Writers in the Storm

by Dr. Diana Stout

Nobody likes to fail. And yet, failures are a part of life. We don’t learn lessons during happy times. We learn through pain and conflict.

A Recent Conversation

Recently, at a monthly chat meeting with other screenwriters where many of us are teachers, editors, writing coaches, and mentors, and have been writers most of our lives, we talked about the frustration of writers who seek our help, but then insist their scripts are wonderful and ready to be sent out, disagreeing with our advice of more work needed before submitting.

We were nodding our heads as this conversation was recounted.

“Everyone is telling me how good it is.”

“Who’s everyone?”

“My family, my friends. Classmates.”

“Of course, they’ll tell you it’s good. They love you.”

“But I got all A’s in English.”

“High school English isn’t the same as writing a screenplay (or novel). Your manuscript/script has issues. How many drafts have you written?”

“What?” Major pause while this wrinkle is absorbed. “How many drafts do I need?” (They appear reluctant to admit this is their first draft.)

“As many as it takes to become the best story possible, hooking the reader from the first page all the way through to the last.”

“How many drafts do you write?”

When we give them a double-digit number, the incredulous response is, “Seriously?”

Signs of a Successful Writer

Learning there’s more work to be done can be daunting and frustrating. But, the sign of a future successful writer—actually, anyone with any project or goal in any field—is how they react to failure.

• Do they accept that more work is needed?
• Or, do they get angry, not accepting the critique or advice?

Through our shared stories of failure, we agreed the best thing that ever happened to each of us was having someone heavily marking up our scripts/manuscripts. We learned from those critiques. These were the mentors we cherished.

We never saw their criticism as personal; we saw their criticism as a learning opportunity.

We agreed we learned through our failures, which led to our successes. Don’t be fooled; we still get our share of failures, and we are all still learning.

At that point, Doug spoke up and said, “Use me as an example. I wasn’t the typical new writer. When I was young, I sold my first script with its first submission, and it got produced and up on the screen. That was 30 years ago. I haven’t sold anything since, but I’m still trying and still learning.”

While happy with that early success, he acknowledged he was in the right place at the right time with the right script. That he had been incredibly lucky at that time.

Writing isn’t a sprint. It’s a marathon. Failing is merely a message, telling us what not to do. Thus, we need to be willing to make changes and lean into wanting criticism because it encourages us to make changes and improve our craft.

Acceptance of failing isn’t the only attribute of the winning writer. So is patience and persistence.

We need to be patient throughout the entire process, the journey to success. How many times have you heard someone say, “I was a 15-year overnight success”?

And, we need to be persistent. The one thing I’ve learned is that success never arrives via my desired timeline. Usually, it’s been much later after others would have given up or have given up. It’s almost as if I’m being tested on my determination-factor.

Remove Your Ego

My first major critique came back with so much red on the pages, I thought my mentor had cut her arm and bled all over the pages. I remember the initial tears and being angry. I put it away for several days and came back to it, re-examining the red marks. I sighed, realizing she was right about everything.

My tears and anger had been ego-reactionary. Lesson learned. She had spent a lot of time helping me, so I needed to be grateful, instead.

I was improving, so I thought. That’s when she said, “You’re better than this. Why do you keep making the same mistakes?”

I sighed, acknowledging she was right. Another lesson.

And then, finally, after telling her I’d gotten another rejection, she said, “I don’t understand why you’re not getting published. It’s like you’re standing at the cliff’s edge with only your heels.”

I didn’t understand it either, but at least now, it felt more like it was only a matter of time and totally out of my control. I kept submitting.

More years passed. By my early 30s and with more manuscripts written, I told myself if I hadn’t published a novel by the time I was 40, I would quit trying. I’m glad I didn’t. I traditionally published my first novel, at 42. (Indie publishing was still a decade away.)

Be Willing to Learn, Willing to Change

If we are willing to learn, are willing to keep trying, and willing to make changes, our writing does improve. We’re making progress, even if only in small steps.

Not sure you believe this theory?

Examples of Successful Failures

Starting in 1901, the Wright brothers traveled hundreds of miles, toting major equipment from their garage to the hanger they’d built at Kitty Hawk. The first couple years, they flew gliders hundreds of times, always tweaking the design.

When they attached a propeller and then an engine, they had failures until they finally achieved success with a 12-second 120-foot flight. More failures demanded more changes and more tests until they achieved a viable success.

Note: The linked book is a fantastic read of their journey with its many failures.

Other great examples:

• Thomas Edison said it took 10,000 attempts to create a light bulb that was desired by consumers.
• Michael Jordan was cut from high school varsity basketball as a sophomore.
• Walt Disney was fired from a mid-west newspaper for his lack of ideas; his theme park idea was rejected over 300 times by banks and investors.
• Clark Gable failed his first screen test, as did other actors and actresses who later became famous.
• John Grisham’s first book, A Time to Kill, was rejected by 28 publishers.
• William Golding’s book, Lord of the Flies, was rejected 21 times.
• Mary Higgins Clark’s first short story was rejected 40 times.
• Louis L’Amour’s first story was rejected 350 times.
• Theodor Geisel’s first book was rejected 27 times before it was published. We know him today as Dr. Suess.

These are just a few stories of famous, well-known individuals who suffered through multiple failures before they finally found success.

In Summary

You can do it!

• Be Patient. Keep adding and building your portfolio of books written.
• Be Persistent. Keep practicing and rewriting. Keep learning.
• Be Willing to Fail. You’ll be in good company.

What kind of writing failures have you had along the way? What lessons have you learned or are learning?

About Diana

Getting stuck in the writing, getting submission rejections (before indie publishing), and feeling like she would never get published were the three hardest hurdles Dr. Diana encountered as a writer. While she had no control over the rejections (other than improving her craft), she learned that by changing her process, she could get unstuck easily, and keep her passion high from start to finish. An added bonus was discovering she could write first drafts quickly in a matter of 7-10 days.

She’s shared her discoveries in two books: Finding Your Fire & Keeping It Hotand CPE: Character, Plot, & Emotion.And, for two weeks in June (9-20), she’ll be teaching a Master Class that combines the methods of both books: Keeping Your Writing Fire & Keeping It Hot.

In the meantime, she’s thrilled to opening her windows to the warmer, spring weather as she works on her current projects.

To learn more about Diana, visit her Sharpened Pencils Productions website.

Click here to subscribe to her announcement-only newsletter.

Photo credit: Top photo purchased from Depositphotos.com.

by Tari Lynn Jewett

NO, this is not a blog about teaching children to write! This is about what I learned while teaching children to write.

Years ago, when I wrote freelance for magazines and newspaper, the principal of my boys’ elementary school invited me to teach a class on writing for publication, for the school’s GATE Program, California’s  Gifted and Talented Education program.  I love teaching, so I didn’t hesitate to say yes.

But, this was a challenge.  I’d always felt that you could teach people the mechanics, but considered creative writing more innate. Something, you had or didn’t have.

A story about “writing magic.”

A few years earlier, I’d rewritten a friend’s post graduate essay for his master’s application. He’d already had a couple of rejections. This friend has a bachelor’s degree with a double major in journalism and linguistics. I have no degree. I reviewed his essay, did a little tweaking and returned it to him.

He read it and asked, “What did you do? This is magic. It says the same thing but…it’s magic,” then added, “Can you teach me to do this?”

At the time, I’m not sure what I would have tried to teach him, because I didn’t know exactly what I’d done. In my head, I’d boosted the energy. But he got into a graduate program, and we never had an opportunity to work on it.

Fast forward a few years to the GATE program. I’d be working with kids in grades 3 through 5. So, the class had to work for all grade levels. I spent weeks working on the curriculum and began to understand my own process, but I learned even more while teaching the kids.

Here’s what I learned…

1. There is nothing magic about it.

Despite what my friend said, and Hunky Hubby frequently says. I’m sure the kids would have loved it, if I’d taught them magic, and I hate to break anyone’s heart, but truly, it’s not magic. It’s understanding words, and using them to get the best impact.

2. Breaking down my process. (I actually have two.)

When I’m writing non-fiction, I’m a planner/plotter. I make a detailed outline, use it for my research, and I have a very specific format. However, I do stay flexible. Research or interviews, can change my story direction, but I adjust my outline, stick to my format, and carry on. This is easily teachable.

Some people don’t like working with an outline, they feel it inhibits them. For me, when writing non-fiction, that outline actually gives me freedom and supports my creativity. I have a map, I know where I’m going, and now I can stop to smell the roses, and tell my best story.

But was I really a plotter?

As a fiction writer, I considered myself a pantser (someone who writes by the seat of their pants), but I recently realized that’s not true.

I don’t plot out a whole book before I write. I let the characters tell their stories. It’s kind of like those Magic Eye pictures, where you have to relax your eyes to see the hidden picture. I have to relax my mind, and let the characters talk to me. So, I must be a pantser. But I realized that my first draft is always short, often as much as 50% short on word count.

During the revision process, I use that first draft the way I would an outline.  I go back, flesh out scenes, fill in backstory or foreshadowing, and anything I’ve found during research that helps the story.

I think that makes me a plotsy/pantser.

3. Those magic words.

Are verbs. You may know this. Don’t get me wrong, adverbs and adjectives are part of the magic, but if your English teacher told you to replace passive verbs with active when possible, she was right. Changing the verbs in a sentence can bring it to life.

“Her mind wandered as she was cooking.”

“She stirred the pot slowly, lost in thought.”

Replacing is, are, was, were, went, any passive verb, with action gives a story energy and impact. And it’s always easier for me to find these in someone else’s writing!

4. Know where your story starts.

When my students started turning in pages, they often started too early in the story.

I read through my own work as I worked on their evaluations, and noticed that my earlier pieces didn’t always start in the best place. Too much backstory, a necessity for me to tell the story, but not necessary for the reader. The reader wants to get to the conflict or action. Years of reading and writing had taught me to start with that action.

In my nonfiction, it was easier to see the starting point. Because of the detailed outline, I knew my goals from the beginning, in fiction, sometimes I find the start a chapter into the story.

5. Everyone has their own writing style.

Style is a personal thing. And that’s good. I’m not really a critique group person, because I don’t feel qualified to evaluate other people’s work. But evaluating student work came with the job. I took this responsibility seriously. Grammar, spelling and punctuation are important, but usage can be subjective, and can even vary from genre to genre.

The kids were writing for magazines. Each magazine had their own style, and each student their personal style. My job was to read and evaluate, without stepping on their style. Especially important because these were young writers. I didn’t want to impact their uniqueness.

6. Be fearless- most kids are.

In saying that, I did have a student who seemed to need a safety net. Constant reassurance that they were ‘doing it right.’ It wasn’t just mechanics they were unsure of, they seemed to want me to rewrite their work for them in their evaluations.

I don’t want my editor to rewrite my work, and I don’t want to rewrite someone else’s. Make suggestions, tell me what isn’t working, but the writing and rewrites should belong to the author.

Most of the kids were fearless.

They took on their projects with enthusiasm, not worrying that they weren’t experts on the topics, not considering that they weren’t ‘real writers’.

Seeing this, I realized how fearless I’d been starting my career. I didn’t worry about being a ‘real writer’ because, in my head, I wasn’t a writer. I wrote. And to write, you must be somewhat fearless.

7. Real feedback is important.

As I said, I’ve never been a critique group person. I know some are really worthwhile, but I’ve attended many that are just there to cheer each other on. I avoid critiquing someone else’s work because I don’t feel qualified to evaluate it. I’m afraid to hurt the author’s feelings if I don’t think something works. However, if I share my work, I want real feedback.

Evaluating student work was required. And each student deserved helpful feedback.

I worked hard to make sure that I gave them positive feedback, along with what I’d like them to work on for the next revision. As authors, we need to know that we’re doing something right, but also how we can grow and become better writers.

8. Reading out loud helps.

The GATE students read their stories to the class after each draft. Yes, I made young children do several drafts.

When they read them aloud, they often found mistakes, or realized they didn’t like a particular line. The other students heard words directly from the author and were able to give constructive feedback.

In the thirty years since I taught this class, I’ve read my work aloud to myself, or my husband every time I edit.

9. Don’t be afraid to crumble it up and start over.

One of my fourth-grade students had gone through two rounds of revisions, and wasn’t happy with his work. “Mrs. Jewett,” he said after reading his third draft aloud. “I actually threw this away and started over, but my mom said I couldn’t do that. Can I read my new story?”

He didn’t give up.

He had thrown out the story, and begun fresh. When he started to read, I expected him something entirely new. But he read the same story, completely rewritten. A new opening and conclusion, and much better organization.

This is hard to do. If I start a project, I tend to power through. I go back and revise, revise, revise, and soldier on. Since that fourth-grade student gave me permission, I’m not afraid to do throw it away and start fresh.

Okay, I don’t throw it away…or delete the story, but I do close the file and start over, if my story isn’t working.

10. Writing can be taught.

Yes, I believe that like anything else, writing can be an innate talent. But now I also believe that anyone who wants to learn to write, nonfiction, fiction, advertising… and I’ve done a little of all of it…can learn. And whatever talent we start with, we should continue to learn throughout our writing journey.

Despite what I said in point number one, IT IS MAGIC. Through reading, writing and sharing our stories, we have the ability to experience and create magic. To prove it, two of my students were published in commercial publications! All of them were published in a school magazine.

Tell me, what experiences have taught you the most about your own process? Please share your story with us down in the comments!

Looking for a fun summer read? Tari's #FireworksInTheFog, part of her Hermosa for the Holidays series, is a 4th of July book. She'll be releasing it in print next month, but the e-book is available now!

About Tari

Tari Lynn Jewett lives in Arizona just off Route 66 with her husband of thirty-five years (aka Hunky Hubby). They have three amazing sons, and two beautiful grandsons. For over twenty years, Tari wrote freelance for magazines and newspapers, television commercials, radio spots, numerous press releases, and many, MANY PTA newsletters. As much as she loved writing those things, she always wanted to write fiction…and now she is.

Tari writes light, fun romcoms, but she is also working on a historical women’s fiction series set in the Los Angeles area, spanning from the late 1920’s to the ‘50’s. These are darker, edgier full-length novels. 

A voracious reader, Tari’s favorite treat is to turn off her phone and computer and curl up with an un-put-downable book. 

She also believes in happily-ever-afters,

…because she’s living hers.

Website • Amazon • Goodreads • Bookbub •

Top photo purchased from Depositphotos.

by Janet Forbes

“If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine,” says Obi Wan Kenobi. 

It’s a really cool line. But as someone who writes Science Fiction and Fantasy, a little bell goes off in my head. How powerful? Powerful enough to do ANYTHING?

Because that’s a one-way ticket to a broken story. Overpowered items, superpowers that are just too super, or get-out-of-jail-free technology are easy to create by accident. And suddenly, your main characters have a “Travel-Sized Miracle Device” to solve every problem you throw at them. It’s a conflict killer.

And its not just SFF writers who have to deal with this. Even an everyday cell phone can mess up your story, and give your characters too many options.

When characters are TOO powerful, it’s hard to explain why they fail. But try-fail cycles are critical for story advancement, for keeping the Mary-Sue out of your dramatis personae, and for keeping characters active and stories interesting. 

Enter - the Triangle of Power.

No, it’s not some arcane casting ritual: it’s a tool you can use to balance your worldbuilding, stop abilities becoming too overpowered, and improve your narratives. 

What is the Triangle of Power in worldbuilding?

The Triangle of Power is my model to prevent magic and technology (and other abilities) from unbalancing your worldbuilding and throwing off your story. It consists of three “levers” you can adjust - Abilities, Cost, and Limitations. And for us, as writers and storytellers, these levers don’t just balance our worldbuilding and save our plots: they have SERIOUS storytelling potential too, if we use them right. 

And it’s not just for crazy magic and far-future technologies: everyday technology like cell phones ALSO obey the Triangle of Power, and work better in stories because of it. 

Abilities - what does it do?

It’s often easiest to first describe the core Ability. What does the magic, the technology, the psionics or superpower, do? What effect does it have? What change does it make to the world? Or what information does it reveals? For example:

• A cellphone lets you call someone, look things up, has a flashlight, maps and more
• The One Ring turns the wearer invisible
• The WARP drive allows the Starship Enterprise to travel faster than light
• The D&D spell “Zone of Truth” creates a 15 foot sphere in which everyone must tell the truth
• Superman is a veritable Swiss Army knife of special abilities: flying, cold breath, laser vision and more!

Sometimes abilities are more nebulous than these examples. And that’s OK too. For example, I was helping a writer with their fairy magic system in which pretty much anything is possible. In fact, that’s where costs and limitations become SUPER important. Because when anything is possible, it actually becomes harder to write the story, or explain why a character can’t just magic their way out of a problem.

Traditionally, Abilities are the shiny thing that people remember - it’s the side of the triangle that takes most of the focus. But it’s the one I’ll spend the least time on here because, in many ways, it’s actually the simplest. And funnily enough, although it seems the most exciting, it actually has less storytelling potential than the other two sides. 

Cost: what does it take?

The next side of the triangle is Cost. What kind of input is needed for the Ability to happen?

Going back to our previous examples, here are some costs of well-known abilities:

• A cellphone needs battery and payment to a network to keep it working
• Wearing the One Ring erodes your soul (creepy!) and also reveals your location to Sauron
• Star Trek’s Warp drives require “fuel” to run it. 
• The D&D spell “Zone of Truth” requires a spell slot. Some D&D spells also require material spell ingredients
• Superman needs radiation from our red sun in order for his super powers to work. Otherwise, he’s just Clark Kent in spandex and external underwear.

Costs might be dramatic and visceral - your soul (or someone else’s soul, like The Elder Scrolls soul gems), your blood, a heart or another body part (yours or someone else’s). They could be something less tangible, like energy, life force. The cost might be something that regenerates over time, like mana, spell slots, or stamina (after a good long lie in, you’ll be ready to cast spells again!) But it could also be something finite - like an item that disintegrates once its magic “charge” is used up.

Even a simple cost has story potential - how often did the Star Ship Voyager stall because they were out of deuterium, or have to engage in dodgy dealings to resupply? Or how about the archetypal villain, harvesting souls to power a  doomsday device? Passive characters can be the death of a story, and seeking out the costs needed for an ability is a great way to compel your protagonists and antagonists into action! Whether they have to buy, steal, mine, retrieve, or negotiate for it, a cost can inject action into your story.

But costs can also create really interesting character moments. A cost could be “consequences”. For example what if, as you heal this person in front of you, you’re stealing the life force from someone else? What does it say about the character who uses this magic? 

Or perhaps you’re desperate enough to steal luck from tomorrow so you can win at cards? Just know that you’ll be banging into coffee tables and dropping your toast butter-side-down for the rest of the week.

And a cost may not be immediately obvious to a character. Having them slowly realise the cost of an ability as the story progresses has great character development potential. As a bonus, it’s a great way to pace the learning curve of your worldbuilding exposition.

Limitations: What It Can’t Do? 

Kryptonite was first introduced to comic mythos because Superman's invulnerability was considered "boring". And that’s exactly why you need Limitations.

In the Triangle of Power, Limitations are…. the other stuff. In D&D these are common: something only works within 30 feet, or can be blocked by a dead magic zone. In science fiction, limitations are important too: a dust storm or radiation can block your radars or clog your engines. A piece of tech might only work in earth-like gravity, or a spell might only work during a planetary alignment.

You’ll notice that Limitations are different from Costs. Cost is like an input - souls, mana, blood, spell-slots. Limitations are more like conditions that must either be met (like special circumstances) or must be avoided, like “interference”. 

Going back to our previous examples, here are some Limitations of those well known examples:

• A cellphone can’t work underground, or where there’s no cell service. It’s susceptible to getting wet and can also be damaged fairly easily
• Everything from subspace interference to ion storms disrupts Star Trek’s Warp drive
• The D&D spell “Zone of Truth” takes a few seconds to cast (it doesn’t happen instantly) and only lasts 10 mins. It has range limitations, and not everyone can cast it - only powerful enough magic users of the right class.
• The One Ring has one of the most interesting limitations - it makes its own decisions about who it wants to carry it. To quote Gandalf: “It was not Gollum, Frodo, but the Ring itself that decided things. The Ring left him.” (from Fellowship of the Ring).
• The presence of Kryptonite, in its various hues, can remove Superman’s powers, memory or his inhibitions

Limitations can include “nerf” zones, like dead magic zones or specific environmental conditions, like gravity, temperature or altitude. Bloodlines - or being the chosen one - is a common limitation for magic users. Limitations can be duration specific - an item might only work for a certain amount of time before overheating - or time specific (a magic that only works at night, for example).

So why bother introducing Limitations to the Triangle of Power? Well, limitations force characters to try something new, even when they’ve already got their hands on the ALL POWERFUL ARTIFACT. This guards against your characters repeating the same actions, and using the same Ability (read: magic or tech) to solve every problem. It makes them get creative, which makes for more interesting stories! 

Of course, you have to be careful. Using the same limitation too often can feel cliche, like the old “cell phone with no signal”. But, having your characters bump up against limitations can be a powerful start to a try-fail cycle.

Theme and Balance in the Triangle of Power

So ability, cost, limitations are the fundamental building blocks of your magic items, spells, powers and technology. But there’s one more thing: your ingredients have to work together.

To start with, your ingredients - that is, the sides of your triangle - should be about the same “size”. If the item with WORLD ENDING POWER only demands a drop of blood as a cost, and has no meaningful limitations, then it’s going to be pretty world breaking. Literally anyone who gets their mitts on is going to derail your story pretty quickly. Apocalypses everywhere.

But if your ABILITY is to Summon Cthulhu (a pretty mighty worldending power), then a good COST should also be hefty - maybe the immortal soul of an angel, something significant and difficult to source. And the LIMITATION might be something just as rare, like “when the planets align” (it’s a classic for a reason, just sayin’).

And if your ability is something small, like “manifest a single drop of holy water,” then the costs and limitations should be small - or no one will use it! For example, one drop of holy water (power)  costs a single drop of blood, and you can do it once an hour - that’s the only limitation. It’s a small power, with small costs and limitations. 

For more advanced worldbuilders there are ways around a totally equal Triangle of Power: like doubling limitations and removing costs. You can also tweak the weight of costs and limitations to make magic easier or harder in your world. Low magic worlds might have extreme costs and limitations, which only the desperate would bother negotiating. And that brings me to mood and theme.

Because, as with everything else in worldbuilding, it’s important that your Triangle of Power fits your story’s mood and themes. That’s critical for creating the atmosphere you want, and making it feel real and connected.

If your magic’s cost is the blood of a hundred virgins, but your power is bringing back the marshmallow fairies, then you need to take a long, hard look at your worldbuilding. This item is balanced, but it’s still broken – it betrays the spirit of whatever you’re trying to tell the audience. That is, unless your marshmallow fairies are really freaking scary. In which case, keep them away from me. 

Keep things balanced and themed, and your abilities will be as memorable as the One Ring, the Warp Drive, an iconic D&D spell or even Superman. 

As always with Worldbuilding - write it down!

Even the best ideas get forgotten! If you’ve gone to the trouble of creating awesome Abilities, fascinating Costs and rich, world-based Limitations, make sure you keep a note of them, and link them to the people, places and things in your world. A worldbuilding software like World Anvil is the perfect place to keep them, and it integrates seamlessly with manuscripts, the novel writing software! 

I really hope the Triangle of Power inspires you to create - and balance - some fascinating new things in your world. If you want more, I’ve created a Triangle of Power video with more examples. 

Do you already use costs and limitations in your stories? How have they helped… and have they ever gotten in your way?

About Janet

Janet Forbes (she/her) is not just a multi-lingual, multi-cultural mongrel, but a published fantasy author, professional worldbuilding consultant, and game developer. In 2017 she co-founded World Anvil (https://www.worldanvil.com), the award-winning worldbuilding, writing and tabletop RPG platform which boasts a community of over 3 million users. 

Top image created by Janet Forbes in Canva.