Scooby Doo scenes

If you ever watched Scooby Doo you'll remember the scene they invariably have at the end of every episode--the gang gathers round as Velma explains what the bad guy did and why. Even as a kid,I always hated this scene. It assumed the viewer was either too stupid to "get" everything on their own, or that the show had done a poor job of communicating the essential clues along the way for everything to be clear by the end.

The same is true of a good novel. If you feel you need to include a scene that points out to the reader every detail you threw in so you can make sure your brilliance is evident you're showing your readers one sure thing--you aren't confident enough in your own writing to TRUST that the reader can fill in the blanks. Readers love to read between the lines. Sure they appreciate a good twist, a great conclusion. But they want to be treated as intelligent adults. They want to speculate on your intent. The mystery when those messages aren't specifically laid out for the reader allows a much deeper pondering by your reader--it will last longer than your simple scene.

If your main points aren't self evident, then you need to go back in the story and consider spots to bolster your themes within the context of the story. Show your readers what you mean. Scooby Doo scenes are by their nature telling. If you can't seem to find places where your theme naturally inserts itself, then you need to reconsider whether the theme you'd intended is indeed a part of this novel. Perhaps it's a message you're passionate about but it needs to be brought out in a future work. If the theme isn't natural, your reader will be able to tell--it must be intrinsic to plot or it will feel pasted on, preachy and thus will be off putting.

Now, I know that even great, best selling novels have these scenes. But the truth is--they'd be better without them!

More tomorrow,
Traci

First Draft Perfection

I have friends--other notable authors--who tell me, "I wrote 3,000 words today and they're all keepers." How can this be? I think. My first drafts are so rough I won't let anyone else see them. They're downright embarrassing. It isn't until the fourth or fifth draft that I feel almost comfortable enough to let even my husband read my books.


An aside: Writing, I've discovered, reveals much about the author. You are laying yourself bare for the world to see, especially if your characters have any kind of depth. Everyone you've ever known will think they have the inside track on you personally, once they've read your work. If you're a sensitive person who falls apart at the least criticism--don't become an author. It will devastate you. Everyone thinks you're fair game for their sarcastic diatribes. Reviewers will use their wittiest language to tear you limb from limb, even if you write the mildest, sweetest literature. Some will say you've sold your soul to the devil while others say your Christianity is so sticky sweet they couldn't wade through it (trust me on this one!).


Now back to the topic at hand. When I write that first draft, I'm merely sketching in loosely what I envision each scene to be about and potential ideas for dialogue. It's that "roughing in" I talked about in the house building analogy. I want the pace to be right, so I write fast, usually in a spiral bound notebook so I can take it with me anywhere. For some reason my brain works better on paper; don't ask me why. Even on the second draft I'm still formulating the overall story. Scenes always get cut and new scenes always get added. I add in details, descriptions, character markers in the later drafts, although if something comes to me at an earlier draft I'll add it in. There's simply too much to keep track of to try to do it all at once.


So, the question remains: these friends who say they wrote "keepers"--is that the truth? No. I'll tell you right off, as the editor for many of these folks. The author who think the first draft is perfection is the one who needs the most extensive edit. Without exception.


You aren't doing yourself any favors when you hand in a rough manuscript to your publisher. Why? Because if you can WOW your editor--the first reader of your book--they'll tell others at the publishing house about how great it was. A fire will be ignited. It's too late to light that fire after the book is published. There's a chance readers could really love your work, assuming you've allowed your editor to turn it into a silk purse. But if the excitement starts in house, it will spread to their sales force and from sales to the retailers. They're the ones with the power in this business. If your book isn't on the shelves, the reader will never have a chance to get wowed by it.


More later,
Traci

A Romantic Life?

People seem to have a preconcieved notion that being a novelist is a golden career without the stresses of other careers. We're rich and famous. Authors live on a different plane, without worries, where words flow seamlessly from the end of our pens. The sky is always blue in our world and we're always taking note of the people around us because we just might want to put YOU in our next book. This just ain't so. Writing is hard work, sometimes painful work. We're rarely rich and only famous in our hometowns if they're small.

Even I had these misconceptions when I started writing, and I'd been editing for many years by that time. A little part of me still wants to believe it can be true, but a few more years in and I know better now. Authors are business people--some more successful than others. And that all depends on how much you're willing to invest.

Once the proposal has been created, or for the first-time author the complete novel, the author must become a sales expert, pitching their work to either publishing houses or agents. They talk market niches. Then negotiate contracts, if they don't have an agent, or at least discuss the negotiations if they do have an agent. Then it's time to create their work of art--only to have it reviewed by editors and rewritten sometimes multiple times. Just when you think you're done with the writing phase the manuscript comes back like a long forgotten boomerang--to review line edits, copy edits, and galleys. Then the marketing and publicity begins, first in approving (or in my case rewriting) cover and marketing copy, then in "negotiating" a marketing campaign (or this can happen on the front end in contract negotiations).

I'm always looking for new, fresh ways to reach potential readers. This, in my estimation, is the hardest part of being an author because the media is flooded with requests from authors to promote their book. But Oprah has only so much time in the day to read and tell the world about a great book she read--besides, I don't think my books have enough of an edge for Oprah to "get" them. Perhaps I've underestimated her, but odds are I'll never find out.

By nature I'm a very private person--that's why I decided to become a novelist in the first place. I get to stay home in my bathrobe and create imaginary worlds without dealing with office politics on a regular basis (unless it's time to talk to my publisher about this, that, or the other thing). So, when it comes time to speak in public and do signings I am stretched most as a person. At least people are kind, even if many do avoid eye contact when I'm sitting behind a table at a bookstore signing.

Then there are a countless details to manage--web site maintenance, a quarterly newsletter to write and send, e-mails to answer, signings to set up and coordinate, speeches to write, contact lists to update, mileage to track, office supplies to buy, research and then more research, taxes to manage and file, a blog to keep updated...

All this is on top of being a wife, mother, sister, friend. "Juggle" is too easy a word to sum it up, more like "manage the chaos!" For me, maintaining a peaceful home for my family is top priority--that means I can't always do everything other authors might do to promote their books. If I were a single woman with no other concerns I'd be doing it all too, and more. But I'm not. It's just that simple. Sometimes I have to say no and I pray that doesn't hurt the potential sales of my books. Last year I crossed Southern Minnesota visiting 100 bookstores to promote Dandelions in a Jelly Jar--it was a lot of work! I won't be doing it again.

Robert Whitlow once asked me how I can possibly manage being the mother of five children, editing and writing. Here's how--my house fell to ruin; the older children took more care of the younger ones than I liked; dark circles ringed my eyes. I wore myself out. I look back now and think not "How did I do that?" but "Why did I do that?" There are only so many hours in the day and I better use that time for things that matter.

My friend Ted Dekker knows how to make it all work. He got a substantial contract for his first three books. He believed enough in himself and his writing not to settle for less. He knows how to promote himself and his books. He's out there. And he's merciless about perfecting his craft--I truly admire that about him. But he also has an amazing wife backing him up so that he can be free to do all that he does. I have an amazing husband too, with his own amazing career.

For me it's about priorities. Yes, my books could live on long after I'm dead. Not likely, but it's possible. And I am dedicated to creating excellent books, but if I regret not raising my children the best way possible then I will have failed in this life.

So I must set aside time for writing within the ever-shifting balance of my family's needs, at least two hours per day. If I can't do everything, that has to be okay. This job isn't about glamour; it's about meaning. For me that is the flexibility to be who I want to be--a creative person using my gifts, and a mother, wife and friend.

My children will care for me in my old age; my books will sit on a shelf.

More tomorrow,

Traci

Christianity in Fiction

f a i t h * i n * f i c t i o n: 03/01/2005 - 03/31/2005


I wanted to add my two cents about the Faith in Fiction blog mentioned above. David Long asserts:
"One of the hallmarks of Christian fiction is that the protagonist invariably learns a life lesson of some sort."
Is it true that Christian fiction alone is out to teach life lessons? Don't all books teach lessons? In To Kill a Mockingbird didn't Scout learn about the ugliness of prejudice? In Leif Enger's Peace Like a River didn't the main character learn about the power of miracles especially in the laying down of his father's life for his? My assertion is that all books teach lessons; Christian books just tend to be heavy handed about it, not trusting the reader or their own writing to convey those lessons. In really good story telling, lessons come through on a subconscious level that even the author isn't aware of--because the elements of story and character are as strong as real life. There are lessons all around us. The goal of Christian fiction for me is not to have a conversion scene in every book but to mirror real life with the truth of faith as reflected in fallible characters. In life sometimes we learn lessons, but more often than not we struggle and old habits come back to haunt--this is real life, not Pollyanna. Christianity isn't about a progression toward perfection--that's works. Only one was perfect; the rest of us rely on his gift.

More tomorrow,
Traci

Girl Scouts and "Plot"

Since I'm the resident writer in my hometown I volunteered to take one of my daughter's Girl Scout meetings to give the fifth graders a lesson on creative writing. The plan is to talk about writing, do a little writing, and then head to my husband's printing company for hands-on tour of how books are printed and bound. Fun, right? But in looking over the Girl Scout manual I discovered something interesting and it reminded me of all those years in grade school when my own teachers tried to drill this same concept into our pea brains--"the plot of a story is the beginning, middle and end."
If this statement were true the following would be a plot:
We left the house in our car. We drove to the grocery store and bought food. Then we drove home.
This has a beginning, middle, and an end. But who cares about someone going to buy food? This is simply a second-grader's ramblings, not a plot. Plot is the compelling element of the story that makes the reader keep reading. Plot is the why of the story. What do the characters want to accomplish?

Motivating Your Characters

In Dale Carnegie's book How to Win Friend and Influence People the author states that everyone is searching for a feeling of importance. How to get to that end result is as varied as each individual person. Some seek importance through their children, through their career, through their possessions, through social standing, and some through the thrill of power that kidnapping another and torturing them brings. All want the same end result--for their existence on this earth to matter.
The same is true of well-developed characters. There should always be a good "why" behind their actions. This is not to say all characters act like sensible Minnesotans, but there should be a trail of reasonable actions that make up the characters in your story. Even the insane characters. This can be tricky, and for me this depth of character is formed in the second, third, fourth and fifth revisions. If you can't answer the question, "Why did he do that?" with a satisfactory reason from the text then you either need to go back and reinforce that trait or you need to change the character's actions!
Details make the character alive for your reader. A character who stutters during confrontations or wipes his forehead with the bandanna he keeps in the pocket of his cardigan sweater is a much more rich experience for your readers. They know people who do these kinds of things.
One note--NEVER write something like the following. "Bart was a kind person, always patient during hard times..." This is flat, doesn't engage your reader in the plot of the story. Instead, allow your reader to discern this trait for themselves by the way Bart acts and reacts within the story. Show us his kindness and his patience in Bart's interactions within the story. If it doesn't come out naturally within the context of the story it wasn't really true of Bart after all--and your reader won't buy it. (Never underestimate the intelligence of your readers!)

More tomorrow,
Traci DePree

Interview on CCM

I did and interview with Chris Well at CCM Magazine a couple weeks ago. Click on the link above for the first installment!

Pouring Cement and Laying Block

For an excellent discussion of Plot-driven vs. Character-driven fiction check out the discussion board at Faith In Fiction--click on the arrow above.
Now back to our house building. Every book contains plot and character, every one. If you're entrenched in writing groups I'm sure you hear plenty of argument about which drives a story. The truth is, both do. Real characters like real people will make choices that promote plot, and outside events affect the growth of your characters. You can't have one without the other. That said, most books do focus more on one over the other. One word of caution--focus too much on plot and neglect character and you'll end up with paper-thin characters who leave your readers scratching their heads ("Why did he do that?"), likewise if you focus only on creating great characters without a dynamic plot and readers will just put the book down and never finish it.
So, what is plot? It is the main purpose within your story, the driving force that keeps readers engaged. What does the main character want? If you can answer this question you know the plot. In Pirates of the Carribean, Johnny Depp's plot was to get back the Black Pearl, while Orlando Bloom's was to get the girl. Two plots equally important to the story. What obstacles stand in the way of your main character attaining their goal? You must have obstacles--if the goal is easy to achieve there's nothing to engage your reader. So, what kept Johnny Depp from getting the Black Pearl? The fact that Captain Barbossa already had possession of the Pearl. What kept Orlando Bloom from getting the girl? His sense of propriety--a gentleman wouldn't be so "forward"--and the girl had been taken away on the Black Pearl. The choices of the characters along the way moved plot, their motivations were understandable (we'll cover motivation later in our discussion!). They worked hand in hand to create a believable, fast-paced story.
But start with the basics. Who is my character and what do they want? What will stand in the way of them getting what they want? Answer these questions and you'll be on your way.
More later,
Traci DePree

Napoleon Dynamite and "Voice"

I'll admit it--I liked Napoleon Dynamite. I've heard a lot of complaints that the movie didn't have a great plot; it was just a quirky geek doing silly things. But I liked it. It wasn't the story of the outsider trying to break into the popular world where the cool and truly worthy kids lived. Napoleon wasn't seeking his comeuppance like so many other teen movies seem to do--think Confession of a Teenage Drama Queen or in my day Sixteen Candles. In these stories the gratification came from showing those popular kids how cool the main character was and thus winning approval and acceptance into their flawed world. In Napoleon Dynamite, Napoleon didn't care that he didn't fit in. All that mattered to him was being himself and being a good friend to Pedro. Sure he danced in front of the whole school and they cheered wildly for him, but Napoleon didn't need such affirmation. He was happy just to be himself. That was what I liked. And it's so much more true to life--snotty people will be snotty to us whether we show up to the 20-year reunion in a Jaguar or not, because they're snotty people.
So, what does this have to do with writing?
We all can learn a lesson from Napoleon--be yourself when it comes to writing. Write in your own style, with your voice. I'm not talking about the mechanics of plot or pacing; I'm talking about how you tell your story. If you try to imitate your favorite author, you'll sound like a cheap imitation. Instead be true to your own unique voice and remember that your voice is as worthy of being heard as anyone's, be it Stephen King or J.K. Rowling.

More tomorrow,
Traci DePree

Back to digging that hole

Setting. It's the place where your story happens, right? But it's so much more than that. It's time period. It's genre. It's "flavor." It's texture that adds to the details of authenticity you'll add later in the writing process. In well-crafted books, setting takes on its own persona.
When choosing a site to build a house you stand in on spot and look all around. What will the view be? Which way will the windows face? Do I have an ocean view or am I overlooking a landfill? Not that every book needs a pristine vista; some of the greatest books written have a junkyard aura. Think John Steinbeck.
My first series (Lake Emily) is set on a farm in modern day Minnesota. Once I'd established that, there were a lot of facts that were already set in place for me. I would be employing up-to-date technology in the running of my farm. No horse and buggy or hand milking of cows. In Minnesota, as in every region of the world, we have a particular way of communicating. We say "toast" with a long O. We don't talk more than is needful. We believe in "Minnesota Nice"--helping our neighbors in times of need, but we don't need to tell everyone about it. "Don't you think?" is an everyday expression. We don't use hand gestures liberally. We eat bland foods, mostly white in color. Hotdish, Jell-O salad, SPAM, and beef commercials are regular fare. Lefse and Lutefish are for special occasions. Don't say "bubbler" when you mean "water fountain"--only Wisconsinites say that. And "pastries" are not "bars"--you'll be run out of the town if you confuse the two!
While setting adds details that will lend to that vivid dream you're creating, it is also a basis of who your characters will be. Placing a flamboyant, outgoing character in rural Minnesota will automatically set up a certain dynamic. Think these things through carefully before deciding, and be sure you're well versed in your locale. Readers want to get lost in your make-believe world but to make that transition they need a firm footing reality--that is the job of setting.

More tomorrow,
Traci DePree

Digging Foundations

So, you've exercised your imagination and have come up with an idea. That's great. What now? Everyone seems to work a little differently here. My ideas never come fully formed, sometimes not even partially formed. Sometimes I get more of a "general impression" for the kind of story I want to tell. Like squinting your eyes at a great painting and only having a vague sense of a few colors the artist used. Only problem is--I'm the artist and I have to fill in the details! That could be panic causing if I didn't have a plan--start with the basics.
Writing a story is much like building a house. Start big and think about the details later. Let's take a look at house building.

• First, you dig a hole. This is setting. Where is the story taking place?
• Second, pour cement and lay block. The foundation is key to a good story. This is what will hold up the walls later, so it had better be strong. In a plot-drive story, foundation is plot. One key sentence that states what your story is all about. In a character-driven story, foundation is your protagonist, the person who will carry your tale.
• Third, build stairs to the first floor and lay the plywood sheathing that will be your floor. Still foundational to your story, these are, in a character-driven book, your plot; and, in a plot-driven book, your characters. Because while a story may focus on one or the other, truth is all stories have both. Some plots are internal, finding peace with the world; some plots are external, finding the Holy Grail.
• Fourth, time for framing the walls, plumbing and electrical, exterior sheathing, rough sheetrocking. This phase is where subplots, character development/background and motivation are created.

Well, I think that's enough for now. So, start digging your hole. Just don't fall in!

More tomorrow,
Traci

The Imagination Muscle

I remember when I first realized that everything I bought or had in my home or saw was created by someone. It was a revolutionary thought to me. Someone had the idea to design and make the glasses that I see with, the sweater I'm wearing, the computer I'm typing on...everything! What a world of creativity we live in! Not only to envision a thing but to see it through the process into a real touchable object of beauty. But it takes imagination and imagination is a muscle that resides within all of us. We merely need to exercise it.
I can't tell you how many people I've talked to about writing who say, "I could never do something like that."
My answer is, "Why not?"
When we were kids we knew how to use our imaginations. It was an everyday thing. We called it play. My three-year-old has several imaginary friends that she tells me about on a regular basis. Yesterday her friend Chellie got hit by a train! She knows how to use the muscle of imagination. She exercises it daily, vigorously. She could write far better books than I can! But somehow that muscle seems to weaken over time and we forget how to imagine. We forget how to play. We're all Peter Pan.
But, as any mid-life crisis expert can tell you, it is possible to break out the weight bench and remind those muscles of their function. Start small and work your way up.
Once you start imagining what could be you'll be surprised at what pops out of your mind!
Dullness of mind is a decision not fate.

More tomorrow,
Traci DePree