Hi All:
Just a quick note to say that I’m desperately trying to get back into the groove on blogging. July was a tough month — I was gone for 12 days, and seemingly spent the rest of the month catching up from being gone. My email stack is MERCILESS, and I’ve been trying to knock that down before I get blogging in earnest.
I’m also playing catch-up on a couple of other fronts. Our homeowners’ assocation bought us a stack of wood to use to replace the old fence that runs along the back side of our lot. The fence is about 180 feet long, and I’ve discovered that 180 feet is a long way to go when you have to rip out old fencing, cut the new to fit, and then hammer it in! I don’t have to replace the posts — just the horizontal bars — but that’s enough. Luckily, my wife and kids are helping out a lot, but it’s burning the hours.
We’re also in the market to buy a pellet stove. It gets a little chilly here in the winter. We have a heat pump, but its efficiency goes down when the temperature goes below about 40 (Fahrenheit). We’ve got a fireplace, so we’re looking to buy a pellet stove insert that will fit in and will keep us warm. August is a good month to do that, but we’d like to get it done before September hits. And I HATE shopping. But we gotta get it done. If any of you have caveats or warnings about pellet stoves, email me privately. (No need to comment here on an off-topic subject.)
I also have to mow the lawn in the next few days. We’ve got about an acre and a half of grass-like substance that needs mowing. I haven’t mowed since before I left for the last writing conference, so it’s starting to get a little shaggy out there.
There! I actually wrote a blog today! Tomorrow, if all goes well, I’ll write a blog on WRITING. Post a comment here with some suggestions on what you’d like to talk about next. I’ve kind of lost momentum in the last few weeks, but we should be back up to full speed here in a few days.
Hi Randy. Welcome back to the land of blogging. Needless to say, we’ve missed you.
I’d like to hear talk on starting your story, as in how to get your characters rolling without ending up boring the reader with some backstory and that in order to let the readers understand who the character is and how they got there.
Welcome back, Randy.
Regaining momentum after extended interuptions might be an interesting topic, as would showing character motivation in the early stages of a novel. I also Second Donna’s request for getting characters moving without backstory dumps.
“Getting back in the groove” – now there’s something we’ve all been confronted with. Whether it’s writing after a holiday or blogging…
Donna and Eleyne suggested something interesting, I’d be interested to hear that, but I fear it might be a bit of a broad topic to discuss in one blog entry.
I actually have a more specific question on that. I heard that your first three chapters should lay the groundwork, give your protagonist a clear objective, etc… Especially editors need this (so I’ve heard), but readers need something interesting to read or they will put the book down or not even buy it.
Here’s my question: How much of what do you need to write down early in your book to get editors or readers interested in buying your book? Also, if not in chapters, how many words should you do it in?
Cheers,
Christophe
Hi Randy,
It was great to connect with you for a bit at the conference. I sure do know what it’s like playing catch-up. The funny thing about conferences is that when you leave, you go away with an extra to-do list, on top of all that you’ve neglected for the week.
Both suggestions for topics suggested so far sound interesting. I’d also like to hear more about time management for writers who also have other obligations in life.
Randy, can you call your lawn a meadow and leave it at that?
I think both topics mentioned above would get us all refocused. And they don’t have to be addressed in one blog.
Yes! Please share any and all suggestions for having a life which is both calm and productive! Schedules are a great thing if you have a controlled environment, but lately I’m putting way too much energy into ‘staying on schedule’ and missing the part about’staying on task’. I need help getting focused in the midst of family chaos. Meanwhile, off I go to deal with my ‘meadow’. Thanks!
ditto on the topic of getting the ball rolling at a powerfully, emotionally fulfilling speed. Recent critiques say most kindly that my story is starting off a little slow.
Also: a recent read of Noah Lukeman’s First Five Pages gave me a cerebral hemorrhage/epiphany. The light came on and I saw that I have some chapters that don’t progress the character’s particular story. I confess, the chapter is there basically to give the reader more insight about the character. Which I think a writer can do, as long as there is an actual point to the chapter that has nothing to do with the reader. Am I starting to get it?
I took a story I know well and picked a random chapter to analyze. Knowing what Lizzie Bennet’s personal storyline is, I looked to see if the random chapter progresses her story, and it does. It wasn’t full of action, (well, there was that one car chase scene) but in this chapter, Lizzed learned something that further increased her prejudice of Darcy, which is a key part of HER storyline.
So I am using this kind of analysis to go back and make myself write out a one sentence summary of each chapter and see if it stands on it’s own, if the story would collapse without the chapter. If it doesn’t, then I should either cut it or include in it a stronger element of disaster, conflict or at least have the character learn something that is vital to the progression of his/her storyline, whether they know it or not.
Dittos for how to get started. Re lawn: Maybe get a couple goat companions for your new doggie?
Get a couple of llamowers. We haven’t had to trim anything for decades. And they are cheaper that a riding mower.
Topic: any tricks for getting on with something you have a committment to finish when it has gotten so stale everything seems awful (despite critique claims that it is great), and a different story keeps knocking on the brain?
The great problem with a respite is inertia of rest. And the greater problem for writers is all the counterfeit achievement that is in fact busy work. What? Are you part of the conspiracy to prevent development of Pygmy habitat?
I’d like to see you cover the subject of safe-but-effective explosives for setting a writer’s keister in motion after years of “putting in my time” learning the craft.
I must also raise a hearty ditto to MLE . . .
Topic: any tricks for getting on with something you have a committment to finish when it has gotten so stale everything seems awful (despite critique claims that it is great), and a different story keeps knocking on the brain?
…ME too!
You know, it almost sounds like marriage. The “other man/woman” knocking on the brain looks good because we don’t know it fully yet, the way we know our spouse (wip) inside and out. So the new one sounds flashy and exciting, and apparently without fault. But I bet once we dig into the new story, we’ll find the same hard work and stale times required to put up with it.
What do you think?
What if you have some great characters, good dialogue, some interesting themes, but no plot to pull together a story?
I think it’s be fun to have some more “group practices” on useful techniques, like we did with MRUs and one sentence synopsis things.
It doesn’t have to be with prizes, I think it’s just a good way to internalize a concept.