OK, so I haven’t posted in a week, and I’ve really only done one entry in the series, but I have a month old baby with colic and reflux, give me a break! 
I accidentally deleted the note with all the other parts of the recipe and I want to do them in order. My book is in the bedroom with a sleeping wife and baby. Either wake up I’m dead so I’ll leave it be.
One problem I have is sticking to one project at a time. I usually have a few on the boil, but they never go past there. I get them to boiling then get distracted. It isn’t an healthy habit. I’ve been trying to break it, and I think I’m getting there. I’m still keeping a few things going, but trying to really only focus on one at a time, and I’m making sure the projects are very different. When I have too many the same it’s too hard to choose what to do so none are chosen. I find when they’re different I can be in a mood for one or the other. In the early stages at least. Once the actual writing takes over and the planning is done then all balance goes out the window and nothing else gets done. I’m pretty hopeless like that.
I keep thinking bank to the character post. I look at the different characters I like and the different stories I’ve enjoyed. Law and Order is a bit of an example of this. They change characters rather seamlessly and it doesn’t change the stories much at all. It’s one of the few procedurals that is almost more based on plot than character. CSI I only used to watch for Grissom. Gossip Girl I gave up on because I didn’t care about anyone. Veronica Mars I followed through it’s only average last few bits because I cared so much. I hope my characters are interesting enough…
The first thing needed in any mystery story, according to Frank Gruber, is a colorful hero. As I’ve read this collection, and every story I’ve ever enjoyed this has been a common thread. If there is nothing interesting about the character then there is rarely much interesting about the story. If we don’t care about the character then we sure don’t care about what happens to them. They may be a bad person, but if we find them interesting we want to spend time with them.
Take Dexter for instance. A serial killing cop. Interesting, but he’s also so much more. He’s balancing his job, his hobby, and his family. He’s trying to raise kids. He’s a colorful character and we care. If you’re read any of Lawrence Blocks brilliant Matt Scudder novels then you know Matt is an alcoholic who left the police force and his family after an accident and now just does favors for friends. He’s an interesting character. He tithes 10% of all he earns, though he doesn’t necessarily believe in God. I loved spending time with Matt and seeing him mature and age. He’s a colorful character.
So in your writing how interesting are your characters? The main character in particular but all your characters? Are they interesting enough to bother spending time with?
In my latest story I’ve actually started with the character and moved backwards from there. A lot of the pulp detectives were colorful in different ways, but how can you be original? My character came to me almost fully formed. I just got him if that makes senes. I think he’s just another side of me in a lot of ways, but a lot more interesting. As I read this though I thought about what I liked about similar characters in the books I’ve been reading. Why do I like Easy Rawlins? Mike Hammer? Even the Courtney family if we’re going to step out of my current pulp fixation. Is it the little things or the big things?
To make a character colorful is often to make them well rounded. It’s not always what they do, but why they do it. Or how they do it. They can be doing the most average things in the world but if they’re doing them in a different way or for a different reason we are more interested.
Have a look at your characters and see if they’re interesting. Not the story, but the character. Would you want to spend time learning about them? If you wouldn’t. If they don’t intrigue you then you better take a good look at them and see what you can do.
I’ve been introduced to some great new writers as I’ve been reading Pulp Fiction: The Villains. One of those was Frank Gruber. His tale was a lot of fun and fit perfectly into what he believed was the formula for a good mystery/adventure story. The next few days I’m going to be thinking deeper about this formula and why it is so important.
Too formulaic is a bad thing. We have all read or seen something where you know the whole story right from the start. I hate that. It’s incredibly unsatisfying and just plain lazy writing. But sometimes a formula is there because there are things that are expected. I’m sure we’ve all also seen things where somethign comes straight out of left field and you feel cheated. There are rules that have to be followed for us to find the story satisfying.
Frank Grubers formula was of the latter variety. It was more a list of the ingredients that are necessary for a satisfying story. As I looked over it I saw that my new story already had most of these, and a few other aspects could be changed slightly to fit what he believed, and as I did these it made my story stronger, more interesting and made me more excited about it.
So what were his points? How can you add then to your story? I’ll start on that tomorrow!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
I’m working on a noir story. I love the dark 50’s stories where nothing ends well. They find what they were after and wish they hadn’t. Characters who are their own worst enemies. It’s great stuff. I have one plotted out in my head. Most of it atleast. I have the shocking finale. I think it’s a good one. I’d enjoy it if I read it and that’s all I can really ask. I have some interesting characters. I have some cool twists and some red herrings, but I’m having trouble tying it all together.
Originally I was going to have the hero follow the clues and unravel some big thing, only to find out it had nothing to do with what he was investigating. It would however lead him to what he needed to know. I’m now thinking that may be disappointing, and if it doens’t really have anything to do with the story it’s hard to come up with something interesting enough to use. Sure, it’ll have reflections on the theme etc, and it will set the tone of the whole story, however I’m not sure this is the way to go. So he has to unravel everything and find out, but that’s kinda too straight forward, even if there’s twists.
One writer who has used both these methods is Lawrence Block. I only got to know of him through Hard Case Crime (the greatest publisher in the world) and have been lapping up everything I can find. The whole Matt Scudder series is brilliant. There are about 3 I haven’t found yet, but I’ve loved every moment of them. They can be slow, have long scenes that don’t do a huge amount for the plot but really make the feel of the books. I want to follow Matt’s adventures where ever they go. It took me all of 5 seconds to realize that this series was the inspiration for me to follow in those footsteps. I’d read a lot of Mickey Spillane and loved them, read almost all of Raymond Chandlers stuff, a bit of Hammet, Ross MacDonald etc and all inspired me, but Block is the one I compare all the others too.
Regarding my plotting problem, I guess I can just go in the way that will best service the story. What will help tell it the best? What will be most satisfying for the reader? Because at the end of the day the reader is all that matters, because everyone is a reader. Your agent will be a reader, your publisher a reader, your fans a reader. If it isn’t satisfying for them, what’s the point?
Words. I love them. They fascinate me. I scarcely understand them. How can someone be offended by a simple word that means the same as many other words? How can someone be upset by a word used in jest, but not by words used to tear someone down? People and their relationships with words make no sense to me.
I love cuss words. They’re fun. They’re often more descriptive than other words. They add emotion. But often we can’t use them. We can imply them. We can even replace a vowel with a @ or some other symbol and suddenly it is OK. We all read the word as it is but since it isn’t printed. What’s the difference?
When we write all we do is choose words. Sometimes we’re choosing the best words, other times we’re choosing the word that seems least wrong. Words that can mean the same thing can have a totally different feeling. Some words by their very mention paint pictures of something totally different. Who can hear the word flaccid without thinking of a wang? And there I go choosing a euphemism. But a fun one.
Why are so many of the worst words related to female genitalia? Is there a deep sexist undercurrent to our attitudes that we’re still getting over? Women are using the C word sometimes trying to take it back as some nationalities have embraced the ethnic slurs that were meant to cause offense and turned them into a badge of pride.
A word can hurt, it can heal, and it isn’t really even anything. A collection of dots on a page. A collection of grunts and sounds strung together. The mind boggles at the power of these crazy little things. Now lets all use them wisely.
I love to read. I read a lot. The last two years I’ve read more than 100 books each year. Last year it was something like 120. Reading is my escape. It keeps me sane. Due to a new baby I don’t think I’ll get quite that many read this year, but I’ll get a good lot in. Already though around 40 so that’s a good start.
I’m reading 6 books at the moment. I’m usually reading a few. When I’m reading a lot of books they usually fall into the following categories.
THE FICTION READ – Pulp Fiction: The Villains A great collection of short stories from the classic old mags. I wish I had been around in that era. I would have loved it.
THE THOUGHT PROVIKING READ – The Reason For God I like to try reading things that will make me think a little.
THE LIGHT READ – Don’t Go To Work On Mondays I read every night before going to sleep. Some nights you just need something really light. This fits the bill.
THE BATHROOM READ – The Essential Guide To World Comics My bathroom reading. Perfect in that it is lots of little sections.
THE WRITING READ – Writing Tools When I want to think a lot as I lie in bed I’ll read a chapter of this. Great stuff.
THE HISTORY READ – Sex in History I like to read something that gives me a different perspective on life.
I’ll slowly add a review or two of the books I’ve finished and these as I finish them. The books I’ve read lately have been really shaping my writing. My world has expanded greatly as I’ve been reading more authors. It’s a great way to experience things from different perspectives, and it’s good for your brain also.
Our brains weren’t made to read. Most activities have a single part of your brain that is predominantly responsible for processing it however reading uses parts from all over your brain at the same time. If you read about someone rock climbing the parts of your brain that would be used if you were rock climbing jump into action. It’s amazing. I’ve been reading a lot about how the brain works and it never ceases to fascinate me.
If you want to improve your brain, your writing (and I believe your life) just read more. But don’t forget to leave time to write!
It’s been too long.
Way, way too long.
I got busy (no excuse). The Now Reading plugin stopped working for a while and it all got too hard. But I’m back into it now. Back doing some plotting. Back doing a lot of reading. Back being an idea factory. Now I just need to get the ideas fleshed out.
We just had a baby a few weeks ago so the late nights I’m using well, discussing ideas with Dexter. He’s very helpful. I’ll fill in the books I’m reading, and gradually review a few books I’ve read as I keep going. This time I’m doing things in a more civilised manner. No more biting off more than I can chew. No more starting too many things at once. Now I’m focusing on one thing at a time. Getting one habit going, or one ritual started before trying another. This time I’m making things sustainable.
Will it work? Only one way to find out. Jump in and see…
