Frankendraft

I didn't make up the term. But I totally get it.

I read it on Janice Hardy's excellent post about whether or not to pull that "trunk manuscript" out of the drawer and revise. Here's just a tiny bit of what she has to say:

Does it fix what went wrong? Before you dive in and spend who knows how long just to wind up in the same spot, try outlining or summarizing the new direction. Does it fix the original problems?
Is the draft salvageable or do you need to start over? Reworking an old draft that didn’t work risks turning it into a Frankendraft (pieces of novel sewed together to form a plot, but it really doesn’t fit), so consider how you want to proceed carefully. Starting over can seem like more work, but not if it takes you three times longer to revise what’s there. 

Thank you, Rosi Hollinbeck, for your excellent blogposts that always give me something to ponder. AND she almost always has a book to give away!



(And, maybe this is actually what I'm doing here...) 

NaNoWriMo

Guess what tomorrow is.

First day of November!
First day of standard time!

National Novel Writing Month. 
Bet you'd forgotten about that.

I've blogged about it a few times.
One of my favorite 2013 posts was inspired by Caroline Starr Rose's Fake-o-NaNo. Which is totally how I do a Novel Writing Month.

Here's it is. (You can click HERE or read some of it below:)

 Three years ago, when I was between projects and needed to jumpstart something new, I did NaNoWriMo. 
Mine, too, was Fake-o.

But if you're a writer who needs inspiration. Or wants to try something new, give it a whirl.
 
 

Promise a friend cookies, team up with an online writing partner, or heck- just bake your own cookies and don't admit to a single soul what you're up to. Don't sweat it if what turns up is unreadable.

Or as Caroline says:
The "draft" I finished with is quite possibly the messiest, worst thing I've ever written.

But it's a beginning. And sometimes that's all it takes to create something worth revising. And revising. Over and over again.

 

Revision Thoughts

TIP:
Keep in mind that characters need to change along the way to their story's end. As a certain brilliant editor says, "A curtain must lift" and enable them to know something they didn't know when they started this journey.




And then there's this quote, from writer Richard Peck:
“A young adult novel ends not with happily ever after, but at a new beginning, with the sense of a lot of life left to be lived.”

(Thanks to Cheryl Klein's website for the quote. Here's another quote to ponder, from Cheryl herself:  Being obvious is the quickest way to be dull.)
 

Marion Dane Bauer

Must surely be a brilliant woman.
So much of what she writes about writing makes perfect sense.

And her books. Well, I try not to have Writer Envy. But those books. I once knew a student who read ON MY HONOR at least ten times, and that was before Thanksgiving break.

Her website is here:  http://www.mariondanebauer.com

But what really spoke to me this morning was her BLOGPOST about Revision.

I'll give you a taste of what she says. But really, you must click over there and read it if you're anywhere near this stage in your writing. And don't miss the comments.

The secret of revision for me is to love doing it. The secret is never to look at what I’ve already written and say to myself, “Ugh! That doesn’t work. And now I’m going to have to do it again.” Rather, I begin by looking at what I have before me and loving it. Not loving it in a way that makes it sacred, something too wonderful to be touched. But loving it in a way that says, 'Oh, I like this and this and this about what I have here. Now let me see what I can do to make it even better.'"

And for clarification, there's a difference between revising and polishing. We all love that polishing stage, don't we. And some of us love the true revising part also. 
(It's the coming up with that first draft that kills me- what about you?)

Here's her gem about polishing vs. revision:

I’m talking about revising, not polishing. Most people polish. That’s when you lovingly caress what’s already there, trimming, refining. That’s a process I engage in every step of the way and devote myself to especially ardently before I send a manuscript off, and that’s the most fun of all.

Revision means exactly what the word says, re-vision, finding a new vision. It means looking at what I have in front of me and asking what more I can bring to it that goes beyond my first conception, asking what else is inside me that hasn’t yet made its way to the page.


And here's the quote that begins her post. I've been smiling all morning over this:

“Getting the first draft finished is like pushing a very dirty peanut across the floor with your nose.”                    —Joyce Carol Oates



You may also be interested in this post and link to VOICE, an interview with Bauer.

Bye, bye, Character...

I've done it often. Said goodbye to a character who wasn't carrying his weight. Given the ax to someone who was the same as somebody else.

I could read every word Laurie Halse Anderson writes about writing (not to mention quite a few of her fiction words).

Click for her thoughts on the subject:

http://madwomanintheforest.com/revision-tip-19/

Here's a bit of what she advises:

1. List all the characters. 
2. Define – using only a few words – that character’s relationship to the main character. Examples: comic foil, trusted friend, villain, complication, love interest. 
3. If (like me) you have two or more characters that serve the same purpose, get out a magnifying glass and sharpen your scythe. Is it possible to have one of the characters take over scenes from the others? 

In my past book lives, I've said goodbye to a boy named Zach and an aunt named June (or maybe it was May. My critique group laughingly called her Aunt May June because we never could remember. That right there tells you something about how interestingly she was written).

Possibly a lot of my characters have left the building. And have long been forgotten.

Have you had the nerve to chop a character right out of your story? Scary, no?
But totally worth it in the end!

Write Revise on!

 

Revision: Quote of the Day

A writer's best friend is a wastepaper basket.
Isaac B. Singer. 

Mine's been emptied five times today.
Revision, I love it.

Pretty much everything you need to know about a great way to revise, via Laurie Halse Anderson:

http://madwomanintheforest.com/wfmad-day-18-revision-roadmap/

Obeying the God of Storytelling

Always a good idea.

Rita Williams-Garcia, as quoted by her colleague, Elizabeth Partridge, on the Vermont College faculty blog:

Two favorite tidbits: She ran into a problem with a real life event she decided to put in her book at a different time than actually happened. She puzzled out how to explain her choice to us, then said,

  “You have to obey the God of Storytelling before Father Time.”
 
And another from Rita Williams-Garcia, via Cynthia Leitich Smith's website, on her very wonderful novel ONE CRAZY SUMMER:

The challenge was to write a novel with historical content but to not allow the Black Panthers to hijack the story from the central characters. There was so much research. So many historical comments to make, but I constantly cut away to stay within the heart and perceptions of character. Either I did it myself or my editor would ask me to do it later. 

(My mantra for today. Stay within the heart of the character. Or my editor will ask me to do it.)

Anybody out there with tips for staying within the heart of the story and your characters while struggling with real history?


 

Said -- Still Not Dead?

Today I'm minding my own business, pulling my hair over revisions, using my beloved Scrivener, concentrating madly.

Till I decided to use the Scrivener dictionary/ thesaurus tab. I guess I must have been searching SAY, though for the life of me, five long hours later, I can't think why.

But this appeared:
 word notes!

say, said
While most writing can be improved by choosing strong and precise nouns, adjectives, and verbs, this isn't always so. When reading a novel's dialogue, we should be paying attention to what the characters say, and learn about their feelings through their words. But too many young authors overstress the verbal markers of back-and-forth speech. So we read Frank replied or Frank riposted or even Losing his temper, Frank violently expostulated. Much of the time a careful writer can set up the rhythm of a conversation so that it's always clear who's speaking and with what degree of passion. If more precise identification is needed, a simple Frank said will usually suffice, the weak and common verb scarcely intruding on the give-and-take on the page.
— MD
Conversational, opinionated, and idiomatic, these Word Notes are an opportunity to see a working writer's perspective on a particular word or usage.


Just for fun, I posted the above in my status on Facebook.
Hey, I needed a little diversion from all the very hard work I'd been doing all day.

And boy-howdie! I got some reaction from my writer friends.

Almost two years ago, I'd blogged on the subject, here:

http://ascattergood.blogspot.com/2011/04/he-said-she-said.html

You really should read what some extremely talented writers had to say in the comments.

Much of this controversy stems from writing lessons for students advocating the use of synonyms for said.

Two years later, the topic still excites and infuriates.
What say/ announce/ yell/ explain endlessly/ blab/ question/ sigh/ hiss/ SAY you?

Getting Closer

How appropriate that today's word is Denouement.

That's just where I hope to be very soon. Not yet, but soon. 

As soon as I finish tinkering with the middle, polishing up the climax, then on to the denouement...

And originating from KNOTS? Hmmm.  Also appropriate. Knotty!
(I also like that "thought of the day.")


 Wordsmith.org    The Magic of Words
Apr 12, 2011
This week's theme
Words originating in knots
     
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

denouement

PRONUNCIATION:
(day-noo-MAHN)
[the final syllable is nasal]
MEANING:
noun: The final resolution of the plot of a story or a complex sequence of events.

ETYMOLOGY:
From French dénouement (outcome or conclusion; literally, untying), from dénouer (to unknot or undo), from de- (from) + nouer (to tie), from Latin nodus (knot). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ned- (to bind), which is also the source of node, noose, annex, connect, ouch, and nettle. Earliest documented use: 1752.

USAGE:
"But in Japan's narrative, the denouement is elusive. This disaster story keeps building, growing worse."
Japan's Crucible; Chicago Tribune (Illinois); Mar 15, 2011.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these. -George Washington Carver, scientist (1864-1943)

I Love Scrivener, Pt. 1

My critique group must tire of my ravings about Scrivener. I think I'm such an admirer of this writing software because the first time I tried it, I gave up in failure. This time I was more persistent. And considerably more motivated. Now I'm Scrivener's biggest fan.

I am revising historical fiction and there's just not a better way to keep track of all the photos, web pages, lists, books-- you name it-- than Scrivener. Not to mention your entire manuscript, and all those note cards.

Today I vaguely remembered notes from a hymnal of very old songs, a book I'd seen during a faraway summer but not one I'd owned. I'd carefully printed titles I loved, but where was that notebook? Where was my hymn list? When you've been writing at a story for almost ten years, off and on, you have way too many notebooks.

But I found it. And now I wanted to be sure it was someplace handy for reference. I took a picture, saved it to my computer and imported it right into my "research" notes in the binder.

Never to be lost again! By the way, I chose #5, Rock of Ages, from the list. Now I know all my hymn-ish stuff may not make this revision cut, but for now, I can't get the words out of my head, or the tune.

For my next novel, I will begin with Scrivener. I will transcribe into Scrivener as soon as I write a note on the back of a recipe card, scribble reminders with my grocery lists, or photocopy something from a book. Yes, I do love Scrivener.

Related post: Click here for a cool picture of my corkboard with note cards, from a previous posting.