Merry Christmas!

 

Wherever you are, and however you're celebrating, 

I hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend!

See you on the other side! (And fingers crossed 

that 2021 isn't quite the cluster that 2020 was.)

xoxo

The Setup

Each scene should set up the scene that follows, and the following scene should set up the one after that. 

A clear cause and effect pattern should run throughout your narrative. That is, your characters should behave in ways that set a story in motion and keep it moving. 

If a scene *doesn't* react causally to the previous, then it should spark enough curiosity in the reader to compel them to keep turning pages. 

Otherwise, the main storyline should never be more than one scene away.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~  

A Writer's Superpower

Dear Writer,

Your self-conscious, overthinking, over-analyzing brain is your Superpower.

You are an introvert, yes, and you may tend toward some anxiety and obsessive behaviors. Society wants you to see this as a negative, but it's not. You have a rich, inner life that allows you to do what you do. 

It's that self-consciousness and over-analyzing that ensures you only put out your best work at the time, and the obsession means you will go through a work again and again until it's the best you can possibly make it.

There will be gaps when you first begin--of course there will be--but the traits you consider "bad" can only be so if they're keeping you from submitting or finishing a project completely.

So write the words. Be self-conscious about them. Overthink the project. Over-analyze everything. Fix whatever bothers you about it until you are done thinking and analyzing and ready to let it go.

Use your Superpower, then share the story you've spun from nothing (your own tiny miracle) with the rest of us.

We're anxiously waiting.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~ 

Never Too Late

lately i’ve pondered. . . .

(from the newsletter)

“I am who I am today because of the choices I made yesterday.”

It’s possible to wake up one morning and not even recognize the person we’ve become, but this change rarely happens overnight because we are a product of a hundred thousand tiny decisions made in various increments over the course of weeks, months, and years.

It’s *never* too late to amend a habit or characteristic or begin working on a new goal, but this means adjusting who you were yesterday to reflect who you want to be tomorrow, which means making even the smallest of changes today.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~ 

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A Mismatch of Expectations

The following gem of an idea recently arrived in my inbox. I tried to think of a way to paraphrase, but it's so much better in Seth Godin's own words, and, if you're a creator of anything, I feel like you'll find this idea of a "mismatch of expectations" helpful:

"If you look at many 1 star reviews (of books, of music, of restaurants) this is precisely what you’re going to see. A mismatch of expectations. A mismatch that is blamed, completely, on the person who created the work, not the critic.

It doesn’t matter that the thing was clearly marked. It doesn’t matter that the thing was extraordinarily well-produced. And it doesn’t matter if just about everyone else experiencing it was thoroughly delighted."

You can either pander to the middle, putting everything in exactly the category they hoped for and challenging no expectations… Or you can do the incredibly hard work of transgressing genres, challenging expectations and seeking out the few people who want to experience something that matters, instead of something that’s merely safe."

-Seth Godin-          

So be your brilliant self. Don't pander to the middle. Your audience is out there--the ones whose expectations you'll meet (and exceed) every time--and these are the ones who matter. 

~Katie~

The Said and the Unsaid

What's "said" on the page includes dialogue, gestures, and observable behaviors.

What's "unsaid" includes what's beneath the spoken and observable--the thoughts and expressions that the character is holding back, or choosing not to say and do.

In a well-developed character, what's said will contradict or conflict with what he's holding back (for whatever reason), and if a scene isn't working, it may be because what's going on beneath the "said" isn't compelling enough.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

The Character's Inner World

In a story, the outer world is everything translated to the page that happens in a character's physical world. The people he meets, the words that she says, the actions he takes--these are all manifested outside the character.

But there is an entire inner world that should also be addressed, and this is what's referred to as the subtext. 

A character can't express everything in the outer world, after all; there are thoughts and feelings that are important she keep to herself for one reason or another. 

Of course, the outer world matters because the conflicts here keep the reader's pages turning, but this doesn't mean they aren't also interested in what's going on beneath the surface or inside the character's head. 

We don't always mean what we say or say what we are really thinking, and our characters shouldn't, either.

This makes the subtext--what's happening beneath the surface--an important part of our story and a great way to express conflict and add depth to our characters. 

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

It's Release Day!

What happens when you’re trapped between a new love 

and an ex-boyfriend who refuses to let you go?

 Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Kobo
iTunes
Google Play

Three Things Readers Want to Know

As a reader works her way through a story, there are three things in particular she wants to know:

1. What is happening in this moment? 

2. What is going to happen next? 

3. How is this going to turn out? 

As a writer, if you know the answer to these questions at any given point in your draft, and the answers are something that will intrigue the reader, then you're moving in the right direction.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

Do the Work

lately i’ve pondered. . . . 

(from the newsletter)

A tweet recently went out from one of the quote feeds I follow: 

“Do your work with all your heart and you will succeed.”

What a lovely thought, right? That if we do what we love then success will inevitably follow? I’m not sure it’s fair to promise this, though. Success is never guaranteed. We hope that, of course, if we consistently show up and do the hard work we’ll be rewarded in some way, but no one promises fame, fortune, or “success” just because we’ve worked hard at something. 

Or maybe I’m looking at this from a very Westernized idea of what “success” is. Maybe it’s time to redefine “success.” Because sitting down to write a book and reaching “the end”—that, in itself, is a success. Completing the painting, learning the instrument, preparing the new dish—these are their own little successes. 

Do the work with all your heart, and you will succeed . . . by having done the work?

Not quite as pithy, but sometimes it has to be enough to just “do the work with all your heart.” Full stop. 

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

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On Opposing Values

An easy way to complicate a character is to give her conflicting values.

How do we accomplish this?

Think in terms of opposites.

If your character prides herself on her honesty, put her in a situation where she is forced to lie for the greater good (or even self-preservation).

If she's something of a slacker, give her an interest or hobby that she is passionate about. For instance, maybe she couldn't care less that she's failing biology, but she's desperate to get the hem just right on the homecoming dress she designed.

Or perhaps she's clever--she always has the answers. Put her in a situation where her intelligence or quick-wittedness won't help her at all (and may even hinder her).

Your Assignment

1. Brainstorm a list of key values or traits your character possesses, and then, beside each, write its opposite. For example:

Fear ---> Bravery

Candor --> Speechlessness

Uncaring --> Compassionate

Humility --> Arrogance

Tolerance --> Narrow-mindedness

2. Think of a way you can weave the opposing value into your story. (Bonus points if you can pinpoint which characters bring out the best and worst in her.) 

In Cross My Heart, Jaden, for instance, would be classified as tolerant and compassionate, but Parker seems to bring out the worst in her, leaving her narrow-minded and arrogant during their first encounters. 

So . . . if your characters seem flat and uninteresting, highlighting places where they act in opposition to their core values will quickly add some depth to your story.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

Rules Are . . . There Ain't No Rules

I've offered A LOT of writing tips and tricks on this blog over the years. Some of these I've picked up through the classes I've taken or taught, the books I've read, the books I've written. . . . 

I tweet and retweet advice from authors All. The. Time. 

It's easy to sit back and think of these as "the rules."

But the truth is, in writing, there are no rules.

For every tweet I've sent out into the world, I've tweeted something in direct opposition. 

Write about what you know. 

No, write about what you want to know.

Avoid one-sentence paragraphs.

Write a one-word paragraph if you want to.

Enlist the help of beta readers.

Keep your writing close to you.

Readers want the happy ending.

No, readers want an ending they'll remember.

As much as we like to think we can turn writing into a science, there are no hard, fast rules, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.

For every "rule" of writing, there is a successful writer who has broken it.

So whether you follow the rules or break them, give us the best of what you have to offer.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~ 

 

On Likeability

I've talked about likeability on the blog before. In fact, one of the first rejections I received from a publisher (more than 15 years ago) was a pass because my heroine wasn't "likeable" enough. 

(Thank goodness they didn't meet Summer from All I Never Wanted).

But I wondered then and I've wondered since: when did we decide that we have to like the characters we read about?

In fact, Literature is strewn with the wreckage of wholly unlikeable characters. We know them, we remember them, and yes: the good writer actually made us feel for them.

The only rule of page turning is that readers are interested in the character and curious about what will happen next. 

That's it.

I don't want to go so far as to say it's easy to write a likeable character because creating a believable character in itself is difficult, but to entice a reader to want to get to know someone with few redeeming qualities?

Challenge Accepted.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~ 

On Paragraphs

Every paragraph will have its own points of emphasis, and writers should know that, subconsciously, the reader is going to pay closest attention to both the first and the last sentences. 

Ergo, these two sentences should pack the most punch/make the highest impact possible (as everything in between serves to support these two points of emphasis).

One sentence paragraphs are also possible, but there's a special kind of attention drawn to these, and so they should be used sparingly and carry enough weight to stand on their own.

Though you have some creative license when it comes to structuring paragraphs in fiction, the overall idea that a paragraph should develop a single concept remains. A shift in thought, topic, or conversation should result in a shift in paragraph. 

Otherwise, a paragraph is going to reflect your writing style, and while it may be tempting to lean toward a longer, more involved collection of sentences, readers today like their white space, and the more compact your paragraph is visually, the less tempted they will be to pass it over.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

Our Obligation as Writers

"You are right in demanding that an artist should take an intelligent attitude to his work, but you confuse two things: solving a problem and stating a problem correctly. It is only the second that is obligatory for the artist."

-Anton Chekov

As writers, we are not called to solve problems. We only have to see the problems of the world--know they exist--and not shy away from addressing them in our work.

(Of course, readers are going to want the "story problem" resolved by the time they reach the end of the book, but the story problem is different from the more deeply defined "ills of the world"--those issues to which there are no easy answers.)

We are not the judge (though the pen is in our hand); we are merely the observer.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

Check Out the Mug on That Guy

A random mid-week interruption of your regularly scheduled blog programming to say that I just *love* Robert McKee's coffee cup.

I was in one of his webinars last week, and, I'll admit, I was curious when he kept lifting this *massive* cup of coffee to take a drink every so often, so I was elated when someone asked how big it was during the Q&A.

It holds 32 ounces, apparently. 

Four Cups of coffee.

#goals

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

P.S. I am learning all of the writing and storytelling-related things, of course, but I couldn't resist sharing a screen shot of that mug. 💖 

On Gestures

He slammed his fist against the table.

She twirled one of her curls around her finger.

He crossed his arms.

She lifted her chin, twisted her lips in a half-smile.

In life, gestures are a non-verbal form of communication. Our body language--how we move, our facial expressions, our "tics"--these actions say as much as (or sometimes more than) our words.

In writing, gestures are often used to fill space or to create a rest from dialogue.

When used correctly, they add depth to the character and give us something else to focus on before returning to the real story/action. When used incorrectly, they can come across as trite, overused, irrelevant, or even distracting.

Therefore, gestures should be approached with care and consideration.

Try to avoid generic descriptions (one size fits all). Each character should have a unique response to any given situation. A gesture should tell us something specific about the character and what he/she is reacting to. Think unexpected and unusual (but not forced or overdone). 

Above all, make sure your gestures mean something. Resist using them as a placeholder or filler material. When in doubt, leave it out. It's likely your story will progress just fine without the attention drawn to a random nodding of the head or pointing of a finger.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~  

The Truth is in the Details

What makes the reader suspend disbelief and lose himself in the story you're telling? 

The details.

Not too many details, but just the right amount.

A single detail, in fact, can tell us more about a character than a lengthy paragraph. 

What kind of details, you ask? The particulars. Something interesting that might otherwise be overlooked. Little clues that offer insight into who your character is, what she enjoys, or the trials he may have faced.

That glass clock on the mantle--a 25-year service award from his company? A detail.

The crucifix above the grandmother's window? A detail.

The colored pencils scattered on the floor by her bed? A detail.

We can assume a lot about a character through these strategic descriptions, even if we don't fully know them yet.

Stories are built on little details.

Make them count.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~ 

On Being "Not Good Enough"

It's in our nature to assume someone (or anyone, or everyone) else is more creative than we will ever be.

But don't let your feelings of being "not good enough" stop you from doing what you want (or were meant) to do.

Practice your creativity. Show up. Do the work.

It's risky putting yourself out there, but it's worth it.

Jump, then strengthen your wings on the way down.

Above all, keep your eyes on your own paper. Your creative journey will look vastly different from the person next to you, just as his journey will look different from hers, just as hers will look different from. . . .

You get the idea. 

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

Robert McKee On Bad Writing

"Bad writing doesn't make the money you think it does. 

Write as beautifully and wonderfully as you can."

--Robert McKee

It can be tempting, reading that bestseller, to think: "I can write better than this."

And perhaps we can. But even if the writing is mediocre, something else is compensating. The storytelling, for instance, may be compelling--something about the plot grabs readers and refuses to let go. The characters. The world they are in. . . .  

When you're interested in a particular storyline or character and what might happen to him, it's easy to overlook elementary writing. The pages turn themselves anyway.

But books such as these (especially as bestsellers) are the exception rather than the rule.

Fact: the more we write, the better we will write.

This is why we shouldn't compare our first attempts to someone else's masterpiece.

But the idea that because a few "bad" writers made quite a bit of money we're allowed to write badly, too? 

No. 

There may seem to be exceptions to the rule, but 99 times out of 100 bad writing is bad writing, and bad writing gets trashed (or rejected, or poorly reviewed). 

A better idea? 

Tell your story and tell it as beautifully as you know how.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~ 

Which Came First?

The chicken or the egg?

Or . . . . which came first?

The character

The title

The climax

The first sentence

The last sentence

A funny line

A tragedy

A name

An interest

A desire

A need

There is no wrong place to begin brainstorming a story. 

For Cross My Heart, the idea came from a song ("November Rain"), and Jaden (as a perfectionist) arrived first. For Rise, Fallon's name came first, and that she was a musician (a rock star violinist) second. For All I Never Wanted, the idea about a girl in a rehab facility came from a movie I'd recently watched, and for my latest WIP (work in progress), the villain arrived before anyone else.

The point?

Ideas can show up anywhere and at any time, and while they rarely show up fully formed, there is no right or wrong "first."

There is no order in creativity.

The act of creating is messy.

Anything that pops into your head can be built upon, so take that little nugget from the universe (a gift, really) and make that story happen.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

How Characters Reveal Themselves

Characters will reveal themselves differently for every new story person they meet.

They, like us, will behave in disparate ways with everyone. 

Our job (as writers) is to know our characters so deeply that we can predict how they will react to certain people. 

Perhaps our main character grew up with an abusive father. She's going to be skittish around that new love interest who is nothing but nice to her.

Perhaps he had a bad experience with a former manager. He might approach his new boss with trepidation.

Perhaps she loved her grandfather who served in the war. She's likely to treat the elderly and/or the soldiers she meets with respect.

Perhaps he hates his mother. He'll likely hate all women, but not at first. At first, he will be charming, but this is just a game, and he'll eventually grow tired of it.

Now . . . what if these were the same two characters?

Our character's histories, their likes and dislikes, etc. will all inform their behaviors in some unique way, and this should be taken into consideration as they interact with the other characters in your story.

If Character A doesn't react differently to Character B than he does Character C, is he really human (i.e. complex)? 

Ask yourself: How does my character act and react around this person? 

Then plan your character's personalities accordingly. 

Be Brilliant! 

~Katie~ 

Is This Scene Working? Four Questions from Robert McKee

From Robert McKee--

Four questions to ask about every scene in your story:

What does my character want at this moment?

Who is driving the scene and making things happen?

What is stopping the character from getting what she wants?

In every scene, readers are looking for something that builds to the final turning point (the climax). The more important the scene, the longer/more detailed it should be. 

In this scene, did I create change in the character's life?

If the answers to these four questions are clearly defined: Congrats! Your scene works. 

If there's some hesitation or confusion, nail down the responses to these questions and then work your way back through the scene, strengthening it where necessary. 

And finally, if you can't answer these questions at all, it's time for a scene overhaul.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

What Does Your Character *Really* Want?

What does your character want?

Because confusion can only take us so far. 

Yes, characters are often confused to some degree, but if your story is going to work, at some point the character has to make a decision about what he *really* wants more than anything else in the world.

His choice is what should upset the balance in his story universe, and the actions he takes to get what he wants should drive the plot.

Now, whether the character gets what he initially wants, changes his mind about what he wants, or doesn't get what he wants (but ends up with something better/realizing he didn't want it after all) is up to you--the writer--but the end should satisfy the desire.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

Five Reasons Your Scene Isn't Working

You've read the scene over and over, you know it's not working, but you can't quite figure out why.

What's going on?

Well, it could be that 1) nothing is happening. There's no action or any kind of exchange taking place. The content just drags the reader along without offering any kind of real story value.

It could be that things are happening but 2) there's no change. The characters aren't working toward a turning point or make any concessions, and the state of the world is the same at the end of the scene as it was in the beginning. In other words, the scene is "flat." 

Maybe the problem is that 3) the scene is an info dump of a character's thoughts/feelings or includes too much backstory (which naturally pulls readers away from the action).

Perhaps the content is okay, but 4) the rhythm is off. There are beats and turning points, but these don't appear in the best places--the scene is poorly structured.

Or maybe 5) the content is too predictable. The conversation and actions are full of cliches and there's nothing in the story to surprise the reader.

Every good scene will have a purpose as it relates to the overall plot. It will also contain its own mini-arc. Characters will actively do things and respond to things being done to them. Charges will change from positive to negative and back again, and *something* will be different by the end, whether it's the character's thoughts or feelings about something or a new decision that has been made that will lead us in some other direction.     

Scene problems require us to think critically about what's happening in a small section of text and how it fits into the overall story. It requires careful consideration about character interaction and who's driving the narrative as well as the ways in which the story world changes from moment to moment. 

If a scene isn't working, it's worth breaking the content down to its barest bones, determining its overall purpose, and pinpointing the problem so that it can be made better.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

On Simple Scenes

A simple scene will only have a very slight effect on the reader.

A sequence of more complex scenes (especially a series of scenes that build) will have a moderate effect on the reader.

A turning point, or a climax, should have a major effect on the reader.

(With a turning point, of course, the change is irreversible.)

(More insights from Robert McKee!)

Knowing this, think critically about every scene in your novel. Which scenes get the bulk of the attention and/or take up the most emotional/dramatic space within your story? 

If the scene is meant to be simple, keep it simple (and don't expect it to do something it isn't meant to do or try to turn it into something it isn't). 

Of course, it's also worth it, then, to determine how this simple scene affects the plot as a whole. If you were to delete the scene would its disappearance affect the story in a negative way? If the answer to this question is no, then odds are nothing of value is happening. In this case, consider removing it permanently or revising so that it carries more weight.

Even simple scenes should move the plot along, but keep them simple. That is, know which scenes should affect the reader most and give those the attention they deserve. 

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

Start the Fight, Cause the Problem (for your Characters)

What makes for a boring read?

A character who does everything right: who says the best things in the best moments, who considers every alternative then makes the correct choice, who puts out all the little fires with his insight and intellect and wit. . . .

What makes for an exciting read?

A character who says things we'd never dream of saying, who makes irrational (or just plain bad) choices, who goes around causing problems instead of fixing them. . . .

It's okay for a character to be insightful and intelligent and witty, but sometimes they need to say and do the wrong thing. And if your character is the kind of thoughtful person who does everything right the first time, he needs to 1) be paired with someone who forces him out of that comfort zone and into drama OR 2) live in a world that does not react kindly to his efforts. 

As writers, our job is not to keep our characters safe. It's to toss them challenge after challenge: start the fight, cause the problem, then make things just a *little* harder for them. 

As humans, our natures demand we lean toward safety, but "safety" does not make for a compelling reader experience.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

 

On Charges--Advice from Robert McKee

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I frequently retweet writing and storytelling advice from Robert McKee. Well, I had the opportunity to take two of his online seminars this spring (both of which I highly recommend), and one of my favorite takeaways from these sessions had to do with "charges."

Charges are positive and negative energies that inform your story.

What does this mean?

Typically, a story will begin with a problem that's solved by the end. 

This results in an overall negative to a positive charge. Or maybe things start out okay in the beginning, but quickly fall apart. This would lead to an overall positive to negative back to positive charge.

But every scene will have its own charges, too. Either things are good at the beginning of a scene and go south (from positive to negative), or things aren't working out but improve at least somewhat by the end (negative to positive).

We can also break this down further. Every interaction your character has--every conversation with another--will contain its own charges (or they should, at least). A relationship that's okay can improve after a discussion (positive to more positive), or a new understanding can be reached (negative to positive), or a fight could take place (positive to negative).

These are charges, and there are a variety of ways to format them:

negative to positive

positive to negative

negative to more negative

positive to more positive

negative to positive back to negative (or even a "lesser" negative)

positive to negative back to positive (even a "lesser" positive)

A scene featuring an angry girlfriend demanding to know where her boyfriend was the previous night who then accepts his apology is a movement from a negative charge to a positive.

A man who just left his girlfriend's house and stumbles upon an accident his best friend has been involved in is a quick positive to negative change.

A mom who asks about her kid's day and learns he got the lead role in the school play is a positive to more positive change.

You can see the dynamic and how when "things happen" the positive and negative correlation is what moves the story along and ultimately keeps us interested in it.

Again, I can't take credit for this idea--it's all Robert McKee--but this kind of analysis comes in handy if a scene or story isn't working because it's when the charges become stagnant that the plot is no longer moving in any compelling way.

(How boring would a story be if the charges were positive to more positive to more positive to more positive without anything negative ever setting the character back?)

So if you've written a scene that feels a bit boring, map out every charge that occurs. Look deeply at the actions and conversations that are taking place, and pay attention to the directions in which they shift. 

To keep the wave of energy flowing through a narrative, the charges should maintain a constant movement from positive to negative and back again. 

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~ 

To Flashback or Not to Flashback?

When writers insert a flashback, it's because they need to present information from the past that's relevant to the present.

The problem?

Flashbacks slow down the narrative.

They put the action "on pause."

The desire to know what's happening next is what pushes the reader forward, but a flashback flips this idea, sending the reader straight to the past, or to what happened before the story began.

Therefore, it's safe to say that flashback scenes should be limited. If, as a writer, you're introducing too many flashbacks, you're probably telling the wrong story (or, at least, the wrong part of it), anyway.

Still, there are times when flashbacks are necessary and helpful, so treat every flashback like its own mini-story. Dramatize the events to keep the pace moving.

And remember that a flashback is only as helpful as its location. If the reader doesn't want or need to know the information at the time, then a flashback will only obstruct the story. But if there's no way to proceed without confusing the reader (i.e. she needs this information at this very moment to move forward), then go for it.  

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

You Might Be a Writer If. . . .

You might be a writer if you think about sentences.

I mean, really think about them--what makes them strong, what makes them sing, what they're saying (as well as what they're not saying). . . .

"A beautiful sentence is a beautiful sentence."

-Francine Prose (Reading Like a Writer)

and

". . . if you are even thinking in these terms--that is, if you are even considering what might constitute strong, vigorous, energetic, and clear sentences--you are already far in advance of wherever you were before you were conscious of the sentence as something deserving our deep respect and enraptured attention."

So think about it: the structure, the diction, the pacing, the flow, the subtext.

(Think about 10,000 of these and you might even have a novel.) ;)

There's no rule that says every sentence must dance across the page, but if you can, make it beautiful. The discerning reader will notice. 

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~ 

Every. Single. Word.

If you've followed this blog for any extended period of time, you know how I feel about reading.

Good writers are good readers. 

Why? Because most of our writing skills are picked up through osmosis--by reading and analyzing the works of others. 

That's not to say that good readers are automatically good writers. No--there's still a degree of work involved. 

But to the student of mine who claims to want to be a writer but doesn't enjoy reading, I say: 

I'm sorry. It doesn't quite work that way. 

The competition for publishing contracts is fierce. We need writers who not only read widely and read well, but those who slow down to read every. single. word. on the page. We need the writers who ask themselves why this word and not that one? We need writers who consider the placement of every phrase in the sentence and what it's trying to convey. We need writers who read aloud, listening carefully for the structure and rhythm and cadence--what makes the sentence sing. We need writers who read the authors who make them feel woefully inadequate then work hard to bridge the gap between where they are and where they want to be.

That's the only way this works.

Practicing, putting in the 10,000 hours, learning from both our successes and failures, and READING the works of others: this is how good writers are made. 

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

There's Just No Way. . . .

I've written and deleted a lot of posts/tweets/etc. in the past week. 

Then I decided (as usual) Seth Godin (among many others) has already addressed these ideas better than I ever could.

~:|:~

"There’s just no way to be sure what it feels like. Other people, people in our lives or out of it, people who look like us or don’t. Your mileage will vary, your experience will be different. Some started with a huge head start, some with a disadvantage they couldn’t possibly deserve. 

Of course, the “I” is really we. No matter who we are, we can’t truly know what it feels like for someone else. 

It may be that we can’t imagine what it’s like to be the victim of systemic distrust and profiling. Or what it’s like to worry about putting food on this table for that family. Or what it’s like to be fighting a chronic illness or being unjustly accused of a crime. 

We can try. We assume it’s just like what happened to us, but slightly different. We can realize that tragedy is unevenly distributed and in constant rotation, but it’s never going to be the same. 

But just because we can’t imagine–it doesn’t mean we can’t care. We can refuse to magnify our differences and focus on maximizing possibility, justice and connection instead. To take action and to dig in. 

The leverage we have to see, to speak up and to create long-term change is a difficult weight to carry. Because if we can do something to make things more just, that means that we must. 

I wish I was better at it. I wish it were easier. 

We’ll make things better by seeing, by speaking, by doing the work. Even if it’s uncomfortable, especially when it is.

--Seth Godin

To All the Writer Moms. . . .

Dear Writer Mom: 

I know your life right now is one constant interruption. Little people have demands, and they begin the moment they wake up in the morning until the last bedtime story is read. And even then there is the cajoling to lie down, to be still, no more glasses of water, you just used the bathroom there’s no way you have to go again. . . . 

Your life is a marathon. You wake up every morning ready to sprint through the day (coffee is nonnegotiable). Maybe the baby will nap well. Maybe you’ll find an activity that’s exciting enough to entertain the preschooler for more than fifteen minutes. Maybe you won’t discover the school-aged children in the bathroom giving the dog’s fur a trim or the teenager after having given herself bangs in a fit of emotional angst. 

But even on the good days the time is never fully yours. There is the cooking and the cleaning up of toys scattered from one end of the house to the other and the laundry and the preparing of snack after snack after snack and the taxi service you provide, shuttling your kids from one destination to the next. 

But in the nooks and crannies of the day your mind slips to something else that brings you joy: words. So you think about your characters—what they are doing and saying in that very moment. They come alive in your mind. They speak to you and act out and you wish to God you could just sit down for fifteen minutes to get the words onto the page before they’re lost forever even though you know the moment you try someone will inevitably need your attention because you are Mom. 

Yet something burns deep within you, demanding you tell your stories, and it must be something larger than yourself because it would be so much easier to tell the Muse to go away. Leave you in peace. Come back in eighteen years when the smoke has settled. 

But it’s not that easy because you are Writer Mom, and while you live to put stories onto the page, you also live to love and care for your children, and this consumes your most productive hours of every day. It’s a monotony, sometimes, but they tell you this season won’t last forever. One day the house will be as quiet and empty and as clean as you always imagined it could be, and you will have as much time to think and write and plan and plot as needed. 

For now, Writer Mom, keep setting your alarm an hour early. Your characters are ready for you long before everyone else has started their day. And if you write by candlelight, then know that your characters will wait up for you. And if you can only write one or two paragraphs in a single session, write knowing you are still an inspiration. Do not compare your Writer Mom sprint with someone else’s Writer Mom sprint. Push away the thought that you could be doing more. You are enough. Your children need their Mom and the world needs your words. 

You can be both Writer and Mom. 

Besides, what is a more powerful example to her children than a mother working toward her own dreams and goals? 

Show us the way, Writer Mom. 

We see you.

Where Writers Fail

According to John Truby (The Anatomy of Story), 

"Nine out of ten writers fail at the premise."

What is a premise?

The premise is your story stated in a single sentence. In screenwriting, this would be your "logline." 

The purpose of the premise statement is to present the central characters and conflict in order to give the reader a solid idea of what happens in the story.

Truby gives the following example for the premise of Casablanca:

A tough American expatriate rediscovers an old flame only to give her up so that he can fight the Nazis.

Here we have the main characters (an expatriate and a love interest), the central conflict (will they get together or won't they?), and the outcome (he's going to walk away).

The premise of a story is the foundation. Everything that will be developed within the narrative will serve as proof for the premise.

The success of any story depends largely on the premise because if, as writers, we can't boil the key idea down to a single statement, then it's likely we don't have a firm grasp of the overall point/purpose of the tale. 

The scenes may be in the right order, the climax might work, the characters may be well-rounded, and the writing is stellar, BUT if the overall premise is weak, the story is already lost. 

Nine times out of ten, the story is lost at the premise.

It's worth it, then, to give premises the attention they deserve--to nail down the key concept before the story words are even on the page. 

PREMISE:

"A boy from a privileged, upper-middle-class family falls for a girl in a rehabilitation facility accused of murdering her best friend."

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

The Creative Process

English social psychologist Graham Wallas, in his 1926 book Art of Thought, argues there are four stages to the creative process. 

Preparation 

This is an investigation stage. This is the stage where we’re gathering ideas. We’re reading, watching movies, thinking about the project, and taking notes. I liken it to the gardener who preps her soil for the growing season. It’s all of the groundwork that happens before a seed can be planted.

Incubation

The second stage may look like procrastination on the outside, but might not be. Incubation occurs when we’ve gathered the information we need and now our brains are stepping in to process and make connections. This is the stage where the seeds are planted and the gardener is watering and making sure there’s enough sunlight, but, on the surface, at least, it doesn’t look like anything is happening.

Illumination

After we’ve gathered the necessary information and our brains have finished processing it, we’ll have a flash of insight, where suddenly we know exactly what needs to happen or how to solve the problem. At this point, the seed is a plant, and it’s just pushed through the soil. The fruits of the preparation and incubation processes are visible.

Verification

The verification stage is where we bring our ideas to fruition. This takes a conscious, deliberate effort. It’s where we re-work the scene. Compose the poem. Write the article. The plant is now growing into something amazing.

What stage are you in?

They're all crucial to the process, but without verification, what was the point?

Action Required.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

(More) On Story

Story: the price a character pays for the lengths to which she'll go to get what she wants.

Story is about action.

Story is about struggle.

Story is about change.

And . . . 

"Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today." 

--Robert McKee

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

What is a Storyteller?

A storyteller is someone who presents to us a series of events in such a way that we feel as if they are our events--that we are living the moments being described.

A storyteller is someone who both provides information and withholds it, dancing with the reader (or listener) until they're desperate to know how it all ends. 

There's a difference between a writer and a storyteller. 

I have read masterful strings of words and turns of phrasing that did not compel me to continue reading. I have read writing that was less than stellar, but it didn't matter because I was so engrossed in the story and what was happening that I barely noticed the words on the page. 

Can good writing be taught? Sure.

Can good storytelling? Perhaps. But storytelling is more about feeling than structures and rules.

It's the difference between sitting through a driver's ed class and getting behind the wheel of a Ferrari on a road course.

But don't take my word for it. 

As I was editing this post, Robert McKee tweeted this out: 

Story is far too rich in mystery, complexity and flexibility to be reduced to a formula. Only a fool would try. #writingtips #amwriting

— Robert McKee (@McKeeStory) March 9, 2020

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~ 

On Waiting for Inspiration to Strike

"You don't need to wait for inspiration to write. It's easier to be inspired while writing than while not writing, so you don't need to be inspired to sit down and begin. You don't need to be 'in the mood.' I think you will benefit if you don't worry about moods: One, you will get in the habit of writing under any circumstances; two, since writing reflects your mental state, you will have a diversity of moods in your piece. The diversity will make your writing more interesting."

~Josip Novakovich~

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~ 

On Writing Without the Interference of Ego

It's inevitable, the more you write, that the more you will appear on the page in all of your variations.

But you are not the characters of your novels, and they should be allowed the freedom to flourish--to step out on their own and tell their stories.

In order to write them effectively you will need to get inside their minds, of course, but their minds are not yours. 

Cast your ego aside and write freely.

One of the best feelings (apart from writing "the end") is that moment when a character does something that wholly surprises us. Something that ties into the plot and narrative arc so perfectly it's almost as if it were imagined from the onset. Something unexpected, but was so clearly meant to happen.

These moments are magic, but they're unlikely to occur if you're writing through a filter of capital S Self.

For draft one, put away the writer to become the character.

And, as always, Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

First Person POV Violations

First person or third person, there is no "wrong" point of view for your story (provided, of course, you've made every effort to find the best point of view). There are pros and cons to each, though, and some things that should be taken into consideration if you do want to tackle that first person narrator.

The first is to remember that you don't have the same freedom with first person as you do third. Because you are speaking as I, me, we, our, etc., you are limited by what your narrator witnesses and experiences firsthand.

This also means there's a key feature you don't have access to as a writer:

The narrator's face.

Sure, you can describe what's happening if they're looking in a mirror, but we often consider that cheating.

Think about it:

She lined her plump, pink lips with a red pencil, brushed a few flecks of mascara off the high cheekbones she inherited from her grandmother.

And perhaps that's not awful. If you're going to use a mirror to describe a character, at least pick unusual features to discuss. That said, you can do better than giving us a basic blonde hair/blue-eyed summary of the girl we'll have to follow for the next two hundred pages just because she happens to be brushing her teeth.

But I digress.

Back to the face. In first person.

An expression of sadness crossed my face.

How do you know? You can't see your face. You can tell us you frowned, but describing a specific expression--something you would see on another character's face if you were standing in front of him or her--doesn't work in first person writing.

What about blushing?

My cheeks grew red with embarrassment. 

Again, how do you know they're red? The first person narrator, when thrust in an awkward situation, doesn't know what color his cheeks are, so a different way is needed to convey this. He can feel the heat in his cheeks or the warmth creeping up his neck and into his cheeks, but he Can't. See. The Actual Color.

Another thing to watch out for with the first person narrator: the phrase "to myself."

I said to myself.

I thought to myself.

There are more deft ways to characterize thinking or speaking to oneself, and this kind of phrasing is redundant. "I said" works perfectly fine. If you need to clarify that no one else can hear, then the character can "mutter" or "whisper." He can be speaking "so low she couldn't hear me" or "under my breath." And thoughts are just thoughts . . .  which brings me to my next point:

Avoid announcements.

My thoughts drifted. 

I remembered. 

A writer doesn't have to tell the reader the narrator is thinking. We're smart enough to discern action from dialogue and something that's currently happening in the narrative versus something that happened in the past, so go ahead and present the memory without labeling it.

I know not every reader feels the same way, but I love a first person narrator done well. There are some pitfalls, but these can easily be avoided with additional attention to detail.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~ 

On Narrators

As a writer about to tackle a new project, it doesn't hurt to consider all the various points of view from which your story could be told.

Think about the perennial classic The Great Gatsby, for instance.

How would the story have been different had Jay Gatsby been the one to tell it? What if Daisy Buchanan had been given narrator privileges? What about her husband? What if Myrtle Wilson had been allowed to tell her side of the story?

Each of these tellings would have given us a very different--very unique--look at a moment in the lives of these characters. (And no single telling would have been more "right" or "wrong" than another.)

Despite experiencing the same events, no two characters will ever tell the same story. This is especially important to keep in mind if you plan to write in the first person, because not only will the story be different, but who tells your story determines what kind of tone it will adopt. 

So before you begin writing, it doesn't hurt to ask yourself what kind of story you want to tell.

Who will make the best narrator?

     -The person who has the most to gain or lose
     -The person who will be present at the climax 
     -The person who will appear in most of the major scenes of the story
     -The person who can provide an interesting outlook or a fresh perspective

If you're not sure, sit down and write a few pages from each character's perspective and go with the one that feels most compelling. (You could also decide that two POVs are in order, or that everyone should have their say.) After all, if you're going to string 75k coherent words together, the story needs to be riveting enough to keep you coming back to the page day after day, and choosing the right narrator is an important first step.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~