Gifts: Audacity

I'm continuing my creative gifts series. This is all about writerly gifts that I've received from others on my journey. I'm extremely wealthy when it comes to receiving these gifts. This week I'm going to talk about Chris Eboch. I have had the opportunity to hear Chris speak many times. She is a friend and a writing mentor, and through critiques, conversations, and reading her books I've learned the importance of being audacious. This week's gift: audacity.

One of her books (that is not published) has had a huge effect on me as a writer. In this book, she offs the main character several times and then follows a new main character.  I can't tell you the shock I felt the first time I read her story, and the first main character died. It was an audacious move that has kicked at me for years. She did something I've never seen done in a book before. She was fearless. Her story demanded the death of her main character and she did not hesitate. This is the lesson, if you are hesitating you are not really sure of your story yet. Dig deeper.

So what exactly is audacity in writing. It's a very good thing for your plot. It's about going there in an original way. I think it has to do with the author getting out of all the muck of writing advice and serving the story. Can you march to your own beat? You are not going to make folks turn the page unless you are fearless. I mean moxie is where it is at. Chris is a soft-spoken person who climbs sheer rock faces for fun. A fast hike across the Grand Canyon, OK! She translates her own gutsiness into her characters, and readers are happy about that. Translating your daring spirit into your story will give it a mega-boost.  

 Be audacious. Scoop out the best of yourself and thread it into your work. Plots must turn with sharp, clean moves.  Don't be muddy or wishy-washy -- good advice for life too. Excellent writing should force the reader to test his or her own mettle. Yes, characters need to be dimensional to get a reader  that involved. Great stories need to get under a reader's skin. They need to demand the reader not just sit there but become involved; in the end the reader needs to changed--forever.  

Sounds hard? You bet, but totally worth it.  

This week be audacious. Write something irresistible. If you want help. I suggest you look at some of Chris's work. She writes as Chris Eboch for children and Kris Bock for adults (romantic suspense). Her books will shake you up.   You may also want to check out her writing books: ADVANCED PLOTTING too and YOU CAN WRITE FOR CHILDREN.   You are welcome!

More gifts next week. 

Here is the cover of one of Chris's (as Kris Bock)  romantic suspense books. It's so beautiful. 

You want to turn the world upside down?  

Here is a quote for your pocket.

Audacity, more audacity, always audacity. Georges Jacques Danton

Publish: Plot

Hi folks, I'm starting a series that will last for the summer. It's called Publish and is in conjunction with my TEENSPublish workshop at the Ringer Library in College Station, Texas. This is the third week I'm covering plot. I think some of this will relate to any creative life.

Oh, yes, when you tell a story, you must offer a plot. 

First up, an exercise, characters writes a letter to the writer about his or her journey. Try this. You might find something out about your character's journey that you did not know before. Plot is related to character. Who you are has a lot to do with what you want. What you want has a lot to do with what you will do. What you do has a lot to with who you are. Put plot and character together to write a compelling story.

You might want to check out these two videos. Matthew Winkler's video explains the mono-myth.  Next, from Glove and Boots is another explanation of the hero's journey.  Both of these are good stuff. If you want a deeper understanding of the mono-myth, enjoy. The play between plot and character is illustrated clearly in these two vids. Nothing like knowledge to perk up a story.

Finally we spent some time writing and sharing a section of work with each other. For me, this is essential for creating a plot. Watching for glazed over eyes or riveted eyes while reading your story will tell you much about how you are doing in terms of your plotting. 

The toughest thing for me to learn  about plot was the mid-point. This is a crucial part of plot.   In PLUMB CRAZY (me writing as Cece Barlow), my mid-point comes with the boyfriend fail. My character seeks her concept of the perfect boyfriend, but at the mid-point realizes her concepts are not working. She releases her preconceived notions and this leads her to something better than perfect -- a real boyfriend.

I hope you will come back next week for notes on setting.

Now a doodle. I saw this in a dream: two hats.

A quote for your pocket.

What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter - a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue. Henri Matisse

Writing Lessons from Shakespeare: Spirit Plot Guide

We have reached the hot days of summer in Texas. I've been trekking off and on to Shakespeare at Winedale for over 30 years. You might be surprised to find that every time I write a book I think about the Bard's plays long and hard. I lean toward his comedies. I think about the plots. I read passages. I watch and read the plays. It helps me find my novel. It's a thing for me.

Currently I'm thinking about the next book I'm going to write. Long before I write a book, I spend time thinking about it. Often times a Shakespearean play pokes at me, and that is true right now. The play that is in my head is Much Ado About Nothing. I'm turning its plot over and over.  This play is serving as the spirit plot guide for my new book.

These are the kinds of thoughts I have as my spirit plot guide leads me: I love the the Benedick/Beatrice relationship. I love the idea of two characters in a "merry war", who become lovers. I love they both have strong opinions about serious relationships. I like that they are both damaged. I love that their friends conspire to bring them together. Nice. I like that Benedick is asked to defend Beatrice's cousin Hero's honor. This act reveals depth to his love. I turn the plot points of the play and I ask myself, can I use any of this. Of course, I can and will.

The spirit plot guide causes me to question the path  too.  The whole mistaking Hero for a skank whore is good, but the when she falls over pretend dead, it's just, you know, fake. I also don't like that it's Beatrice's best friend and cousin who is called a skank whore. It seems like it would be better if Beatrice would be called a skank whore falsely. That's just my feeling about it. I think that it would be cool if Benedick were Beatrice's most staunch supporter through a direct attack on her honor. I let keep letting the ideas roll around in my head.

Once I have a slew of plot points, ideas, etc. I start the translation process and will eventually write a random lists of ideas. I'll sift through these and pick the best ones. I will build a plot for my new book from there. So here I am all wrapped up in a play from 1623 -- a well-worn path is influencing a new one. I hope that you seek spirit plot guides for your work. I believe your work will thank me.

More lessons from Shakespeare next week.

Here is the doodle for the week: Birds.

A quote for your pocket:  

....for man is a giddy thing, and this is my conclusion.William Shakespeare. 

__________________________________________________________________

Now PLUMB CRAZY news: I have an interview on KBTX Brazos Valley Magazine that you may wish to check out. I chat with host Sharon Colson about digital pubbing and Plumb Crazy. July 5 (6PM) & 6(5PM). http://ow.ly/yfk8c.

There is also the ebook giveaway that is still running for a couple of more days: Go here. 

The ebook version of PLUMB CRAZY from Swoon Romance but will be out as paperback soon. I ask you to consider supporting my work -- buy a copy, share the news, request the book at your library, ask me to blog for you. I'm open. Thank you.

 To buy a copy: Here for a copy from Amazon US. Here is Amazon UK. Here is Amazon Australia. Here is Amazon Canada. Try here for a copy for your B&N Nook .

Also consider participating in my upcoming book tour. Here is the link. 

Rattle Readers: 7 Quick Tricks

Hi folks, I'm writing a series on what is provocative about fiction, what rattles readers. I'm at the SCBWI New Mexico Retreat right now, so this week is going to short and sweet.  I hope one of these tricks helps you rattle the cages!  

1. You're my sister, Leia.  I'm you're father, Luke. Yes, revealing a deep dark secret is a fab way to shock your reader. I do request that you shock me. Don't make me giggle. I'm borrowing from the movies.

2. Sixth Sense us, I mean if you can make the reader look over some very important fact like your main character is dead until a big reveal at the end, good. If you do this, well, you get a shiny sticker.

3. Strand us somewhere terrible: the woods, the ocean, the Arctic, a haunted house, in a pit with snakes, the desert,  the moon, the turret of a castle, Oz. Any convenient spot will do.

4. Have someone your mc absolutely trusts betray her. We will really appreciate it.

5. Take something tried and true and turn it upside down. You know Cinderella, or Seven Samurai, or the Poky Little Puppy.  Reinvent and twist.

6. This is obvious.  Murder the parents, best friend, dog, or any choice character. Violent deaths always rattle readers the most.

7. Have your mc murder the parents, best friend, dog or any choice character.   Yikes!

There are lots to ways to shock us. these happen to be a few that I think are AWESOME. I have a tear trickling down my cheek.  If you can think of more, please post. I hope you come back next week.

No doodles. Computer is not being nice. 

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.   Maya Angelou

Rattle Readers: Shocks in Fiction

I'm starting a new series about what rattles readers in fiction. I've read a ton of books, and I would like to mention that only a select few of these books rattle me. So words aren't enough, and characters aren't enough, and plot isn't enough to rattle me. I'm going to write around this idea in my brain about what makes most excellent fiction, and hopefully I will uncover something.

A great book suspends me. The words on the page fill my brain and I'm there. The real world disappears and I'm lost in the fictive dream. The fictive dream idea comes from John Gardner's book THE ART OF FICTION. Many writers understand the mechanics of story and can adequately sustain a story over thousands of words, but few writers can send me into a fictive dream state and keep me there.  So here goes some thoughts about how to rattle readers: what works, what doesn't, how do you know you are creating that dream?

I search for stories that rattle my bones. I feel myself pacing inside when I can't find a book that really stirs me up.  One way authors hook me is by uncovering something I call shocks: you know, unexpected revelations (plot, character, theme, setting, etc.) that change the shape of the whole story. Don't get me wrong, I'd don't like lazy shock value pushing the story forward. The problem shock comes when the author begins to flounder in their fictive dream and then slaps down a shocking twist  that does not naturally rise out of the plot of the story. As a reader I feel frustrated. As a writer I'm shoving my story in the direction I want it to go. So annoying. Some writers slap down too many shocks for the reader to care. (Guilty!) Some don't even offer one shock. (Boring!)

When a shock is spot on, as a reader, I feel excessively nervous or I'm totally relaxed (no inbetween); the shock hits and I can't breathe. I shut the book and try to get my emotions under control. I go back a few pages and read up to the shock again. I'm that immersed in the fictive dream. As a writer, I know I'm in the sweet spot when I'm laughing out loud and falling off the couch when I'm reading my story back to myself, or I start crying when I've read the scene a hundred times, or I have to put my manuscript down because I'm so angry again.  Yes, if you are participating in your own dream, this is a good thing.  You think you have written the greatest thing ever. It may not be there yet, but if you able to enter into the dream and stay there, you are on the right track and will succeed.

Hope you place some shocks on the page this week. I will dig around more in this subject next week. Short post though because I am off to the SCBWI New Mexico Fall Retreat.  I'm excited.  Seize the day.

Here is the doodle: " Spider Chicken".  I know, enough with chickens already.

Quote for the week.

My task which I am trying to achieve is by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel--it is, before all, to make you see. That--and no more, and it is everything.
- Joseph Conrad

Tension

Hi, folks. I hope you have written pages and pages of great stuff this week. A friend of mine was reading my work in progress and said it was exciting up to a point and then the story lost all tension. Ouch.

Tension is a part of storytelling. Lack of story tension for me is almost always the same cause, I am afraid to bring my character on scene during the "bad stuff." The side character dies but my main character hears about it. I have to make the brave revisions and bring my main character into the thick of things.

Things always seem flat if the action is happening outside the page. I see this in work often. The author hints at a relationship but doesn't take the plunge to define it and show it in the present but reveals it through a flashback or vague dialogue.

Another misstep, the bomb blows up and we read a strong account of it from the main character's mailman. And, yes, if one of the important characters in a story dies, be sure that Luke is standing there screaming as Darth Vader offs Obi Wan Kenobi. I mean get the main character on scene.

I hope you look for opportunities to create tension this week. Open your work and ask yourself what is not here. That should help. See you next week with more good stuff.

The doodle this week: "Flower".


Tension is the great integrity. R. Buckminster Fuller

Golden Advice -- Conflict resolution

I'm back with more golden advice this week. I'm busy this week so this entry will be really short. This week, the golden rule -- to do unto to others as you would have them do to you -- is analogous to conflict resolution. The journey to resolution begins with your main character and how they are damaged.

In novels, missing the mark is important. You must crack that hero, send in flaws, and befuddle him or her with contradictions. I think it so important that we understand what makes our characters weak. How are they sinners? What are their fatal flaws?

If you understand this, your book is already better. An effective hero's journey for the main character involves that character becoming self aware of personal flaws. Then the main character must learn to respond to those around in him in light of the self discovery. Developing a empathic character is important. Creating a character who must change is absolutely necessary for meaningful stories.

I hope these little thoughts get you moving with your story. See you next week.

Here is the doodle for the week: "Window"



The Roots of Violence: Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice, Politics without principles. Mahatma Gandhi

Golden Advice -- Plot

Hi, folks, I'm starting a series of creative analogies that I hope you will find golden on your creative journey.

The golden quadrilateral is a highway that connects the entire country of India in a rough quadrilateral shape. This highway allows for the movement of products and also for economical development in smaller towns in India.

In terms of storytelling, the golden quadrilateral is like your plot. A plot is a big highway that runs through the landscape of your story. Your plot needs to be clear and wide, so the reader can pick up speed. It needs to hit all the important places along the way and avoid the backwater small towns that are frozen in time. Your plot highway needs to also be a road ripe with grift and license, providing sweeping opportunity for conflict.

Think about your plot. It needs to come back to where you started but leave your reader with the journey of a lifetime. It should have a few sharp turns but ample straightaways too. Look at your plot. Is it a back road wandering in the hills going nowhere? Or is it a superhighway that's hard to get off? Consider controlling access to cut down on distractions to your readers (that means limit the subplots, folks).

I hope that you take some time and think about what road you are on this week. If you are lost, look for the nearest on-ramp. Seize the day! Come back next week for more golden advice.

Now, for this week's doodle: "Surprised Golden Girl".



I can see, and that is why I can be happy, in what you call the dark, but which to me is golden. I can see a God-made world, not a manmade world. Helen Keller

What Happens Next?

Before I jump into this week's post. Big shout out for the Diviners and their wonderful celebration of my book. Please check out the blogs of Janet Lee Carey and Peggy King Anderson to find out more about the fun celebration. It's true I'm the keeper of the shhhhushhhing Nancy.

So this week's post is about the driving force within story. What happens next? This simple question is a good one to ask yourself. Is the set up for your reader so compelling that there is no way your reader can put your book down? Yah, your book better be that compelling. Direct your readers toward the true north. For there to be a magnetic force in you book, you've got to have a whole world of matter spinning inside it. My advice, look at your first chapter. Ask what is happening next. Is your character getting out of bed? Or is a tornado carrying your character up into the sky. Hey, which book do you want read?

Are you asking provocative questions that are impossible to ignore? I'm calling you up to a high place. This is the heart of mythic questions. I mean it. Who is your character? What do they want? Answer this! And consider this too. Are your characters charismatic? Really no one wants to hang out with annoying whiny people. Your job is to build that cauldron of sympathetic feeling in your reader.

I've talked about how bold you have to be to do this, but I'm going to add this: you have to be sure. To write meaningful books that are on a world-wide stage, you have to sure that you know what you are doing. Every word, every sentence, every paragraph, every scene, and every chapter must be executed with the best writing and most thoughtful intent. Yes, this is difficult, a daunting task. It's good to know this is done one word at a time. Also trust the voices: critiquers, readers, agents. The more stars you get in line the better off you are in terms of creating meaningful work.

Focus on creating a great story. Create a furnace, a star nursery, write your story. I hope this inspires you to be more.

I had to think about this. I hope you enjoy this doodle of the week. I call it Birth of a Star.



Remember: ©Molly Blaisdell, all rights reserved. If you want to use my cool doodles, ask permission first. It is so wrong to take people's doodles without permission!

If you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, it's OK. But you've got to shoot for something. A lot of people don't even shoot. Confucius