Writing Update
Scenes Arranged: 5
Total Scenes: 90
It would have been more but I was literally falling asleep at the keyboard last night. An early morning to drive into the office sapped me of all my nightly energy. I still got 5 scenes out and finished off a couple of bullet items toward reaching the quarter point so I’m pleased.
In other news, apparently the picture above makes my hand look fat. We’re working on other better pictures to post here. Hopefully, we’ll have something soon.
Reading Update
Vengeful: 63%
Perelandra: 60%
Obviously no progress made here, but I was focused on the writing last night and isn’t that the most important thing?
I’m also going to be making a concerted effort to get some shows on my Watchlist consumed soon too so I’ll post those updates in here too. Maybe I need to retitle these updates since the “Reading Update” is going to turn more into a “Filling the Well” section. I’ll have to noodle that and get back to you.
Personal Update
Not really anything new since last night so above I have left you an actual picture of me trying to write last night. Enjoy.
Discussion Topic
My Thoughts on Advice from Kurt Vonnegut that Every Writer Needs to Read
Advice Tip #3
I recently came across an article on Pro Writing Aid’s website here collecting advice from famed author Kurt Vonnegut. I read through the advice and selected a few tidbits that I wanted to offer my thoughts on. Some of the stuff is pretty straightforward and expected so I’m going to list those, but not dive into them like the others. They are:
#1 Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
#2 Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
#5 Start as close to the end as possible.
#8 Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.
Quick Thoughts: #1 makes sense because as a reader, I hate getting to the end of a book and asking what the point was. #2 is common advice even with an antihero because if the reader doesn’t care about SOMEONE in the story, they don’t care about the story (character = plot, more on that another day). #5 is also common advice but is usually packaged as ensuring that you are starting your story in the right place, not strictly as close to the end as possible. #8 I don’t agree with, but to each their own.
This brings us to #3 Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
Character motivation is vitally important in prose. If a character doesn’t want something, then why, in reality, are they doing it? I’ve asked myself this question in many scenes that I had written before I understood story structure intellectually (rather than instinctively). When I was editing Book 1, there were many scenes, especially in earlier drafts, where I asked “Why would Meibor even do that? That doesn’t even make sense with his character!” and then I had to rework the whole scene.
This goes back to how I described the way that my head-friends redirect my efforts. They don’t take the wheel and steer, they nag me that they would or wouldn’t do something until I change it. It happens all the time.
But now that I am approaching scenes in Book 2 from a structural point of view, motivation is at the heart of every scene. What does a character want? How do they feel about what just happened? How would they reconcile what they want with how they feel? What choice does that lead them to? These are all questions that I’m answering every day as I arrange scenes. I stated above that I’m up to 90 scenes and that’s true in so far as how yWriter counts scenes, but in truth, it’s actually 45 full scenes if you include the scene (the goal and what happened) and the sequel (the reaction and the choice thereafter). By focusing on what my character wants through their goals both overall and within each scene, these new scenes I’m putting together feel more genuine. One of the scenes I wrote last night had a character motivation as simple as finding safe lodging for the night. Things went totally sideways from there with the disasters I threw at the character (more on THAT another day too), but the goal, the desire, the want, was there and it was simple.
Just like a glass of water.
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG