by James Preston

The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand. -- Sun Tzu

First, thanks for having me back.  I really enjoy these opportunities to talk about our work.

About this entry --

If you have a first draft and wonder what to do next, this is the essay for you.

If you don't have a first draft, this is the essay for you because reading it will relieve some of the worry about your first draft not being perfect. (Hint: it probably won't be and that's ok.)  It will give you permission to drive on to the end.

I wanted to find a nifty segue between "Thanks" and Deconstructionism but it eluded me. Maybe I’ll find it in the revision of this essay, which leads me to what I want to talk about today.

Welcome to:

The End Of Deconstructionism

In the past I have talked about adapting screenplay structure to genre novels -- Hook, Twist, Plot Point One, Midpoint, Plot Point Two, Dénouement.  And I talked about the joys of 4" x 6" cards, each of which has something happening.

All of that sounds very mechanical, and in a way it is. It is the craft part of what we do, similar to someone learning to run scales on their way to being a jazz pianist.  It is deconstructing the process to produce a better product, or to make producing that product easier for you.

Remember Romancing the Stone? It begins with Kathleen Turner sobbing as she types "The End." The impression given is that she bundles the manuscript up and ships it off to her editor. Ah, don't we all wish! For most of us it's not quite like that. You have come up with interesting people to write about, presented them with problems that they must solve, guided them to an ending of some sort. In other words, you write a book, or at least a first draft. You get to the fabled "The End."   Hopefully you love it, love it enough to know that it needs work before being exposed to the public.

First, stop and congratulate yourself.  Of the literally millions of people who say they want to write, only half actually start, and less than half of them finish.  Really. I can footnote that.  Congratulate yourself.

Okay, don't get carried away with congratulations, because you are probably not done, unless you are some kind of mutant genius like Isaac Asimov who, when asked now he could write so many books, reportedly replied, "I type seventy words a minute and I never revise." Most of us revise, some more than others.

One of my problems revising is that I tend to look at a micro view. "Gee, that sentence sounds lame," or "That dialog is flat."  That is only part of revising. Another important part is the macro view.

Art . . .

And craft.

For the first, you're on your own.  For the craft part, for the macro view of your work, there are some techniques that might help the deconstruction.

One type of analysis I have found helpful is simply figuring out where all of your characters are in each chapter. Literally. Where they are and what they are doing. All the characters in each and every chapter, whether or not they appear in the chapter. In fact, this is especially important for characters who are not on-scene in the chapter.

It will tell you if you have logical flaws like Betty has to be in the casino in Chapter Three, but she is still in Los Angeles at the end of Chapter Two and there isn't enough time for her to drive to Las Vegas. The easy way to do this is with a chart, with characters' names along the vertical axis and chapter headings along the horizontal.

Do you begin to see how this kind of analysis reveals plot holes, particularly those of the “who knows what when” variety?

From television, a series that shall remain unnamed suffers from so many of these issues that if the actors weren't wonderful it would be a laughingstock.  Here's just one. A woman's son is kidnapped; the kidnappers (who are all psycho killer nut bags and the mother knows that) call up and say, in effect, "Meet us secretly, away from the police, and you can see your son."  She says, "Why, sure, Mr. Chock-Full-O-Nuts, I believe every word you say," and eludes the FBI by going out the back door of a coffee shop to meet the kidnapper. The agent knows this, he is in the coffee shop when she runs. Later they track her and Mr. CFON down in a warehouse, break in the front way and and . . .  Spoiler Alert! They run out the back door!  And the FBI agent is surprised! When in the preceding chapter, er, scene, he saw her do the same thing.

Again, the writer has to keep track of who knows what when.

Here's a sample from Chapter One of Pennies For Her Eyes, the newest Surf City Mystery.

(On the page) T. R. Macdonald is home, standing over the washing machine, folding his girlfriend's underwear.

(On the page)  The aforementioned girlfriend is in the living room, working on her dissertation.

(Off the page)  The young skateboarder girl T. R. will have to help is at a skate park.

(On the page) The people invading T. R.'s home are on his boat dock.

(Off the page) The real villain is setting up a fake laboratory.

And so on . . .

Since Pennies For Her Eyes is my book, I had a pretty good idea of where all these folks were in Chapter One, but I still learned things about my characters doing this again. I didn't know until I wrote this essay that my bad guy spent that evening making an empty warehouse look like a place where weapons of bioterrorism were cooked up. Creating this list, this mechanical, laborious task, gave me a wider view of the world that exists around the words on the page.

So here's your assignment:

Take one chapter of your current WIP and complete this exercise. You already know what the on-screen characters are doing, so concentrate on those who do not show up in the chapter. I think you will find this allows you to know them better, and makes them more real, with lives beyond that which you show. I also think that, like me, in some cases you will list a character's name and draw a blank. Think about it. Where were they? What were they doing?

Send us a comment.  I'd like to hear what you find out, and I think the readers of Writers in the Storm would, too. Good luck!

And this does mark the end, at least for now, of my thoughts on deconstructionism, the mechanical aspects of our art, in other words, the craft. Next time, no more running scales. Next time when to just roll with it or, as Stephen King once said, "Just flail away at the damn thing." Until then.

To connect with James:

He can be reached at james@jamesrpreston.com

and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Surf City.James or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/james.preston.50999

by Kathryn Craft
Turning Whine into Gold

Everything’s changing.

Yep—that’s a whine all right, and a truth, and the summary of this entire post. Change is as constant in publishing as any other industry impacted by computerization in the past twenty years.

But change can be especially hard to grapple with for writers. Here’s why, and some tips for turning whine into gold.

Nature of the beast

Whine: Storytellers are constantly adrift in imaginary worlds, conjuring unexpected pressures that, in the end, will force some sort of inexorable change. Yet day after day writers depend on their coffee, their chocolate, their word count, their wine, their cat, and their Obi-Wan Kenobi action figure (oh—is that just me?). Constants serve as touchstones for an inner life in a constant state of upheaval.

Gold: Storytellers are change specialists. Yes, we usually control that change. But actual, real-world challenges, although rarely welcomed, provide fodder for our stories, and ground them in the realities of the world in which our readers live. Real-life shake-ups can stimulate the imagination in ways that refresh both story and career.

Age

Whine: Of course we all know writers who sprang from the womb with their tiny fingers already curled around a pencil. But the need for reliable income, the need to go through some real life “material” first, the distraction of children and unsupportive spouses, the need to grow into one’s voice and gain perspective—for many reasons, writing is often a late-stage choice. And as you get older, adaptation of any sort can get more challenging.

 Gold: Corporate human relations executives, whether hiring MBAs or chemists, favor employees with a background in the arts. Why? They adapt better. Use your innate creativity to negotiate the changing tide, knowing that you are better equipped than most to do so.

Time required

Whine: Let’s say that it takes a decade of concerted effort to power up a publishing career. If you did that between 1995 and 2005 you may have had your first laser printer, a dial-up modem, and an unimaginable number of kilobytes of hard drive space. Your soundtrack changed from albums to disks to mp3s. Landlines became cell phones—then, in the next decade, smart phones. In publishing the past decade saw genres blur, the advent of digital publishing and social media, the emergence of the independent author, and constant redefinition of career roles. A decade in this technological age can make a writer dizzy.

Gold: A decade in this technological age is nothing short of revolutionary. New options abound. Niche markets can be built, at almost no cost, for exactly the kind of book you want to write, and you can publish and promote it yourself with relative ease. You need only rewind two decades and imagine yourself writing with a typewriter, onionskin, and Wite-Out to see that the gifts outweigh the challenges.

Personal investment

Whine: Writing is a ridiculously front-loaded effort without any guarantee of financial gain. In return for all you’ve done to learn the ropes, you’d like to be able to count on them to hold your weight. But the ropes keep swinging, and are hard to grasp.

Gold: Publishing has always been a gamble. That’s why you were drawn to it—you wanted to see if you could make it. In an industry where even veterans are now scrambling for an edge and guessing at what comes next, your own best guess can fit right in. The gamble still exists, but your greater career input stacks the deck—knowing what you’re made of, you know better than anyone whether investing in self is worth the risk.

Faith

Whine: As our chosen industry continues to evolve, the destination called “success” is losing definition. It’s getting harder to have faith that we are still on the right path, in the right woods, within a career story that we still have the power to bring to a satisfying conclusion.

Gold: People who whine for the golden age of publishing forget that the industry has always been extremely selective, and that the parameters for those who made it in were always subjective. Preparation and faith were your only hope. Social media and independent publishing options allow us to supplement the “wing and a prayer” method with more of our own efforts than ever before.

So what say you?

Are you willing to both control and surrender to story change? Are you willing to use your abundant creativity to adapt? Are you willing to cash in on new methods of working? Are you willing to invest in yourself and the changing industry? Do you have faith that ever-present change might be able to work to your benefit?

If the answer is yes, you are indeed an alchemist, capable of changing whine into gold. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go learn how to use the gizmo that will let me take credit cards on my iPhone. Increased impulse purchases, BAM! Can you even believe it?

Kathryn Craft is the author of two novels from Sourcebooks: The Art of Falling, which was released on January 28 and has already gone back for a second printing, and While the Leaves Stood Still (due Spring 2015). Her work as a developmental editor at Writing-Partner.com, specializing in storytelling structure and writing craft, follows a nineteen-year career as a dance critic. Long a leader in the southeastern Pennsylvania writing scene, she now serves on the board of the Philadelphia Writers Conference and as book club liaison for the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. She hosts lakeside writing retreats for women in northern New York State, leads Craftwriting workshops, and speaks often about writing. She lives with her husband in Bucks County, PA. Although a member of The Liars Club, she swears that everything in this bio is true.

by Jenny Hansen

"There isn’t any secret. You sit down and you start and that’s it."
~ Elmore Leonard

Last month, I took a course with Margie Lawson called Defeating Self-Defeating Behaviors, which I would recommend to anyone.

Margie might have geared the course toward writers, but I've already talked a painting/designer friend and my non-writing cousin into taking it as well.

Within the first week, I identified 5+ things that will make me more productive forever. Certainly, I wasn't feeling like things could be worse.

Example:
At the beginning of her course, I stumbled across an email draft of my 2013 goals. (Coincidence? I think not.) It was an appalling moment, looking at that list, and realizing I'd only accomplished one.

The agony... Out of seven fabulous goals, I'd pulled off...ONE.

Where I wanted to wallow, Margie made us examine our previous goal lists to find out WHY we were falling short.

The most important thing I learned from all those 2013 goals?

I am not a "yearly list" kind of girl.

The goals are too big and they overwhelm me. I get lost inside them, and then I feel like a hideous, pitiful loser (I told you this process is not logical). I had the same issue with quarterly goals, although it wasn't quite as bad.

The simple act of only putting down a few small goals per day freed me, and it launched my frozen creativity into orbit. I didn't have to try to figure out some huge list, I just had to do "these two little things."

On the days when I was really smart, I'd write for 20 mins before I did anything else.

Here was my list for January (and only January):

1. Complete Margie’s DSDB class.
2. Write at least 15 mins of fiction 5-6 days a week – shoot for 30 mins.
3. Meet with friend on the 9^th to make a first steps freelance plan.
4. Submit 2 queries for freelance work – doesn’t matter where.
5. Sign up to teach ONE online course to begin no earlier than mid-to-late February.

I couldn't believe it when I achieved every goal. Every. One. The most beautiful thing about my new plan is that I get $hit done and then I feel better about myself.

Margie's material is proprietary so you have to take the class if you want it (she has packets too), but I will share one little thing that described my old approach to goals:

A Negative spiral. Or – How to set yourself up to FAIL:

• Make a big, overwhelming list
• Attempt a few items
• Allow yourself to be distracted, do other things
• Regarding your list items – Fail
• Become depressed
• Ignore list
• Misuse time
• Accomplish little
• More depression

Yep, that was ME the first week of January...feeling like a failure. And it wasn't logical.

Then I met with one of my pals who's a successful freelancer, and she tasked me with creating a writing resume for the freelance endeavor I described above. I had to list all the writing stuff I do and put it in resume form.

It was like pulling teeth. I hemmed, I hawed. I hadn't published a book yet, or even an "official" freelance assignment. That ugly small voice in my head asked me who the hell I thought I was. I felt completely out of my depth.

At the end of my first draft, my change coach (who holds me accountable to for all this) had to remind me of like 5 things I'd forgotten. By the time I was done, the list and it's descriptors were TWO pages.

That's not "accomplishing nothing."

I was exhibiting what Margie calls "faulty thinking." (Focusing on my shortcomings and ignoring my successes.) What about the 600 posts I've written for More Cowbell? The SocialIn Network blogs I do every Friday? My work here?

I'm coming to the realization that it doesn't really matter what I didn't do, it matters what I WILL do.

My previous thinking was undiluted crapola. FUBAR. Spotty on the logic. And I had this spotty thinking because I was scared. I think that's the dark suffocating place where most spotty thinking comes from.

We did a series on fear a few years ago here at WITS called "The Fear Thowdown" and it's always been my favorite. I think we’ve covered common writers’ fears REALLY well -- you'll have to let me know down in the comments.

There was Laura Drake’s post – Fear of NOT Succeeding – that started the  Throwdown. Laura worries constantly about running out of time before accomplishing her goals.

Fae Rowen answered the challenge with a beautiful post called, “Fear of Success” where she shared that she fears not meeting expectations and submitting work that is less than perfect.

D.A. Watt balanced both sides with “Are You A Head Case? Fear No More!” Deb worries about dropping the ball in her personal list of responsibilities and spreading herself too thin trying to be “Super Me.”

I spoke on the Fear Factor of Dreams, summing up the other posts and discussing how our dreams can both help and hinder us.

Finally, if you're suffering from faulty thinking, I recommend that you pick yourself a Coach who will slap you around when you need it.

I ensured my success by picking Laura Drake as a Change Coach (yes, our Laura here at WITS) and she's been a rockstar. She sends me Facebook inspiration and encourages me to keep going. She calls and harangues me when I haven't sent her words for a while. She calls me on my faulty thinking.

Writing is often a lonely business, and no one can do it for you. But they can help. Your writing team is vital to your success while you figure out how to get out of your own way.

How do you approach goals? What kinds of faulty thinking do you suffer from? What's the #1 "goal avoidance" behavior you engage in? Who holds you accountable?

About Jenny Hansen

Jenny fills her nights with humor: writing memoir, women’s fiction, chick lit, short stories (and chasing after her toddler Baby Girl). By day, she provides training and social media marketing for an accounting firm. After 18 years as a corporate software trainer, she’s digging this sit down and write thing.

When she’s not at her blog, More Cowbell, Jenny can be found on Twitter at JennyHansenCA, on the SocialIn Network (which serves 2.5 million people), or here at Writers In The Storm.

photo credit: gareth1953 the original via photopin cc