Plotting vs Discovery: Oh the pain

Okay so I’ve been on extended leave here lately, from the blog, writing, hell, the world!  As we often do, I’ve had a lot on my plate and my mind and I’ve come to the realization that I THINK TOO MUCH!  This applies to so many aspects of my life, which I won’t go into here, but I will talk about how it has applied to my writing.

Though a proud Scorpio am I, I’m very Gemini when it comes to storytelling.  Part of me is a plotter, that can map out a story from start to finish, tying up all the seemingly loose ends into neat little bows of satisfying resolution that speaks to my utter genius and are the best, not only, reason to believe I tower above mere mortals!  Ahem…  Sorry, had moment of megalomania.  The other side of this dueling personality disorder (I think I just invented said disorder but I likes it.  It’s mine, unless I didn’t then, good on ya PHD-type who did) is the discovery writer.  This is the personality that wrote the Muse series and is really the strength of my writing.  In this mode, I am truly happiest as a writer.  The work flows and writing, which many of you know can be very hard at times, becomes the easiest thing in the world.  It’s as easy as talking.

And these personalities really do duel it out.  My discovery writer likes to take a wazz on the plotter’s outlines and lead the characters off to the corner where they all take hits of acid while painting graffiti which depicts the plotter in an unnatural union with a well endowed donkey who, for some reason, looks a lot like Jimmy Carter with a big, “raping you in the ass” grin.  Fuckin’ acid man.  The plotter then throws his hands up in the air and decides to grab all the inspiration which he puts in a jar that is wrapped in duct tape and held prisoner in a dank cellar where he forces it to watch hours of Family, Adult Swim and porn with him.  Strange that the plotter is the creepy one here, right?

So, lately, I’ve kicked the plotter in the nuts and locked him in the basement, with NO Family Guy or Adult Swim, though I would never fully deprive him of porn.  He is a guy after all and I’m not so cruel.  In his absence I’ve let the discovery writer take over again.  It’s been like masturbation in the first few weeks after a break up.  “Just you and me again buddy, like the old days.  We don’t need anyone else.”  Yeah I get that there is a general theme here which may or may not be related to those unspoken aspects of my personal life I vaguely alluded to earlier.

Okay now, even if I make no more masturbation references, everything I way will be tainted for you and, I do apologize for that. 

I will say that letting the discover writer take off has been interesting.  I’ve revisited some old short stories and polished them up.  And I’ve done some very satisfying work on a zombie short story which might turn into a series of shorts in the genre.  What is funny is that I keep catching the discovery writer sneaking down to the basement to confer with the plotter.  I only suspected this at first but then I heard the distinctive sound of duct tape being ripped off his mouth followed by a string of curses that would make Dice Clay take notes.  Such a potty mouth on that plotter.  I won’t say that I’ve found any kind of balance and I really don’t care.  I’m writing again and it feels good, like it used to. 

I tend to start plotting when I worry that the story won’t be resolved.  I doubt myself.  The truth is, my best resolutions have been eureka moments in discovery mode where I found some loose random thread that was only added for color or theme earlier in the story that now ties back into the story in a way that creates a seamless circle of even greater genius than I ever thought I had. 

And instead of megalomania, I’m somehow humbled.  These moments are why I write.  It’s a high that no drug could give and I’m truly in awe of having tapped into a magic far greater than me.  And my muse smiles and caresses my cheek as only she may, her eyes full of pride and love.  This is what she wants for me and she will torture me and trick me to get me on the right path to find these moment of purest Zen. 

And on that note, no more blog series for awhile.  I’ll be writing about whatever is floating atop froth in the churning waters of my imagination.  You’ve been warned.  Oh, and there will be more masturbation jokes.  Sorry.

Listening to: My Chemical Romance- Heaven Help Us

Liebster blog nominations

I was nominated for this Liebster dealy by Siobhan @cocktailplease (http://cocktailplease.tumblr.com/) as well as by my darling naughty writing dear, Penelope Prose @Penelope_Prose (http://thepenelopejones.wordpress.com/)

About Liebster:

The Liebster Blog Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. “Liebster” is German for “Beloved, Dearest or Favorite”.

The Rules:

When one receives the award, one posts 11 random facts about oneself and answers the 11 questions asked by the person who nominated you.Pass the award onto 11 other blogs (while making sure one notifies the blogger that one nominated them!). One writes up 11 NEW questions directed towards YOUR nominees. One is not allowed to nominate the blog who nominated one’s own blog! One pastes the award picture into ones blog. (You can Google the image, there are plenty of them!).

11 Facts About Me:

1. I’m not only a writer but an artist, musician and maker of various instruments of war. 

2. I spend far more time playing Mr. Mom than should be legal, which has cut into my writing time.  This makes for more of a Mr. Mommy Dearest by the time the weekend rolls around.

3. I make an extremely ugly woman.  You already know too much.

4. As a general rule, I hate old people in consumer settings. You’ve been doing this longer than I’ve been alive so leaving your cart in the middle of the fucking aisle while you look at something is a choice.  It’s the asshole choice and you know it’s wrong.  And I hate you. 

5. Personal observation: Confidence in men seems to attract the ladies, but give me a cute shy girl and I drool. 

6. Personal observation: cute shy girls that seem innocent are the freakiest freaks in bed.  Words to live by.

7. I used to have long silky hair that women loved to touch and was my only vanity.  Apparently I’ve been punished for my beauty.

8. Truth about #7 is that I had a teacher in High School that was bald.  He told me and a group of friends that he was cursed for making fun of a bald man, and that the same would happen to us for making fun of him.  18 years later his words ring true, because I’m bald, and they are all dead.

9. My words of advice for those thinking of becoming writers: Write for the love of storytelling.  Research the craft and the industry.  Talk to other writers but recognize the haters before the damage is done.  They stand out most of the time cuz they are nasty and negative and leave an oozing slime trail wherever they go.  Write, write and write some more.  Even if its garbage, you’re probably writing WAY more than me!

10. My words of advice for established writers: Don’t be hatin’!

11. Okay, the moment of truth.  This is the big one.  I mean, this is huge.  Massive.  Earth shattering even.  Okay.  Shooooo, this is harder than I thought.  Okay.  I…  That is, well.  Geesh… Okay, here goes, for real this time.  I sometimes like to eat Chef Boyardee ravioli cold, right out of the can.  There, I said it.  Don’t get me wrong.  I mean, it HAS to be Chef Boyardee, none of that generic stuff.  That would just be gross.

My Answers to Siobhan’s Questions

1. What is your favorite movie?

Fight Club.  I love a lot of movies but Fight Club is a writer’s movie.  It’s filled to the brim with amazingly simple snippets of working stiff philosophy, great dark humor, sex, self destruction and a view of the world is both frightening and appealing. 

2. If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?

I’d have finished college and got my masters.  I can trace every lost dream back to the moment I decided to let someone else discourage me from following my dreams.

3. Do you have any phobias?

Dolls. Porcelain dolls to be specific.  I helped my dad remodel a house in high school and the scary, inbred old lady that lived there had dozes in every room.  They lined the baseboards along all her hallways and I had to work with them watching me.  I also can’t stand to see anyone dislocate anything.  I go into full body convulsions of disgust and discomfort.

4. If you could choose one fictional character to go on a date with, who would it be and why?

Jessica Rabbit, baby.  Why?  Have you seen her?  Boing!

5. What was the best piece of advice you ever received?

Don’t get married.  It’s a trap.

6. If you could be one of the first people to colonize Mars but you could never return to earth, would you go?

Ummmmm, no.

7.Right now in this moment, what are you most grateful for?

My son.  He is my world.  He changed everything for me and made me realize it was time to quit lying to myself about being a man, because before him, I was still just a stupid kid.

8. Do you prefer to give advice or take advice?

Both stink.  No one ever really seems to listen to the problem before giving advice and NO ONE ever takes advice.  Typically most people aren’t really looking for advice.  They are hoping you will agree with them when they decide to do the selfish, childish, easy thing.

9. Are you currently following the career path you thought you would when you were in high school?

Yes. I had no clue what I was going to do in high school and my “career path” really shows it.

10. What is your favorite place you’ve ever visited?

Charleston, SC.  Such a gorgeous southern city.  Real cobblestone streets, wrought iron everything and ghosts peaking around every corner.  My kind of town.  Minus the hurricane threat, I would gladly live there.

11. If you could be famous for doing anything, what would it be?

I would be a famous storyteller.  That’s the path I’ve tried to set for myself as a writer.  My style is very visual in nature so I would love to go into animation and film.

Answers to Penelope’s questions:

1. What is your favorite color and why?

Alizarin Crimson.  When painting I always get this odd giddy feeling when I first thin a bit of it with some linseed oil.  It must be the vampire in me because it looks like blood then.

2. If you could do one dare-devil move, knowing you would live through it, what would it be and why?

Jumping the Grand Canyon on a unicycle.  No risk so I figure go ridiculous.

3. Have you had a one night stand?

Nope.

4. Did you know his/or her’s name?

NA

5. Name a quality in yourself you love?

Creativity.

6. Name a quality in yourself you don’t love?

Laziness.

7. If you could be a flavor of skittles, which one would you be and why?

Red so that everyone could just eat me!  Yeah I went there.

8. Name one thing about your partner you love, or your dream partner would have?

Total submission in the bedroom.

9. If you could only have sex in one place forever, where would it be and why?

Does Earth count? No?  Bah.  Gonna be boring but I’m going with my bed.  Just more convenient and sometimes you can’t beat the classics.

10. How many times did you change your answer to question 9?

0 if you don’t count the Earth thing.

11. How many of you think Bad Penny’s always to blame?

I don’t think she is.  I know she is and, well, I named her as such.

My 11 Nominees:

1. http://diane-newauthor.blogspot.com/
2. http://doingthewritething.wordpress.com/
3. http://jadevarden.blogspot.com/
4. http://marialoves2write.blogspot.com/
5. http://violetserotica.blogspot.com/
6. http://thenightlifeseries.blogspot.com/
7. http://stephllaws.blogspot.com/
8. http://ardenaoide.blogspot.com/
9. http://scifimagpie.blogspot.com/
10. http://www.obsidianpoet.blogspot.com/
11. http://jennifermartinauthor.wordpress.com/

My 11 Questions:

1. What are you currently working on?
2. Where does your writing inspiration most come from?
3. If any of your fictional works were made into a movie, who would play the protagonist and why?
4. Is there one book that made you decide to become a writer and how/why?
5. If you had one super power, what would it be?
6. What is the dumbest thing you’ve ever done in public?
7. If you found a million dollars and there was a $1000 reward for finding it, or you could keep it for yourself with no one ever being the wiser, what would you do?
8. How old were you when you realized that mom and/or dad was not the source of all knowledge in the world, which is to say, she and/or he was just a dumbass like everyone else, and what was the situation?
9. What is your favorite meal to prepare?
10. Where were you when you heard that Hostess was going out of business and how will this affect your life as a productive member of society?
11. What is the one place in the world that you most long to visit or live?

Art of Storytelling: POV and Head Hopping

POV and Head Hopping

Point of View is very important in any story and can be a deal breaker for some readers based on preference.  You’ll see my own POV quirks below.  I do stress though that you write whatever fashion feels best to you and it most applicable to the story.  I know I’m revisiting English Lit 101 but let’s review the different forms of POV.

• First Person
• Second Person
• Third Person Limited
• Third Person Omniscient

Note: Tense and POV kinda go hand in hand but I will address Tense more in another post.

First Person is a very common storytelling method and one that newer writers seem to gravitate towards because it seems so natural and comfortable.  There are very many established authors that use first person as well.  The entire Twilight Series, as far as I know, is from Bella’s POV as the narrator.   First Person narrators are not always reliable.  Some are just wrong about what they thought was going on which can set up a good surprise ending.  Some are even liars or are biased by their own personal agendas and character flaws.  You never know what you’re really getting with a First Person narrator, often, until the end of the story.

I feel that the problem with first person is that there is a tendency for the narrator to fall into endless internal musings that can stall forward movement in a story.  While these asides can be very on topic for what is going on in the story and can give great insight into the true nature of this character, they can overburden the story and bore the reader.  Also, they just eat up pages and often lead a story that could have been wrapped up in 50k-80k words to be 100k-200k.  Storytelling needs to be tight and flowing.  First Person is a Telling trap, when a good storyteller will Show at every opportunity.

I’m a picky reader.  If I pick up a book that is First Person Present, I will immediately put it back down.  I just can’t get into a narrative that is happening right now.  “I am walking down the street and I see her again.  She’s hailing a cab.  I hate writing like this.   Please kill me.”

Second Person is rarely used in modern storytelling.  It addresses the reader directly at every turn.  I really don’t have an example of this because I would put down any book this POV as well.  Like I said, picky.  When I think of Second Person I think of roleplaying as the Storytelling, GM, DM, whatever you want to call it.  For anyone who has never roleplayed in a table top setting (yeah I’m geek level, Expert), you have one person who tells the story.  The other players are characters of their own creation.  As the GM (game master in some gaming systems), you have a setting and overall plot in which the characters take part.  Their actions shape the game and the GM tries to direct the story and characters where he wants them to go while constantly describing the setting and the actions and attitudes of the Non-Player Characters. 

Chad is a player character.  He tells the GM, “Okay I’m going to rush through the door with both guns drawn.”

“Alright. As you come through the door you see several tables and chairs turned over.  On the bar is Carl motionless, his head twisted around in an odd angle.  You see Shelly and Luanne slumped in a corner, both appear to have been shot in the head.”

Third Person Limited  This style of storytelling tells the story from the perspective of one character but the writer is the narrator.  This is my preferred method of writing and is just a personal choice.  Most YA that is not first person (and most of it is) is written in this style.  Third person limited is from the POV of one character and all knowledge about the world and the other characters is limited to what that character knows. 

This is great in fantasy and sci-fi when you have a whole knew world to introduce to a reader.  I always think of Harry Potter when I think of this POV style as Harry is a boy from the human world suddenly dropped into the Wizarding world.  As he learns about Diagon Alley and Hogwarts so do we.  We share his sense of wonder and amazement.  It’s a great way to draw a reader in when writing genre fiction but it works for any other style.

Third Person Omniscient  In this style of storytelling and POV, the writer is the narrator and knows everything about everyone.  We all probably should know everything about every character in our story but the difference between this and Limited is that it is not fettered by the personality, knowledge and experiences of one character. 

This style can get very unwieldy and confusing for a lot of readers.  Writers tend to Head Hop within the same chapter a lot.  I personally feel that it is harder to connect to the main character/s because I don’t get to really immerse myself into that one mind.  Head Hopping should be kept to a minimum if at all possible  A good rule to avoid it is to stay in the head of which ever character has the most interesting thing to say.

There’s a man being tortured on a table on one side of the room.  His wife is tied to a chair on the other side and forced to watch.  The torturer is present and goes about his task in a very clinically detached fashion while casually talking the wife the entire time.  

Who has the most interesting point of view?  Well that will vary depending on the greater context of the story and all three could have very interesting insight on the scene.  Hopping from one to the next to the next would negate the emotional impact of all three. 

My first thought was that the wife would have the most compelling story to tell.  Watching a loved one tortured would be torture and she could give an emotionally charged account of how they got there or perhaps this is all her fault and she is frantically trying to find a way out of it.

I immediately think of the husband as being too fraught with agony to be able to think coherently, though disjointed narrative could be effective if used right.  Maybe he’s trained to deal with torture and we get to find out why. 

Maybe we’re trying to tell the story of the torturer though.  What does he think about while he is doing these gruesome things?  Does he think about the man that taught him to do this?  Maybe he was tortured and underneath it all he is a boiling cauldron of emotions and believes that what he is doing is for some greater cause.

On Third Person Omniscient I would also warn about changing perspective in the same paragraph.  Just don’t do it.  If you change perspective start a new paragraph.  It’s like dialog.  No two people should speak in the same paragraph.

There is a hybrid of Third Person Limited and Omniscient in which the story is told from multiple perspectives but each character gets that chapter or those several pages to his or her self.  When perspectives change within the chapter, there is usually two hard returns  or a   ***  to let the reader know that the perspective has changed.  Sometimes you simply have to have many POV characters.  Stephen King does this a lot and I find that I do it in my WIP (work in progress). 

King’s “‘Salems Lot”, a personal favorite of mine, is told in this style.  He is showing how the plague of vampirism spreads through out this small town, infecting it like a cancer.  We the readers need to see what is going on in various parts of the town.  One character, the hunchback that lives and works in the junkyard, isn’t even introduced until the second half of the book, if memory serves.

Another favorite novel of mine, Roger Zelazny’s, “The Lord of Light”, a classic sci-fi masterpiece, is written in this fashion.  In a world in which reincarnation has become scientifically possible and those who have had thousands of lives not only gain powers but take on the aspects of the Hindu gods, one of their fallen brothers takes on the mantel of Siddhartha, the Buddha, and starts a society changing revolution against the gods.  This story is told from the perspective of Siddhartha, his followers and various gods, demons and mortals. 

My WIP takes place in one city but the fate of that city is in the balance so I have to tell the story from multiple POVs in Freaktown.  Here I even find that all the perseptives can be confusing so I know that I not only have to write another 30k-60k words but there will be a lot of work to tighten it all up and try to bring some clarity to the overall narrative.

Listening to Funeral for a Friend: The Sweetest Wave