Why Conclusions Are So Darn Hard
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Beginnings are easy. Conclusions are hard. Simple, yet true.
At the beginning of a story, anything and everything can happen. Time travel, the apocalypse, start of school, you name it.
The end of a story is a bit more restrictive. You have to wrap up loose ends and write an ending that makes sense.
One of my fiction writing professors likes to say, “Conclusions should be inevitable, but surprising.” If that sounds like an easy thing to write, more power to you.
The Narrator could go ten different ways at this point. I’m not sure which one is both inevitable and surprising. Hopefully my critique group can help point me in the right direction if they don’t like Option B (Option A being the end from the November draft).
Too many novels end disappointingly. And not all of them are obvious cop outs like “it was all a dream” or “the bad guy redeems himself and the world rejoices forever.” I don’t want The Narrator to be one of them.
Do you have trouble writing endings to your novels? How do you deal with the difficulties?
The Art of Language
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A fun/frustrating hallmark of fantasy is the chance to invent a new language. Of course, there’s a complete range of invention.
There are the J. K. Rowlings of the world who only need to invent the occasional interesting word, like quidditch or muggle. Then there are the J. R. R. Tolkiens who invent entire languages, like Elven. (He was a linguist, but still.)
The rest of us probably fall somewhere in between. We invent translations of words for our foreign characters, or words to describe new items or concepts.
Personally, I’m a fan of Tamora Pierce’s work. Her words roll off the tongue, and make sense in story context. A favorite of mine is “azigazi,” a Trader word meaning something like mirage.
Also, you know how some people teach their dogs commands in German so other people can’t control them? In her latest book, Bloodhound, this same concept appears in training the Provost’s Guard dogs, although they obviously don’t use German. I’m totally training my next dog in Kyprish!
Do you invent language in your stories? Share your favorite word!
Advice Just for You
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I’ve finally gotten into the revising groove. So instead of coming up with a half-baked post, I’ll tell you to check out this cool resource.
The Write Network puts together articles from many different blogs. They have advice on writing, revising, publishing, the works! So go forth and read!
Chicken/Egg : Novel/Query
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So I’ve become a bit obsessed recently reading through the archives of Query Shark. It’s a super resource about querying agents to represent your novel.
Whoa, you’re saying. Aren’t you getting a bit ahead of yourself? You’re still only revising your one completed novel.
True.
But writing the query now can be very informative. If your story can’t hold up in 250 words, how’s it going to manage in 70,000?
Sometimes queries are written perfectly, but they can’t get a bite from agents or publishers. Why? The problem is the novel. Maybe the premise needs work, or you’re forcing characters to do things no sane human would do, whatever. The point is, you’re going to have to rewrite.
So, if a query can tell you where you’re going wrong, isn’t it wise to write it early on, save yourself the heartache of thousands of wasted words?
After taking several days to draft a query for The Narrator, I realized I wasn’t milking the premise for all it was worth. Now I’ve got good ideas to fix this, and I’m going to enjoy the conflict that will naturally arise.
Should you worry about which comes first, the novel or the query? Not particularly. Just make sure you actually finish the novel before sending any queries out into the world.
How to Write Action
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In honor of Memorial Day, I thought we could look at how to write the hallmark of fantasy: the fight scene.
I’m sure you’ve heard to use short sentences to keep up a fast pace. And to be specific (“uppercut” rather than “punch”). And to describe the action in gritty terms rather than wax poetic (“their fight resembled the dance of butterflies”). But the secret to writing a great fight scene?
Get inside the character’s head.
Fights themselves are pretty generic. Someone attacks, someone defends. The readers don’t need a blow-by-blow account of how this fight goes down. After all, you’re not choreographing it for a movie. Let the reader use their imagination a bit.
What we, as readers, are curious about is what the character is thinking. Do they have a plan, or are they just reacting? Are they scared? Confident? Worrying about whether they left the stove on?
Maybe not that last one, but you get the idea. Leave the fancy moves to the movies; after all, they can’t do much else. Show us the character’s thoughts, and you’ll have a much more interesting battle on your hands.
Naming Roses
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We all know Juliet’s famous balcony line:
“What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”
Yeah, that’s nice, Juliet, but I think names do matter.
After all, ole Will didn’t say, “a chrysanthemum by any other name.” Mostly because “chrysanthemum” doesn’t go “trippingly on the tongue” (thanks Hamlet!). And nobody wants to be wooed by a Hank.
A good name for your characters is important. A long time ago, I came up with names for two characters. It fit them perfectly, so I wrote them down in a little notebook to remember them. Of course, I lost the notebook, and forgot the names. I had to come up with new ones. As I explained it, “The first names fit like a glove. These new ones are like mittens.”
But it’s hard to come up with decent names. I’ve heard one of the best friends an author can have is a baby-naming book.
I don’t have one. I use what the gods gave me: the internet!
The name of our Narrator hero, Prince Calder, came from the site 20,000 Names. I’d actually used the name for a previous character for a book I’m no longer writing, but I think it’s a better fit for my prince.
The great wizard Tayryn’s name was created with the help of a Fantasy Name Generator. This thing rarely comes up with good names on the spot, but if you refresh enough times, you’ll notice you’re leaning more toward certain sounds and spellings. That’s what puts you in the right direction.
Pennington, the narrator himself, and Saydie, a thief girl, got their names from plain old everyday ones. Saydie’s name and character are actually based on my old dog Sadie, complete with quirks.
When in doubt, add weird letters!
But don’t go overboard. The other day I was trying to read Rebecca Lickiss’ Never After. How on earth do you pronounce names like Zenpfennig and Urticacea without breaking a tooth?
Be smart. Name well.
For Love of a Corkboard
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A few weeks ago, I went out and bought a giant corkboard to help with storyboarding.
I love it!!
The only problem I’ve encountered so far is that there’s no where to put it next to my writing seat for easy reference. But whatever, I can deal.
I’m applying the Index Card Method, as encouraged by Alexandra Sokoloff on her blog. She uses a three act structure to organize her stories, and since it worked so well with Too Many Princesses, I thought I’d give it a shot for my other work.
I’m currently using the board to revise my NaNo novel (which, thanks to my new site organization, can be found under “completed” in the navigation bar). It’s a snap to move scenes, and helps me keep the pace up in the story.
As you can see from the picture, the last column’s pretty blank. That’s because I’m totally throwing out what I had (not even modifying it, like I’m doing with the middle) and I’m not sure what to put yet. The story’s going in a completely different direction. I might just see what happens when I write.
After all, planning can only take you so far!
How Not to Write a Metaphor
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In case you forgot your high school English classes, here is the difference between a metaphor and a simile:
metaphor: (n.) a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress is our God.”
simile: (n.) a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared, as in “she is like a rose.”
In case you were too lazy to read that, or you didn’t understand it: a metaphor uses “is,” while a simile uses “like” or “as.”
The trick to writing a metaphor or simile is to come up with a striking image, which is harder to do than it sounds. You want to avoid overused phrases like “her voice was angelic” or “the waves crashed on the shore.” But you also don’t want to throw your reader out of the story by mashing your images.
Below are some *ahem* colorful examples of real metaphors/similes that people used in their essays. (If these catch your fancy…well…more power to you!) Either way, enjoy!
Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two other sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
McMurphy fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a paper bag filled with vegetable soup.
Her hair glistened in the rain like nose hair after a sneeze.
His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a tumble dryer.
She caught your eye like one of those pointy hook latches that used to dangle from doors and would fly up whenever you banged the door open again.
The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t.
Her eyes were like two brown circles with big black dots in the centre.
He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.
Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left York at 6:36 p.m. travelling at 55 mph, the other from Petersborough at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
The politician was gone but unnoticed, like the full stop after the Dr. on a Dr Pepper can.
John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
The thunder was ominous sounding, much like the sound of a thin sheet of metal being shaken backstage during the storm scene in a play.
The red brick wall was the colour of a brick-red crayon.
Even in his last years, Grandpa had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long it had rusted shut.
Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
The plan was simple, like my brother Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck either, but a real duck that was actually lame. Maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
Her artistic sense was exquisitely refined, like someone who can tell butter from “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter.”
She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like the sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
It came down the stairs looking very much like something no one had ever seen before.
The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a lamppost.
The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife’s infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free cashpoint.
The dandelion swayed in the gentle breeze like an oscillating electric fan set on medium.
It was a working class tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with their power tools.
He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a dustcart reversing.
She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature British beef.
She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs.
The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall.
Snowmageddon Methodology
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If, like me, you are going to be snowed in this weekend, take advantage of the time and get some snow-inspired outlining and writing done. I am, of course, referring to the Snowflake Method.
The Snowflake Method helps the writer build and organize their novel from the ground up. Conceptually, the process looks something like this:
By the last step, you have a “snowflake” made up of all the information you need to get writing constructively. In this process, you start with one broad sentence, and end up with several pages of details. It takes a lot of work, and a lot of time, but which one of those do you have the most of this weekend?
I used this method for my NaNoWriMo novel and it worked so well. I went from having a vague notion of how to get from A to Z to having an outline which, while not as detailed as it could have been, provided me with a solid framework with which to write. It gave me the structure of a story arc, but allowed me the chance to embellish as I wrote. It even helped me with character developments/arcs.
Granted, it doesn’t work for everyone. But I plan on re-visiting it to help me figure out where to go with my current Project. (I finally have a beginning, but what then?) Try it, and see what happens!
[Excellent! I managed to refrain from making the joke that just as every snowflake is unique, so is every nov -
- crap.]
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
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These steps apply, of course, to helping the environment, but they can also apply to your writing. A Recycle Bin is a very useful tool for writers.
Have you ever had a lame story with a lame main character and a lame antagonist, but an awesome secondary character? Instead of trying to save the whole of the story just so your secondary character can shine, recycle him! Put him in a better story.
Maybe there’s nothing wrong with your story, you just lose interest. Same thing applies. Recycle the good stuff, forget the bad.
For example, my current project stole from a project I was having trouble with. I took the religious system and the “strange” magic of the main character. I’m not sure whether or not to keep the original story (one small adjustment and it could be another installment in this saga), so I’m not sure yet whether or not to recycle the characters I created. But if I ditch it, you can bet I’m moving my favorite characters over.
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