Highly Recommended Book

This book was hilarious. I loved the cat, the mother, and the crazy stuff the main character went through in her life. I don't normally read women's fiction, but this was recommended by my wife and I really liked it.  

It's called Milk, Turkey and Neurosis: or, How Mother (Almost) Ruined My Life by Gracie Feldman.  Help her out - the poor girl needs a positive change in her life!

Revision, Re-Vision

Revision, Re-Vision

I think revision is a very personal thing among authors.  Everyone has their own method, and I actually vary my method depending on what it is I'm revising.  One of my books was about halfway done when I decided I didn't like the direction it was going, so I scrapped the whole thing and started over.  Sometimes minor changes are all that a story needs, and I'll just make small adjustments.  I tend to suffer from what Alice Munro and Rollo May describe as "a big relief" or a "breakthrough of ideas", the "eureka!" moment that Isaac Asimov described so well in his essay.  I usually find that taking a long walk helps me get my best ideas, but I also have another tactic.  I find a movie or TV show about whatever it is I'm writing and watch it just before I go to bed; when I wake in the morning to write, I usually get that burst of inspiration that I need, fueled no doubt by my unconscious mind's interpretation of what I watched just before bed.  

That said, whether I completely start from scratch or modify what I have depends on the story I'm revising.  Some stories can be saved, some need an overhaul of Frankensteineian proportions, and some just need to be like Jesus and take a 3-day hiatus before they are resurrected in a new, more powerful way.  One story I'm working on right now has failed me in many ways, and I'm considering a complete re-do.  As many have said before, writing is easy; revision is a murder faker. 

So here are some things I look for during the revision process:

On first read, I look at Story

·         Story Arc

·         Structure

·         Plot

Conflict, Crisis, Resolution

Will the plot Entice, Engage, and eventually Satisfy readers?

·         Theme or Message

On second read, I look at Characters

           

·         Dialogue

·         Appearance

·         Action

·         Thought

·         Author's Interpretation

·         How another character sees each character

On third read, I look at Setting

·         Location

·         Landmarks

·         Metaphor

·         Weather

·         Population (number and type)

·         Time (of day and year)

Finally, I check for the following little things

·         Does the story start with tension?

·         Have I answered the "Why" questions?

·         Is this the best POV to tell the story?

·         Sentence structure variation

·         Word Choice (avoid complex words, vary words, vary conjunctions)

·         Am I clear and concise?

·         Am I using any clichès and/or idioms?

·         Am I showing rather than telling?

·         If it is a short story, are the characters' names or descriptions too similar?

And-or, Nand-nor

As a human, I often find myself going into automatic mode when writing.  And as a human, my mind chooses a handful of go-to terms that it can use without a second thought.

However, as a writer, I often find myself pulling the hair out of my head during the revision process, when I find I have used only two conjunctions throughout the paper: AND and OR.  So, I've decided to post a list of conjunctions within view at all times in my office, and I wanted to share them with you in case you have the same problem.  By no means is this an extensive list, but it's a good start (and no, they're not quite alphabetical):

Additionally
As a result
Consequently
Coincidentally
Hence
Once
Although
Nevertheless
Also
After
As if
As long as
As though
Because
Before
Even though
Even if
For instance
For example
For
Furthermore
Finally
However

If

If only
In order
Moreover

Now that

Nor

On the one hand

On the other hand
Rather
So
Since
Than
That
Therefore
Though
Thus
Then
Unless
Until
Undoubtedly

When

Where
Whereas
Whenever
While
Yet

-Giovanni

Yahoo Mail Outage

Ok, normally I would keep personal issues off my blog, as I feel this is strictly a writing forum.  However, I have been unable to conduct business for over 24 hours now due to a Yahoo screw-up.  Their site states that the account is inaccessible due to scheduled maintenance, but that is obviously a lie.

Yahoo has not addressed the issue, has only communicated to the public with a Tweet that said the problem would be fixed by 1:30 pm yesterday.  They lied.  Now they will not answer their phones, email, or anything else.  They are avoiding their customers (yes, some actually pay for the service!) and handling this in a very unprofessional manner.

An email outage, even a partial one, is catastrophic for many, and this is no exception.  This is similar to something I heard in a movie once, where the protagonists were going to war and the captain said, "We will probably only have one or two casualties."  The response from one of the soldiers was, "yeah, that's not a problem unless you're the one."

Yahoo has failed on a massive scale, and I can't imagine ever going back.

Structuring Your Story

Structuring Your Story

Conflict & Tension: The Engines of your story

·       

    Conflict must be the umbrella that is always present in your story.  This could be internal or external (such as an evil genius or weighing options for a decision)

·Tension, like conflict, drives the story, but this is your accelerator / brake; tension (or lack thereof) will guide the pace for your story, and will keep the reader turning the page

Basic 3-Act Structure

·The great majority of stories follow a 3-act structure (few exceptions exist, such as nonfiction, historical fiction or nonfiction, and epics like Gilgamesh or the Bible).  It is important to at least understand this type of story structure because if your story is commissioned for a screenplay, it must follow this structure strictly.

Act 1 - The Backstory

· The first thing you must achieve as a writer is provide the reader with a hook - something that will interest the reader and make them want to read your story.  Make sure your hook is more than just a gimmick, though, or your reader will not be interested.  Know the difference.

· The first act helps to establish the daily routine of your characters, their backstories, and the setting

·         In this first act you must establish the beliefs of your primary and secondary characters to set the stage for their development through the story

·  You must also set the stage for what is at stake once the character is drawn into the story

·  What sparks the STORY (not the protagonist) is the inciting event.  This is something the protagonist will eventually be engulfed in, but he or she may not know it at first.

·  The event that triggers your protagonist's involvement is the key event - also known as your 1st plot point.

·  The inciting event can happen before your story begins (bank robbery, fire, death in the family, divorce) - this is called in medias res.

·  This act takes up about 25% of your story.  Too much Act 1 and your reader will be bored, and too little will make your reader not care about your characters so be careful!

Act 2 - The Meat

·   The key event ends the first act and begins the second act.  The characters' daily routines are changed by the event, and they try as best they could to deal with the new circumstances.

·   The characters' reactions must move the story forward, and along the way the antagonistic force (character's ethical conviction, evildoer, fire, etc) will have several small victories that both show off its power and raise the stakes, pushing the protagonist to try new things to be able to win.

·   The antagonistic force has another major victory over the protagonist.  This event raises the stakes even higher for the protagonist and causes him or her to change from simply reacting to circumstance to taking charge and seeking out the antagonistic force.  This is known as the 2nd plot point or midpoint. 

·   After the midpoint, the protagonist starts a series of aggressive actions to defeat the antagonistic force.

·  The antagonistic force has another minor win.

·  Some of the subplots are resolved

·  The protagonist has a eureka! moment (read Isaac Asimov).  The best example is probably in The Matrix, where Neo finally realizes he is the one.

· The lowest point for the protagonist is the biggest victory for the antagonistic force (brother dies in the fire, girl is humiliated by all her classmates in front of the boy she wants to win over, protagonist is kidnapped or trapped).  This is the 3rd plot point.

· This act takes up 50% of your story, so it is the meat of your story.

Act 3 - Climax

· The third plot point sets the protagonist into motion on rapid-fire.  This is where the protagonist fully embraces his or her new skills to defeat the antagonistic force (The slipper fits in Cinderella, for example).  This must be inevitable but unexpected.  It must hit the reader from left field, yet not leave them thinking you cheated in some way.  For example, in The Hunger Games, the protagonists use poisonous berries they had found earlier in the story to get their way.  Avoid doing something like in Stephen King's "It", where the clown was really a giant spider in a cave that the kids kill with a rock.  This leaves the reader thinking the author copped out of spending some time to create an intriguing ending.

·  The climax proper is a single scene that permanently stops the antagonistic force.  It could be a revelation (The Wizard of Oz), a fight to the death (The Dark Knight), overcoming fear (Cyrano de Bergerac)

·         Some stories can have a faux climax (popular with horror stories), in which the antagonistic force is not really destroyed, or there is a bigger force behind the whole thing.

·  What follows is the resolution, where you must tie off any final loose ends, leaves the characters ready to continue life, but in a slightly different way.  The protagonist's change must be obvious, but not spoon-fed to the reader (show don't tell).  Also, it must stir emotions in line with the tone of the book (for romance novels, the girl ends up with the guy, for example).

Endcaps: Prologue and Epilogue

·  These are not popular sells for new authors, so try to avoid using them early in your career.  Some stories demand a prologue and/or epilogue, which are scenes that sit outside of your story.

·  Prologues usually work in mystery or detective novels, to show the reader the crime being committed.  They can work in historical works as well, and some horror (Dracula). 

·  Epilogues show the reader what happened to the characters after the resolution.  Sometimes these are used to close off a series or to set up a sequel to the story.

Scenes: Building Blocks

·  Scenes must be interesting and exciting - and must move the plot forward.  Use action, movement, and proper pacing in context with the scene.  If it is a mysterious scene, or an educational one, the pace should be slower than a chase scene or a revelation.  All scenes must have tension.  Even a simple visit to grandma's house can have tension with something like a hint of trouble during her marriage that she slips hints of then refuses to discuss it, a legend about the house being haunted or someone being murdered there before she bought the house, or something embarrassing little Fanny doesn't want grandma to reveal in conversation to her new husband, Rob.

·  Scenes need three things: a goal, a conflict, and a "disaster".  The disaster does not mean it should be something deadly or large-scale; it is simply something that sets the protagonist or main character within the scene a step back from achieving his or her goal.  These dilemmas should not be easy decisions like "Should I have chicken or fish tonight?" - they should be more like, "should I save my mother or my son?"  One step forward, two steps back!

·   Scenes are followed by scene sequels - these are what captures the reactions of the characters to the disaster of the scene, resolving a dilemma or forcing a decision that builds the character.

Characters

·   Protagonist and antagonist should share a common goal or motivation, but they approach it differently.

·   The protagonist should be flawed, and some of those flaws are corrected at the end of the novel (character development), but not all of them.

·   Antagonist should be likeable, and not all evil.  He or she should have some level of humanity so that the reader can feel conflicted about rooting for either the antagonist or protagonist.

Other tips

·         Remember to vary your sentence structure

·         Vary the pace

·         Don't state the obvious or spoon-feed your audience

·         Cut or repurpose cliches

·         Avoid big words or sentences.  Impress your audience with your crafty sentences and sensory detail, not your vocabulary.

Petitions

I just had a baby a week ago and a friend of mine recommended some books about raising a child in a "green" environment.  Now, I'm not usually the environmentalist type, but having a baby changes things for people, and for me this was one.  So, this friend, Hanna, also started a petition that was so well written, that it has gained some momentum for Disney to make changes at their parks and resorts.  Following is a bit from her message to me:

Recently, I wrote a  petition on Change.org asking Disney for Organic & Non-GMO Meal Options.

In part my petition reads: 

"...the recent report by the American Academy of Pediatrics that indicates pediatricians are urging parents to choose organic food to reduce kids' exposure to pesticides.  According to Joel Forman, an associate professor of pediatrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and a lead author of the report:  "Clearly if you eat organic produce, you have fewer pesticides in your body. Children – esp. young children whose brains are developing – are uniquely vulnerable to chemical exposures.”

http://www.change.org/petitions/offer-organic-non-gmo-meal-options-at-disney-resorts-worldwide

This shows the importance of good writing, not only for storytelling, but for changing our world in positive ways.  Would this have had as much success had it been poorly written?  Probably not.  In any case, if you are interested in signing this petition, please follow the link above.

-Giovanni 

Creativity Workshop

Creativity Workshop

"People have to go out of their minds before they come to their senses" - Timothy Leary

"There is only one trait that marks the writer.  He is always watching.  It's kind of trick of mind and he is born with it."  - Morley Callaghan

+ Get your right brain working.  Try music!

+Write a biography of yourself that does not say anything about your past, but instead uses similes and metaphors

+ Place random words in a bag and do a "Boombox" activity - pull words out of the bag and create a story using those words.  For example, words: Camaro, potato chips, onion.

                A Chevy Camaro that smells like potato chips is driving down the road.  It runs on onions instead of gas.

                Word: "Shoe"

                A Chevy Camaro that smells like potato chips is driving down the road.  It runs on onions instead of gas.  It uses shoes instead of tires.

                Word: "Cop car"

                A Chevy Camaro that smells like potato chips is driving down the road.  It runs on onions instead of gas.  It uses shoes instead of tires, and is being chased by a cop car.

                Word: "Circus clown"

                A Chevy Camaro that smells like potato chips is driving down the road.  It runs on onions instead of gas. It uses shoes instead of tires and is being chased by a cop car with a circus clown hanging off the siren lights.

+Buy a cheap comic book or painting or picture and use that as a prompt to write the story behind it.

+Play pictionary - this is a great creativity booster

+Symphony - comeup with a list of characters, create a basic plot and write from the point of view of every character involved. 

+Pick up a random item and write the story behind it.

+Read "Title" by Greg Allen.  See a performance of it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9k5C_2Fob0

+ Create a poem using every clichè you can think of, but use each one differently then was intended

+ Write the same story in three different genres: horror, comedy, romance, drama, etc.

+Write the same story in three different ways: poem, short story, play

If anyone can finish the sentence, it is a clichè.

Clichès, idioms, and "word packages":

Wake up and smell the roses / coffee

Put the cherry on top

The icing on the cake

These boots are made for walking

The light at the end of the tunnel

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink

Butterflies in your stomach

It's just scratching the surface

Out like a lamp

The writing is on the wall

The place was crawling with cops

See the big picture

His life would never be the same

Put a cork in it

Finding a needle in a haystack

Time to pay the piper

Dive in head first

Have the upper hand

compare apples to oranges

the best means of defense is a good offense

Keep your friends close, your enemies closer

Never say never

You only live once

Hit it out of the park

Bringing home the bacon

No such thing as a free lunch

Think outside the box

Try some of these instead:

"You know what they say about horses and water"  "I felt like I'd eaten a bag (or a garden) of butterflies"

"His life would never be different"

"Never say never (Again)" "You only live twice" (James Bond)

"Think outside the bun"

"Nobody wants a free lunch"