Learning Curve: Where's the down slope?

by
Leni Checkas


My learning curve started after I'd submitted my children's mystery novel, seven or so years ago. I prided myself in that I wrote it in no less that one week.

My submissions kept getting rejected. Apparently, I wrote superb queries, but something was wrong with the main product. I didn't know what to do. So, I picked up a book on craft recommended by judges of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' Conference. The book was "Scene & Structure" by Jack Bickman. Couldn't hurt, could it? Plus, this guy was an author of over 70 published books and a former faculty member of University of Oklahoma School of Journalism. So he had to know what he was doing, right?

Well, in the book, after Bickman divulges his own foibles in getting started writing fiction, which sounded oddly familiar, he drops a bomb on me and states that fiction is conflict.

"Nut-uh," I screamed before slamming the book shut and shelving it. This guy was crazy. He did not know what he was talking about. I was mad.

Except...after that seed was planted, I started noticing conflict in every single book I read, even "My Little Pony" books that my daughter read at the time. What a drag. Bickman was right. I realized my anger came from the fact that I had been putting words on paper for over a year, but I completely missed this basic premise of fiction. Worse, now I was going to have to rewrite everything that I ever wrote. I loathed editing.

But, my writing improved. Thanks to Mr. Bickman.

I tried another one of those craft-type books, to see if there was anything else I might be missing. This one was called "Writing Fiction" by Janet Burroway. Wow, full of things like P.O.V. and characterization and plotting that I had no idea about. Ugh! This writing thing is tough. More rewriting ensued, accompanied by many four letter words, like edit.

I got a book called "Creating Characters Kids will Love" by Elaine Marie Alphin, when I realized I didn't know the difference between writing for adults and writing for kids. Life was getting a little easier, because I knew before cracking open the book that I would have to edit. But I had no idea how much work until I got through chapter six, not even half way through the workbook, in one year. I wasn't actually ready for that much learning, mainly because it involved learning how to edit and to be flexible, like getting rid of what doesn't work.

Hoo, boy! It's been six years since I ventured into Jack Bickman's fateful reference, and I'm still climbing the learning curve of how to write fiction. I finally get it when anyone says, "Writing Fiction is a process." Too true. And that process involves editing. We're BFF's now, by the way.

So all I need to know now: is there a book that can show me the down slope to this learning curve?

Conference Wrap-Up

Back from the WIFYR Conference and trying to get back in the swing of things. It's tricky to assimilate what I learned about writing into the mundane, everyday life, so I wrote a post to help me remember some fundamental things that I learned. I can't totally describe my experience without using a bunch of cliches, so I don't think I will. But suffice it to say that I'm inspired enough to dive in without looking back.

Some things I learned:
1. I'm a writer.
2. Don't be coy with your readers.
3. Don't let craft get in the way of creativity.

What I need to work on:
Creating works that are true to me. Works that, whether they ever get published or not, I am satisfied with.

Last night I tried to explain to my husband what that meant. I told him about the time I went to a piano competition in eighth grade. I'd toiled and slaved over this song--Mozart's Fantasy in D minor--with absolute focus. I'd worked on it so much that it became part of me. It became personal. The morning of the competition, I had little butterflies, but not because I wasn't prepared. I knew I'd done everything I could to prepare. I only felt nervous because I wondered if all the work was going to pay off or not.

It did. After I finished the song, I had The Feeling--the one where you know you've nailed it. It wouldn't have mattered what the judges said, I was satisfied. I had made something good. I did end up taking first place, but I'd like to think that it wouldn't have mattered. Sure, there might have been disappointment that nobody had appreciated it as much as I did, but I think I still would have been satisfied with my effort.

That's where I want to get with my writing. I want to work and slave and focus so much that it becomes personal. So whether it's published or not doesn't matter, because I will have nailed it. I will know I've made something good.

Thoughts from the WIFYR workshop

WIFYR BLOG

Friday

Emily Wing Smith gave an interesting talk yesterday. I think that most of us who are not published have this picture of BEFORE vs. AFTER publishing. We think that once we are published, all will be “right” in our creative world. But what I’ve learned this week is that the attitudes you cultivate before getting published will continue on afterwards. If you feel insecure or jealous, or impatient, there will still be a myriad of reasons for all those feelings after getting a book deal. There will be someone with more sales, someone with a movie deal, you’ll have to wait for your book to actually get to print, wait for your book to sell enough to start getting percentages. You might be frustrated by lack of promotional support for your project. You might be restrained in your subject matter, if you want to publish with the same folks.

SO-it’s time to cultivate who you want to be as a writer now. Why are you writing? Know that the frustration and patience and inspiration and disappointment and jealousy you feel today should be looked at, and worked with. Because…AFTER publishing your first book, even more things are out of your control.

So, I’m focusing on the long haul here. That many more workshops are in my future. Many more hours of writing. And the truth is, thankfully for me, that although the goal is to publish, the bigger goal is to WRITE. To be in the creative process. To tell the stories I need to tell. To give myself time and permission to be expressive. And I choose to define myself as a writer-published or not.

And of course, reality check. I’ve spent the last three years writing my first novel-and about 1 month on my second. What is clear to me is that the first novel is my “practice” novel. The one that I cut my teeth on in terms of discipline, craft, storytelling. The one I will send out to agents, BUT, my second one is probably going to be the one with some actual possibility of being marketable. Wow. 3 years on an unpublished novel. I find this incredible, but I have no regrets, and no frustrations when I realize this. I’ve enjoyed the ups and downs. Seriously, what else would I rather be doing with my time anyway?

what a hook is

Tuesday my class critiqued my manuscript. It was awesome. Not just because most of them said they liked it. And okay, it didn't hurt that the instructor noted at the end of her comments that I write well. (Nothing like a little praise from a professional to stoke a writer's ego.) No, it's because I got great feedback that helped me know how to fix what doesn't work.

My teacher said one of my main problems was that I was too coy with the reader. I tried to keep them guessing about who my main character is and what she can do, but I just ended up confusing and frustrating everyone instead. I needed to give information sooner about who she was.

After processing the information for a while, I had a major epiphany. It happened during someone else's critique session the next day who had the same problem. Louise said the same thing: You're being too coy. We want to know what your character is, we don't want to have to guess what he is.

It hit me. A hook is not wondering what the premise is. A hook is the actual premise. And if you have a good one--a mind-blowing one, or an interesting one or a relatable one--people will want to read more.

So I've changed my first line. And today in my individual session with Louise, she said I'd nailed it. Nice to hear. There were some other problems that I worked on, but the major thing I'm taking away from this week is the realization I had about what a hook is.

I can't believe it's the last day of the conference. I've had a great time and learned a bunch of useful information. Can't wait to come home and put it to good use

Leaving Out the Dull Spots

Day three of WIFYR workshop in Utah

Yup. Kathleen Duffy's advice. What can I say to that? Possibly the most spot on, pithy truth of writing success.

My mind is so full of words that I'm finding it hard at the moment to think of any other gems of wisdom gathered from the workshop. So, I'm going to ramble, and hopefully the words will sort themselves out by the time they reach the keyboard.

Mornings are full of critiques. 14 writer's in my group. I'm happy to say that I like all the story ideas that I've read. My only complaint is that I'm a time freak when it comes to critique and I'm constantly watching the clock to see if we'll make it around the room before time runs out. Drive me nuts. Then we go overtime and I go nuts. I think I'll volunteer to be the stopwatch so I can use my obsession constructively. I'm driving myself nuts.

Had my critique today. I was terrified. It was on the first 8 pages of my brand new YA novel. The only 8 pages I've written. It's a dark love story full heartbreak with (hopefully) enough light to not drown in despair. Hurray! They liked it. They really really liked it! Well...parts of it anyway. I am reassured that the voice works, the style is consistent. Not that difficult in only 8 pages. And some great discussion on the bigger plot points that gave me much food for thought.

Wobbled out of class at 12:30. Fatigue hitting me hard. I've been waiting for it. Thankfully, I'm still at the point where an extra cup of coffee will keep me running. I know it will be peanut M&M's and diet coke by the drive home on sunday.

I'm almost done with my writing assignments for the day, and Jer and I have a tv date with my favorite reality show-"So You Think You Can Dance!" Woo hoo

tomorrow brings more critique, more lectures, and book signings. Can't wait to check out some of these authors' books. Glad I'm driving home so I can get a stack of them.

"You Marry a Man for the Same Reason You Divorce Him"

It's the end of the first day of a week long writing workshop in Utah. Many moments of inspirations and learning so far. I already feel like it's been worth it!

In morning critique sessions we discuss our work with 13 other writers and the instructor, Emily Wing-Smith. One woman got consistant feedback that her descriptions were beautiful, captivating, brilliant, etc. etc......but....a few of us felt that we wanted more action/dialogue to break up the description. We got a little lost in the setting. Emily agreed with that assessment and gave the quote I wrote above. Her mother had given her that pearl of wisdom years ago. If you marry a man (or woman) for being fun and social, you'll divorce him for being a flirt. If you marry a man because of his generosity, you'll divorce him because he can't say no to anyone and isn't available to you. Seems true to me.

But back to writing. Basically, too much of a good thing is a bad thing. This writer's brilliant prose became cumbersome and took away from the character's journey. As readers, we need variety.

Jer and I discussed what that meant for us over lunch, (At the same place we ate dinner the night before--speaking of variety!) She said that my gift is being a concise writer-but it's very difficult for me to expand on anything I've written, so it's also my weakness. I thought her gift is her incredible imagination-which unfortunately keeps her from committing to a story line as it's hard to decide which way to go. I challenge anyone reading this to see if you can find your own strength/weakness point. (You might need someone else to tell you though!!!)

Another tidbit. I highly recommend "How to Write Killer Fiction" by Caroly Wheat. I did a workshop with Ann Cannon and she did an exercise based on some things she got out of that book. Her point was to compare writing a scene with storyboarding that movie makers do before shooting any film. She gave us a one page, very detailed outline, of questions to help create a scene---it is practical, easy, fun, and when you finish the exercise, you can pick tiny tidbits from the writing to help your scene expand in ways you might not have been able to see earlier.

I'm very proud of Jer and I. Instead of lying around the hotel room tonight watching tv, we are at Starbucks (the internet in our hotel room doesn't work!) writing!

However my brain is fuzz so I'm signing off.

If you can't say anything nice, don't write anything at all

I'm attending the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers Conference (WIFYR) here in Sandy, Utah. The Salt Lake Valley is beautiful, surrounded by the Wasatch mountains, close enough to touch (almost). Close enough you can see individual trees, anyway, not just a mass of green. It's beautiful, the weather has been perfect, but best of all, I get a whole week to focus on my writing.

In the mornings we attend a class led by a qualified instructor--mine is Louise Plummer, retired professor of creative writing and author of at least six published books. She tells you like it is, but she's funny, so it softens the blow. This morning she even told one girl that she hated a sentence in her manuscript. She said it with a smile, but I still noticed the looks of shocked horror on some of the students' faces. I could only laugh. It's what we're here for, right? To find out what sucks, and what works, and to try to make it better. No sense in getting bent out of shape by a little bit of honest criticism. But ask me how I feel about that after the next class. It's my turn tomorrow.

In the afternoon we attend breakout sessions led by various writers, agents and editors. Today I listened to Brandon Mull, author of the Fablehaven series and the Beyonders series--both critically acclaimed. He just found out today that his first book in the series made the NYT bestseller list. This guy knows his stuff, but he's also the nicest guy you'll ever listen to.

He was a bit scattered, but I found his talk immensely helpful. I took about three pages of type-written notes, single-spaced. I'll spare you all of that (no one would understand it but me anyway) and give you a few of the highlights.

He talked about writing your novel in scenes. Instead of thinking about writing a great novel (daunting to say the least) he said he focuses on writing great scenes. A great novel is made up of a bunch of great scenes, after all.

What's a great scene? Well, for starters it has it's own question, or problem. Just like the whole novel has a large, over-arching problem, a scene has a smaller micro-problem. But it must move the whole plot forward, be related to the entire plot. So a scene with a problem that has nothing to do with the overall plot shouldn't be there. A scene that doesn't have a problem but gives information to the plot shouldn't be there either. It's important to weave information into the conflicts, instead.

How do you know when the scene is over? Just like how you know when the whole book is over--when the problem has reached a resolution. When the question is answered.

Sounds pretty simple, right? Probably not quite as easy as it sounds, and I've yet to put it into practice, but I will. Practice it, that is.

One last word from Mr. Mull that I loved. It's earth-shattering. Ground-breaking. Why didn't any of us think of it before? Are you ready?

He said to be nice. Work harder than anybody else, write cooler books than anybody else, and be nicer than anybody else. Your editor is your employer. You want them to want to work with you because you're a pleasure to work with. If they want to work with you because you work hard and you're a good writer, they'll keep publishing your books.

A sage piece of advice, indeed.