I had an epiphany on Twitter last night. I saw a question about editing traps and responded honestly. Once I had typed and tweeted my response, I realized just how true it is: prose isn’t regimented, it’s jazz. We’ll get into what I mean by that below, but I feel like this highlights the importance of interacting with the community around your art. Conversation unlocks your subconscious and elucidates the truths below to your waking mind. You learn a lot from yourself and others just in seemingly-random conversation. It’s important. Get into it (and I’m happy to be part of your community via my socials below).
Drawing from the Well
I made a little progress here this week, but I want more! This particular arc has a lot of good ideas. It somehow manages to be too much and not enough at the same time. There’s a lot of refinement needed here in future editing rounds. For now, I love the story’s bones.
Arc I: 64/64
Arc II: 60/60
Arc III Part I: 24/24
Arc III Part II: 31/31
Arc IV: 44/44
Arc V: 28/59
Interstitia: 0/11
Total: 251/291
Filling the Well
Reading went well this week. I finished three books. A Path in the Darkness and Building Victoria kept sucking me into the Aeon 14 world (galaxy?). What I didn’t know was that Building Victoria finished a trilogy on a cliffhanger. Book 4, Destiny Lost, fed into a whole new series, only two books of which are on Hoopla. So, I’m working through Destiny Lost and LOVING the time-travel element of it. On top of that, I finished The Checklist Manifesto which was outstanding. It definitely got me thinking and gave me some tips that I will use in work and business in the future. I also added into the graphic above my ongoing trip through the Bible via The Bible Project. I understand the Old Testament so much more than I ever have. The context and structuring make the archaic and poetic language easier to parse and digest. If you want to read the Bible, this is a great way to do it.
We continue forward with keeping up with the Law & Order franchise and our re-watch of Madam Secretary. They’re all great and we’re loving them. These shows are all radically different from what I write so watching them is pure enjoyment. Once in a while I catch a strong bit of characterization but there’s no way I can garner ideas from these shows. At least, I haven’t so far…
Well Chat
Grammar aside (I was on my phone and typing fast), this was my epiphany. The question was what major blunder do you tend to uncover in your first drafts. The first sentence was my actual answer, but my mind kept going into the second sentence. That was the real illumination.
You’re probably asking yourself, “What on Earth is he talking about?”
As humans, we don’t speak in a pattern that could match a drumbeat. We vary our sentence structure, blurt out fragments, jump topics, and retread ideas. We’re a mess. Prose is much like public speaking. If your mind can pick up on the tempo of the thoughts, it will try to tune it out. The problem is that if you tune out the repetitive tempo and it never changes, you just zoned out.
As an author, I can’t let that happen. I’ve got ideas and actions and a STORY to convey. If my reader tunes it out, I’ve failed. Here’s what I mean.
The fox crossed the road. He saw a tasty snack. The man stopped the fox. His sandwich was safe from the furry thief. The fox went back home. He nursed his bruised ego. The next day was his chance.
Which of those sentences jumped out at you? By the time you got to the man’s sandwich, you may not have even known what was going on anymore. You zoned out that fast. Don’t feel bad. YOU didn’t do it, your brain did. Our brains look for shortcuts through the noise of life. This just happens to be one of them. It isn’t your fault; it’s the author’s (in this case, that’s me).
Therefore, as writers, we have to combat normal brain chemistry to keep surprising it, thereby keeping the reader engaged, excited, and on the edge of their seat, even during dull scenes (which are inevitable).
If the “da-DA da-DA da-DA” of those first three sentences is the dirge I mentioned, the “da DA-da da DA da-da DA-da da” is the jazz I mentioned. Breaking up the syllables like that shows the difference. To quote a good friend of mine talking about heavy metal beats years ago, “It’s bur-ri-to, bur-ri-to, not ta-co, ta-co, ta-co.”
Is this as fun and exciting to you as it is to me? Do you want to hear more on this topic? Let me know in the comments and on social media. Be well!
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG