The unthinkable happened, or at least the unexpected. You see, scary as it sounds, her Main Character fell in love. Holy Teddy Bear, how can she handle this?
She’ll do just fine, because she has the training of How To Think Sideways and the support of her fellow students.
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Week Two of HTRYN tracks down the promises implied in the first draft. Easy, right? Here’s part of the beginning of a discussion on just that topic:
I could not believe the work I needed to do for lesson two, but I persisted. Am I glad I did. . . .
Now I know exactly where each item needs to be described in full if it is important enough for more than three scenes. I also recognise where I could get carried away with unnecessary detail on certain items and actions. . . .
But, most of all, what I can now see, is that if I add more detail to the main characters the readers will care for them as much as I do.
After all, it’s easier to keep promises if you can figure out exactly what it was you promised.
Tonight, as the last reverberations of the last stroke of midnight fade to silence, a moment falls out of time. It is yours, if you wish. While the rest of the world nods this moment away, you can venture into The Week without Responsibilities. You now have one week all to yourself in which to do whatever you wish. For the world, it is a moment only. No offspring or spouse will go without dinner, no boss’s bellow will go unanswered for longer than a runner’s heartbeat. For you, free and alert in the Not-Time, seven glorious days and nights await. Will you embrace your whims?
Who will act out your story? Characters, of course.
Whether they are humans, vampires, Martians, angels, demons, or dachshunds, characters throw themselves into the conflict or lurk in shadowy corners. Hero, villain, protagonist, antagonist, sidekick, henchman, handmaid, lover– the whole teeming zoo of the novel, is yours to create, explore, stretch, test, torture, reward, and possibly, destroy.
Talk about fun!
Lesson 7 of How to Think Sideways stirred this discussion. You definitely have some ideas and experiences with this one. Add your voice.
“O would some power the giftie gie us to see ourselves as others see us.” –Robert Burns
Sort of.
This Sideways student felt lost as she searched for the final element of the vital Sentence Lite in a scene she had already written. Being intelligent as well as creative, she put her dilemma up for discussion on the forum. As it happened, other students could see her scene in ways she had not.
So, how are your twists coming along?
Lots of us say, “Writing is my life.” We mean it, too. Writing is a source of joy, an outlet for creativity, a way to define ourselves.
But, you know, sometimes Life can come along and knock Writing completely off the top of the charts.
And then, we pick ourselves up, and try to get back to our writing, but it seems close to impossible.
Don’t you hate when that happens?
Luckily, the forum is here. Even for solitary types such as writers, there is strength in numbers.
The first week of How To Revise Your Novel has revealed a lot about the manuscripts under revision.
The great thing about the worksheets, for me, is that when I first started revising the current WIP, back in July, I had an instinct/feeling for what wasn’t right and went about correcting it. But with the worksheets I’ve gone from the level of instinct to conscious awareness – I’m documenting the WHYS on the page which means I’m thinking in logical terms, and seeing those words on the page is creating little AHA! moments. I now understand why something isn’t working, as well as being able to identify (through instinct/feeling) WHEN it isn’t working.
Drop by here and see the early results of the systematic hunt for failures–and successes–in novels under revision.
Inspired by Lesson Three of this course to brainstorm some short story ideas for the first time in years, I wrote one of them shortly afterwards, submitted it, and it just has sold to a semi-pro e-anthology!
This student shares her good news as well as some I & I (insights & info) regarding her writing and publishing experience.
Won’t you join the party? Wonderful pick-me-up tonic for these wintry days and nights.
She was doing fine, writing her NaNovel, when an unplanned character appeared on her page and stole her heart, outdazzling her main character and taking over the stage.
Is this a wonderful gift from the muse, or just a case of that shiny object flitting across her screen and derailing a perfectly good tale?
That depends on how the writer handles the situation.
Has this happened to you? How did you handle it? How did it work out? Share your experiences and views.
When did I get the idea that multi-tasking was a good thing, and that it was a waste of time to just sit back and observe the world instead of always having to tinker with something? When did I start thinking that something is better just because it is done in a short period of time. When did I stop giving value to work carefully and loving done, and letting a project take the time it needs?
This discussion is filed under Idle Chatter, but it is much more than that. This topic is filled with the female point of view. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the male POV represented? Hmm
Now that NaNo Craziness is officially over, maybe we can slow down and hear ourselves dream.