During our first event on April 20th, we wrote a whole book! The final word count for our first Write Up a Storm was 79,591 words.
We promised a follow-up event, and it's coming up just in time to jump start your engines for NaNoWriMo. Writers in the Storm is holding another "Write Up a Storm" event on Monday, October 12. It happens to be Columbus Day, so perhaps you'll even have the day off!
Held on our Facebook page, Write Up A Storm is a one-day sprint-writing bash, designed to motivate and sustain your writing throughout the day. Even if that day job impinges on your time, you can participate before work, during lunch and after hours.
Every one of us will be there with you - here at the blog and over at the Facebook event page. Writing. Piling up word count. Supporting each other.
We'll be writing all day and keeping track of word count totals. You can post your word count in a comments for that Monday post, or at the end of every hour if you want to encourage others--or challenge them.
Here's a short list of simple things you can do to prepare for Write Up A Storm:
If you're a plotter, work on that outline for your new idea. You don't have to finish the outline, but have enough to get you through three (or six) chapters.
If you're a pantser, work your process so you've got the beginning of your story solidly ready to put words on the page.
Know your characters–their motivation, their character arcs, what they want more than anything else in the world.
Know what keeps your characters from getting what they want, whether it's another person, lack of something, like education, or maybe something from their past.
Mark the date on your calendar. Set an alarm on your phone.
Commit to a definite number of minutes–even if it's only ten–of solid writing time.
Complete any research necessary to write the section you plan to work on.
Contact other writer friends to participate for support. They will thank you on Tuesday, October 13, when they look at what they've accomplished.
Finish routine chores like the laundry and grocery shopping during the week-end.
Pre-cook meals for the day.
Are you willing to commit to writing on Monday, October 12? Are you willing to share your word count? How about sharing a tip to help all of us get ready?
Well, tomorrow I "surrender" them back to the shelter. Now that everyone, including their stellar mom, is larger and more active, I'd like to share some "larger" lessons.
Change is scary. The day my little family upsized from a bathroom to a bedroom, instead of running
Kitten Destruction
around with joy and curiosity, they huddled together in a corner. Right now the kittens are tearing apart the bags and boxes that serve as large toys and running down the hall to attack more bags and boxes. But that transition in behavior, and confidence, has taken four weeks.
As writers, we put our characters into scary situations. We throw changes into our stories to motivate character arcs, plot twists, or belly laughs. How boring would our writing be without change? As humans, without change our lives would stagnate. (No good visuals of that!) Usually when we are in the midst of change, we aren't happy. Heck, sometimes we're not even functional. Have you translated the depths of those feelings to your characters? Have you juiced every drop from the tart lemon of personal anguish (even with "small" changes) to share with your characters?
You can't climb the ladder of writing success without some discomfort, whether it's with your words or your experiences with the business side of writing. Every rung of that ladder is ripe with change.
You will survive, Take Two. Now that the kittens are climbing (on everything!), they also occasionally fall. From high places or onto hard, pointy surfaces. Every time, the little cat stands, shakes its head, then runs right back to play.
As adults, we tend to dwell on those falls because, well, we aren't used to falling. A critique partner didn't like your log line? A contest judge thought your dialogue was irrelevant? An agent can't connect with your voice? Okay. Pick yourself up, shake your head and run right back to your keyboard and get back into the game.
Be ready for opportunity. At night I do a head count in the kitty room before closing the door. (I have this
Amidst the Chaos...
irrational fear of losing one of the kittens. How could I explain that to the shelter?) In the morning, I talk to the cats while I approach their door with food bowls. When I open the door, they are arrayed just inside, poised to take advantage of whatever opportunity I bring. Breakfast bowls? The barricade in the hall is down? Will I kneel to pet them? They are standing there, ready to capitalize on the moment.
As a writer, are you prepared for opportunities? Do you have that elevator pitch memorized for a chance meeting with a friend's agent? Do you have a query letter ready to go when you hear about an agent or editor looking for exactly what you write? Do your characters use opportunities in a fashion that endears them to us, or do they miss chances to improve their circumstances? That's okay at the beginning of your book, but growth is necessary for that satisfying character arc.
Ready!
Tomorrow is another day. As a science fiction writer, I can remind you that you're human. As such, you are allowed--no, expected--to make mistakes. Making mistakes is a scientifically-proved method of learning. If your writing sucks today, tomorrow is another day. If you get a rejection today, tomorrow is another day. If you didn't have time to write today because the twins have the flu and the toilet clogged, tomorrow is another day. Talk about the perfect chance for a do-over!
This could be classified as an optimistic view of the world (okay, the next day you could find out you're pregnant and all the plumbing needs to be replaced), but, as humans, we know how to make lemonade. So grab some ice and a tall glass, and relax. You will have a chance to put things right tomorrow.
Everything you have learned and experienced gives you the tools to be successful. Mama cat was a feral cat with little human interaction when she came to me. She has learned trust. She has learned that she wants to be loved. She's even learned to play with toys. And she purrs. A lot.
Think of experiences that have shaped your life. The experience doesn't have to be fun or happy. What you take from every experience builds your character and your skill set. Oh, did I mention that if you're a writer, you can use carefully chosen experiences from your character's backstory to show why she thinks and acts like she does?
The last midnight snack
So, my time as a kitty foster mom is over in twelve hours. My job was to keep them all safe and socialize them. Turns out, they had many more jobs than I did. Tomorrow they begin the next part of their journeys--to their forever homes with loving families. Yes, they will miss each other. But they will have the opportunity to be lavished with love by someone who has just one or two cats to care for. They will get to be the sole focus of someone's love and attention.
Though I'll probably cry on the way home from the shelter (Heck, I'm crying now, and I haven't replaced the box of Kleenex on my desk they shredded last night.) I know that I've given them my all and that they will change other people's lives for the better. Isn't that what we hope for with our books?
Have you learned a writing lessons from an animal? What about a life experience that impacted your writing?
ABOUT FAE
Fae Rowen discovered the romance genre after years as a science fiction freak. Writing futuristics and medieval paranormals, she jokes that she can live anywhere but the present. As a mathematician, she knows life’s a lot more fun when you get to define your world and its rules.
Punished, oh-no, that’s published as a co-author of a math textbook, she yearns to hear personal stories about finding love from those who read her books, rather than the horrors of calculus lessons gone wrong. She is grateful for good friends who remind her to do the practical things in life like grocery shop, show up at the airport for a flight and pay bills.
A “hard” scientist who avoided writing classes like the plague, she now shares her brain with characters who demand their stories be told. Amazing, gifted critique partners keep her on the straight and narrow. Feedback from readers keeps her fingers on the keyboard.
We’ve all seen the examples: Wizard School, Dinosaur Park, Titanic. Don’t shudder everyone, high concept is back. Whether it was ever “out” is somewhat debatable. We see it on agent’s manuscript wish lists, in rejection letters, in publisher submission pages. Everyone seems to want a compelling pitch, to heck with characters and world-building and coming-of-age, right?
Not so fast.
First of all, if you’re knee deep in a “low concept” story, this post might not be for you. Maybe you should maybe stop reading. Because you’re a writer and if you’re anything like me, you’re about to panic. Don’t. The world needs low-concept stories. We need love stories, we need human condition stories, we need coming-of-age. Just, do you, okay?
But maybe you’re in the tossing around premises phase of novel writing. Let’s talk about what high concept really is (and isn’t!).
Confusingly, the definition changes and it’s subjective. Google will tell you that “high concept” means you should be able to pitch it in a sentence. A woman in the throes of divorce moves back to her hometown and discovers newfound love.
Well, there you go. That’s high concept.
Not really.
A few things to remember. High Concept must be: 1. Unique. Sorry, Charlie but the logline above? It’s been done to death. 2. Widely intriguing. This doesn’t mean that its low-brow, just that anyone who reads it will find something to relate to. There are universal themes in all great fiction: love, death, revenge, moral code. Where’s the emotional edge? 3. Easily summarized. Get it down to 25 words or less. This honestly might be sheer organization of words. But try to write a 25 word logline. If you can’t do it, then you’re probably not in the “high-concept” ballpark.
Easy peasy right? Sigh.
Don’t despair, you can work with this and figure out a way to draw out your premise. Alternatively, trying to turn a low concept idea into a high concept one might birth a really wonderful novel.
Let’s work with the logline above. It ticks the easily summarized box and it has some universal themes: love, moral code. But what it lacks (and in a big way) is originality.
One way to build in originality is to peruse the headlines. What does the world care about these days? Don’t be afraid of tackling a controversial topic.
A woman in the throes of divorce moves back to her hometown and discovers newfound love, only to discover her lover will be deported.
Now suddenly, you’re writing a novel about a woman who loves an immigrant. Maybe she marries him to keep him in the country. Maybe she doesn’t, then what happens to their relationship? The point is, sometimes putting a finer point on your premise forces you down a different path.
A woman in the throes of divorce moves back to her hometown and discovers newfound love, only to discover her lover will be deported to Iran.
Now, we’ve got a whole new ball of wax. We have incredible novel fodder and if done right, some real potential to explore racism, immigration, international intrigue…. Wait, what did you say? Oh. That’s not the novel you wanted to write? You wanted to write a little love story, right?
Ok. I hear you. I do.
A woman in the throes of divorce moves back to her hometown and discovers newfound love, only to discover her lover is dying of ALS.
Too depressing?
A woman in the throes of divorce moves back to her hometown and discovers newfound love, only to discover her lover is a space alien.
Hmmm, maybe not universal enough.
The point remains, what is it about your love story that will be new to the audience? If you can tease this out or, in the case of those writers just brainstorming a premise, use this exercise to develop something instantly intriguing, you might have a more salable novel when you’re done.
But why can’t I just write the book I want to write?
You absolutely can. Like I said, the world needs low concept stories. But if you’re just trying to break into this business, it might not be a bad idea to back-burner your introspective literary tome and come up with something a little different. Something that will grab a reader (or an agent, or a publisher) by the shirt collar and say hey, you, read this now.
Does that mean guns and car chases and formulaic thrillers? No. It actually means the opposite of formulaic. It tests your brain to work creatively in large ways, not nuanced ones. As writers, we’re so conditioned to examine the details: dialogue, micro-tension, wordplay. Thinking big picture can be a challenge.
So share your logline. What does it bring to the reader? How does it grab them?
About Kate:
Kate Moretti is the New York Times Bestselling author of the women’s fiction novel, Thought I Knew You. Her second novel Binds That Tie was released in March 2014. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two kids, and a dog. She’s worked in the pharmaceutical industry for ten years as a scientist, and has been an avid fiction reader her entire life.
She enjoys traveling and cooking, although with two kids, a day job, and writing, she doesn’t get to do those things as much as she’d like.
Her lifelong dream is to buy an old house with a secret passageway.
