With the holiday madness fading to memory status, it’s time to refocus on WIP (Work In Progress). If the timeframe from last year worked for you, repeat this. If however, it was sporadic, change that pattern. How:
Write early/late when your home is quiet.
Write on your lunch break. Do so from your car or in a corner of the breakroom.
Steal time on weakly errands. ~ While running around, schedule an extra hour or two at the beginning and use it to write.
Both you and your WIP deserve the time.
You know the reader needs to be grabbed in the first chapter, ideally in the first page. However, are you ending each chapter on a cliffhanger? This device ensures that the next page is turned, next chapter is devoured.
The goal of every book is to draw the reader in and keep them. Cliffhangers leave them wanting more. Next time your chapter is drawing to a close, use a cliffhanger. Make the reader turn the page to discover the secret, betrayal or what happens next. Grab the reader and don’t let them go.
Nation Novel Writing Month starts in3 days. Planning to participate or are you undecided? Here are 3 reasons to dive into the NaNoWriMo pool:
Sometimes the plot of WIP becomes a mass of tangles, a maze that seems to have no end. Other times, it is as stark as a field in winter. There is a way to fix either of these challenges. Let’s look at the one that many dread: the outline. Think of it as a map. You may need a simple guide. First this, followed by that and a conclusion. Add challenges where needed.
However, the WIP may need extra TLC. If this is the case, think about each plot point. Does it make sense? Does it enhance the story? Will the character rise/fall from this section?
If the plot is stark, brainstorm then outline. Allow every possible scenario to take over the page. Just move the outline forward. When there is a beginning, middle and end, go back. Edit out ideas that don’t fit and keep ones that do.
Create a map~ Write an outline. Let it guide you out of the maze or fill in the missing parts.
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What do Stephen King novels and good romance books have in common?
They use tension.
This is the tool that drives readers to turn page after page.
Will the main charcter solve the crime or become a victim of the serial killer?
Are your lovers facing challenges?
Are they will to jump over emotional hurdles to reach happily-ever-after?
Make the readers bite their nails anticipating what happens next.
Pour tension into every chapter. Use it!
Stuck in a plot ditch? Can’t figure out how to write your way out? Read. Yes, read. Grab any form of fiction and dive into three chapters. Step into the world the author has created. Get to know the characters and connect with their emotions. Enjoying the book? Read 3 more chapters.
Open your WIP. Recall the emotions and dilemma of the characters you read about. Can you enhance your character’s feelings? Did what you read click something within your Muse? Were there sections that were outrageous but worked? If so, can you push the boundaries of your chapters?
Soak up inspiration when stuck in a plot rot. Read and write!
Since Covid 19 emerged, the world has not fully course corrected. In an effort to avoid the virus, numerous writers groups have ceased meeting in public. Has your group shifted to Zoom or have they stopped connecting? We know there is power in eye contact and reading body language. Seated across a table from someone gives strong indications of how they receive feedback as well as what they really think of your WIP. Seeing the group online doesn’t give the same true projection. Don’t let the lack of physical closeness stop you from receiving feedback. There is strength in meeting with your fellow writers, even virtually. The support and push to keep going is priceless.
Meet with your group in person if you can. Or see them a couple a times a month via Zoom if that is how members are most comfortable. The goal is to hold onto what works, what feeds your creativity and keeps you going.
As you develop your main character (the protagonist), keep the following in mind:
He or she should not be perfect. A huge part of the appeal of a protagonist is that he/ she is kind, but also selfish at times and prone to being emotional, in other words, like us.
Allow the character to experiences a bumpy journey. It is through this process, that he/she grows.
Embrace the antagonist; it is as important as the main character. It’s job is to hinder the protagonist. The challenge can be a person or thing.
Remember Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White? Mr. Zuckerman was the antagonist, determined to take Wilbur’s life. He is the catalyst that leads to Charlotte creating life saving webs.
In middle grade novel, Freak The Mighty by Rodman Philbrick, the antagonist is the burden of the protagonist father’s crime.
Your antagonist does not have to be a villain. From The Desk of Zoe WashingtonbyJanae Marks, has the mother as the antagonist. Her love drives her to protect Zoe creates an obstacle to the child’s goal.
As you review your mark, ensure that the protagonist and antagonist are as strong as possible.
Your writing should be as polished as possible.
If you’ve completed a draft, it’s time for a line by line edit.
This is helpful because early drafts of manuscripts are often a bit rough.
Grab a hot drink, open the document and let’s get started.
A line by line edit is exactly what it sounds like.
Read each line of each page carefully. Is it clear and strong?
Do the opening and closing lines of each chapter strike the cord that you want them to?
Are your characters’ voices consistent throughout the entire story?
Are the descriptions of appearance and place clear?
Take your time with this editing process.
Be open to changing, adding or eliminating words that don’t fit.
Embrace the line by line edit.
Your work deserves this level of care.
There’s something good in the rough pages. We have all written paragraphs, pages and occasionally chapters that should not been seen by anyone. The level of frustration experienced at the messy pages can be huge, the urge to hit delete strong. Stop!
There are decent lines and possible good paragraphs mixed in with the mess. Can’t stand to read it again, understandable. Use one of the following options to find the good parts.
Have someone read it slowly out loud. Have them stop after every couple of sentences. Take the pages back or the tablet and circle the parts worth saving.
Or
If your version of Word or writing software has a read-aloud feature, use it. Most of these programs allow you to select from several voices. Like option 1, listen but pause every couple of lines. Mark lines that are good.
Your rough parts contain good lines. Even if the lines aren’t a fit for this WIP (work in progress), save them in a file. They can be tweaked and used for a project in the future.
We’ve covered ways to make your MC (main character also known as the protagonist) appealing. However, we must also ensure that the readers see their scars. Over the course of your novel/novella, they’ve emotionally risen, fallen, and stood a final time.
In a romance they connect, feelings are hurt, and the problems are finally resolved. However, they are not the same at the end. Harse words have been said. They have realized the person they love can cause them pain. MC has learned that love is risk but one they are willing to take. The wounds from their fight heal, to become thin scars.
If your Protagonist solves a mystery or survives a killer, they too have marks. What they have experienced has forever changed them. They no longer view people with an openness.
Shows your charters pain and how they evolve. Yes, what they have gone through has shifted who they are and how they interact with the world. How could it not?
It’s Spring, time for new! Let’s start with planting fresh ideas for the plot challenges in your WIP. Pick one of the pages or paragraphs that needs attention. You know the section that drove you to the point of writing around it. Time to tackle it.
Highlight and copy that section into a fresh blank document. Below, brainstorm. Allow yourself to list every possible thing that could push the material forward. Every idea is valid. He joins the circus. Fine. They become hackers and move to a remote island that has high speed internet? Also, good. Fill that document with as many ideas as possible.
Review your options. Do any of them feel like they would correct your plot problem? If not, close the document and return to it tomorrow. Repeat the process as needed over the next two days.
On day four, pick a scenario that could lead somewhere. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Add it into the challenge area. Expand on it within the document. It may work or spark something that will.
Go, Write New Words!
You’ve plotted the story in the form of an outline. Or maybe it’s still in your head. Wherever the words are, you’re ready to put them into the form of a chapter. You fill multiple pages and possibly go as far as 70% in before it happens. You read through the WIP (work in progress) and discover that the story has run wild.
A side character or sublot have taken over. The plot doesn’t resemble what you planned. Yes, it’s different but this could be the good.
The original plot or main characters may have been a place holder for this new novel. If you are open and go in this new direction, save the original version. That story possibly is meant to be told in the future or parts of it may be useful.
When your WIP takes a turn or is taken over by characters, lean into it. See where this creative road will go.
You’ve sent a piece of your heart to a literary agent or small publisher. Now comes the wait for a response. Stressing and sweating over an agent or publisher’s response to your query or submission will create stress. Times to focus on something else. Instead of checking you emails constantly: exercise, bake, volunteer or learn a new skill, start another story/poem or essay. Put your heart and energy into anything else.
Deal with the response when it comes. Right now, move positively forward.
Stressed? Dealing with anxiety? Share these challenging emotions with your characters. Yes, really! Main characters are relatable when they have human traits. Are they faced with problems at work, toxic relationship or life shifting events? In therapy, managing it with a support system or not ready for help? All of this shows the vulnerable side of your MC (main character). Let the reader see this.
You will not fizz out on your WIP. While 20-40% of people give up on their resolutions in February, that is not you! Take a break if you’re overextended in other areas of your life but do so with a plan to return. And often as possible, put anything on the page, even poorly written words count. You’ll polish them later. This is the year to reach your writing goals.
As work, relatives and travel push your stress level through the stratosphere this holiday season, consider it fuel. In the new year, the drama and emotional battle scars gained can be used to heighten your MC (main character)’s emotions.
Need him or her to be frustrated? Tap into what you felt standing in long lines or while circling the airport multiple times.
Need them to simmer or burst with rage? Recall the moments when you had to bite your tongue with that “special relative.”
Holiday stress and drama are meant to be survived and later used as writing fuel.
It’s time to review your 2023 words. If you were the King or Queen of Productive Writing over the last 12 months, great! For 2024, continue along the same path.
If there were projects that were not completed or if your WIP still has rough edges, guess what. It’s OKAY!
We need to know where we are in order to move forward. In the next post, we’ll look at which projects will be the focus of the new year.
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