Staying True to Your Characters

Spolier Alert! If you have not seen the season 6 finale of Castle, skip this post. There are some spoilers. 

One of the biggest mistakes you can make with your book is having your character make a decision that is totally uncharacteristic. This is most evident when you're writing a series.
After seven books with Harry Potter as the headliner, we would all say we know Harry pretty well. We've been with him through the good, the bad, and the ugly. If Harry had suddenly decided to abandon the wizarding world,  go back to London, and settle into a perfectly Muggle life, we would all have been pretty upset. If he had surrendered to Voldemort and become a Death Eater, the world would be furious. There probably wouldn't be eight fantastic movies, and J.K. would not, most likely, be a millionaire.

We think we know characters on TV shows pretty well, too, and that's why I was so bothered by the season finale of Castle, "For Better or For Worse". The writers created a situation that I think would never happen. In the episode, Castle and Beckett go to get their marriage license, and find out that Kate is married.
To a guy she dated in college. Who she married at a drive-thru wedding chapel in Vegas "for fun".
"I didn't think it was legal," says Beckett, with a shrug.

Let's get real. This is Kate Beckett. She dated three guys in six years, she solves crimes on a whiteboard, and ruthlessly interrogates people. She wouldn't get married on a whim, and even if she did, she definitely wouldn't write it off as not being legal. She's smart, she's sharp, and there's no way she would do anything like this.

Now Castle, on the other hand, this is totally something he would do.

But the point is this: it is really easy to have your characters do something that they wouldn't normally do to add conflict to the story. And sometimes it is good for a character do something slightly out of character so they don't get too predictable, but you have to know when they are getting too far away from themselves.
You should know your characters well enough to know what they would and wouldn't do.
Some little inconsistent things are fine, but something huge like being married for fifteen years and not knowing it is a pretty big deal. This is not a decision I would have made in my writing. *

The readers of your book should be totally immersed in your world. They shouldn't be thinking about the fact that all of these characters are the products of someone else's imagination. When something happens in a story that makes the reader think, "That character would never do that." it takes the away the reality of the story. It causes us to remember that someone wrote all this, and it's not actually a true story.

There are a few ways to avoid this happening in your writing. One way is just coming up with another option. Make a list of  things that could happen instead of whatever it is that you feel like your character wouldn't do. And don't just write down five other options. Write twenty or thirty. Some of them will be absolutely ridiculous, but one will be just right.
In the case of Castle, the writers could have just switched characters. Obviously, it wouldn't have helped it Esposito suddenly discovered that he was married, but it would have worked if it was Castle. This feels much more believable and the conflict would have worked just about as well.


Have you seen or read anything lately where you felt like a character was making a decision that they wouldn't make? Have you struggled with staying true to your characters?


*So, if you have seen this episode of Castle and the first episode of season 7, you know that Castle disappears. This was a little strained plot-wise, but still I thought the writers handled it very well. So, the whole thing with Kate being married could have something to do with this. I don't know. I doubt it.  Just saying. Any other Castle-watchers feel free to share your thoughts on this. 

5 Things I Learned from NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo starts in a week and a half, and I would like to wish good luck to all those participating. Last year was my first time to do the program, and I love the novel I wrote.  This year I won't be officially participating, but I will be trying to write 1,666 words a day. So since NaNoWriMo is about to start and everyone participating should be trying to get some sort of a plan together, I decided to share with you a few things that I learned last year while working on my NaNo novel.

It doesn't hurt to plan before you start writing. 

In NaNoWriMo, if you don't at least have some sort of idea of the events that happen in your story, you're in trouble. If you have to spend the first week of November hammering out the plot, then you're seriously behind in hitting your 50,000 word goal. You might not do this when you're working on something normally, but it's not likely that when you're writing the other 11 months of the year, you have such strict deadlines, so having an idea of where you're headed is always a good idea. 

Before I did NaNo, I thought that a was a pantser. I was sure that I didn't need a scene list, or even need to know how my story was going to end. I could just pluck along writing whatever I wanted to come next, and then sort everything out later if there were any gaping plot holes. When I finished the last book I wrote with that philosophy, I found so many problems. The characters weren't consistent, the plot dragged, and the ending wasn't emotionally satisfying. I had to scrap the whole draft and start over. I'm currently re-writing the whole book, and I'm doing lots of planning.  

If you know your characters as well as you know yourself, and you know everything that happens in the story, if you're sure of the subplots and the character arcs and everything else in your story, then you won't have nearly as many stops and bumps in the road. NaNo forces you to do a lot of planning beforehand, because you can't write the words: "Chapter One" until November 1.  

It's not as hard as it sounds to find the time to hit your daily word quota. 

I can write 400 words in twenty minutes. Sometimes I'm even quicker than that. For the sake of this illustration, let's just assume that you type at an average speed every time you sit down in front of your computer. That's 20 words a minute, 1,800 words in an hour and a half. That's your whole day's quota. In a hour and a half. What if you don't have that extra time every day? 

I think you do. 

Studies have said that the average American spends 3 hours on social media a day. So if you divert 1/2 of the time you spend reading tweets, you can easily hit the amount of words you need. Now, I know that most people don't sit down and spend three successive hours on social media, it's usually five minutes here, fifteen there, that adds up to three hours. Still, you can use the same process for writing. Any time you have a spare minute, use it to write. Write while you're waiting for a meeting to start, or when you're on the subway. Write during the commercials of your favorite TV show. Even of you just found four times during the day when you had fifteen minutes to write, that should give you the words you need, or close to it. And any catching up you need to do can be done on the weekends. 

Tell your friends and family what you're doing. 

When I first started writing, I would tell anyone who would listen about my book, and let them read it, even though it was nowhere near finished and nowhere publishing ready. Then I switched and didn't let anyone read my writing until it was completely finished and edited. I didn't even tell most people I was even writing. 

Neither of those approaches is really the best way to go. Since NaNoWriMo is going to kind of cut out some of your free time, your family and friends might wonder what's happened to you. Explain to them what you're doing, and tell them a little about your book. That way they don't feel like you're ditching them or being rude. They will understand when you don't respond to calls or texts right away, because they will know that you are busy writing! 

It also doesn't hurt to have some encouragement. Writing a novel is a huge accomplishment, and you deserve to be congratulated if you complete the challenge. Treating yourself is okay, but celebrating with your friends is even better. On December 1st, you can celebrate having your free time back by throwing a "I'm a Novelist" party. 

Don't forget to have fun. 

If you get a great idea for a scene that doesn't really seem to fit anywhere, don't toss it aside. Write it, and put it in a folder for scene pieces. I have a folder for each of my WIPs called 'bits' where I toss any scenes that I can't find a place for, but still really love. The point is,  NaNoWriMo isn't about crossing scenes off of a list until you have a novel, it's about exploring yourself and your imagination and your abilities. It's about seeing what you can do, and having fun with it. The book doesn't have to be perfect at the end, so if, halfway through the month, the book does a 180 and starts heading in a completely different direction that it did when you planned it out, don't stress. Go with it, and have fun. Getting the words out is all that matters, it doesn't matter if things aren't going exactly according to plan. 

Practice makes perfect. 

When I finished my NaNo novel, I read it and realized it was the best thing I had ever written. That's proof that writing isn't just a special talent awarded to some and that the others that don't appear to have the knack are just left out forever. 

Writing is like any other activity. Repetition makes you better. If this is your first time trying NaNoWriMo, don't expect Gone Girl to be sitting in your word file at the end of the month. No one hits the jackpot their first time, and you probably won't either. You might not even finish the challenge. But you will be better for your effort. And if this year isn't your year, next year will be. So get planning guys! You got this! (I'm getting started on the 'I'm a Novelist' party a little early, aren't I?)

Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year? What have you learned from it before, and what do you hope to get out of it this year? 

3 Ways to Create Memorable Characters

Downton Abbey has made a name for itself, in so many ways.  The drama is hard to look away from and easy to love.  The setting, the costumes, the characters, the plot, everything is virtually flawless.    The show will have you sobbing one minute and yelling at the TV the next. 

 But, what keeps us watching is not the rapid-fire action scenes (because there aren't any) or the unsolved mystery (though there have been one or two murders), it's the characters. 

Downton has an ensemble cast.  And Julian Fellowes crafted all of his characters beautifully (as of the fourth season there have been over 60 of them).  Not even in the first episode, did I ever feel like they were being thrown at me, or have trouble remembering which character was which. 

 Thats because not one single character is forettable.  You either love, or love to hate, every single one.  These people are real, they're flawed, and they're funny.  And not a single one of them is cliché.  

I've noticed a few things that all of the Downton characters have in common.  So here we go, 3 ways to create memorable characters.  

Flaws

Mary is almost always rude, Daisy has never been the sharpest knife in the drawer, Lord Grantham is stubborn, Thomas is just plain nasty, Sybil speaks before she thinks, and Mrs. Patmore-let's get real, Mrs. Patmore is fabulous.  Just like no person is perfect, every character should have obvious flaws.  If you ever meet a person that you think is flawless, then they're obviously very skilled at deceit.  Aha!  They're deceitful.  That is a flaw.  

If it's a little difficult to come up with a different flaw for every single character, check out this article.  It's a really interesting look at character flaws. The website is not a writing website, but still an interesting read. 

Voice

You would never mistake one of the Dowager Countess' lines with Williams', or Mr. Carson.   Every one of your characters should have a distinctive way of speaking.  Make sure you don't confuse this with an accent.  Just because you might decide to make a character from the south doesn't mean you have to use overly obvious abbreviations and "southern" words in every sentence that comes out of their mouth.  Saying that the character has a southern accent once and using a few words that the other characters from up north wouldn't use is enough. 

But what I'm really talking about here is the words that a character uses, and the attitude the character has.  The Countess is sassy, Mr. Carson is abrupt, and Anna is sweet (most of the time).  Make sure this comes out in your character's lines. It's easier than it sounds.  You could make a list of character traits, and then add something about the character's background or personality that might impact their word choice. 

A character that's from England would use different words to describe things than someone who's from Maine.  Overly sarcastic people speak differently than straight-forward people do.  Someone who is well read is not going to use the same words as someone who hates to read. 

Unexpected Decisions

Don't be afraid to have your character do something out of the ordinary for them.  We all do things that surprise ourselves sometimes.  Not everyone is going to be nasty or nice all the time.  Remember the time the Dowager let Mr. Moseley win the flower competition?   Her storyline through the whole episode was just building up how much she wanted to win and how the judges picked her every single time.  Then, when she was standing in front of everyone, looking at her name under first place, she called out Mr. Moseley's name instead.  She surprised herself, and everyone else. 

So have your character do something he wouldn't normally do. This is what keeps us interested in him. If we always predicted everything Mary was going to do, what would be the fun of watching anymore? Of course, we have some idea of what she will do, because we know her pretty well, but every so often she does something that surprises us. 

This goes for your antagonists as well.  Have your bad guy make a nice act. It doesn't have to be anything big, just something that makes us see that he's not a total meanie.  

I hope this gives you some ideas for your characters!  Who's your favorite Downton character?  What is it that you makes you like (or dislike) him?


Also, sidenote, if you live near Nashville, TN you should check out the Southern Festival of Books this weekend.  It starts on Friday and goes through Sunday. Tons of fantastic authors will be there, including Lauren Oliver, Kat Zhang, Tamera Alexander, and Natalie Lloyd. If you're interested, you can find more information here.

Updates and New Things Coming!

Hello all!

So, ever since I started this blog almost a year ago, I have not been very religious with my posting schedule. I apologize very sincerely for that. Every week I knew I needed to post something, but I struggled to come up with an interesting post that was something that I actually knew about, and something that would be helpful to all you other writers out there. 

Thankfully, I think I have found a solution to my lack of inspiration! 

It started last week with the season premieres of most of the TV shows I watch. I was analyzing every episode, trying to figure out what would happen. And I greatly annoyed my parents with comments like, 

"That's too much character development for one episode. Something's going to happen to him." 

"Character X killed him." 

"Character Y would never do that. That's soooo out of character." 

And because I noticed these things, I noticed things that could be fixed in my own writing. Then I realized that I officially have a reason to watch TV! It's research! WATCH ALL THE TV SHOWS!! *ahem* 

Anyway, back to business. 

It was when I was having a conversation with one of my writer buddies, that all this clicked for me. I was telling her that in the midst of one of my rants about a TV show, my dad had remarked that I was like a "plot therapist". 

She excitedly said, "That sounds so cool! That would make a good blog post." 

And, because I have a flair for the dramatics and all things bigger, I immediately thought, No, that would make a good blog. 

So, if you've noticed that things have changed a little around here, let me explain what's happpening. I was never completely satisfied with my url, so I have changed it to plottherapy.blogspot.com. Originally I wanted theplottherapist but that is a tad hard to read and it also looks like plot the rapist, so that wasn't going to work. Soooo.....*drumroll* the new official name of this blog is The Plot Therapist! Here's the new header becasue I just can't stop looking at it.

I will also be changing the content of my posts. Mainly, each post will consist of me discussing a particular area of a TV show episode, movie, or book. Whatever jumped out as a teachable moment while I was watching it. This could mean something I thought the writers could have handled differently, or something they handled well. I'll do my best to switch up the formula to keep it from getting too monotonous. But this doesn't mean I will exclude any other kind of post. I will throw in the occasional post that doesn't have anything to do with me dissecting other people's plots. 

I'll also try to exclude as many spoilers as possible, and I won't be posting anything about a particular episode the morning after it airs, so if you haven't seen it, you'll probably have a week or two to get caught up. But, if I do have to discuss a spoiler, I will tell you before I start the post. 

I will mainly be dealing with TV episodes, because episodes tend to have a full plot arc in 40 minutes, which makes it easier to write about, because everything is so condensed. 

I'll also try do some older (aired a few years ago) shows instead of newer ones to keep from having a lot of spoilers, because even if you haven't watched the show, you probably have heard about it or have already had it spoiled for you. 

I hope this is something you guys will be interested in! I'm really excited about this, and this should mean I will be posting a lot more regularly. I will be sticking to my new-posts-go-up-on-thursdays mantra, unless it's something that just absolutely has to be shared before then (like this post)! 

Let me know what you guys think about this idea. Does it sound good? Not so much? Do you annoy your family by guessing the endings of movies? 

Writing What People Love Without Sounding Like Everyone Else

People expect certain things when they pick up a book. 

Obviously, they expect to enjoy it. They expect to care about the main character. They expect to laugh, to get angry, to be satisfied at the end (well, most of the time). As the all-powerful author, you should do your very best to give people what they expect. You want your readers to be happy they read your book. 

There are some classic things that readers love in a novel. They're easy to stick in your book, but it's not so easy to cut and paste in a well-rounded character, or a full character arc in one paragraph. 

Here's a few ways to write people love without sounding like everyone else. 

Combine Characters

The wise teacher. 

The best friend. 

The antagonist. 

I bet you can think of countless examples of those three characters in your favorite novels. Chiron from Percy Jackson, Ron in Harry Potter, and Darth Vader are a few I pulled off the top of my head. You might not have all of these type characters in your novel, but you should have at least one.  The thing about these character archetypes, while we love all the Rons and John Watsons, is that sometimes they get a little old. The slightly doubtful best friend that always shows up when needed and sticks by the hero, is a character that shows up over and over again. 

As is the wise old sage. And of course, every story has an antagonist. 

But we need these characters! Our stories would not be the same without them. 

So what do we do to make these desperately needed characters a little less faded, and a little more extraordinary? 

Combine them. 

The best friend could also be the antagonist (this could be an interesting twist). 
The love interest could be the wise teacher. 

Or have the teacher turn into the villain (this happens a lot in the Spiderman movies, I've noticed). *

That snarky, pessimistic character that loves to make the hero feel bad about himself? What if she was the best friend? 

I'm sure you can come up with a few more interesting combinations. 

Combining characters can improve your story in several ways. It gets rid of unneeded characters, and makes the characters you do need better. They're more realistic, they have more motivation, and they're more lovable. 

Go Easy on the Love Story

Everyone loves a good love story. Even if there's not a love interest in the book you're reading right now, I bet there's someone you ship the main character with. I always wanted Trixie Belden and Jim to get together, but that never really happened. 

And #Dramione. No thanks to J.K. 

Sometimes love interests can go a little overboard, though. And, I don't know about you, but once my ship becomes canon, I get a little bit bored. 

So my advice with love stories is this: 

Unless you are purely writing a romance novel, keep your love interest on the back burner. This works even better in a series. Let it simmer, let people get invested in the relationship before the two characters even know they like each other. Then, boom! At the end of the book (or series) bring the two characters together. 

In the middle, you can do a little teasing. A little dancing around the attraction, but be sure to never address it directly. You lose momentum and interest. And don't do too much teasing, either. Then you can be in danger of changing subplot to main plot. 

Just be careful, and be smart. Stoke the fire, but don't let it burst into flame. 

(Why do people use so many cliches when talking about love? I can't even write a paragraph about it without using 200,000 really stupid ones.)

Don't worry too much about humor. 

Getting the humor right in a story has always been really tough for me. I'm extremely sarcastic in real life, so I can easily make my characters be sarcastic, but not everyone thinks sarcasm is as humorous as I do. And also, in a book, a little bit of sarcasm goes a long way. 

But truly hilarious scenes and characters are hard to craft. Countless times, I've spent so much time trying to make a scene as funny as possible, but when I read back over it, it seems very contrived and flat and not funny at all. 

So unless you're trying to write an actual humor book, my advice to you is this. Don't worry too much about it. Most likely you'll write a few lines that will make people smile, but if you don't, that's okay. The Hunger Games didn't have any laugh out loud scenes, but there were a few lines that I thought were pretty funny. Obviously that book did pretty well. 

So don't spend a lot of time trying to infuse humor into your book. Most likely your sense of humor will come out in your writing anyway, and even if you did pour a lot of time making a scene absolutely hilarious, what's rolling-on-the-floor-laughing funny to you, may not be funny at all to someone else. 

Humor is very selective, so your kind of humor is not going to be funny to everybody.
Overall, just don't worry about it too much. If you have a couple of funny lines, you should be fine.


So there's three things you can do right now to help with editing, or maybe they will give you some help with a new project.
How do you change your writing to make classic characters and plots different? Did you think of any different character combinations? Let me know in the comments! 

*Having a backstory for your villain helps them seem more real, and might also get some of your readers rooting for the villain. When Joss Whedon wrote the script for Thor, I'm sure he didn't anticipate his villain, Loki, having such a large group of fans. This might have something to do with Tom Hiddleston's portrayal of the character, but a lot of it is the struggle we see Loki has. He's the outsider. He doesn't feel appreciated, or loved. It's easy to see how someone who is very insecure and uncomfortable could turn to the wrong person for acceptance. So don't be afraid to make your villain slightly pitiable. Just make sure to keep them a little despicable, or they might turn into the protagonist. 

How to Stay EXCITED About Your Novel

When the first flicker of an idea jumps into your life, it's really easy to get excited about potential characters and subplots and settings.

30,000 words in, you're probably not still as pumped up. I am the queen of losing momentum and giving up on a project. I'm not as bad as I used to be, but it is still really easy to throw a project aside and move on to a newer, shinier one.

The next time you're not feeling the love for your WIP, here are some tips to get back that initial excitement.

Date your book. 

Have you ever heard the classic piece of marriage advice, "date your spouse"? The general idea is that, while dating, you're out doing fun things together, showing each other your best side, and really putting a lot of effort into the relationship. Then, after you marry the person, you get sucked into the doldrums of everyday life and just plod along. Going back to dating your spouse is a sure way to put the magic back into the relationship. 

This can translate pretty easily to author and novel. 

Go back and think about the first idea you had for your novel. What excited you about it? What made you think, 'this could be the one'?  Make a list of your main character's best attributes. Re-read your favorite scene. Basically, think about all the things you like about your book. Forget about the plotholes and the flat characters. Focus on everything you know you've got right. 

Make an inspiration board. 

This could be a physical bulletin board, or a virtual board on Pinterest.  I personally prefer the accessibility and convenience of just pinning things onto a board online. Whenever I get an idea for a new story, I create a board on Pinterest.  A lot of times, I even make it private if I'm not sure I'll ever follow through with the idea.
Pinterest is a great source for ideas about setting, and I've even gotten a couple of scene ideas from pictures on Pinterest. It can be easy to get sucked into Pinterest and keep scrolling for hours, so I try to use it as a reward for writing a certain amount of words. 

An actual cork board, or a folder with pictures in it works as well. You just have to put a little more effort into finding the pictures and putting them together.
Add pictures of people that look like your characters, places that look just like the world they live in, and whatever else you like. If your character is a chef, pin pictures of food she might cook.
In my current project, the main characters work in a bookstore. My Pinterest board for that novel is filled with pictures of cool looking bookstores.
You get the idea. 

Music. 

Music while writing is one of those things that not all people can do. For me it varies. Sometimes, it can be very inspirational, and other times, it's just a distraction. Music with a vocalist tends to be more distracting, while instrumental music usually never distracts me. 

If you're one of those people that can't write with music playing, listen to music just before you start writing. 

Music does a really great job of getting me in the mood for the scene I'm about to write. If I'm writing a sad scene, I listen to sad music. A happy scene, I play a happy song.  I really like movie soundtracks for scary or serious scenes. Some of my favorites are the Chronicles of Narnia movie soundtracks, anything by Hans Zimmer, and the Titanic soundtrack. 

If you've lost some of the excitement for your novel, I hope this helps you get back the magic! Do you have anything else you do when you're getting disenchanted? Any special music you listen to, or pictures you look at? 

Writing is (Like) a Sport

Has anyone ever asked you how long it took you to write a novel? Personally, whenever I get asked this question, I feel sheepish saying "About a year."

Because, if you are a total stranger to the writing game, that can sound like a really long time. 

But it's actually not. The first twinkle of an idea, then the plotting (or if you're a pantser, plunging right in), the first draft, then the revising and re-revising and revising some more. And sometimes trashing the whole thing and starting over, can take a long time. Sometimes even more than a year. 

To an outsider, this sounds ridiculous. Because, if you're any good at writing, you should be able to just sit down and tap out a book, right? You're either a writer or you're not, right? 

Wrong. So wrong, I can't even begin to tell you how wrong it is. 

So the next time you're telling someone about your writing and they seem a little skeptical, throw this bomb at them. 

Writing is basically a sport. 

I won't go so far as to say that writing is a sport, but I will say that writing is like a sport. And here are some of the reasons why. 

When you first start, you have no idea what you're doing. 

I'm going to use basketball for my illustration here.  I am not an expert on any sport, but basketball is the one I'm most familiar with. 

Usually children are young when they first start playing basketball. They have no idea what they're doing. They drop the ball when they're trying to dribble, they walk constantly, and they miss the basket by several feet. 

It's the same with writing. Your first attempt at writing any sort of novel, you're leaving huge plotholes, you've got underdeveloped characters, and a weak story structure. 

There's no reason to expect anything different. Just like a six-year-old can't sink a hoop their first time out on the court, no one writes a perfect novel their first time. It just doesn't happen. 

You have to practice really really really hard before you get good at it. 

No one got to the Olympics because they were born with this amazing talent. Some sports come easier to some people than others, but every athlete who becomes famous always talks about how much time they spent practicing. They had to get up early, and practice in all sorts of weather. Sick, emotional, even when they wanted to quit, they had to keep practicing. 

Writing is like that, too. You have to write if you ever expect to get any better at it. You can't just write one novel and call it a masterpiece. I can promise you, it's probably not. Yes, there are people who got their first novel published, but you're probably not going to be one of them (sorry!). 

There are always exceptions to the rule, but there are very few. 

The best way to get better at writing is to write. 

Just like in sports, where the motto is "Practice, Practice, Practice", your motto should be "Write, Write, Write." 

At some point, you will hate it and want to quit. 

Most famous athletes have gone into retirement at some point. Or at least taken a break from their sport. Most of the time though, they come back. They just can't stay away. 

Sometimes you can't keep writing. Whether it's because you have a book that you just can't get perfect, or you've just run out of things you want to write about, every once in a while you have to take a break. 

But if you really, truly love writing, you'll come back. 

So, you are an athlete. Writing is like a sport, and you need to keep practicing. Don't be afraid to step out of the game for a minute, but, don't be too scared to step back in. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this post! 

Have you ever felt like people didn't think your writing was important? Do you have something you say that makes people realize how tough writing is? 

How to Learn from Your Old Writing (Pt. 2)

I have completed four books so far in my writing journey, and the first one (which I refer to as A Series of Unfortunate Paragraphs) is by far the one with the most problems. The other three aren't as great as I would like them to be, but they can (hopefully!) be made great or almost great.

In my last post I talked about a few problems I found with Unfortunate Paragraphs, and today I want to mention a few more common problems for new writers.

How many times have you read or heard someone say, "Show, don't tell"? If you have read any books or blog posts about the art of writing, probably a lot. I had heard it quite a bit myself, but never really thought it pertained to me and my writing.

 I tended to think things like, "I do show! That's not a problem for me."

I should probably be a little more modest next time, because Unfortunate Paragraphs had a whole lot of telling. When you have a lot of telling folllowed by more telling, this can result in what's called an info dump. If you've never heard of an info dump before, it's basically a bunch of boring facts, usually about your character or someone or something your character knows, and wants you to know about.

There's nothing wrong with having a specific list of things that you want your reader to know about a character, but there is a problem with telling them everything in that list at one time. You can remedy this fairly easily, but it might take a little more effort than sticking in a sentence like, "My best friend is named Madison. Her mom died when she was three and her dad has a lot of meetings in Texas because he has a lot of land and stock there. She lives in a three floor apartment with Mary, (the cook), Martin, (the butler....." 

All you have to do to fix an info dump is tell a story. In the case of Unfortunate Paragraphs, it was really easy for me to stick a list-like description of a character in because I was writing as if this was the MC's journal. If this were in a more traditional novel, it would come off as a whole lot cheesier (not that Unfortunate  Paragraphs wasn't cheesy enough). 

But, it would have been just as easy for me to insert a story insted of a list. Maybe about how the first time the MC went over to Madison's house, she mistook the butler and maid for Madison's parents. This gives a reason to tell that her mom is dead and her dad is away, and also gets in that Madison is probably more than a little rich. Plus, how much more fun is an embarrassing story to read than a list of facts about someone? 

You could also, instead of telling this story as a flashback, have the MC actually visit Madison's house, give a few details about the butler and the missing father, and let the reader guess the rest. Either is fine. Just make sure, if you're introducing a ton of characters, and the reader has to know a lot about every single one, that you don't pick the same way to give information on all of them. Switch it up.


Another problem with Unfortunate Paragraphs was that a lot of my sentences just didn't make sense. This is something that should be fairly easy to clear up in a micro edit, but that stick out like a black ink spot when they're left untouched.

I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time on this, just because, obviously, you should be able to tell if a sentence does or doesn't make sense. Some of the common problems I came across though, are: 

Transposing one word for another (i.e., there for their, scoop for snoop). This is easy to do when two words are pronounced the same, but have different spellings. Sometimes, your hand just doesn't perform the way your mind tells it to. Or, if there is another word that's one letter different from the one you're trying to write. 

Using the wrong word. This can be really easy to do. When you're just trying to get the words on the page, it's easy to misuse a word. Most of the time I realize when I do this, but just don't want to take the time to look up the word to make sure it's wrong and then find another word to replace it. Sometimes if I can't think of the right word to use, I just leave a blank space, and fill it in when I'm editing. Just make sure you'll remember what word was supposed to go there! 

Wrong spellings, grammar mistakes. This is another easy one, and something that can be fixed in a micro edit. When you're writing a first draft, you don't want to spend time looking up exact spellings or correct punctuation rules. If you're using a word processing document, sometimes the computer will fix it for you, but if you're writing on paper, you're on your own. 

I talked about the beginning of Unfortunate Paragraphs in the last post, but I want to touch on it again. I'm not going to go so far as to say that the beginning is the most important part of the book, but it is very important. If the first few sentences aren't appealing to the reader, they most likely won't keep reading. This is why it is so important that those first few pages be really interesting. You can't have a  great first chapter and mediocre last 200 pages, but just make sure that your beginning isn't overlooked in the editing process.

Make sure your book starts in the right place. Most times, there is an incident that starts the whole journey of the book. You don't want to start a week before this incident. All your readers would get bored waiting for the actual story to start.  But, you don't want to start too close on that incident either. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe didn't start with Lucy opening the wardrobe, it showed the Pevensies in their normal home, before they moved to Professor Kirk's house. Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone started with Harry living with his aunt and uncle, not with him recieving his Hogwarts letter. 

So, start close to your inciting incident, but let us see a little bit of your character in his normal world before you thrust him on his journey. 

This was another long post, hope you enjoyed! 

Would you like to see more posts on Learning from Old Writing? Have you come across any of these problems in your writing? Does your book start in the right place, or are you too close to your inciting incident? 

How to Learn from Your Old Writing

Sorry for the long hiatus! Starting a blog right before NaNoWriMo probably wasn't the best idea, now that I think about it. Then the holidays happened, and I just kept saying, "I'll do a post next week." I'm a bit of a procrastinator. Or a lot of one. 

But on to other subjects! It's really cold where I live (colder than it has been in seventeen years), so I've been staying inside a lot. I have re-read every book I own at least three times, and it only took me two hours to read Reached (am I behind on reading this series, and if you've read it, what did you think?) so for lack of other options, I turned to my old work. 

*Blech*

That's just the sound of me gagging over here. 

I started my first book when I was eight or so. It was about a girl who accidentally charmed herself into a magical world while trying to make a face mask. That book didn't even see the light of a second chapter. Poor girl. She's still standing in the middle of a clearing with sparkling dust falling all around her. 

I think that's where she's gonna stay, though. 

My next attempt at a novel was a National Treasure escapade, but with kids. It was a middle grade, and was a whole lot more fleshed out than my first try. I never finished it, and, maybe I'm biased, but, I still think it could work. It was slightly better than my first attempt, but still had a lot of problems. Big problems. Like, listing what all eight people ordered at a restaurant, sagging dialogue, and starting with a phone ringing. I did, however, actually know how it was going to end. Which is a lot better than some of my more recent endeavors. 

My next book was a knockoff of Amelia's Notebook. However, there was two things different from it and the other ones.

I finished it. 

And I let people read it. 

Letting people read it was probably a mistake, looking back on it. I was so proud, though. And I got nothing but praise, which I'm not sure was a good or bad thing. But, nevertheless, it was still not very good. And it took me almost two years to finish it. 

That may not sound too bad, but it only took up half of a one-subject notebook. Not even a real novel. 

And two years to write a not-even-thirty-thousand-word-book? That shouldn't happen. Ever. 

It was a cute idea, and as I'm reading it now, it's not completely terrible, and actually pretty good for a first book.  But it's nowhere near publishable. 

And, in the first five pages, I found more than enough fodder for one blog post. So this may become a series. 

The first thing I noticed was that some of my sentences didn't sound right. They were awkward, and altogether gross. No one wants to read a book full of sentences like:

We live on the tenth floor, just like my age.

(Subtle way of getting in her age, Olivia! Way to go!)

He is a very a nice man, but I'm afraid he has rather a crush on Eloise. 

(Rather a crush? Who says that? And if anyone does say that, it's definitely not a ten year old girl from Atlanta! And, yes, the MC lived in Atlanta.)

But I think that it's a hideout for a bank robber that can't figure out his codes because he's not good at math so he started this school to get the answers and that's what our Math questions are. 

(Um...hello run-on sentence! And, also, if you couldn't tell, my MC was a bit of a drama queen. But the real question is, could middle-school children really be breaking bank security codes? I don't think so. So many problems, so little time...)

The basis of how to put together a sentence can best be learned by reading. Then writing. Then trashing what you've written and reading some more. 

Then you can write more. And throw that away, too.

There are many opinions out there on how to write a good book. Some people say write what you know, others say write what you don't. Anne Lamott says write about your childhood. But the one thing people can agree on is the best way to get better at writing, is to write. 

That's it. 

And that's the best advice you're ever going to hear.

There's no secret formula for cranking out a bestseller, no way to write a book everyone will love. 

There's only writing. And more writing. And more writing. And- you get the point. 

But, if you do really need help with getting your sentences to flow, there are several books you can use. The Chicago Manual of Style, and The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White are two of the most famous ones. 

And, let me say it again, read. Pick up some books that are on the best-seller list and read them. Get some books from the genre you want to write. Your old favorite books. Study them. You can learn more by taking apart a paragraph from a book than reading a whole book written on writing a book. Wow, that was a confusing sentence. 

But you know what I mean. 

Another major problem with my book (we'll call it A Series of Unfortunate Paragraphs from here on out. Or, Unfortunate Paragraphs for short) was the characters. 

They were all cookie-cutter. Every. Single. One. Of. Them. 

There was a little rich girl whose poor mother had died, and whose father was away on business most of the time. But of course, she wasn't spoiled, she was sweeter than a chocolate chip cookie! All the time! She never sniped or laughed in a really annoying way or got upset because her best friend had siblings and she didn't! She was perfect. 

The MC and her brother fought one time in the entire  book. That's definitely not normal. 

Here's the thing about characters. You can have the most amazing plot in the world,  but if your characters aren't likable, no one's going to read it. 

Except maybe your mom. 

Almost everything in a book is important, but your characters are really important. 

You want people to remember them, to want to go on more adventures with them, to keep on riding around in their head. 

J.K. Rowling did a great job of creating a huge cast of characters that were all memorable. I never once got one of her characters mixed up with another one. 

So take your time with your characters. You're going to be spending a lot of time with them, and hopefully so will a lot of other people. 

Really think about them. Think about what makes them tick, what they hate about their mother, and what's the one thing they would save if their house was on fire. Or do they even live in a house? They might live on a boat or in a treehouse. Maybe they're not even human! They could live in a hole in the ground!

Just think about your characters. Don't make them boring. Make them memorable. 

Another huge problem with Unfortunate Paragraphs was the beginning. It stank. 

The first sentence was,

"I do not know how to begin this." 

Obviously I didn't know how to begin it. Granted, it was a book written as a girl's private journal, and those are always a bit tricky to start. You can't just start out with a slam-bang first sentence that immediately draws readers in. No one's first entry in a journal is something like, "There was once a  boy named Eustance Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it." 

But something other than, "I don't know how to begin this", would be preferable. 

This was a bit of a long post, so, if you stuck with it 'til the end,  thanks! Be on the lookout for a part two of this post next week, because I still have a ton of things I want to talk about. And I haven't even gotten to page six of Unfortunate Paragraphs yet!

Have you re-read any of your old writing recently? If so, do you look back and cringe over anything? Have any cookie-cutter characters? I'd love to hear about your Unfortunate Paragraphs! 

*I want to say, if you have a character that is a spoiled but sweet rich girl, please do not take offense. I am tearing apart my own writing only in hopes of helping other people learn. If you have a rich character and love her, then by all means, love her! Your writing style is yours, and mine is mine. The same goes for any sentences I mentioned. If  by some weird coincidence, your first line is, "I do not know how to begin this", good for you! I hope it brings you many awards. It just didn't work for me.