I'm always thinking about the pacing of the story. Am I moving too slow or too fast? Too much detail in the story slows the pacing—but too little and the reader can’t ‘see’ the scene. Action is great for speed, but too much can confuse. Dialogue can pick up the pace, but you can overdo even that if the dialogue is clunky or not really sharp. And what about characters—a cast of dozens can be difficult to manage and the reader may drop out of the story just because there’s no one person to follow.
It's easy to tell when a story is sagging. I get bored writing it and my attention wanders.
But what about a sagging life? What about a pace that is too fast or too slow? For a writer, the pace of life is as important as the pace of writing.
The pace of life means you need enough time to let your mind wander. You need enough time that your life doesn’t feel like a confused mess. If there’s too much going on in your head, too many people around, too many demands, how can you expect your stories to have room to come out and breathe?
What can you do about life’s pace? More than you think.
Take a breather. Go to the movies all on your own and make sure you have an hour after to sit in a park or a coffee shop and do nothing more than watch the world go by.
Get up an hour (or so) early.Watch the sun come up in a peaceful, quite house.
Send the family away for a few hours. Send them to the movies instead of you going. Use the time to take a bath or garden or just relax in the sun. Don’t even think of writing—just let your mind wander.
Take a break in the afternoon.Walk outside and listen to birds.
Use a sick day when you aren’t physical sick but you’re heading to mentally-not-really-with-it. This works, too, even if you’re self-employed. Use the day to stay in your sweats and do nothing more than hang out with your thoughts. Journal a little and make it a non-writing day.
Do something you’ve been meaning to do for months! Take a horseback riding lesson. Buy a canvas, some paints and brushes. Sign up for that cooking class. Buy that language tape. Browse the bookstore. Just do one thing that you really, really, really have wanted to do.
Spend an afternoon in a museum. They’re usually quiet, beautiful places and looking at art can make you think about your own art.
Buy yourself some lovely flowers. Spend an hour arranging them.
Go to the nearest park. Go in the late afternoon or evening and just watch the dogs run and the people hang out. Take a tall drink of something with you and don’t leave until the drink is done.
Sit in a restaurant or a caféwith a glass of wine, a pen and a notebook and just jot down random thoughts, or doodle on the page.
The point of all of this is that sometimes you really have to look at life’s pace, not just the story’s pace. Sometimes it’s time to do nothing more than read a good book, instead of worrying so much about writing one.
So what is your favorite goofing off thing to do?
Shannon Donnelly’s writing has won numerous awards, including a RITA nomination for Best Regency, the Grand Prize in the "Minute Maid Sensational Romance Writer" contest, judged by Nora Roberts, RWA's Golden Heart, and others. Her writing has repeatedly earned 4½ Star Top Pick reviews from Romantic Times magazine, as well as praise from Booklist and other reviewers, who note: "simply superb"..."wonderfully uplifting"....and "beautifully written." She is also the author of the Mackenzie Solomon, Demon/Warders Urban Fantasy series, Burn Baby Burn and Riding in on a Burning Tire. She is currently working on her next Regency romance, Lady Chance.
Darynda Jones’ writing is so fun, so fresh, you might think she doesn’t use much of her right brain logic. But she does. Read on, and you’ll learn why and how her right brain rockets her to best seller success.
From Darynda Jones:
So, yeah, I get teased. Even today, sitting at the big girls’ table, I get teased. I’m a plotter, but not just any plotter. I plot like my life depends on it and, in a way, my career does. I’ve learned not to mess with my process and it will often produce outlines that consist of between 40 and 60 pages.
Lots of writers outline. Most don’t do it to that extent, but I see my outline as a map. I have to know where I’m going before I start on the journey. I have to know every turn. Every twist. Every possible obstacle.
Does all this mean that I rigidly stick to my outline? That I never waver or have any kind of spontaneity? Quite the opposite. By creating such a detailed outline, I am actually more free (in my mind, anyway) to divert from the path, because I always know where I’m going. Where I’ll end up. And by creating such a detailed map of events, guess what I never ever have? Go ahead. Guess.
Guess.
I’ll wait.
A sagging middle!
A sagging middle is just not a problem I have ever had. My stories never wander aimlessly. Every scene moves the story forward. Every interaction adds important information or develops my characters even more fully.
Of course, there are more advantages to outlining. One is that I am freer to create those fresh twists that get a writer on the best sellers lists. To explore a character’s emotion and take my writing to the next level. I didn’t know how to do this at first, but I stumbled upon an online class on empowering characters’ emotions given by the incredible Margie Lawson and my writing has never been the same.
I learned so much from that class and from the many I’ve taken since, and right now I’m sitting in an immersion class with Margie, learning so much I’m giddy and ecstatic and dizzy with knowledge. I’m already looking forward to my next immersion class! (And, no, I’m so not kidding.)
Anyhoo, are you sold yet? Check out my process and see if you are willing to take the plunge. And even more important, check out Margie’s classes and lecture packets.
Darynda’s Outlining Process:
I plot like there’s no tomorrow, baby. I barely start a book without three distinct outlines.
1. The Skeleton Key: This answers four basic questions:
-- Where are we?
-- What time of day is it?
-- What major event happens in this scene or series of scenes?
-- In what order does the story unfold?
2. The Outline:
This is a brief synopsis of the entire book. It is usually about 5-9 pages long. It’s what I send my editor for approval before actually starting the book.
3. The Detailed Outline:
This is where I take the skeleton key, plug the outline into the appropriate areas, then add any details I’ve come up with including specific scenes, little extras I want to reveal here and there, funny lines or situations I want to use, and even internal and external motivation.
These outlines usually run between 40 and 60 pages, but remember that part about adding scenes? Yeah, by this point I’ve already written a nice chunk of the book.
Next, I take the final detailed outline, copy and paste it into my manuscript, and delete as I go. This way I never stray far from the conceived story. I don’t wander around, wondering where I’m going. I know exactly what is coming next, and very often, if it’s a “hard” scene (meaning I’m too lazy to write it at that moment), I’ll jump to another scene. I don’t get bored and/or stuck very often and I rarely pull my hair out by its roots. I’ve tried pantsing. It wasn’t pretty. I had writer’s block by the time I got to page three.
NOTE: Let me just say that I write ALL over the place. I do not write linearly in any way, shape or form. But each scene has a purpose. Each scene moves the story forward. This makes the book tight, the pacing strong, and the story smooth. By having such a detailed map of where I’m going, I can write on chapter two one day and chapter nineteen the next. Another (possibly more important) advantage to outlining is that I’m always making progress, always having fun.
Margie says:
Darynda has a smart right brain. But I love her uber-creative left brain too. Here are a few of the hundreds of fresh examples from her upcoming May 19th release, Eighth Grave After Dark.
Dialogue Cues:
1. “Having a secret meeting with my husband?” I asked, my voice sharp with accusation and innuendo. Mostly accusation.
2. What Gemma so often forgot was that no matter how soft and nonjudgmental her voice was, I could feel the emotions raging beneath her calm exterior.
Flicker Face Emotion:
A worried expression flashed across Reyes’s face so fast, I almost missed it. Almost.
Cliché Play:
“I just like to keep you on your toes.”
“Oh, you do that. No worries there. I’m like a ballerina when you’re around.”
Rhetorical Device, Conduplicatio
Still, seeing it in person sent a tiny quiver of terror lacing down my spine. Terror that I’d burst out laughing and embarrass her.
Character Description and Humor Hit:
All in all, he was very nice looking. Medium height. Slim build. Exotic coloring. His accent would suggest a local upbringing. I got the feeling that in his spare time he liked wearing feather boas and singing karaoke. But that could just be me projecting.
Fresh and Funny:
Reyes exploded into the room incorporeally, his heat like a nuclear blast over my skin. I held up a hand, and though it was meant for Reyes—he had a tendency to sever spines first and ask questions later—Agent Waters stopped instantly.
Humor Hit:
I could never hate him. Not even if he ate the last Oreo, though that would be pushing it.
A big THANK YOU to Darynda for sharing her right brain with us!
BLOG GUESTS – Share your ideas about outlining, or not. Or share a fresh example from Darynda Jones or your WIP.
Post a comment and you could win an online class from Lawson Writer’s Academy!
These April classes just started (click on the hyperlink for more info):
Margie Lawson—editor and international presenter—is often considered one of the top writing teachers in America. She used her clinical psychology expertise to develop deep editing techniques used by new writers to multi-award winning authors. In the last decade Margie has presented ninety-plus full day master classes to writers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Writers credit her innovative EDITS System and deep editing techniques for taking their writing to publication, awards, and bestseller lists.
Margie created (and teaches for) Lawson Writer’s Academy, which has over thirty online instructors. She also teaches Immersion Master Classes, four-day, personalized, hone-your-writing-craft intensive experiences. To learn more, please visit www.MargieLawson.com.
Writers in the Storm is having a "Writing Event" on Monday, April 20.
Write Up A Storm is a one-day sprint-writing bash on Facebook, 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. We'll be here. Writing. Piling up word count. Supporting each other.
We'll be writing all day and keeping track of word count totals from our fabulous readers. You can post your word count in a comment that day, and we'll add it to the tally. You can post every hour if you want to and encourage others--or challenge them. Hmm, is this a WITS Throwdown in the making? We're hoping that everyone's combined word count will add up to a novella. Actually I'm hoping for a full-length book!
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.
Read.*
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, April 21, 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.
* At the California Dreamin' Conference last week-end, Laura, Jenny and I heard Keynote Speaker Sylvia Day talk about how when writers stop reading, they stop writing. So read to fill your writer well. Read like a reader and enjoy yourself.
Are you willing to commit to writing on Monday, April 20? Are you willing to share your word count? How about sharing a tip to help all of us get ready?
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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 algebra 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 enjoys sharing her brain with characters who demand that their stories be told. Amazing, gifted critique partners keep her on the straight and narrow. Feedback from readers keeps her fingers on the keyboard.
