Picture of California mussels from about five years ago. No reason, just liked them.
So much for two blog posts a month. I really had every intention of writing at least two a month, but life gets in the way (doesn’t it always?).
I started working on the first WIP last month. In fact, I took a rather impromptu trip to Florida, driving down with my two chihuahuas. I had the print out in my suitcase; I had pens and pencils, notebooks, and my computer. I actually had TIME too, because the first couple of days in Florida were unseasonably chilly (36 degrees for a low, and I couldn’t figure out how to turn on the heat), and I wasn’t going to do any outside activities until the conditions improved.
I forgot to add in my last post about how I edit is that after I’ve got the first draft down, I usually make an outline, usually in a notebook. (I’ve been known to print out a calendar page, or to draw a map too.) This isn’t so much to keep the story on track, it serves another purpose. Since 99% of my manuscripts were written during NaNoWriMo, and about 70% of those correspond to a specific day in November, this sets up a time line. In the one I chose to work on first, for example, the story takes place over seven days in November, with five siblings. I sometimes use note cards too, although doing so seems rather archaic in the modern times. It works for me.
Somehow, I got through the outline stage, and then the weather improved, so I never got beyond that point. I drove home. A few days later, I was poking around in my computer (deleting the deadwood) and found yet another manuscript! So I printed it out, and got ready for yet another edit. For some reason, I decided to edit this one instead of my original choice. Why? I guess I liked the characters better, and they tie into Finding Cadence (by a long shot, but it’s there), plus another manuscript that is now in the hands of a beta reader.
Does any of this make sense? No. Well, that’s to be expected, as I’m a hot mess.
And now,
The True Components of a Story
I’m very old, and very old school. I was taught that there were certain components of a story that were etched in stone.
One, a story must have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Seems fairly straightforward. Anything else, like ramblings and stream of consciousness, is just that, rambling and stream of consciousness, or poetry.
Two, there must be some sort of conflict. In my day, there were only three types of conflict. Man against Man, Man against Nature, Man against Himself. A Man against Man example would be 1984. The whole world was against Winston. Man against Nature? The Old Man and the Sea. Damn that fish. Man against Himself? Perhaps any novel where the protagonist has self-doubt could qualify. And perhaps any novel can contain all three conflicts. (In Finding Cadence, for example, Cadie has plenty of human enemies or antagonists. She also nearly drowns in the ocean after nearly dying of pneumonia. And she has plenty of self-doubt and is arguing with herself quite a lot.)
Another component I think is so necessary is the Good vs. Evil component. (I realize these days there’s not much for “good” vs. “evil” as some are trying to portray that nothing is evil. The lines are definitely blurred. I disagree strongly. If nothing is evil, there is nothing to overcome.) The protagonist’s struggle must overcome “evil”. Yes, it’s an arc in the story, but without a sense of ethics and morality, the arc isn’t going to work well.
When watching Disney movies with my kids when they were young, my husband was quick to point out the “bad guys” and the “good guys” and always asked my kids who they thought would prevail and why. This is so necessary in story telling. Even the Native Americans had this in their spoken stories, even my Japanese ancestors’ fables had this. So in writing, making the “bad guy” even worse (without going completely off the rails) is a good idea so that your reader will know who to root for. Of course, you don’t want to make him a monster. A little humanness in your antagonist is a good thing, just as a little off-kilter meanness makes for a good protagonist.
These things are the makings of a good story. Everything else is just icing. Gravy. A cherry on top. My next post will be about the specifics of making your story stand out and shine.
I hope I’ll get to it before next month. 🙂
