Thinkin’ on Thursday: Picture This!

Easy as A, B, C . . . from BB

At times in the past, I have modeled characters’ looks, fashion sense, even personality on unknown models in magazines. I’ve even cut them out and then built characteristics for that person on the same page or on a 4×6 card. Or I’ve envisioned an old time actor (or a current one, for that matter) as my “hero,” “villain,” “sidekick,” or whomever.

I’m going to suggest another way to utilize pictures of unknowns from magazines or books to help your writing (and the above paragraph has some good ideas too: if you’ve never tried it, give it a go and see what you think). Look through a magazine or illustrated book, preferably one you haven’t read already, or an old one you’ve forgotten all about. Find a picture with at least two main “characters” on it. THINK of these two as major characters in a story you haven’t yet thought through.

Just allow them to begin interacting with each other. Don’t “plan” ahead (this will be a good one for all of us ‘pantsers’), because this is designed to give us practice in a more “organic” method of plot construction. Just start “recording” the story’s events and let them spin out in front of you. Pay attention to other props or objects that appear in the ad or picture. If there are other people in the picture, ignore them for the moment. See how or why the two might interact with the props, objects, bits of scenery, in the picture with them. Record items and events as faithfully as possible without thinking about the “rules” of story plot structure.

Once you’ve recorded the scene, note whether your characters interacted with or used any of the props, etc., given them by the picture. What did they do with items there? Twiddle nervously with papers on a desk? Pick up a coffee cup and look for a refill? Grab a hammer or bucket of paint, intending to use it as a weapon?

How did your characters interact with each other? Were they friends or strangers at the start? What relationship was forged during the scene: adversarial? Conciliatory? Pleading? Helpful? and so on.

Go ahead. This is just a writer’s PLAY ground. Have FUN in it ! ! !

(And, at the end, is there anything salvageable there? Can it be incorporated in your current WIP? Is it the beginning of a short story? An article? An editorial? A children’s book? Even a brand‑new novel?)

See you next for Saturday’s Spellbinder!

Thinkin’ on Thursday: Starting Over — in the Middle!

Easy as A, B, C . . . from BB

Just after the first of the year, Brian Klems (on‑line editor for The Writers Digest) threw out a quote by Joyce Carol Oates: “The first sentence can’t be written until the final sentence is written.” I sort of nodded in affirmation and moved on. Only later did I really start to think about it. I’ve written here before that I am now more convinced than ever (note: that was well after the succinct Oates quote should have given me pause for thought) that I should start writing and write to the end before letting anyone read, comment or critique what I have.

Now, if I could just convince myself to do it, instead of rewriting the first chapter, then writing a little more; rewriting the first three chapters, then writing a little more; rewriting the first 5 chapters, then writing a little more. As a result, I’ve covered the south end of my dining table with two Girl Scout cookie boxes (they’re the perfect size for filing) — full of papers, and a pile of 4 full loose leaf folders, the contents of which are critiqued, or not, and include multiple versions of several chapters, on my “current” WIP. When the boxes were full, I just piled more on top of them. Well, only a little more. About three inches worth. Each.

Oh, I have written the last chapter. And I love it. I just wish the eight or so before it were finished too!

What was I thinkin’?

Well, I guess I wasn’t. Thinkin’. Fortunately I went to the WIFYR class taught by Cheri Pray Earl: The Muddled Middles. Well, mine wasn’t exactly the middle — but pretty close.

I am going to start over . . . on chapter 17 (or whatever it happens to be). Again. I’ll fill in that gap in the story. Then I’ll examine everything, one chapter at a time, beginning to end. Then I’ll write (or rewrite) Chapter 1.

DONE ! ! !

See you next on Saturday’s Spellbinder!

Tips on Tuesday: Distractions and Writing

Easy as A, B, C . . . from BB

Last April 21, AnnDeeCandee wrote a blog for Throwing Up Words (if you don’t follow this blog, and you’re a writer, you should). She’d been on vacation and was trying to recuperate from . . . the vacation. Of course. You know the drill. She was finding all kinds of reasons not to write — don’t we all? But she suggested three things to do:

1. List five things that distract you from writing.
2. List what you are going to do when these things try to distract you from writing.
3. List all the things you are going to work on with your WIP. Make a plan.

I did all three. As suggested. I even went back to her blog and made a comment thanking her for the suggestions.

Below, I’ll list the five suggestions with my answers which I wrote on April 22 (when I first saw her blog), and a follow up as to where I stand now on all points. Thanks for reading, while I try to be accountable:

1. Money worries: I should pay what I can online or with checks, stop thinking about the rest, and turn on to my story file. Current: paid all current bills, paid extra on the one that was bugging me the most and which would help the most to pay down in the long run: A+
2. Internet: stop checking the Internet first every day. Did work first, for about 2 days. Current: back to checking the Internet often — and first too many days: C‑ to D+
3. Trapped/ Confused/At a Standstill in my story: Read story aloud (R.A.) to myself and talk to myself (fingers on keyboard) until something comes to me. Current: Did not R.A., or talk to myself, but did begin writing whatever came to mind while holding off my “inner editor.” B‑
4. Clutter: desk & house: Clear desk nightly; get sufficient writing done to devote 30‑60 min to the house per day. Wrote daily, though mostly blogs and answers to emails. Current: probably giving the house the 30‑60 min. most days (though not my desk ! ! !) — but still spending more time writing blogs, journals and email answers than my books. Never fear: I have a deadline coming up and it starts now: WIFYR (Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers), and we already have assignments to do before the June 16‑20 workshop. C-
5. Appointments/interruptions to “schedule”: Get to appointments on time, keep phone, family & meals from interrupting writing flow and plans. Current: appointments have been kept (or deleted, which also needed to happen). Right about the time I read the Throwing Up Words blog referenced above, the IRS threw us a curve (which had to be dealt with), two separate family crises happened which took up a long week‑end and more, plus a long‑distance family event, with which we could only commiserate on by phone and email, caused some angst for a couple of days . . . but hey, it’s family: A‑

In all my years of public school, getting a B.A. degree, an M.A. degree, another academic endorsement and two more certifications, would I have been happy with the “GPA” displayed above (approximately a 2.5 or B-)? Not At All!!! But I am happy about some of the progress: I worked on each item to some degree. I can see where to spend my next major efforts. And I let family come before personal Plans and Goals. And that’s as it should be!

Accept the challenge to write your own worst five distractions to writing, and what you can do about them. Make your plan. Try it for a week or two, and report in — let me know how you’re doing!

See you next for Thinkin’ on Thursday!

Thursday’s Thoughts: Nothing so Constant as Change

Easy as A, B, C . . . from BB

As promised, after 14 months of existence, changes have come (and there may be yet more to come) to The ABC Writers Guild blog:

We’ve taken a good, long look at what you’ve seemed to read most (like best?) and we appreciate your interest. Please stay with us, hang in there, keep on keepin’ on! We’ll be keeping the best, re‑imagining the rest. We will now publish only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, but will do so every week.

Tuesday’s Tutor will now become TUESDAY’S TIPS, and essentially the same as before: tips and ideas on how to deal with writing problems: anything from how to get going to how to keep going; how to understand both the marvelous and malevolent English language in all its permutations and eccentricities, whether of spelling, punctuation marks, or nuances. Feel free to send questions which puzzle you about writing and we will send you answers, or at least suggestions on how to handle your writing puzzlements.

Thursday’s 13 will be called THURSDAY’S THOUGHTS. We will include our own thoughts, problems and puzzlements, but will also incorporate other writers on Thursdays in interviews and/or guest blogs, combining much of what used to happen with Friday’s Friends with some bits of what you used to find in Sunday’s Snippets, Monday Moans, or Thursday’s 13. When significant writing goals have been reached or break‑through moments have come to one or more of us, you may even get a whiff of the old Wednesday’s WIPs here.

Saturday’s Softcover will be transformed into SATURDAY’S SPELLBINDER, a blog covering books we’re reading and loving. We have always, and only, reviewed books which we loved, and will continue to do the same. No “hated this book” business here — why waste our time or yours? That said, each of us has his/her own taste in books. You, personally, may not love every book you read about here, but we’ll keep a wide variety of book types and hope to capture your heart with many of them. Please note: we are truly invested in showcasing books by Utah authors. Let us know when yours are available, and we’ll cover as many as possible.

Thanks for your patience and loyalty while we transition: Like the changes? Hate them? Want something else? Let us know through comments here, or send comments, questions, ideas to Benschmark Editing at benschmarkediting@yahoo.com

See you Saturday for Saturday’s Spellbinder!

Wednesday’s WIPs: We’re WIPpin’ in to Christmas Break!

Easy as A, B, C . . . from BB

6. Fine old Christmas, with the snowy hair and ruddy face, had done his duty that year in the noblest fashion, and had set off his rich gifts of warmth and color with all the heightening contrast of frost and snow. ~ George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss

7. ~ To perceive Christmas through its wrapping becomes more difficult with every year. ~ E. B. White, The Second Tree from the Corner

8. I don’t want Christmas season to end, because it’s the only time I can legitimately indulge in one particular addiction: glitter. ~ Eloisa James, Paris in Love

These book quotes about Christmas were borrowed from http:ebookfriendly.com/20‑book‑quotes‑christmas‑pictures/

To be continued when we see you day‑after‑tomorrow for Friday Friends!

Wednesday’s WIPs: WIPpin’ Along in November

EASY AS A, B, C . . . from A, B and both C’s

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.org) is HERE.  So where do we stand on the current WIP—and has it become part of NaNo?

H.A.  The Other Siders: It’s NaNo!  I have over 4,000 new words since our last report. I am going to shove my characters through to the Other Side. The characters now have come up with solutions of their own, and I haven’t had to do a thing about it except write it down! I love it when that happens. It’s good to know the voices in my head can be constructive. 🙂

B.B.  gElf and the Legend of Jarra‑Jen: Still in process and I want to send it in to the Dark Crystal contest, even though NaNo has begun and I need to move on to my faerie‑tale mash‑up.  I’ve done a massive rewrite on the first two chapters about the Gelflings.  I think I really have enough to only need one more chapter before sending it.

Oddly, in both the Gelfling legend and the faerie‑tale, I  had the same problem: both have a young male main character who is not very active in the beginning of the story, leading to little sympathy for a character the reader barely knows: g’Elf in the Dark Crystal story; Ashlad, in the faerie‑tale.  In both stories, a story teller, or Tale‑Teller, comes in and tells the children, or the whole community, a story.  g’Elf figures out that he must become the new personification of the hero Jarra‑Jen to save the Gelflings.  Ashlad, realizes he must take action and save the Princess.

Now that I’ve figured out most of what g’Elf must do, I can mimic—to some extent—his actions in Ashlad’s story.  The twist will be when Ashlad has saved the Princess, he is going to be kidnapped by a marauding pack of wolf‑like creatures, the tables will turn, and the Princess (whom I still have not named!) will now have to save him.

C.C.  Ezzy Bear: I have not learned anything new about commas.  I am doing NaNo for the first time ever—it’s an interesting experiment, an interesting way to write.  It’s difficult not to go back and correct things, so it’s quite a new experience.

J.C. The Shadow Master: I am finding that going back to the beginning of the story and interjecting a new side‑kick is extremely challenging.  Many things written specifically for two characters, but now must include a third.  It’s a good thing I’m an Eagle Scout, because I learned a lot about untying knots!  My wife is convinced this is good for the story, even though she doesn’t have to dwell in the tangled mess.  I registered for NaNo, but am not dedicated to necessarily being a “winner” this year—we’ll see where it goes.

See you day‑after‑tomorrow for Friday’s Friends!

Wednesday’s WIPs: Working with WIPs

EASY AS A, B, C . . . from A, B and both C’s

As a group, we discussed the 3-act structure often associated with film and fiction, with all its sub-divisions of plot points, twists, etc.

H.A.  The Other Siders: Two new support characters have been added, causing a major re-write from chapter one on.  The added characters have given me foils for the other characters to bounce off of, as they give us a chance for comic relief.  They seem to have added what would have been needed if Harry Potter had been written without Hermione and Ron.

B.B.  Shattered Shards: Changed the title . . . again!  Right now it’s being called gElf and the Legend of Jarra-Jen.  This is the contest piece for an author to write a “new” story of Jim Henson’s original The Dark Crystal film and various books and graphic novels.  At only 7,500 to 10,000 words max., I probably only need to have four chapters.  My first two chapters I’ve written and rewritten a couple of times.  I think they’re fairly smooth now and express what I meant to say.  I’m hoping to get chapters three and four done EARLY this week.  Then I’ll be prepping for NaNoWriMo—the National Novel Writing Month in November, as well as trying to get back into my faerie tale.

C.C.  Ezzy Bear: The 3-Act structure, usually meant for fiction, is actually helping me even with my non-fiction book.  Emotional moments, whether tense or happy, are both included—I’m working on keeping it well-balanced.

JC The Shadow Master: The plot structure discussion has helped further my vision. I now understand my antagonist, his purpose, drive, and  cause and I know why he is doing what he is.  As a result, I am now able to move forward with the plot: roadblocks have been lifted.

See you day-after-tomorrow for Friday’s Friends!

Wednesday’s WIPs: WIPping Up Interest in a Minor Character

EASY AS A, B, C . . . from BB 

 ’Alo!  C’est moi, the Bensch Wensch!  Not CC.  As I was telling you a month or two ago, sometimes we have to fill in for one another.  Family emergencies, and all that.

So I’m two weeks early, and would love to have had more time and, therefore, more to report.  That given, what I do have to report is good.  When last you heard from me, I was scrambling to get 20 pages of my WIP sent in to WIFYR (by now, dear regular readers, you know that means Writers and Illustrators for Young Readers).  The good news is: I made my deadline that night and sent the pages.

The count several days of non-stop work, work, work!  Supposed to do 5 to 7 rewritten pages every day through that week’s workshops (where we were in wonderful classes and sessions from 8:30am until after 5:30, with homework to do before the next a.m.).

And, more good news: I got most of that done and turned in.

I also wrote a little blog after it was over that I had tried an experimental assignment on the last day of class: write one scene in a different POV; i.e., 1^st person instead of omniscient, or 3^rd person instead of 1^st, or from a different character altogether.  I tried the latter, at 5:00 a.m. the last day.

And that encompasses my next good news: though I was afraid it maybe didn’t even make sense, when I read it in class, they loved it.  Including my stellar teacher, Cheri Pray Earl.

This minor but interesting and quirky character made a raft of changes to my story, and it’s all good: she became one with the Story Teller I’d introduced at the beginning of Chapter One.  She became a close relative of the Hero.  She took on magical qualities I had heretofore refused to acknowledge she had.  She will be the Hero’s key to finding his magical way to the Princess.  And she will aid the Princess in finding the Hero again when he is lost to her.

Pretty good for a “minor” character, don’t you think?

Oh.  And the title has changed from the mundane, boring (and possibly derivative) Over Hill, Over Dale, and Back Again to Glass Mountain Princess.

Now, all I have to do is write all that into the narrative—oy vey!

See you day-after-tomorrow for Friday’s Friends!

Tuesday’s Tutor: What’s Your MDQ?

Easy as A, B, C . . . from BB

At June’s WIFYR conference (Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers), Cheri Pray Earl, my excellent teacher, asked us to identify our current book’s MDQ.

Our what?

Our MDQ—Major Dramatic Question.  I’d never had it put that way to me before.  She pointed out that many genre’s have a rather obvious MDQ: the major dramatic question in a Romance is “Will they get together?”  For a murder mystery—no surprise here—it has to be “Who Dunnit?”  For a Western, “Will Good triumph over Evil?”  (Which will often be the question in fantasy or sci-fi as well: the characters just wear different costumes there.)

So I was writing a fairytale mash-up: kind of a combination of The Princess on the Glass Hill, which I was surprised to learn almost none of my writerly friends were familiar with, and Cinderella with touches on an old Greek legend, three magic tinder boxes, and a possible whiff of East of the Sun and West of the Moon.  I realized, pretty quickly that morning, that it was all about getting the MALE “Cinderella”-type and the Princess together.

Oh, no!  I was writing a Romance!

I don’t normally even read romances.  On the other hand, most of my favorite historical novels contain a good dose of romance, so I guess . . .

Anyway, figuring out my MDQ—will Ashlad and the Princess ever get together—has been very instructive.  The answer—SPOILER ALERT, SPOILER ALERT—is, of course they’ll get together . . . after much travail!

Which brings us to the next questions:

ROUTINE:

What are their lives like before they get together?

•  She lives with her wicked King/Father in a glass “castle”
•  He lives —well, think a mild version of Harry Potter: poor, picked on by brothers, alienated from struggling father

DISRUPTION:

What interrupts their “ordinary” lives?

• He meets a witchy woman who gives him 3 magic tinder boxes, tells him to follow his heart
• She refuses the demands of her King/Father to choose a suitor

DRAMA (or THE STRUGGLE):

How will he escape his mundane existence and get to see the world?

How will she escape her imprisonment and avoid marrying a “prince” she doesn’t love?

• He will have to master . . . hmmnnnn
• And she will have to . . .

Check with me as I discuss my WIP on July 31 . . . OR . . .

Wait a little longer and read my book: Glass Mountain Princess

And, BTW, what’s your MDQ?

See you day-after-tomorrow for Thursday’s 13!

 Have questions about writing (grammar, punctuation, getting published, etc.)?  Brenda Bensch, M.A., a teacher of multiple decades’ experience in Utah’s university/high school/community ed. classrooms (English, fiction/non-fiction writing, study skills, drama, humanities, debate, etc.), invites you to “Ask The Teacher” at http://BenschWensch.wordpress.com

Wednesday’s WIPs: Whips, and WIPs, and . . . Whipt

EASY AS A, B, C . . . from Oops! ABC

Shakespeare –  Hamlet ~ “ . . . for who would bear the whips and scorns of time . . . ”

The Bible – I Kings, XII-11 ~ “ My father hath chastised you with whips . . .”

Shakespeare: King Lear ~ “ . . . he must be whipt out . . . ” ………………………..

Oh.  Wait a minute.  You wanted my WIP. Help  me!  I’m stuck.  I haven’t got one.

See you day-after-tomorrow for “Friday Friends” . . .we have got “friends!”