Coping with False Starts

(This post previously appeared on the blog Let the Words Flow)

It happens to every writer.  An idea comes to you, and you are floating around the ceiling with inspiration.  For a day or two, or maybe even a week, you’re ecstatic with the beauty of this concept.  You write with an enthusiasm you rarely feel, until…  the good feeling is gone.  

 You can’t say why, but you know this idea has lost your fancy, at least for right now.  That initial spark might rekindle later, so you tuck the work you’ve done so far away somewhere, whether it’s in a folder on your desktop titled “Graveyard,” or a trunk at the foot of your bed full of partial manuscripts.

 What causes this phenomenon, and how can you avoid it?  I can only speak for myself, but here are some things I’ve learned by examining my own short-lived “false starts”:

 You don’t have a story as much as an “idea.”  An idea is a concept or a premise that sounds cool, but has nowhere to go.  “A girl is born with gills” is an idea, but not a story.  A story requires a goal, motivation, and conflict.  The best ideas in the world fizzle out quickly if there’s nothing for the characters to do.  (A good idea can become a good story, of course!  But the process of pulling the story elements together is often the task that reveals that your feelings toward this idea are just infatuation, not true love.)

 You have a story, but you don’t like the person it’s about.  You know that good friend who gets on your nerves so thoroughly, at times you wonder how you stand each other at all?  Generally it’s common experience and loyalty that will see that strained friendship through.  Unfortunately, those factors don’t exist if your characters get on your nerves.  You don’t have a history with your MC.  You can walk away at any time.  And sometimes, that’s exactly what you do.  I’ve gotten to a point with a character where I’ve said, “Why am I wasting my time with you?  I could delete you and create someone brand new!”  Unfortunately, the whole story usually dies with the main character.  A new MC generally takes the story in a whole new direction.

 You come to the sudden realization that you are rewriting your favorite book.  No one sets out to be derivative.  But your favorite (and not-so-favorite) stories have taken root deep in your subconscious mind – the very same place you are trying to coax that next idea from.  It’s possible you didn’t recognize Harry Potter because he was masquerading as a girl born with gills, but when it’s revealed that she is the only one to ever face the evil villain and come away alive, having been protected by a now-dead loved one, Harry can be glimpsed beneath the disguise.   And once you realize you are reinventing a very well worn wheel, you have to walk away.

You thought it was the real thing, but it turned out to be a passing phase.  If you’re going to write a novel, be ready to live with it every day for several years.  Committing to an idea is like committing to a romantic relationship – it’s not enough if you really like it most of the time, you need to (almost) never hate it.  You can get tired of it sometimes, and maybe other times you see that it has faults, but if you find that at times you loathe it, you should move on.  Bad feelings tend to snowball, and the things you don’t like about your story can overshadow its strengths rather quickly.  If you have doubts about a story early on, there’s a good chance you fell in love with the idea of a new idea, and not with the actual idea itself.

So what’s a writer to do?  Can the “false start” be prevented? 

I don’t think false starts can be prevented, because every idea needs to be tested.  In my experience, the best ideas and the ones that flame out quickly seem the same in the earliest stages.  It’s only after putting the idea on paper that I’m able to see if it has staying power.

More importantly, I don’t think false starts should be prevented.  Experimentation is vital to discovering new things.  Testing ideas is a big part of being a writer.  Sometimes, you look at what you’ve started and feel relieved that you haven’t shown it to anyone, but even your worst writing is writing.  You took a chance, and maybe you ultimately shelved the project, but somewhere in that experience,  you most likely learned something.  Something that will inform your next project.  Something that will make you a better writer. 

Writers write.  Not all of what we write will see publication.  Some of it will turn out to be practice.  Some of it will turn out to be false starts.  But none of it will turn out to be wasted.

What are your thoughts on false starts?  Do you think they have value, or do you think they only waste your time?  Please post your thoughts in the comments!

Writing Tips for the Horrifically Over-Scheduled

(Note - this post was originally published on Let the Words Flow, on March 16, 2011. My reference to NaNoWriMo was probably a bit more appropriate at that time than it is today, on the brink of November. I hope that - November or not - these tips are still helpful to the over-scheduled writers out there!)

In the last few weeks, things have gotten out of control as far as my personal schedule is concerned. My “online presence” has really dwindled – I’m rarely on Twitter, the blogs, or even my own email – and it’s rare if I get a few quiet minutes in front of the computer. Despite this epic time-crunch, I still consider myself to be “writing,” and I’m still making forward progress on my current story. It’s definitely not easy to keep going when you find yourself having to choose between writing and sleeping, but there are other ways to keep up the momentum besides living like a sleep-deprived zombie.

Here are some tips for my fellow HOSWs (Horrifically Over-Scheduled Writers):

• Remember that every month isn’t November. Don't live in the midst of a never-ending NaNoWriMo. Don’t feel you have to add 50,000 words to your manuscript each month. The key is to work on the manuscript. One day you’ll add 2,000 words. One day you’ll delete 1,000. But even on the days when you edit out most of what you added the day before, you’re making progress!
• Write in the shower. Maybe you can’t take the laptop in with you, but you can brainstorm with (hopefully) minimal interruption. Once you've dried off, take a minute or two to write down a few words that can act as memory triggers later.
• Invest in a handheld digital recorder. Hit the record button while you’re stuck in traffic and dictate your latest idea for a key plot twist or describe a character in depth. If you feel particularly frustrated with the traffic, describe how your characters deal with frustration. Use the circumstances that threaten to prevent you from writing and turn them into writing prompts.
• Don’t forget that handy-dandy notebook! Carry a pocket notebook at all times and don’t preserve it for only your best, most notebook-worthy ideas. Even a moleskine can handle your worst! Give yourself permission to write down ideas that might embarrass you later. Notebooks are also great places to sketch maps!
• Keep in mind that writing is not a race! Very little in life is improved by haste. Write your book in the time it takes. After the first one gets published, you'll have plenty of publisher-imposed deadlines to meet.

Do you feel overwhelmed by an oppressive list of time-consuming obligations? How do you make the most of the time you have? Please share your ideas in the comments!

Julie returns to blogging!

So after a VERY extended absence, I have set a goal for myself to return to blogging! This may be a crazy time to return, since I have simultaneously set a goal for myself to participate in National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo, as most of us know it,) AND to train for a half marathon. (Coincidentally, Kat Zhang, my blog-sister over at Let The Words Flow, just posted on her blog The Katacomb that she, too, is training for a half marathon. I guess we're on the same wavelength! Which might be the ridiculously over-committed wavelength. In fact, I'm pretty sure it is. :/)

Am I taking on too much at once? Maybe. Okay -- probably. So I thought one way to ease back into blogging would be to repost here on this blog the posts I contributed to Let the Words Flow over the past few months. (My apologies to those of you who may have already read these posts at LTWF.)

Amusingly, the first of these posts that I will be carrying over is titled "Writing Tips for the Horrifically Over-Scheduled!" I hope that's a coincidence and not a sign that this is not the right time to return to blogging... But I really miss this blog, so I'm taking a deep breath and diving back in.

Here goes!

I probably should have posted this image a while ago! I'm taking a sabbatical from this blog, but I will be back soon. See you then! (And no, I'm not going to be sitting in the chair in the photo above, unfortunately. *sigh*)

Discover Anagnorisis!

Okay, guys. Here's another post that begins here and continues over on Let the Words Flow. I hope you're not all getting sick of having to click over to the other blog. I promise to write some posts just for this blog very soon! In the meantime, please let me know in the comments if you feel a bit like I'm "dragging you around the web" to finish a post. :)

Anagnorisis (pronounced something like “and ignore all this,”) is a fancy word that refers to the moment in a novel or play when the hero makes a discovery and moves from ignorance to knowledge. If you’ve heard that classic line of dialogue, “Luke, I am your father,” then you have a clear example of a moment of anagnorisis for a character. Not only is the knowledge gained by an instance of anagnorisis often startling, it is generally game-changing. Once the character has this new piece of information, things usually can’t return to the way they were before.

The Greeks developed the use of anagnorisis through Aristotelian tragedy. In this context, anagnorisis went beyond the simple recognition of some previously unknown fact or circumstance; it generally involved the recognition of a previously hidden “truth.” The hero’s discovery went beyond the sudden awareness of another person, but included awareness of that person’s true nature.

In the Aristotelian tradition, the best tragedies involve a moment of anagnorisis when the hero discovers his or her own true identity or nature. Consider, for example, Oedipus, who kills his father and marries his mother without knowing what he is doing, but later, at the moment of anagnorisis, discovers the truth. Compare this to the tragedy of Medea, who kills her own children, but is aware that they are her children all along. Aristotle believed that the best tragic heroes were those who experienced a sudden understanding of themselves and their actions – an anagnorisis that came too late.

To read the rest of the post click here to go to Let the Words Flow.

The Snowflake Method of Drafting a Novel

If the idea of methodically building your novel appeals to you, then the Snowflake Method, designed by Randy Ingermanson, might be just what you are looking for. (A link to Ingermanson’s site can be found at the end of this post.)

The Snowflake Method contains ten steps. These ten steps will take you from your concept to a completed first draft.

TEN STEPS:

Step One – Write a one-sentence summary of your novel. The best summary sentence is one that includes a reference to the character who has the most to lose and the thing he or she wants most to win. The one-sentence summary for Suzanne Collins’s THE HUNGER GAMES would be something like this, “A girl tries to stay alive in a fight to the death against twenty-three other teens that is aired on live television.”

Step Two – Expand your sentence into a full paragraph. In this paragraph, you should include the story set-up, each disaster, and the ending. You can decide the cause of each disaster, whether it is internally caused or brought on by external circumstances, and include those details as well.

Step Three – Next, your characters. For each of your major characters, write a one page summary sheet that includes the following:

• The character’s name
• A one-sentence summary of the character’s storyline
• The character’s motivation (what does he/she want abstractly?)
• The character’s goal (what does he/she want concretely?)
• The character’s conflict (what prevents him/her from reaching this goal?)
• The character’s epiphany (what will he/she learn, how will he/she change?)
• A one-paragraph summary of the character’s storyline

Read the rest of this post on my group blog, Let the Words Flow, here.