Story Sensei

I wrote earlier in my Book Creation Process that just before I start writing my manuscript, I’ll take time to write down blocking notes. For me, “blocking” is like blocking in a live play. It’s writing a step-by-step description of what happens in a scene to make it easier for me to write the rough draft. The concept is the same as the “beats” described in Write Better, Faster: How To Triple Your Writing Speed and Write More Every Day , but I call it blocking because “beats” is sometimes used to refer to high-level outlining. Blocking is also mentioned (although she doesn’t call it “blocking”) in 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love ). In Write Better, Faster , the author explained her process in more detail. She calls them beats. She writes one paragraph about each scene in her outline. Then from the one paragraph, she asks a series of questions about each sentence in the paragraph, and in answering all those questions she elaborates on the...

Maybe I’m just weird, but I like to know how different writers do their writing. I like knowing how they spend each day. I like knowing their process when they write a book, from idea to outlining to drafting to editing. Every writer is different in subtle ways, and I’ve discovered that a writer can discover what works best for them by seeing what works for other people, and then experimenting and trying it for themselves. Sometimes a process works, sometimes it doesn’t, but at least you’ve tried it to see. I spent a lot of time trying out methods to improve my productivity and enable me to write the best book I can. I thought it might be interesting to list what my book creation process is. Not all my methods will work for all writers, but I might do some things in a way you haven’t tried before, and it might be a process that ends up working for you. Stage 1) I usually start with the characters. I write the backstory and family first, and I jot notes in a file in Scrivener as ...

I just discovered a great resource for inspiration, reminders, and tips for writing. I’ve been in a bit of a plotting rut and so I do what I usually do, which is watch TV shows and movies. This time, I watched the audio commentary for one of my favorite movies, Captain America: Civil War . I didn’t realize that I’d get so many great ideas for plotting, characterization, dialogue beats, theme, mood, and setting by listening to the directors and the screenwriters comment as they viewed the movie. It not only gave me a springboard for my own plot and character ideas, but it reminded me of techniques I’d forgotten about, which helped me in my story structure and character development. It’s a shame that I’m only realizing this now, because it’s a resource I’ve always had, in the movies I’ve bought on iTunes, but never utilized. I’ll definitely be using this more in future. I hope this tip helps you guys, too—pick your favorite movie and listen to the audio commentary. You never know w...

It’s been a while, but I was finally cleaning out my Inbox and got a question from Jim. He wrote book one in a series aimed at 6-9 year olds, but he had a question about the second book in the series: At this point, I used Book 2 to allow the child’s siblings to ask and receive answers about what he’s been doing the past 8 months. This was done via dialogue. Would this be considered Backstory dumping when it’s a second book and responds to a different “now”. If it’s not considered “dumping”, would it still be preferable to eliminate the 6-8 chapters in book 2 and go with the “dribble” the backstory approach? Camy here: Honestly, it’s entirely up to you. I’ve seen children’s books that have massive backstory dumps, and others where the backstory is more gradually inserted as the story goes along. I’ve also seen books where the backstory is only briefly outlined. (For example: “Harry explained about how he got somehow entered into the Goblet of Fire and had to compete in dangero...

(This post originally appeared on Suite101, but it's no longer there so I'll post it here. :) Make the Character Proactive Rather Than Reactive Eliminate episodic scenes by giving the character an External Goal, Obstacles against that goal, and Forward Movement in the story. A story is more than just good writing. A story plot must have forward motion and a sense of movement that pulls the reader along. Sometimes writers will get feedback that their story “lacks purpose” or is “episodic.” What exactly does that mean? Episodic Writing is Reactive Writing in Vignettes. A character needs more than just to fall into an alternate world and face Scary Monsters. He needs to have a purpose and doggedly pursue that purpose. If he simply goes from one Bad Thing to another, the story lacks direction. When a character simply reacts to the Bad Things that happen to him, he is being reactive rather than proactive, and that can be boring to a reader. It’s also boring to read a...

This article that I wrote originally appeared on Suite101. Troubleshooting a Weak Climax Ideas For Fixing a Disatisfying End to the Story If the climax of a novel seems off, here are a few common weaknesses that can be fixed. Sometimes a writer’s critique partners or first readers will comment that they didn’t like the ending of a story, or that the novel didn’t resolve well. While critique is always good, a vague “I didn’t like the ending” isn’t helpful for fixing it. However, there are a few mistakes often made but easily fixed to create a stronger climax. The Character Isn’t Boxed In Make sure you have taken away all other options for the character. If the character reaches the climax but still has several ways out, or a reason to not keep fighting toward the climax, it makes the character look silly or stupid. Work on your character motivations and increase conflict so that the character is forced into the bottleneck of the climax. A good way to box the character in i...

This article that I wrote originally appeared on Suite101 Creating an Emotionally Resonant Climax How to Bring a Story to an End There are four steps that can heighten tension and reader interest in the climax of a story. The Beginning of the End is often used to refer to the climax of the story, or roughly the last 25% of the novel (in terms of word count or page count). After building the tension and conflict of the middle of your novel, now you want a strong ending that will grip the reader, then provide resolution and release of tension. Give the Character a Certain Personal Principle It heightens the emotional effect of the climax to bring the character’s principle into the mix. Tying principle with external situations gives life meaning for the character, which can help heighten emotional and psychological resonance between the reader and the character. This is one way a writer can manipulate the reader’s feelings through fiction. Have the Character Keep His Princip...

This article that I wrote originally appeared on Suite101 Heighten the Climax By Resolving Subplots Tie Up Threads Before the Last Section of the Novel Simplifying the plot by tying up subplot threads can make the climax more emotionally heightened. Subplots are wonderful things. They can help the reader better understand the characters by showing them in various situations and how they react. Subplots can also complicate a plot and help it take its meandering way to the climax. But there is also one trick many novelists use to make the climax of the novel more emotionally intense, and that is to tie up subplot threads beforehand. Complicate, Then Simplify Take advantage of subplots that enhance and complicate the plot. It makes for more interesting reading and your reader won’t be able to put the book down. However, as you build toward the climax of the book, strip away the subplots so that only the climax problem remains or any minor subplot threads that directly rela...

This article I wrote originally appeared on Suite101. Eliminate Repetive Scenes Rehashing Information May Cause a Sagging Middle in Your Novel Utilize a scene index to look at your novel’s story structure and identify possible repetitious scenes to beef up the pacing. Many times, writers will be able to see that their middle “sags,” or the pacing slows in the middle portion of the novel. There are several ways to avoid the sagging middle , but often the problem can be some repetition of information. Identifying it, however, can be difficult when faced with searching a 100,000 word manuscript. Utilize a Scene Index For each scene, skim the scene and jot down key elements: Pertinent information to the plot that is revealed Key character emotions that are uncovered or hinted at Changes to the character that results in different decisions New developments or plot twists New characters introduced Character backstory that is confessed or discovered Many times, writing ...

This article that I wrote originally appeared on Suite101. Writing Interesting Valleys in Between Peaks Keep the Reader Intrigued Even If Conflict Has Ebbed In lulls in the novel, narrow the scene’s focus or change things up to keep the reading pace strong. Stories are a series of peaks and valleys, high tension scenes and low tension scenes, also known as Scenes and Sequels . You must have those lulls in order to give the reader a chance to catch his breath, and also to set up the next scene. However, while you must have these low tension scenes, make sure they don’t put your reader to sleep. Use Words and Phrases to Pace the Sequel In general, higher tension scenes have shorter sentences and a choppier reading flow to encourage a faster reading pace, so for lower tension scenes, use longer sentences and more flowing grammatical structure. Obviously, don’t go to extremes. Use your own better judgment in this. However, this can be a valuable tool to clearly indicate to...

This article that I wrote originally appeared on Suite101. Control Story Flow With Sequels The Classic Sequel as Described By Dwight Swain Dwight Swain’s Sequel can be broken down into easy segments to enable the writer to write a strong story segment that develops character and transitions to the next Scene. One of the most famous writing books is Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight Swain, where he breaks down fiction writing into modules. One of his most popular techniques is Scene and Sequel (described in this article). Swain describes a Sequel as “a unit of transition that links two scenes,” but Sequels tend to encompass a broader range of purposes than just transition. Reaction The Sequel following a Scene allows the writer to slow the pacing and give the reader some breather space. This can be easily accomplished by enabling the character to react to what just happened in the previous Scene. This controls the story’s tempo and flow by giving the character ...

This article that I wrote originally appeared on Suite101. Writing Conflict-Filled Scenes The Classic Scene as Described By Dwight Swain Dwight Swain’s Scene can be broken down into easy segments to enable the writer to write a high tension, interesting story segment. One of the most famous writing books is Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight Swain, where he breaks down fiction writing into modules. One of his most popular techniques is Scene (described in this article) and Sequel. Swain describes a Scene as “a unit of conflict lived through by character and reader.” The key word here is Conflict. Goal The Scene moves the story forward by changing your character’s situation. To do that, the character has to want something different than what he already has: the Scene Goal. Basically, what the character is striving for in the Scene. He doesn’t necessarily achieve it, but he has to at least have an idea of what he wants at the beginning of the Scene. There are thr...

This article that I wrote originally appeared on Suite101. Increase the Tension of a Scene Building Peaks in the Story Build the story toward the climax by ramping up conflict in scenes. Novels are a series of peaks and valleys, the ebb and flow of tension. If the story were all tension, it would tire the reader out. If the story were all tension-less, it would be boring. A novelist should build the tension of the story in each peak and balance that with a valley. But each peak should build to a higher point of tension than the one before. Combine Conflicts Into a Single Scene Sometimes, a story will have several separate scenes, but each scene’s tension level is the same. Consider combining scenes. The addition of obstacles will make the scene worse and worse, ramping up the tension rather than having separate scenes of the same tension level. For example, a detective is searching for a lost child. In one scene, he confronts a drug dealer. In a second scene, he ...