Drafts and Layers

 I thought it would be an interesting to discuss how authors might work on different parts of their story in different drafts. When I start a first draft, I generally have a sense of where I want to start and end and maybe a few bits in the middle. I still tend to discover most of my scenes and plot points as I write. (I guess no matter how much I try, I'll never be a full-on plotter.) In my first drafts, I tend to focus on story and dialogue. Description may be scant in the first draft. Since I'm a pantser, my second drafts often require a lot of work. I may change the scenes I initially wrote if I come up with something better. Often, details about the characters may change as well. I'm trying to be more mindful about the emotional aspect of my stories, both in developing character emotions and reader responses. Sometimes my work needs additional drafts before I feel it's solid. Then at that point I can focus on improving my sentences and word choices. The final pass is dedicated to removing typos and fiddling with the story until I get tired of it.

I think I write the way I do because it's easier for me to work on certain aspects of the story than others. I tend to be sparse in my descriptions because I feel more uncertain about them (in that I may make a mistake). I feel more confident about my dialogue, however, and it flows more easily for me. Hopefully as I keep writing and improving I can juggle more story elements in the first draft. I'm certainly more aware of them than I was as a beginning writer.

Do you feel that your first drafts focus more on certain story elements and others require more development? What are your story element strengths and weaknesses? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

 

Back on the Blog Chain: The Book of Darkness

It's time again for another Blog Chain post. Christine's inspiration for the topic apparently came from reviews of her work. Since part of the topic was written in first person, I think it will be clearer if I post only the final questions:

How dark is too dark for your aesthetic? And is writing "dark" and "emotional" a "bad" thing?

I have a good idea of what's too dark for my taste: the boundary is right between Mockingjay and The Book Thief. Both of these stories involve war, and the heroines of both stories suffer greatly, to the point of giving the reader "suffering overload." Is all this suffering justified? That is, does it strengthen or weaken the characters in the end? Although the ending of Mockingjay was bittersweet, it provided hope that the future would be better, and the main characters did get a reward for what they'd endured, even though some of the damage done to them was permanent. I personally didn't get redemption from The Book Thief. To me, the ending of The Book Thief destroyed everything Liesel had been building during the rest of the story, so I felt like the plot was negating the theme of the book. I would have liked to have seen what happened to Liesel between the ending and the epilogue in order to determine whether books really did do more for her than offer a distraction from her situation. Maybe I should re-read the ending--sometime after I read my Mount Everest of Unread Books.

As for dark and emotional writing, stories are supposed to engage our emotions, so there's nothing wrong with doing that. Is there such a thing as being too emotional? Different people and different cultures have different ideas on how acceptable it is to express emotion, and readers vary in how well they perceive emotions. For example, stories written for young children might use said-bookisms, extravagant gestures, and dramatic words to convey emotion. A more experienced reader might find this type of showing over-the-top and prefer a subtle style. People also vary as to how dark they prefer a story to be; moods or circumstances may make a person more or less tolerant of dark writing. No one story can appeal to everyone; even classics and best-sellers get one-star ratings. All an author can do is write the story as true and as well as she can, then let the story go and trust it will find its audience.

Kate discussed this topic yesterday, and Christine will address her own topic tomorrow.

Back on the Blog Chain: Feelings, Beatles Style!

What a great way to start a month--with a blog chain! Today, I'm posting on Kate's topic:

Post pictures, songs, movie clips, poems, or novel excerpts that make you feel. Feel what, you ask? Feel anything. Happy. Sad. Angry. Nostalgic. Hopeful. Hopeless. Jealous. Joyful.

Amparo posted before me, and Matt will conclude the chain tomorrow.

If you've been visiting my blog for a while, you probably know I'm a big Beatles fan. It's not surprising that such a great and still beloved group would be capable of making listeners feel many emotions:

Sadness:




Happiness:







Romantic:



And this song leads listeners through many different emotions:



I could go on, but if I posted every Beatles song in their catalog, we'd be here all day. (Not that that's a bad way to spend a day.)

Do you have a favorite Beatles song?

Said-Bookisms, Emotion, and Children

I bought Alex a couple of new books on Saturday, and we've been reading them over and over, the way he normally does the first few days after getting something new. One thing I noticed is how much the characters' emotions are described with said-bookisms and adverbs, things that are generally frowned upon in adult fiction. For young readers, I think it does make sense to use them, since they aren't experienced in picking up subtle clues about emotions. So, when do kids learn how to interpret body language and facial expressions in fiction? Does it depend on how much they read? Does there ever come a point where kids/readers in general start to notice said-bookisms, or is that a writer thing? Do any readers of this blog have answers for me?

Back on the Blog Chain: Angst and Creativity

Yes, I'm back on the Blog Chain (think, "Back on the Chain Gang") again. This time, Archy picked the topic: Some people argue that creative people need “angst” to produce good work. Do you? What emotions drive you as a writer? Archy said while there may be some overlap between "creativity" genes and "mental illness" genes, mental illness may make it difficult to be creative. Michelle argued that strong emotions are easiest to tap into. I come after Michelle, but as there are others posting after me, I'm not exactly the tiebreaker.

As a sidenote, whenever I hear "angst," I'm reminded of Evard Munch's The Scream:


One of my classmates in grad school had a blow-up doll of the Screamer (I kid you not), and her license plate was "ANGST." G., I hope your life is less angst-full now, wherever you are.

Anyway, when I read Archy's post, I was reminded of my patron muse, John Lennon. John had a traumatic childhood. John's father was a seaman, and while he was away, John's mother became involved with another man. When John was five, his father returned and attempted to make him choose between his parents; John initially chose his father but then returned to his mother, who turned him over to his aunt and uncle so they could raise him. John's mother sparked a love of music in him and gave him his first guitar, but she was killed in an accident when he was 17. All of this family drama remained inside of John for years, resurfacing after his primal scream therapy in his album Plastic Ono Band, particularly in the song "Mother."




John's emotions are so intense on that album that I find it hard to listen to it, even though it's good.

So, in John's case, his angst did fuel at least some of his work. In fact, Paul McCartney also lost his mother as a teenager, and this commonality helped establish the bond between them.

Does angst also inspire writers? Yes and no. Yes, in that I agree with Michelle that writers need to tap into strong emotions to bring their stories to life, and dark emotions like grief or anger tend to be powerful. Also, unlike painting or songs, which can be purely joyful, stories are all about conflict. Reading about someone who has no problems would be uninteresting, so writers often pile obstacles and raw emotions onto their characters. When I was just starting out as a writer, it was difficult for me to place characters in conflict, but I can do so now, even if I feel with them.

On the other hand, like Archy, I agree that too much angst in a person's life can be overwhelming and make it impossible for someone to write. However, moderate emotions can be sublimated into writing. For example, if I feel angry at someone, I might use that anger when writing a scene. This is a positive way to deal with emotions.

Ultimately, I think writers need to handle a variety of emotions when they write. Some of the darker emotions may drive the writing at times, but under all of them (for me, at least) is the desire to connect with someone else through writing, and that's a positive thing.

That's all I wanted to say on this topic, so I will extend the chain to Abi. I know she's feeling a little angsty about this topic, but I hope that will ultimately inspire her for her post.