"...on your novel in terms of actual writing until your plotting (along with your characters and their roles in the drama) is complete and down on paper.
Do not fall victim to that old author line: “I just start out with a basic idea and a couple of characters. I never know where I’m going. I let the characters tell the story for me.” That may work for brilliant and experienced novelists, but most of us need a clear road map if we aren’t going to get ourselves and our readers hopelessly lost."
Another one of my big problems! I usually like to just start a headless story. That's probably why I have so many unfinished projects.
I'm thinking about another idea: the main character, Jason, has a Chinese biological mother. I haven't decided about his father: maybe Chinese, maybe American.
Maybe Jason's mother is something like mail-order bride. Or maybe she knows her American husband through internet. Maybe Jason is the result of his mother's previous marriage. They come to America for the dreams. But things get totally wrong.
This probably is a more convincing point for Jason's insecurity. And it reflects the problems of some social phenomenons: mail-order bride, cultural conflicts, fitting in, etc.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Day 21: Prepare a rough outline of the story’s action from Chapter One through to the end.
"Novelist Katherine Anne Porter put it this way, “If I didn’t know the ending of a story, I wouldn’t begin.”
Write down the last paragraph of your novel and put it in the drawer. At the end of a hundred days, lets see how close you came to following your imagination."
My, that sounds reasonable, but then I have a lot of works to do.
Let's see... a very general outline is here:
A man is abandoned by his own dear-mother as a child and that leaves a deep, deep cut in him. As a child he also receives lots of mocks and unfair treatments, but manages to go through everything and build a career and a good family. He vows to establish a great family, a great marriage, the one that is totally different from the "family" he is originally from. However, his insecurity gradually comes and gets him and takes toll on his marriage. He starts to be attracted to the idea of having an affair...
Does he really go for his impulsion? Will he be caught? What's the end of his marriage?
Well, I kind of have a rough ending, but I can't reveal it here. We'll just see how it goes.
Another man will also be a contrast to him: this man plays around and breaks many hearts; that sort of becomes his hobby or mission. The main character despises him, but later finds out he himself probably also has a weak spot.
Now, there probably is no sci-fi in there. I would like to add sci-fi element but so far just can't think of any. The idea of time traveling seems to have no place in this outline. If there's no place for sci-fi, then I don't want to force one.
Gee, a lot of people in the story will suffer. Painful. But what can I say? I'm no comedian; absolutely not good at telling jokes. Well, there will be hope though; life is not totally, always bad. Ups and downs. That probably is life.
79 more days to go.
Write down the last paragraph of your novel and put it in the drawer. At the end of a hundred days, lets see how close you came to following your imagination."
My, that sounds reasonable, but then I have a lot of works to do.
Let's see... a very general outline is here:
A man is abandoned by his own dear-mother as a child and that leaves a deep, deep cut in him. As a child he also receives lots of mocks and unfair treatments, but manages to go through everything and build a career and a good family. He vows to establish a great family, a great marriage, the one that is totally different from the "family" he is originally from. However, his insecurity gradually comes and gets him and takes toll on his marriage. He starts to be attracted to the idea of having an affair...
Does he really go for his impulsion? Will he be caught? What's the end of his marriage?
Well, I kind of have a rough ending, but I can't reveal it here. We'll just see how it goes.
Another man will also be a contrast to him: this man plays around and breaks many hearts; that sort of becomes his hobby or mission. The main character despises him, but later finds out he himself probably also has a weak spot.
Now, there probably is no sci-fi in there. I would like to add sci-fi element but so far just can't think of any. The idea of time traveling seems to have no place in this outline. If there's no place for sci-fi, then I don't want to force one.
Gee, a lot of people in the story will suffer. Painful. But what can I say? I'm no comedian; absolutely not good at telling jokes. Well, there will be hope though; life is not totally, always bad. Ups and downs. That probably is life.
79 more days to go.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Day 20: Don’t attempt to “sound like” some famous writer.
"Your “voice” is your voice. Your “style” is your style...Keep writing and keep cutting away at the awkwardness that might creep into your writing. Be a natural. As the French novelist, Francois René de Chateaubriand wrote, “The original writer is not one who imitates nobody, but one whom nobody can imitate.”"
Guess I'll just do my own style.
I'm thinking about the plot all day. I'm also thinking about the "arrangement" of the story: maybe alternate the time--start from the childhood of the main character, then jump to his 20s, then jump back to childhood, and jump to his 20s again... so on and so forth. I've seen a novel does that, and it looks very good. The purpose I do this is to show how the main character's childhood influences his adult life.
But it's just an idea, and it might change.
Another thing: I'm in fact not so sure if this will really become a "novel;" a novel is a very long story. I'm afraid I can't write a story that long. Maybe start from a novelette or novella. We'll see.
I feel like I have something to say, but don't know how to present it to make it interesting and appealing; not sure how the story develops, and most importantly, how it is going to end.
But at least I'm thinking and writing.
80 more days to go.
Guess I'll just do my own style.
I'm thinking about the plot all day. I'm also thinking about the "arrangement" of the story: maybe alternate the time--start from the childhood of the main character, then jump to his 20s, then jump back to childhood, and jump to his 20s again... so on and so forth. I've seen a novel does that, and it looks very good. The purpose I do this is to show how the main character's childhood influences his adult life.
But it's just an idea, and it might change.
Another thing: I'm in fact not so sure if this will really become a "novel;" a novel is a very long story. I'm afraid I can't write a story that long. Maybe start from a novelette or novella. We'll see.
I feel like I have something to say, but don't know how to present it to make it interesting and appealing; not sure how the story develops, and most importantly, how it is going to end.
But at least I'm thinking and writing.
80 more days to go.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Day 19: Keep asking the question, “why?”
"As you reach the end of the second week of defining characters, you will have a stack of 5x7 character cards that spell out intimate details about the personal life of each and every character in your story, down to their waist measurement and favorite color. The novelist Vladimir Nabokov composed all of his novels on index cards."
The woman who Jason has an affair w/:
Sara A. Lewis
27, married young to a jerk, has one 4-year-old boy, divorces him after finding out he has a series of affairs and is involved in some legal issues. Strong and competitive at work, but lonely and no close friends. Poor taste of men. Likes to fantasize love stories, college graduate, cheer-leader in high school.
81 more days to go.
The woman who Jason has an affair w/:
Sara A. Lewis
27, married young to a jerk, has one 4-year-old boy, divorces him after finding out he has a series of affairs and is involved in some legal issues. Strong and competitive at work, but lonely and no close friends. Poor taste of men. Likes to fantasize love stories, college graduate, cheer-leader in high school.
81 more days to go.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Day 18: Figure out who you need in the story and what they do together or to one another...
"...and the story does to them. Are they all pulling together in one direction? Are they pulling in six different directions? Ask yourself the critical question: Which would be most interesting to the reader? That’s the real litmus test of character development and plotting. Will the reader be interested? Will the reader care?
To be successful in character and plot development, you need to make hard choices. You need to be ruthless with your characters and your story. Who’s in, who’s out? What’s in, what’s out?
Frankly, here is where a lot of first-time novelists stop dead. They can’t bring themselves to choose. They become fascinated or paralyzed by the possibilities.
Don’t you dare do that. Be brutal. Try different choices, of course, but move the story forward event by event, bringing each character along with you. As each event unfolds, each character must react to it. Just as they would in real life.
If a child is hit and killed by a car, the driver’s life is changed forever, the parents’ lives, the lives of the brothers and sisters, friends, even the crossing guard and bystanders. You have to decide what the changes are. You must decide. This is your chance to play God — and if you’re going to write you must play that role. God is in the details, and God decides the course of the novel."
Ruthless. Brutal. That is my problem. I have too much mercy.
Jason is a good guy. But more or less, consciously or unconsciously, he's good so to be appreciated, recognized, accepted. He also can be arrogant and hot-temper. Sometimes he doesn't do it on purpose though. Generally speaking, he's not a bad person, but a nice guy w/ many flaws and insecurity.
He clearly knows it's wrong, he struggles, but he will have an affair. His wife maybe finds out (or not?), then involves in a car accidence and has amnesia. She forgot about him.
That's the basic idea so far.
82 more days to go.
To be successful in character and plot development, you need to make hard choices. You need to be ruthless with your characters and your story. Who’s in, who’s out? What’s in, what’s out?
Frankly, here is where a lot of first-time novelists stop dead. They can’t bring themselves to choose. They become fascinated or paralyzed by the possibilities.
Don’t you dare do that. Be brutal. Try different choices, of course, but move the story forward event by event, bringing each character along with you. As each event unfolds, each character must react to it. Just as they would in real life.
If a child is hit and killed by a car, the driver’s life is changed forever, the parents’ lives, the lives of the brothers and sisters, friends, even the crossing guard and bystanders. You have to decide what the changes are. You must decide. This is your chance to play God — and if you’re going to write you must play that role. God is in the details, and God decides the course of the novel."
Ruthless. Brutal. That is my problem. I have too much mercy.
Jason is a good guy. But more or less, consciously or unconsciously, he's good so to be appreciated, recognized, accepted. He also can be arrogant and hot-temper. Sometimes he doesn't do it on purpose though. Generally speaking, he's not a bad person, but a nice guy w/ many flaws and insecurity.
He clearly knows it's wrong, he struggles, but he will have an affair. His wife maybe finds out (or not?), then involves in a car accidence and has amnesia. She forgot about him.
That's the basic idea so far.
82 more days to go.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Day 17: You need a strong protagonist...
"...Most writers have a problem with creating a character who is larger than life, fully developed, and a consistent protagonist.
Remember, your protagonist is your story’s major character. This is the person with whom your reader will identify. You want your readers to care about your protagonist. He or she is your new best friend."
The reader will identify with this person. His story people will care about. He will fight, maybe wins some and loses some. But he'll fight and people will hold their breath.
It's not enough that I write beautifully. The most important key is the plot.
Man, it's easier to say than done. I have to work on my characters' emotions and their goals.
I think I'll make Jason L. Wayne and his wife my main characters. His wife will be Rachel J. Wayne. 29, middle class family, very conservative, stay home mom, takes care of everything at home. Assuming the position of traditional woman's role, drop out of college, works to support husband to go through college. Plays piano, loves kids, very good at cooking, would suffer silently instead of complains. Not interested in working and being "independent," not very interested in listening to Jason talking about work.
83 more days to go.
Remember, your protagonist is your story’s major character. This is the person with whom your reader will identify. You want your readers to care about your protagonist. He or she is your new best friend."
The reader will identify with this person. His story people will care about. He will fight, maybe wins some and loses some. But he'll fight and people will hold their breath.
It's not enough that I write beautifully. The most important key is the plot.
Man, it's easier to say than done. I have to work on my characters' emotions and their goals.
I think I'll make Jason L. Wayne and his wife my main characters. His wife will be Rachel J. Wayne. 29, middle class family, very conservative, stay home mom, takes care of everything at home. Assuming the position of traditional woman's role, drop out of college, works to support husband to go through college. Plays piano, loves kids, very good at cooking, would suffer silently instead of complains. Not interested in working and being "independent," not very interested in listening to Jason talking about work.
83 more days to go.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Day 16: The reader has to believe that your characters exist or could exist...
"— and they need to be distinctively drawn. And nothing better defines characters than their actions, their purpose in life. Their purpose may be good or evil. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that the reader sees their actions and purpose, believes them, and is continuously interested in them.
Do not write a story peopled with a cast of thousands. Write a tale about one, two or three memorable characters, all of them filled with purpose."
Another character:
Jason L. Wayne
34, harsh childhood: an illegitimate child, close to mother, but later mother suddenly disappears. Being taken cared by grandmother. Being looked down and mocked by others. Study hard and graduate from a good college. Very self-conscious, eager for attention, eager to be liked, sometimes socially awkward, but is liked by many. Marry to a very traditional woman, and together raise 4 kids.
Looks like a very nice guy. But in fact can be very impatient and angry; always feels anxious and lonely inside. I can't decide his career yet, but he should have a moderately successful career.
84 more days to go.
Do not write a story peopled with a cast of thousands. Write a tale about one, two or three memorable characters, all of them filled with purpose."
Another character:
Jason L. Wayne
34, harsh childhood: an illegitimate child, close to mother, but later mother suddenly disappears. Being taken cared by grandmother. Being looked down and mocked by others. Study hard and graduate from a good college. Very self-conscious, eager for attention, eager to be liked, sometimes socially awkward, but is liked by many. Marry to a very traditional woman, and together raise 4 kids.
Looks like a very nice guy. But in fact can be very impatient and angry; always feels anxious and lonely inside. I can't decide his career yet, but he should have a moderately successful career.
84 more days to go.
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