Tuesday's Writer's Tip What next in Plotting #BWLAuthor #MFRWAuthor #Writing #Plotting

You have your idea well thought out and you know what direction you want to take the story whether action or mind structure. What comes next? Deciding on certain things about the world you're creating. You may be writing a mystery, a romance, a fantasy or science fiction or som other genre but knowing what's good and bad about your world is a must. Do the good always win? Do the bad come up with the victory. You need to look at this and make a decision. This adds a depth to your initial decision of the story being physically or mentally bound. 

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Friday Join Eileen Charbonneau as she discusses Panster or Plotter #MFRWAuthor #BWLAuthor

I’m finding myself a bit of both lately.  After panstering through the November NanNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) with the goal of finishing my latest novel, I was left with a MESS of scenes!  I then got those scenes on synopsis cards and went to work PLOTTING.

2. Which comes first - characters or plot for you? 

Usually characters. They grab a hold and won’t let me go until I tell their stories.

3. What are you working on now? Is this a book in a current series or something totally new?

I’m working on publicity for Mercies of the Fallen, which is Book 2 in my American Civil War Brides series. The Civil War is entering its last year as I write: the end, with my characters in a pretty unsettled state and a series of possible disasters waiting for them.  I think I need to continue their story, So Mercies of the Fallen might need a sequel, quick!

4. Do you have some kind of object or place that figures in most of your books? I use gems a lot, hospitals and caves.

I have noticed that in your work, Janet!  Now, an analyst might say this all has to do with your need to live a bright life, with lots of healing and mysterious depths to plumb.  As your reader, all I know is that they’re all great choices and make for wonderful storytelling! I have not noticed repeating objects or places in my books. I guess I’ll leave that to the readers to find, if they care to!

5. Do you write everyday or just when the spirit hits?

Every day works better for me. Having the time and place habit going every day helps me put the work harness on.

6. Where can we find you?

I live in the Great Falls region of Vermont. And online readers can find me at:

eileencharbonneau.com

eileencharbonneau@gmail.com

EileenC1988 on twitter

EileenCharbonneauAuthor on facebook

eileencharbonneau on instagram 

7. Who are your favorite authors? What about a book you’ve enjoyed?

I love a good galloping story, with life-like characters, that is well-told. How wonderful that is to find! How difficult that is to create! I generally stay away from literary novels, many of which seem to me more about style than substance. For beautiful language, I depend more on poetry. I read in every genre except horror. Authors whose work I’ve enjoyed include Alice Hoffman, Mary Balogh, Charlotte Bronte, Donis Casey, Cathy Maxwell, Jane Austen, Michelle Cox, Lindsey Davis, Daphne duMaurier, Isabelle Allende, Beverley Jenkins, Louisa May Alcott.  If you’ll notice, my list is female-heavy. That’s because I was an English Major, and so studied dusty old and awful contemporary male writers, and I’m still catching up.  Shakespeare, Dickens, duMaupassant, Chekhov, and Hugo survived the purge, however!  The latest book I’m over-the-moon about is Trouble the Water, a novelization of the life of Robert Smalls by Rebecca Dwight Bruff.

Wednesday - Plotting - Melodrama

Don't know about you but when I hear melodrama the first image I see is the evil villain twisting the ends of his mustache and yelling, You must pay the rent." Yes, this is melodrama, but what the term really means is something that's larger than life. Super heros are melodrama. The volcano erupting and threatening the hero and heroine is melodrama. Much depends on how you use this event that could easily go over the top.

Melodrama ignores the ordinary to hone on the unusual and unlikely, making the reader lose faith in the story. There can be a credibility gap. Think of melodrama as salt added to the story to enhance the flavor. Too liberal and the reader backs away. Using none and there is a blandness to the story.

So use melodrama without becoming cliched, trite,, silly or weird. There are ways that this can be dome. Next time I'll look at 7 or 8 wasy to sue melodrama to add flavor to the story.

My Writing Life

I'm gearing up for a trip to Pittsburgh and other environs. Husband's 50th medical school reunion. I do not like reunions and I do not like to be away from writing for an extended period, but one does what one must. I'll be taking along a new project and the last chapter of the novella due at the end of June. When I return I'll be adding two features to my blog. One will be interviews with published authors and another segments from my books. The final bit of the Plotting exercise will be put on there then. Then I'll talk a bit about pacing. A fellow author once mentioned one of my books on a forum I belong to and said I was a master of pacing. I had no idea what he meant. The book was Obsessions.

Writing Hints -- The Middle

Some people find the middle of their stories sag or drag. This can happen but remembering the three hints for developing a scene should help. Showing characterization, advancing the plot and providing information the reader needs.

The middle is made up of scenes and the writer must become a juggler. Things to remember are what does each major character want, why do they want these objects, such as love, finding the criminal, magical powers and so forth. How does one person's desires effect the other characters?

Every scene in the middle of the book leads to the moment of decision. Sometimes known as the Black Moment. This is when the hero or heroine is faced with a decision that may win or lose them their objective. But that is part of the End of a story so that will be talked about later.

What I've discovered as the story unfolds, one has to look for a number of things in the middle of a book. Are their scenes that are repeats? By this I mean are their repeats of the kind of scene such as a dozen restaurant scenes. Are there scenes that don't really add to the story? Is the scene told from the right viewpoint? Sometimes changing the focus character of a scene brings a fresh eye to the project.

A very important thing is does the scene lead the reader to turn the page. Is there a question they want to see solved at the end of the scene. This has to do with pacing. I've often found switching to a totally different place or character makes me wonder what will happen next.

Writing Tips Plotting continued

This is part 2 of Plotting. All stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. Before talking about the beginning, there are several things to remember.

Three places to begin your tale.
1. A moment before the action that will force a change in the hero or heroine's life.
2. In the middle of the action.
3. A moment after the action has taken place.

Another important series of three to remember. Each scene, bit of dialogue should do one of the following things. If you can bring two about, that's great. Hitting all three is wonderful.
1. Reveal something about the character.
2. Advance the plot.
3. Impart an important piece of information.

Keeping these things in mind, it's time to begin. The beginning of the book can be as much as a third of the book and must show the characters in action, to learn about their motivations, establish the conflicts both internal and external, show the setting and the time period. Often the book is started too soon or too late. There are times when I write a chapter one and find the only value is for me as the writer, not the reader. It's time to scrap that chapter. Other times I start a book too late and have to go back and do a scene before the one I originally intended to be the opening scene.

There are problems that happen during the opening of a book. Often times the first paragraph is intriguing. Then the writer spends pages giving the back story of the characters. A sentence or two won't bother the reader but paragraphs about the hero or heroine's life are more for the author's benefit than the reader. Save this kind of the story for times when it can be done in a sentence or two of through dialogue. Another problem is when the author becomen enamoured by the setting and spends paragraphs describing a house, a vista or something. In fantasies, sometimes more time is needed to establish where the characters are but these are details that can be brought into play during the action.

The opening scene is where the writer has to give enough information to intrigue the reader to comtinue reading. There are several problems that can creep in. There's the information dump that provides the reader with too much information. This can be back story or it can be scenery or other descriptions. There is the cast of thousands start where too many charactera are thrown into the mix in the first few pages. For me this is one of my faults. There is also starting with a dramatic scene like a car chase ro a volcano erupting and the hero or heroine fleeing from some drastic event. Problem here is how can the tension be maintained for the entire book. A hard act to follow is what I call this kind of opening.