My plan, ultimately, is to make this blog a weekly thing, where I discuss the writing process, the craziness of inspiration, and most importantly, share helpful writing prompts, tips, and resources with you, my faithful reader.
This week, I have another gem from No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days
. This book may be marketed as a companion for those of us whacko pseudo-novelists who take part in the insanity that is National Novel Writing Month every year, but it is also chock FULL of great exercises and advice that are helpful for every writer -- even the sane ones.
This comes from "Week Two Exercises," and it's called "Getting on Your Case: How Friends and Family Can Help Plot Your Novel"
"Here's how it works: Ask a couple of friends that enjoy the same kind of books you do to meet with you for an hour... then, once everyone's comfortable, hand out some scratch paper and pens, and explain the ground rules: You are going to give them a handful of characters, a setting, and a veeery vague story direction, and they are to tell you what should happen next.
Explain everything you know about your characters, one by one--where they work, who they love, what they're embarrassed by, and so on. Encourage your story students to jot down questions and ideas as they occur to them, but be sure to emphasize that this is a brainstorming session, not a test; there are no right or wrong directions.
After you've completely described all of your characters and their connections to each other, your job is to get the conversational ball rolling and then become invisible. Let your audience argue, debate, and build off one another's ideas as you take notes on everything they say. Even if you already know what will happen in your book, you'll get amazing insights on motivations, subplots, and other nefarious activities that might make your book more interesting.
When your focus group inevitably asks what you think should happen in the story, be sure to keep your ideas a mystery. As mentioned in chapter five, revealing your book's plot before it's written can end up sapping a lot of the joy from the writing process, especially if your focus group has a tepid reaction to it--or thinks it stinks. Just keep scribbling down notes and ideas, and let them know that all will be revealed when the book comes out in hardback."
There is almost nothing more important to me as a writer than a good sounding board. I have a group of friends who have been reading my work since back in my early Buffy fanfiction writing days. They know my conventions, my bad habits, the themes I like to reveal in my stories. Most of all, they're not afraid to be brutally honest, to criticize things that they don't think will work, and give reserved praise for things that might be perfect given a little work. I can also turn to them with a couple of conflicting plot directions, and they'll debate and discuss until we all agree on the best one to move forward with.
Give it a try and see if your writing isn't the better for the fresh brains! Kind of like zombies.
This week, I have another gem from No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days
. This book may be marketed as a companion for those of us whacko pseudo-novelists who take part in the insanity that is National Novel Writing Month every year, but it is also chock FULL of great exercises and advice that are helpful for every writer -- even the sane ones.This comes from "Week Two Exercises," and it's called "Getting on Your Case: How Friends and Family Can Help Plot Your Novel"
"Here's how it works: Ask a couple of friends that enjoy the same kind of books you do to meet with you for an hour... then, once everyone's comfortable, hand out some scratch paper and pens, and explain the ground rules: You are going to give them a handful of characters, a setting, and a veeery vague story direction, and they are to tell you what should happen next.
Explain everything you know about your characters, one by one--where they work, who they love, what they're embarrassed by, and so on. Encourage your story students to jot down questions and ideas as they occur to them, but be sure to emphasize that this is a brainstorming session, not a test; there are no right or wrong directions.
After you've completely described all of your characters and their connections to each other, your job is to get the conversational ball rolling and then become invisible. Let your audience argue, debate, and build off one another's ideas as you take notes on everything they say. Even if you already know what will happen in your book, you'll get amazing insights on motivations, subplots, and other nefarious activities that might make your book more interesting.
When your focus group inevitably asks what you think should happen in the story, be sure to keep your ideas a mystery. As mentioned in chapter five, revealing your book's plot before it's written can end up sapping a lot of the joy from the writing process, especially if your focus group has a tepid reaction to it--or thinks it stinks. Just keep scribbling down notes and ideas, and let them know that all will be revealed when the book comes out in hardback."
There is almost nothing more important to me as a writer than a good sounding board. I have a group of friends who have been reading my work since back in my early Buffy fanfiction writing days. They know my conventions, my bad habits, the themes I like to reveal in my stories. Most of all, they're not afraid to be brutally honest, to criticize things that they don't think will work, and give reserved praise for things that might be perfect given a little work. I can also turn to them with a couple of conflicting plot directions, and they'll debate and discuss until we all agree on the best one to move forward with.
Give it a try and see if your writing isn't the better for the fresh brains! Kind of like zombies.
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