the ideal for me right now is to spend just one and a half hours on each project per week. Tough to get a lot done that way, but I'm happy with something. With my schedule, I pretty much have to be.
The short project is just the same way, although the dribs and drabs are producing more wandering from the plan than I like. My last writing session involved scrapping much of what I'd done the session before and getting back on the plan. Perhaps for the actual writing of a project, I need to set aside a full day's 1.5 hours rather than split it up, in order to maintain focus.
And since I tend to focus on the writing before marketing Turning Springs or posting to the blogs (ahem), nothing whatsoever has been done on those, except some half-hearted work on a press release. I'm not really comfortable with projects, so I tend to push those to the bottom of the pile. Both of those items could benefit from a big chunk of time once a week rather than a couple of small chunks twice a week.
Seeing a pattern here? I am. All of my projects could potentially be better served by working on them once per week for the full hour and a half allotted. It's not like I'd lose track of what I did last, since I do keep a journal of what I do in each session. And here I am at the start of a new week. No better time to start to make things better than today.
Since I've nominated today as Blog Post Day, I'd better get cracking on Knews Not News, too. Thanks for listening as I dissect my work habits to uncover the obvious.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Conflict -- What You Expected
The Good Fight
You've seen it all over the place. You've had it drummed into your skull by teachers and mentors and writing magazines and bloggers. Conflict is the cornerstone of creative writing. And it is. If there's no conflict, there'a no point to reading further. Your characters are standing around agreeing with each other. Peaceful, but nobody really lives that way. Everyone's life is a struggle in some form or another. People want to read about people under adversity who are unwilling to fail against circumstances that insist upon their failure. They want to take in some of that strength for themselves.
The Writer Giveth...
As a writer, you give your own set of characters conflicts central to the story. Where do you start building their conflicts? With the elements of their world which your characters expect. The same elements, actually, which you must change, or deny to them, in order to create the conflicts which define them.
Define and Dandy
The fights we fight and why we fight them and against what odds all define who we are. Someone who is willing to argue with a five-year-old over finding a penny on the sidewalk is defined by that action. Also defined is someone who refuses to let a child take up smoking. In both cases, the character believes strongly in something. The critical factor for any conflict, in life or literature, is that a sequence of key events before the current conflict has led the character to believe what they believe about the world. Those key events in your character's backstory could be anything from religious training to childhood friendships to adult mentors to the bully that beat them up in third grade. Our expectations of our world are rooted in our experiences, either actual or those taught to us by others. When those expectations are not met, conflict arises as we try to reconcile what we think we know about the world with what is happening at that moment.
Your Roots Are Showing
So it should be with your characters. The clearer you can make the roots of their conflicts, the more essential and understandable and real that conflict becomes. And when their conflict becomes real, your characters do, too.
Try this: look through a newspaper's police calls section. As you read the entries, think of what your character would say or do in those situations. Then ask yourself why. And expect an answer. Or else.
John Christian Hager is the author of the Turning Springs series of e-books and stories, which can be found by searching the words Turning Springs at Smashwords dot com. John is an award-winning writer and playwright who lives in northern Illinois in the USA.
You've seen it all over the place. You've had it drummed into your skull by teachers and mentors and writing magazines and bloggers. Conflict is the cornerstone of creative writing. And it is. If there's no conflict, there'a no point to reading further. Your characters are standing around agreeing with each other. Peaceful, but nobody really lives that way. Everyone's life is a struggle in some form or another. People want to read about people under adversity who are unwilling to fail against circumstances that insist upon their failure. They want to take in some of that strength for themselves.
The Writer Giveth...
As a writer, you give your own set of characters conflicts central to the story. Where do you start building their conflicts? With the elements of their world which your characters expect. The same elements, actually, which you must change, or deny to them, in order to create the conflicts which define them.
Define and Dandy
The fights we fight and why we fight them and against what odds all define who we are. Someone who is willing to argue with a five-year-old over finding a penny on the sidewalk is defined by that action. Also defined is someone who refuses to let a child take up smoking. In both cases, the character believes strongly in something. The critical factor for any conflict, in life or literature, is that a sequence of key events before the current conflict has led the character to believe what they believe about the world. Those key events in your character's backstory could be anything from religious training to childhood friendships to adult mentors to the bully that beat them up in third grade. Our expectations of our world are rooted in our experiences, either actual or those taught to us by others. When those expectations are not met, conflict arises as we try to reconcile what we think we know about the world with what is happening at that moment.
Your Roots Are Showing
So it should be with your characters. The clearer you can make the roots of their conflicts, the more essential and understandable and real that conflict becomes. And when their conflict becomes real, your characters do, too.
Try this: look through a newspaper's police calls section. As you read the entries, think of what your character would say or do in those situations. Then ask yourself why. And expect an answer. Or else.
John Christian Hager is the author of the Turning Springs series of e-books and stories, which can be found by searching the words Turning Springs at Smashwords dot com. John is an award-winning writer and playwright who lives in northern Illinois in the USA.
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