Tag: K.M. Weiland

Trying to Get Novel Structure Right

Several times in my blog posts in December I mentioned that I was working on novel structure. Thanks to the writings of K.M. Weiland online and in her books, the light bulb finally came on in my head. Everything fell into place and made sense. At least, I think everything fell into place.

As a reader of fiction, I just knew when I liked a story and when I didn’t. I never gave the structure of a novel any thought. I didn’t know a novel was supposed to hang on a framework. Call me slow, but I just didn’t.

Over the years, I’ve read about novel structure; however, I started writing a novel without giving structure any thought. I thought the words would just naturally flow in chronological order and, when I had written 100,000 or so of them, it would be a novel.

That’s an over-simplification, but it’s not too far off the point.

Photo credit: Alain Pham on unsplash.com

I read numerous articles that said a novel has to have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Well, duh! Of course. How hard can that be, right?

But there’s a lot more to novel structure than that – and I’m still learning.

I worked on the manuscript for the novel mentioned above for more years than I want to admit. (The working title is either The Spanish Coin or The Doubloon.) Then, I made some major changes in the story because what I thought was a fact turned out to be a legend. There was an ounce of truth in it, but I didn’t want to perpetuate a myth.

I didn’t write for about a year. I didn’t think I could face starting over, but that’s what I did early in 2019. New story, new characters, same old location, and same time period.

Yet again, I plunged into writing without any structure. I wrote a long and detailed outline and thought I had everything right. Some 90,000 words later, in December 2021 the concept of novel structure kept gnawing at me. It wouldn’t let me go until I put everything else aside and focused on it.

When I thought I had a fairly good grasp of novel structure, I set about to compare it to my manuscript. I was relieved to discover I had some things in the correct order and the correct place. There were some scenes, though that had to be moved. That was a scary proposition! Thank goodness for the “cut and paste” buttons on the computer. If this had happened to me in 1990, I probably would have just thrown the manuscript and my typewriter in the trash.

So, what are the basics of novel structure, as I understand them?

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Remember – I’m still trying to grasp all the details and nuances. Don’t use me as your source. Please use K.M. Weiland’s books and online articles as your source if you plan to follow this structure to write a novel. Here’s the link to her website: https://www.kmweiland.com/book/structuring-your-novel/. Here’s the link to her series of online articles about novel structure: https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/secrets-story-structure-complete-series/.

The following percentages are approximations, and the explanations are very brief and written to the best of my understanding.

Hook – Close enough to the beginning to “hook” the reader.

Inciting Event – Approximately 12% into the novel. Introduction to the main conflict.

Key Event – The protagonist’s response to the inciting event.

1St Plot Point – Approximately 25% into the novel. Ms. Weiland calls this the “Doorway of No Return.’ This is when the protagonist decides she’s all in. There’s no turning back.

1st Pinch Point – Approximately 37% into the novel. This is a small turning point. The protagonist is “pinched” by the force of the antagonist.

The Midpoint/2nd Plot Point – Approximately 50% into the novel. (No surprise there.) Internal and external conflict come together and the point of the story comes together. New information is revealed to the protagonist resulting in a paradigm shift. She has a clearer understanding of the threat against her.

2nd Pinch Point – Approximately 62% into the novel. The protagonist realizes like never before just what is at stake.

3rd Plot Point – Approximately 75% into the novel. Ms. Weiland says this includes the “dark night of the soul.” The protagonist must decide if she has it in her to keep fighting for her goal. She might make some progress toward reaching her goal, but then there will be a “low moment” where a lie she’s been telling herself all this time will die. She must face the facts.

Climax – Approximately 88% into the novel. This is where the protagonist confronts the antagonist and we find out if she achieves her goal.

Resolution – Loose ends from the story are tied up, unless the book ends with a cliffhanger to entice the reader to want to know more about this character.

It almost takes the fun out of writing a novel! Writing is hard work, but I’m happiest when I’m writing.

Where my novel stands now

As I mentioned in last week’s blog post, I’ve been inspired to write a novel series. After brainstorming the backstories of my protagonist in The Spanish Coin/The Doubloon, I realized her backstory would make a good novel.

Photo credit: Aaron Burden on unsplash.com

I don’t outline my writing projects in a rigid outline form like I was taught in school. I outline in paragraphs, throwing in bits and pieces of dialogue. The first draft of my outline for “Book One” now stands at nearly 4,000 words, and I’m eager to expand that into a scenic plot outline. (That outline is also in paragraph form, but gets into more detail than the first outline.) Next, comes the writing of Book One.

Book One takes my protagonist back to her childhood in Virginia, moving to Salisbury, North Carolina in 1766, and meeting her first husband. The Spanish Coin/The Doubloon will be the second book in the series. I have the bare bones of the third, fourth, and fifth books planned.

Call me overly optimistic, but that’s where things stand today. If my novel(s) never see the light of day, at least I’ve had the utter enjoyment of researching and writing them.

Since my last blog post, in addition to the above outlining

I’ve done a lot of decluttering since last Monday’s post. I’m getting to the age when I need to think about the fact that someday someone is going to have to dispose of my stuff. I need to make that task as easy for him/her/them as I can. I organized my stash of fabric and filled one large plastic storage bin with “unfinished sewing/quilting projects.”

I scanned some old photographs using the Photomyne app on my cell phone. I watched an hour-long webinar about organizing a large collection of photographs.

It seems like half the things I do these days are to decrease the amount of “stuff” my niece and nephew will have to deal with when I’m gone. I’m not trying to be morbid, but the closer I get to 70 the more I need to realize I’m not going to live forever. I’ve already lived longer than my father.

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read.

I hope to spend as much time writing as I do reading in the coming week. I hope you also have productive creative time.

Stay safe and well. Let me know what you’ve been doing.

Janet

Books Read in December 2021

December brought me too many books. What a nice problem to have! By the last week of the month, I felt overwhelmed and decided to return several unfinished books to the public library.

Here are my takeaways from the five books I finished reading last month.

Three Sisters, by Heather Morris

Three Sisters, by Heather Morris

Three Sisters is the third in a series of historical novels by Heather Morris, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all of them. If you’re a fan of World War II-era historical fiction or, specifically, novels regarding the treatment of people of the Jewish faith during that era, you should try Heather Morris’ books.

In my November 5, 2018 blog post, Many Good Books Read in October!, I wrote about The Tattooist of Auschwitz. I wrote about Cilka’s Journey in my December 2, 2019 blog post, I stretched my reading horizons in November.

Like her first two novels, Three Sisters is about Jews surviving the Holocaust. Cibi, Magda, and Livia survive the horrors of Auschwitz and two of them go on to help build the new Jewish state of Israel after World War II.

Each of Ms. Morris’ books is a story of the indominable human spirit. Knowing they are based on true stories and real people make them all the more compelling. Two of the sisters in Three Sisters are still alive in their late 90s and living in Israel.

The City of Mist, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

The City of Mist, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

A cousin, Jerome Williams, introduced me to the writings of Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón a couple of years ago.  I read The Shadow of the Wind by Señor Zafón in November 2019 and wrote about it in my December 2, 2019 blog post, I stretched my reading horizons in November. (Sound familiar? That’s also when I read Cilka’s Journey, by Heather Morris.)

Señor Zafón died June 19, 2020, at the age of 55. He wrote the 11 short stories in The City of Mist for intended publication after his death. The book was published in November 2021.

The stories are, for the most part, set in Barcelona and are set at various times over the last 600 years. They are more macabre than I usually read, but I’d liked The Shadow of the Wind. When I discovered The City of Mist quite by accident while searching the online public library catalog for short stories, I immediately checked it out. I listened to the audiobook on Overdrive. It was excellently read.

If you enjoy short stories and don’t mind if they’re much on the dark side, you’d probably like The City of Mist. Though dark and often dealing with death, Señor Zafón’s sense of humor did come out several times in the collection. An example of his ability to slide a bit of humor into an otherwise serious story is the tenth story in the book, “Gaudi in Manhattan” in which he has a bit of fun with the English language.

Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience, by Brené Brown

Atlas of the Heart, by Brene Brown

Brené Brown has a way of getting down to the nitty-gritty and expressing her thoughts and research in a way I think just about everyone can relate. Her latest book, Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience, helped me personally and helped me with my writing.

This book is about human emotions and behavior. She takes each one on individually, but the book is divided in chapters by groupings of those emotions.

The surprise for me was how the way she addressed certain emotions/behaviors played right into what I’m trying to convey in the novel I’m writing. I love when that happens.

Some of the things she writes about in this book shed light on some things going on in the political arena in the United States. She did this without calling names, but some passages helped me understand the actions of a certain past US President and his diehard followers. It didn’t make me feel any better about the recent past or the future, but it gave me some insight.

How to Write a Series: A Guide to Series Types and Structure Plus Troubleshooting Tips and Marketing Tactics, by Sara Rosett

How to Write a Series, by Sara Rosett

Fairly early on as I started working on my novel (working title either The Spanish Coin or The Doubloon), I started visualizing it as the first book in a series. Reading How to Write a Series…, by Sara Rosettlast month was quite helpful.

The book made me aware of a few things I hadn’t considered. One thing that has concerned me about the protagonist in my manuscript is that she doesn’t have a robust character arc. How to Write a Series made me see that it’s all right for a character to have a flat arc.

There are basically two kinds of series: (1) multi-protagonist and (2) single protagonist. I foresee my series – if I can pull it off – to be a single protagonist series. There are two types of single protagonist series: (1) flat arc protagonist and (2) robust arc protagonist.

One thing I’ve spent time contemplating in the last several weeks is how many books I think I can plot using the protagonist in my current manuscript and how I can make her strong enough to carry multiple books.

Just because I’m sitting, looking off in the distance, doesn’t mean I’m not working!

How to Write Winning Short Stories: A Practical Guide to Writing Stories that Win Contests and Get Selected for Publication, by Nancy Sakaduski

How to Write Winning Short Stories, by Nancy Sakaduski

I’ve written several short stories, two of which have been published. I’m working toward publishing a collection of short stories as soon as I have enough finished to make a good little e-book.

I happened upon this book at the public library and found it beneficial not only in writing short stories but in writing a novel. It’s a good “nuts and bolts” book of basics about writing fiction with an emphasis on short stories, but I found many useful tips and recommendations I can apply to novel writing.

Since my last blog post

I learned something about the celebration of Christmas that necessitated my moving a scene in the novel I’m writing from Christmas Day to New Year’s Day. It has to do with the Protestant Reformation and traditions in Scotland. I really should have known.

I’ve been going through my novel’s manuscript with K.M. Weiland’s writings about novel structure in mind, making adjustments here and there. Finishing that process gave me a sense of accomplishment.

When I checked some of the statistics for my blog on December 31, I was astonished to learn that people in 77 countries visited my blog in 2021. The most surprising was the 27 visits from within China.

Until my next blog pot

I hope you have a good book to read.

I plan to continue editing my novel. It’s been fun to get back to writing about trying to read too many books last month!

In 2022, let’s all seek peace and understanding.

Janet

Responses to “Am I a Sun or Just Another Star?”

I considered writing about the Louisiana Purchase today. You know, that 828,000 square miles (or 2,140,000 kilometers) of central and northwestern present-day United States of America purchased from France in 1803 during the Thomas Jefferson Administration? It’s a fascinating topic, but I decided to set it aside in favor of writing a follow-up to last week’s blog post, “Am I a Sun or Just Another Star?”

Was that a collective sigh of relief I heard from the blogosphere?

In answer to last week’s question, I admitted I’m just another star in the blogosphere, and I’m okay with that. Of the 40,320,000 blog posts published every week, I would be delusional to think my one measly post stood out in the crowd.

I wrote that blog experts tell people like me that we have to find our niche. Often times it seems those experts are pushing me to find something to write about that no one else is writing about. The advice that always stops me in my tracks is the ever-popular: Your blog must solve someone’s problems.

I have enough trouble solving my own problems without taking on someone else’s. Perhaps if I had a product to sell or stellar advice to offer on a particular subject, my blog could solve someone’s problem. That’s not going to happen.

At the end of last week’s post, I asked for feedback about my blog. I wanted to know what you like and what you don’t like about my blog, so I could make adjustments to make my blog more appealing. I thank each one of you who took the time to leave a comment.

In a nutshell, people seem to like my blog topics just the way they are. “Whew!” No one had the courage to tell me to stop writing about my long-suffering novel. And no one said my “OnThisDay” posts need to bite the dust. I usually get lots of “likes” when I blog about the books I’ve read, so I think that first-of-the-month topic is safe, too.

Photo credit: neonbrand-3gznpblimwc-unsplash

Here are some of the people who gave me feedback last week:

Jo (stillrestlessjo.com blog)

Jo, an Englishwoman living in Portugal wrote the following: “Something that captures my interest, and holds it, and isn’t trying to sell me something. You pretty much succeeded, Janet. Good luck with the book.” Jo’s photos from Portugal are fascinating. I’ll never get there in person, so her pictures bring the southern coast of that country to me.

Randall Anderson

Randall from the state of Georgia wrote that each blog he follows reflects the individual blogger, and that’s what he likes about blogs. Randall specifically commented that he enjoys my blog posts about the books I read because he can compare notes on the ones he’s read and sometimes discovers something he wants to read.

Francisco Bravo Cabrera (paintinginvalencia.wordpress.com)

Francisco in Valencia, Spain is one of my loyal readers. He offers encouragement every week as I aspire to be a novelist. His blog brings art history and music to me that have greatly broadened my horizons. He recently redesigned his blog. He never ceases to amaze me with his talent as a painter, a poet, and his ability to enhance his blog with music and graphics. Francis and I have a bit of a mutual admiration society going on. He flatters me by saying he’s amazed at how many books I read and says I write about them and about history in a way that he envies. The truth of the matter is, every one of his blog posts amazes me.

Laleh Chini (lalehchini.com)

Laleh, a native of Iran who lives in Canada, is another loyal follower of my blog. She encourages me to keep writing, and I’m encouraged by the several books she has written and published in the last few years. The stories she shares from her native Iran often remind me of the parables of Jesus. Her stories remind me that human beings are very much the same all over the world, regardless of nationality or religion. Laleh is a fantastic storyteller and freely shares her talent on her blog.

Neil Scheinin (yeahanotherblogger.com)

And then there’s Neil Scheinin. His blog always brings a smile to my face. He describes his blog as “an award-free/tag-free/challenge-free/etc.-free blog,” and I love that. (I’m tempted to steal that description, Neil!) Neil goes with the flow. His laid-back, self-deprecating style draws me in every time. The last time I checked, his December 7, 2021 blog post had 141 “likes.” Just for comparison, I do cartwheels (well, I would if I could) when I get more than 10 likes.) In his response to my blog post last week, Neil rightly pointed out that WordPress gives bloggers a wonderful platform for expressing ourselves and he added that it has brought to his attention that there are many good writers out there.

S.J. Schwaidelson wifelyperson.blogspot.com AND sjschwaidelson.com

S.J. Schwaidelson took more than a few minutes to write a sincere and thoughtful response to my blog post last week. She’s a New York native who has made her home in Minnesota for many years. She’s a novelist, current events blogger, and playwright. She shared with me the three main things she’s learned from her two blogs. Yes, you heard me right: she writes two very different blogs. She started her first blog after her husband, Ziggy’s death: wifelyperson.blogspot.com. After her third novel was published, she launched her new blog about being an author. You can find it through sjschwaidelson.com.

Rebecca Cuningham (fakeflamenco.com)

Rebecca Cuningham and I have recently found some common interests and started following each other’s blogs. Rebecca writes from Wisconsin. Her blog brings to life her many interests and talents. She shares her vast knowledge of history, her travel experiences, her humor, and life in Wisconsin – all through her descriptions and photographs. Rebecca sets the bar high for me when it comes to writing about history. She’s fluent in English and Spanish and, like Francis Cabrera, she blogs in both languages.

Trish Deveneau (trishdeveneau.com)

Trish Deveneau is a retired teacher, writer of creative nonfiction, blogger, and once-again resident of New York. Her comment last week was so well thought out and beautifully written that I not only will share it here, but I also printed it and taped it to the top of my computer screen. She wrote: “I enjoy blogs that are written from the heart as well as the head, that make me think about things in a new way or expose me to ideas that I haven’t yet bumped into. And of course, I am looking for prose that makes me sit up and take notice!” Please visit Trish’s blog. She writes from her heart and from her head and will expose you to ideas you probably haven’t bumped into yet.

Shelly DS (growingwithspawn.com)

Shelly dropped by my blog yesterday for the first time. I love hearing from new readers! Shelly’s words of wisdom in her comment included the following: “focus on our own niches than to be trying to conquer the universe… that’s the best way to add value!” Absolutely, Shelly! Your comment reminded me of the old saying, “Bloom where you’re planted.” Every blogger needs to do his or her own thing and have fun with it.

Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash

As for me…

Blogging is a creative outlet for me, but it comes with a responsibility. It takes a reader a few minutes to read a blog post. Everyone’s time is limited and valuable, so I appreciate every time my blog is read.

I’m fortunate to have some loyal blog readers. I count them as friends. I value their time, their “likes,” and their comments. A bonus this past week was hearing from several new people. I feel like I’m constantly adding to my circle of blogging friends.

Knowing I have readers and friends throughout the United States and around the world makes the pandemic, conflicts, and other crises of life in 2021 a little easier to take.

By the way, I didn’t try to put true links to the blogs of my referenced respondents because I was afraid I’d mess someone’s link up. I hope I’ve included enough information that you can find each of their blogs by using a search engine.

Since my last blog post

In addition to reading the comments my blog received and responding to each of them, I also found time to read and write. A lot of my public library waitlisted books came in. One of them is Diana Gabaldon’s latest novel, Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone. It’s 900 pages and I have three weeks to read it – along with a stack of other books. Wish me luck!

I dived into the writings of K.M. Weiland and suddenly some elements of novel structure fell into place for me. It was truly one of those “aha” moments and it felt like a weight was lifted off my back. I didn’t add to my word count this week, but what I finally learned about novel structure was priceless. I’d read all that structure stuff many times before, but last week I was finally able to visualize my manuscript in that framework and that made a world of difference.

Between breaking a 10-year-old crown while eating pizza, having to get it replaced, learning that an acquaintance has Covid-19 and is on a ventilator in ICU, running out of my medicine that keeps my Seasonal Affective Disorder under control, and finding out that our dog’s heart is three times its normal size, it’s been a trying week; however, all I need to do is to think of the thousands of people who were left homeless by tornadoes in Kentucky and five other states last week, and I realize how blessed I am.

Life goes on for me. Tomorrow is promised to no one, but today I continue to live my life and enjoy the benefits it gives me. I have a roof over my head and access to more food than I should or need to eat. I live in a place of relative peace and quiet. All those blessings probably put me in the top one percent of all the people in the world. I truly don’t know how fortunate I am.

Until my next blog post

I hope you have at least one good book to read. I have so many to choose from that it makes selecting just one difficult. Hence, I usually have several books going at the same time. (Thank you, free public library systems!)

Note: Tomorrow is National Short Story Day in the United States. Support your local library and short story writer by reading a short story. With some hard work and a bit of luck, maybe I’ll have a collection of short stories to offer you next year when Short Story Day rolls around.

If you’re of the Christian faith, I hope you have a very meaningful Christmas Day on Saturday.

Janet

P.S. When I previewed this post to see how it would look on a tablet or smaller mobile device, it looked terrible. There were no margins! I hope that’s not the way it will look published!

#FixYourNovel #4: Characterization, Part 2

When I wrote my #FixYourNovel #4:  Characterization, Part 1 blog post for February 17, 2020, I planned to post Part 2 the following Monday. Life happened, though, and some medical issues forced me to hold off on Part 2 until today. Here’s the link to Part 1, in case you missed it or wish to refresh your memory: https://janetswritingblog.com/2020/02/17/fixyournovel-4-characterization-part-1/.

If you are bored stiff by the subject, just scroll down to the end of today’s post to find out what I’m currently reading.

As I did in Part 1, today I’ll share what two or three writers, writing coaches, or editors have to say about characterization. I hope readers and writers will find something of interest in my two characterization blog posts.

I’ve read a lot about how to develop memorable characters when writing fiction. As I read what other writers, or book coaches and editors have to say about characterization, I try to determine what the best advice is so I can put it into practice as I work on my historical novel.

Book coach Andrea Lundgren’s take on happiness in novels

In her October 7, 2019 guest post on A Writer’s Path, https://ryanlanz.com/2019/10/07/what-does-it-mean-to-write-about-happiness/, book coach Andrea Lundgren observed that novels rarely show characters in a state of happiness. Maybe there’s a flashback to a time they were happy, but the reader doesn’t see the character having a happy moment.

Ms. Lundgren suggests something that goes against the grain of accepted fiction writing advice. She stated the following in that guest post:

“Do we dare take time out, for them and us, to just enjoy life as it flows by, without making the scene “keep things moving forward”?

Ms. Lundgren continued:

“And does happiness only occur in little moments, in the troughs between peaks of activity when no one is doing or demanding or announcing anything? Maybe we need to start plotting for filler scenes, where nothing happens but that exchange of dialogue and silence that is a normal, happy moment of life.”

That resonated with me. Writing experts put a lot of pressure on authors to evaluate every scene and, if it doesn’t move the story forward, delete it. In connection with Ms. Lundgren’s post, it seems to me that having an occasional scene in which your character is just relaxing with a friend or enjoying an event might help that character seem more human and more likeable. And in that way, does that scene not in some small way move the story forward?

Editor and author David Griffin Brown’s take on character

Writing as a creative guest on The Creative Penn website on August 2, 2019, https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2019/08/02/writing-tips-creating-memorable-characters/, David Griffin Brown gives tips on writing memorable and compelling characters.

Mr. Brown opens his article with this:  “Fiction editors encounter manuscripts at all stages of development. A typical issue we see in early drafts is where one narrative element is given more attention than another.

“For example, with works of historical fiction, it’s common for writers to showcase their research at the expense of plot and character. On the other hand, with a character piece, the plot often drags in the second act. And in high-paced, sharply plotted thrillers, characterization can lag behind plot development.

“That being said, most manuscripts will benefit from close attention to character conflict, motivation, and relationships. But first and foremost, it’s important to let your characters act, react, and interact.”

Mr. Brown goes on to talk about emotions, conflict, and personal relationships between characters. He talks about the king of all fiction-writing rules:  Show, don’t tell.

Chris Andrews’ take on character and structure

In his book, Character and Structure:  An Unholy Alliance, Australian fantasy quthor Chris Andrews writes about the importance of (or possibly, necessity of) getting your reader emotionally invested in your story or novel. He writes that you must make the reader care.

Character & Structure: An Unholy Alliance, by Chris Andrews

Mr. Andrews’ book says, “Applying character to structure is an unholy alliance as far as many writers are concerned. Doing it well is the foundation of creating a long and successful career.”  He says if a writer gives in to his or her preference – character vs. structure – one will dominate and the other will suffer. A character must have a logical structure to work within.

Mr. Andrews writes, “You have to be able to develop, write and evaluate a story from both sides of your brain:  logic and emotion…. Combining story (what happens to your characters) and structure (how it happens) means finding the answers emotionally engage your audience.”

I like the following short paragraph in Mr. Andrews’ book: 

“Characters are about people, not events. Structure is how you tailor events so your audience can engage with your characters.”

Mr. Andrews’ book is one of the best books I’ve read about the craft of writing. He takes you step-by-step through the structure of a novel and how your protagonist should grow and change within that structure in order for your novel to engage your readers and be memorable for them.

I read Chris Andrews’ book last September and I wrote about it in my September 30, 2019 blog post, https://janetswritingblog.com/2019/09/30/character-and-structure-by-chris-andrews/. His website is https://www.chrisandrews.me/.

Some new thoughts from Janice Hardy

In #FixYourNovel #4:  Characterization, Part I, I referenced Janice Hardy. Her blog post on February 26, 2020 was titled, “Oh, Woe Is Me:  Strengthening Character Goals.” Here the link to it, so you can read the entire blog post: http://blog.janicehardy.com/2010/05/oh-woe-is-me.html.

It’s about how a writer can make a novel’s protagonist’s life as difficult as possible. She gives lots of suggestions.

That was my inner response when I first encountered the term. In Part 1 of #FixYourNovel #4, I referred to character arc but didn’t address it.

A character arc is how a character changes over the course of a story or novel, but there’s so much more to it than that! People have written entire books on the topic of character arc. I read one in October:  Creating Character Arcs: The Masterful Author’s Guide to Uniting Story Structure, Plot, and Character Development, by K.M. Weiland.

Creating Character Arcs, by K.M. Weiland

I highly recommend her book to others who, like me, are trying to master the art of writing fiction. The book addresses plot points, when your character arcs, minor character arcs, impact characters, and how to write a character arc in a series.

Biographical sketches

Throughout the writing process I’ve tried to keep in mind to make my characters distinguishable, but it’s time to revisit the question, “Are my characters distinguishable?”

By writing a biographical sketch for each character as I developed the basic bones of the plot for my novel in progress, tentatively titled The Spanish Coin or The Doubloon, I had a computer file containing details about each character. This was the place I made note of all distinguishable characteristics – everything from appearance, clothing, mannerisms, smell, occupation, world view, beliefs, background, family, and manner of speaking.

My hunch is that it is easier to write character biographical sketches before and as you write your novel, but it can be done after the fact. However you choose to do it, it’s a good idea to work through this step before hitting the “publish” button or submitting your manuscript to an editor, literary agent, or publisher.

I read that J.K. Rawlings spent five years writing the biographies of each of her characters before she started writing her Harry Potter series. Wow!

As you evaluate your novel’s manuscript, re-read each of your characters’ biographical sketches, every reference to them in your book, and all their dialogue. It’s time to beef-up those character traits and to check for consistency.

  • Have you made your characters’ motives clear so their actions are logical?
  • Did you reveal backstory a little at a time and sufficiently without doing an information dump?
  • You don’t have a character telling another character something they already know, do you?
  • Does your character have an arc and is it in the right place?

In summary

At this point, you might be saying, “It’s not enough for writers to invent characters? They must make each one distinguishable in appearance, actions, and speech; make them likable but not perfect; and make them memorable and compelling. Is that all?

No. A writer must also balance character, and plot, and setting. Characters must interact with one another. Characters must be believable. Characters must react to the circumstances in which they find themselves. They must have emotions. They must be motivated. Relationships and conflict are necessary; otherwise, there’s no story.

You see, there’s more to writing a novel than typing.

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read. I’m reading Winter Garden, by Kristin Hannah.

If you’re a writer or other artist, I hope you have satisfying creative time.

Thank you for reading my blog. You could have spent the last few minutes doing something else, but you chose to read my blog. If you like my blog, please tell you real friends and your social media friends about it.

Links to my #FixYourNovel blog posts #1, #2, #3, and #4 Part 1:

Let’s continue the conversation

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

Think back over the books you’ve read.

Which characters stand out in your mind and why?

Feel free to share as much or little as you want to in the comments below or on the social media I share this blog post on.

Janet

#FixYourNovel #2: Scene Outline

From the beginning in June of 2010, this blog has generally been about my journey as a writer. It hasn’t been a smooth ride so far, and some days the destination doesn’t appear any closer than when I began.

This reminds me of an experience my sister and I had on a trip to the western part of the United States a few years ago. We saw our first butte. It didn’t look more than a mile or two away, so we turned off onto a dirt road that looked like it would take us to the butte. We don’t have buttes in North Carolina, so we wanted to see one up close.

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

After driving on this straight, flat road for a half hour or so, the butte didn’t look any closer than it had when we turned off the main highway. We gave up on reaching the butte and turned around.

As for the manuscript for my Doubloon novel, I haven’t given up and I haven’t turned around. I don’t think I could, even if I wanted to. I’m still learning about the work that has to be done after the rough draft is finished.

Scene Outlines

In my mind I thought I could evaluate every scene in my novel manuscript of more than 90,000 words by mid-July and be ready to send a detailed scene outline to a professional editor for a critique. In the meantime, I discovered a scene outline template on C.S. Lakin’s website.

(Ms. Lakin’s February 1, 2016 blog post, “Using a Scene Template to Craft Perfect Scenes” can be found at https://www.livewritethrive.com/2016/02/01/using-a-scene-template-to-craft-perfect-scenes/#more-7387, in case you’re interested in looking at her template. Click on “Resources” and scroll down to the clickable list of free writing resources she offers.)

I wrote an outline before writing the rough draft of the The Doubloon. After finishing the rough draft, I modified my outline into a scene outline for reference purposes. Then, I found Ms. Lakin’s template. It includes details and questions I hadn’t thought about being part of a scene outline.

Expanding my outline based on Ms. Lakin’s template has been a beneficial process because it makes me state how each scene drives the plot forward, what background details are revealed, and how the point-of-view character grows or changes. It might even tell me that one or more scenes aren’t necessary.

Novel readers won’t stand for boredom.

With today’s blog post topic in mind, I wanted to see what other writing experts had to say. My basic takeaway from K.M. Weiland’s June 17, 2019 blog post, https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/how-to-write-interesting-scenes/ was that every scene needs to hold the reader’s attention.

Ms. Weiland goes on to list five things every scene should contain. She wrote, “Basically, the art of writing interesting scenes is the art of preventing reader boredom.”

Douglas W. T. Smith is an Australian fantasy author. In his blog post on May 29, 2019, “How To Bring Life And Fluency to Each Scene In Your Novel” (https://dwtsmith.wordpress.com/2019/05/29/how-to-bring-life-and-fluency-to-each-scene-in-your-novel/)  he gave four important tips for writing scenes.

My favorite takeaway from Mr. Smith’s blog post was “Each scene should stand alone, make it dazzling enough to inform your reader of the necessary plot information, exciting enough to create interest and interesting enough to cause the reader to keep going.”

I will continue to work on my scene outline. As a hope-to-be debut novelist with my The Doubloon manuscript, I think it’s a good idea for me to hire a professional editor to evaluate my scene outline. I’ll let you know when that happens.

In case you missed #FixYourNovel #1:  Read it Aloud

Here’s the link to my May 24, 2019 blog post:  https://janetswritingblog.com/2019/05/27/fixyournovel-1-read-it-aloud/.

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read. I’m still pulled between several books and not able to finish any of them.

If you’re a writer, I hope you have productive writing time.

Thank you for reading my blog. You could have spent the last few minutes doing something else, but you chose to read my blog.

Let’s continue the conversation

What are the “buttes” in your life – those things you want to accomplish that seem to always be out of reach?

Janet

Character Arc Development & The Spanish Coin

I’ve been reading about character arc and how to develop it. This has made me reflect on my 95,000-word historical fiction manuscript.

The Spanish Coin

The working title for my novel is The Spanish Coin. It begins with a dead body. The main character is Nancy. There is a cast of characters, some of whom support Nancy and one who sets out to ruin her. The story is set in South Carolina in 1771.

The main plot is about determining who murdered the local pastor. Was it Nancy?

There is a subplot about a black male slave and a free black woman. Their story runs throughout the book.

There is a subplot about Nancy’s friend, Betty, and a stranger who visits the community.

The Betrayal

Then there is the sequel that I’ve plotted out. Its working title is The Betrayal. In fact, I’ve outlined what appears to be three books to follow the story I started in The Spanish Coin. I’ve been working on this series for more than a decade, but first I need to get The Spanish Coin published.

Character Arc

There are three types of character arc, according to author and blogger K.M. Weiland:  positive, flat, and negative. As I understand it,  a positive character arc is one in which the character changes for the better or perhaps discovers she or he is stronger than they’d thought. A flat arc is one in which characters take on the world or the problem the world throws at them, but they aren’t changed inside or not changed much. Negative arcs are sometimes found when the character deals with failure.

My reading this week has brought to my attention how much my character development in The Spanish Coin sets the ground work for any books that might follow. Since I only planned to write one book, I did not have in mind how character development in The Spanish Coin would influence the plotting of sequels. I got so involved with the main and secondary characters that I wanted to know what happened to them. So far, I have an 11,000-word outline.

I need to review The Spanish Coin manuscript to look for changes I need to make regarding character development and character arc in light of my plan to continue some of the characters’s stories in additional books. With that accomplished, I need to stop procrastinating and hire an editor to evaluate the manuscript.

Until my next blog post in a few days, I hope you have a good book to read. If you are a writer, I hope you have productive writing time.

Janet