Plot liposuction

Once upon a time I had a weird, vivid dream. When I woke I said "This is a great story idea" and proceeded to write down the idea. The writing went well and before I knew it I had an outline for a novel and a couple partial scenes. Then an evil sorceress cursed me with so many writing projects that I had no time to see this project come to fruition. The outline then spent many years languishing in the pit of postponed ideas.



All right. I wish I could blame my lack of time on an evil sorceress -- actually, there are a lot of things I'd like to lay on her doorstep -- however, seeing as I have no conclusive proof nor an address where I can lay said proof and blame, I have to take it on this one.

There is one thing that was omitted from the above fairy tale. The first half of the story was a trope-laden affair with only a couple of interesting things happening before the stellar ending. At the time I had no idea how to fix it so I allowed the "no-time curse"to take effect. Well, I can proudly say that this particular tale's curse was broken last week.

I needed a short story idea that I could whip out before a contest deadline. As I went over my list of sidelined projects (it's a long list) it occurred to me that if I simply wrote the cool stuff at the end of this story, I'd have a pretty good piece. It wasn't until I was halfway through the first draft that I realized the novel version of the story didn't need to be fixed, it just needed surgery. By cutting away the excess weight it became a much stronger story. As for those two interesting things that were supposed to happen? Apparently they weren't as cool as I originally thought because they got cut and the story won't suffer from the loss.

Why did I have so many lame ideas in one outline? It wasn't story idea overloaditis, I can tell you that much. What I think happened was that because this was one of my early ideas, I made the new writer mistake of assuming that every idea I had was novel worthy. I had yet to learn that some ideas are much better when allowed to be short and simple. In some ways it was a blessing to be time cursed. If I had written it right away, it would have been an atrocious trunk novel. Since I waited until I had enough skill to suck away the fat without killing it, it's become a story that I can be proud to put my name on.



Note: Don't forget that this Saturday I'll have a guest post on The Fictorian Era.

Rocket ships and Lonestars

Yesterday was the deadline for the Hugo Award nomination ballot. While I filled out my ballot, I made some interesting observations. The first being how cool and weird it was to actually be filling out a ballot. I know it's not hard to get a ballot but this is not only my first year attending but the first time I've had a membership of this magnitude. In some ways it feels like I've officially transitioned from reader and fan to writer and colleague.

Part of my day job duties as the official Sci-fi Lady is to keep the Hugo and Nebula award winner lists up to date. Before I started writing seriously, checking the winners list was a fun task because I could stay up to date on which of my favorite books and authors won. It also gave me something to gush and/or commiserate about with my regulars. Getting paid and selling books while doing it was a bonus.

After I chose to make writing a career and started going to workshops and signings, my outlook changed. Why? Because not only were there more names on the list that I recognized, some of them belonged to friends. No longer were they anonymous, lofty artists. They were people that I'd hung out at the bar with, asked writing advice from, played games with. Individuals that I could actually call to congratulate. The award suddenly became personal -- remotely, but still a lot more personal than before. In a lot of ways, the experience is like listening to a Forbidden Broadway parody.

The first time you hear it it's funny. After you've been cast in the show that is being lampooned, the song takes on a whole new meaning and significance.

Before, it was merely disappointing when a book that I really liked didn't win. Knowing the author only makes it harder because you know how hard they worked on it. On the other hand, it's absolutely thrilling to see their names on the nomination lists and to watch them accept their well deserved awards, so I guess it balances out.

This year, I got to take that thrill to the next level by being one of the many people who put them on the ballot. I know there are certain individuals (mostly trolls) that will spew accusations that the awards are fixed because we all nominate and vote for each other. I'll confess, most of the works I put on my ballot were written by friends. However, I didn't do it because of a conspiracy or a sense of obligation. It's because I don't have a lot of reading time and the works of my friends take precedence over the rest.

Friendships aside, if I didn't love the story, I wouldn't have put it on my ballot. When I bought my attending membership and I thought about who I might vote for, that was a distinction that I didn't know if I could make or not. Once I actually saw the ballot and how many spaces there were in each category, it was far easier. What can i say? I have more friends then the ballot has spaces. (Not exactly a bad problem to have.)

As the voting process continues it will be interesting to see if I have any more moments of "Wow! I didn't expect that." In the meantime I will delight in the fact that I was able to make my opinion known and see the process with new eyes.


Note: Mark your calendars! Yours truly will have a guest post at The Fictorian Era on Saturday, March 28th.

How to exploit friends and influence strangers: Part 1

Writers like to ask questions. It’s an occupational hazard. When you spend X hours a day asking characters “why did you do that?” it sort of becomes second nature. We’re not trying to be nosy pests. We just can’t help ourselves. When there is a quandary that the internet can’t solve, there is no shame in turning to your friends. Heck, a lot of times it’s better and faster to turn to them first.

I have a good mind for trivial information but there are a lot of subjects that for one reason or another, I know jack squat about. As fate would have it, those tend to be the subjects that my stories require me to research. For example, I was free writing a scene wherein my protagonist needed to get someone to tell her the sensitive information she needs. The obvious solution was to get the informant tipsy enough to become chatty. The problem was that the informant was not a casual drinker or the sort of person that would frequent bars. That ruled out all the usual imbibables.

The informant however, was the sort of person that would occasionally indulge in a glass of good whisky. This presented me with another problem. I don’t know anything about whisky, quality or otherwise, and since I don’t drink there was no way for me to find out first hand. Fortunately I have friends that do drink and within a few minutes they were able to give me the information I needed so my protagonist could get the information she needed. Yay!

Sure, I could have Googled the answer but sending a text message isn’t laborious. Plus, I didn’t have to waste an hour sifting through search results and one of my friends gets the satisfaction of knowing their help was instrumental to that scene. It’s a win all across the board.

So, how do I keep track of which friends knows what? That’s easy. They’re my friends. I already know their hobbies and interests. You don’t need a knack for trivia to keep track of that. Sure, I could keep a list (and if that helps you, by all means, do) but since I do have a knack, I don’t need to. Besides, it would be a bit creepy if any of them saw such a list on my computer.

Of course there is always going to be a topic that none of my friends have a working knowledge of and that’s ok. In those circumstances I can turn to the internet or professionals in the field to satisfy me. If I were an introvert, this wouldn’t be a go to method for me. I’d probably stick to library books and Google in that case. Since I’m not an introvert and have many friends, it would be idiotic not to crowd source whenever possible. Just because I can’t afford an assistant doesn’t mean that I don’t have lovely people willing to volunteer for a few moments. After all, isn’t that what friends are for?

An Impromptu Rehearsal

Saturday night I returned to the theater for a special event. A dear friend, who also happens to be my favorite director, finished her degree and a commencement ceremony along with a reception was being held at ACT. I should clarify that the only person at this commencement ceremony that had actually graduated was my friend. The valedictorian's speech was script that was lovingly written by the organizers and the rest of the "graduating class" were the casts of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Out of all the commencements I've been to, not only was this the first that didn't threaten to put me to sleep, it was by far the funniest.

It was wonderful being able to see my theater family again, many of whom I hadn't seen in several months. There were even a few people there that I hadn't seen since I retired. Of course, since it had been so long, the questions I heard the most were "what are you up to?" and "how is the writing going?" I've written in a past post about how I don't mind answering these questions. However, I've never been subjected to it with as much frequency as that night. It actually started to get on my nerves. I had to remind myself that being asked about my writing was a good thing. If they weren't genuinely interested, they wouldn't ask.

It didn't occur to me until near the end of the evening that this was exactly what I'd like to happen at WorldCon. So in some ways this was an unexpected practice run. (Leave it to actors to turn an event to an impromptu rehearsal without knowing it.) Once I had this mini-revelation, the whole night turned around. The questions ceased to be annoying and I didn't need to draw on my acting skills to make the thirtieth answer as energetic as the first. Yet again, changing how I view the situation has provided me with exactly what I needed.

Witches, candy, and ass-kicking...oh my!

This weekend I took some much needed time off to go see Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters with a friend.

Overall, the movie was good. It's an action packed flick which was exactly what I needed to blow off some stress. That being said, there were a few things that made me scratch my head and wonder what the writer was smoking?

(Spoiler Alert)

It was like they were trying to set the story in the same universe as Van Helsing and with the same modern attitude of A Knight's Tale but they didn't know how to combine the two. (I plan to use this film as proof that directors shouldn't write unless their first name starts with a J.) The steampunkish weapons were very cool but since we didn't get any explanation about where/how they were acquired, how strange and wondrous they were, or introduced to their eccentric and reclusive creator, they had a tendency to be an anomaly rather than an asset.

For example, the hand-crank tazer was a great tool, especially at the end when Gretel used it as a defibrillator. However, when the woodsman used it on the horned witch I wasn't sure if that was a sign that such technology was common or if they (Hansel and Gretel) instructed him on its use. Either way, I have to flag it as bad writing. There's a reason why in every classic Bond movie there is a scene where James visits Q. It's not just so Bond can get new toys, it's to show us what each discreet gadget does and to flag it as something important to the plot. Somehow that innocuous wristwatch that can summon a flock of rabid seagulls at the press of a button is going to save his life.

Another thing that bothered me about the tech was that the second they used it in a clever way, I had to unplug my brain before it was filled with a long list of reasons why that shouldn't work. The afore mentioned incident with the tazer turned defibrillator is a key example. A gadget like that isn't capable of producing a strong enough charge to restart a heart.

I will give the writer/director credit for a couple things. He did a good job of putting a new twist a classic Grimm's Fairy Tale and on witch lore. The explanations for the physical differences between white and black witches, while simple, was very effective and it fit in well with how both are portrayed in fairy tales. I also liked how Hansel and Gretel's journey came full circle in the end. That was a nice touch.

When all is said and done, despite how much I like the film, I have to say that Hollywood has provided us with another shining example of how not to tell a story. Exciting action sequences and a spectacular music score can't hide bad writing.

Expectations

Yesterday when I arrived at church I learned that the choir was scheduled to perform during the service. This took me by surprise. You see, I am a member of the choir and as such was expected to get on the stand and join them. However, this time I couldn't. Because of illness and family obligations I've missed the last three rehearsals and it didn't feel right to stand with those who had been there. Sure, I could've winged it -- it wasn't a difficult song and I'm a quick study. Heck, one of the ladies even offered to give me a crash course on the hymn, but I still declined.

Why? It's simple. I hadn't practiced.

Was it was perfectionism, laziness, fear, the caprices of an artist? Call it what you will but I choose to think of it as professionalism. If I joined the rest of the choir, I wouldn't be at my best. I've been singing long enough that not only do I know what my skill level is, I know what kind of work I need to do to maintain that skill. I've also become accustomed to giving quality performances. It's to the point where anything less just won't do. Ego has nothing to do with it. It's simply because I have a reputation to maintain. Most of my friends (and in this instance, the congregation) know that I have a lovely voice and that while I'm not a professional vocalist, I've sung at a professional level for many years. Whether they consciously realize this or not, all of them expect me to perform as such. I certainly expect it of myself.

It's an expectation that I'm trying to transfer to my writing. Granted, since I'm in the early stages of my career it's far more difficult because I'm still learning what I'm capable of and what areas of the craft I need to devote more study to. Plus, since my work isn't published yet, not very many people have had an opportunity to develop or even attain a similar expectation. I am working hard on changing the latter -- both by submitting my work to publishers and by regularly updating this blog -- but the progress is slow. In some ways it's good that I've reached that level of notoriety in another art form because I can use those experiences to keep me motivated. I can look back on my early efforts as a vocalist and know that all of the hard work I'm putting into my writing and establishing this as my chosen career will pay off. To put it simply, I've done it once and I can do it again.

Bourne again

A few weeks ago I decided to watch a movie while I folded laundry (there was a lot to fold). Since Spider Web desperately wants to be a thriller I decided to watch The Bourne Identity. I’ve seen it before so I wasn’t concerned about missing anything as put everything away. However, as I watched, I became far more concerned about something else – my pacing.

From the start, poor Jason Bourne can’t get a break. The second he catches his breath, something happens to send his life flying sideways again. Sometimes it was as simple as an argument or a mysterious piece of information, but usually it was someone trying to kill him. It made me realize that if my book was far to calm in the beginning chapters.

Sure, I had a Bourne-sized mystery to solve, but there wasn’t enough tension. Instead of just mentioning the nefarious forces that she’ll have to contend with, I needed to show them coming after her from the very start. After all, when one has a clever and techno-savvy foe, they need to be one step ahead of the hero/heroine. Otherwise the hero/heroine won’t be forced to perform nail-biting stunts or compromise their principles in order to survive yet another crisis. Of course, I didn’t need to rev things up to an Honor Harrington level – that would be ridiculous – but I did need to put my heroine in peril a lot sooner than I had originally planned.

The next night I used half of my writing time (hard won writing time, I might add) to restructure the first six chapters. I didn’t delete anything; I just split up a few chapters so I could take advantage of a few missed opportunities. By the time I had finished, a pair of transients had become mob thugs, a bit recon ended with an argument between allies, and a trip to the pub turned into a game of cat and mouse. For all of these I only needed to make a few small changes, but they succeed in keeping my protagonist on their toes.

As a bit of a bonus, it also added some much needed length to the first half of the story. Luckily this didn’t throw my outline out of whack because I knew that something like this was going to happen. It doesn’t matter how carefully I outline or how thoroughly I think things through. After I get into a story I always think of some cool new twist or free write a scene that makes the story ten times better and about fifty pages longer. That’s why I always under-outline. If I’m writing a 100 K novel, I’ll outline about 80K of it.

Another bonus of this is that I’m looking at later scenes with new eyes because I’ve learned that it isn’t enough to have my protagonist doing cool things in cool locations, I have to make sure that the crap hits the fan in those locations too. So for once I’m actually not grumbling about my story wanting to be something else because it was right.