The weekend is a bit of a blur, so you’ll have to forgive my disjointed entry. First, I’d like to thank Lorin Oberweger from Free Expressions for her kindness and generosity.
Much of what Donald Maass spoke about was contained in his new “Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook”. He gave us several exercises from the workbook that were specifically for deepening our stories.
Here are a few things that stood out. He doesn’t personally like books that are set up in the scene and sequence manor, even though a lot of writing books recommend learning this structure. He prefers riveting prose or action from start to finish. He also said most readers will only give you a sentence or three to catch their attention before putting your book back on the shelves. (This goes for agents and editors too.) So make those first lines glow. He said it helps to start out with an intriguing question or situation. He said to go through your manuscript and find 20 places where your h/h can say/do/think/feel something that they wouldn’t normally say/do/think/feel and add them to your story. He also says to do the same with the antagonist. The point is to create tension on every page.
He said the things readers most remember in a story are moral choices, deaths, turning points, and high moments. If you can kill a character off, do so. He suggests going through the manuscript to ‘heighten’ 20 turning points by changing word choices and tightening description. He also suggested giving another character in your story the same problem you’ve given your protagonist. This hadn’t occurred to me, so I’m going to apply it to one of my stories. Mr. Maass said it’s rare for anyone to get everything they want, so why should your characters? I thought that was interesting. He also suggested giving your characters MORE than what they’d asked for.
He talked about finding out what your antagonist wants and why. He said to ask yourself who else can you draw from to make your case for the antagonist. He suggested religion, philosophy, law, etc. He told us to think about our manuscripts and pick out the twenty scenes you think are most important and couldn’t be removed. Those are your turning points.
Mr. Maass suggested that we identify all the scenes in our books, then set a goal to cut at least 20%. He also said that writers don’t tend to write about what they WANT to write about or what they know. He said to ask ourselves what that is and write it. He told us to think about when we personally felt love, terror, fear, rejection, greatest temptation, anger, outrage, humor, annoyance, ect. and apply them directly to our novel.
I know I’m kind of all over the board here, but I have 20 pages of notes. Most of the questions, can be found in the ‘Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook’. A couple of final things to add. He doesn’t like prologues or backstory. He said if you have to add backstory to put it in chapter 15, if at all. He tends to skip prologues altogether. Hope that this makes sense. I’m really tired. If anyone has a specific question, feel free to email me. If you get the chance to attend one of his seminars, GO!
November 8th, 2004
Welcome Home!!!! Sounds like it was fab and you learned tons!!! Gawd I dont even want to think about my ms(s) right now but it’s lots of food for thought. That was really interesting about writing what you want to write about–I think I do. Did he mean as oposed to writing something more “marketable” you think?
Get some rest!!
Cece
by Cece November 8th, 2004 at 8:39 pmCece, Yes, I think that’s exactly what he meant. He said writers are so concerned about what they ’should’ be writing that they don’t stop to think about what they ‘want’ to write. They also don’t tend to write things they know. Like for instance, I haven’t used my experience as a flight attendant in any of my stories. So I guess he’s right.
by Jordan November 8th, 2004 at 8:44 pmThanks so much for your summary of the seminar. It sounds as if it was wonderful! I’m considering getting Donald Maass’s books, because I get the impression that his ideas will be just as useful for somebody who’s trying to break *in* as they are for those who want to break out!
by Wendywoo November 9th, 2004 at 5:22 amWelcome back! Wow–sounds like it was great. Just the tidbits you gave us are wonderful!!!
I’m with Cece–the writing what you want thing. Do you think he meant that people write what they tend to think will sell instead of just following their heart? I definitely don’t do that. I write what I want. I also write what I know, which is why my characters tend to be EMTs/paramedics, are ex-military, and they have animals! *g* And my settings include a lot of weather! LOL
Anyway, glad you’re back. I missed your posts!
by Larissa November 9th, 2004 at 6:31 amI’ve found Maas’s book to be hearty food for thought, though only useful in small doses. His propensity to hold up overcooked genre fiction as the best of the best (and what EVERYONE should be writing) is a little off-putting, but otherwise his advice is solid.
After reading BREAKOUT, I immediately put some of his suggestions to work in my current manuscript to good effect. I’m glad to hear that the workshop was essentially the workBOOK, as I recently purchased the latter. Gotta save money where one can!
by James November 9th, 2004 at 6:33 amWendy, You’re absolutely right. I think his books would absolutely help someone trying to break into the market. I know I won’t use all the things he suggested because frankly, I don’t think my agent would go for some of the more indepth storylines from me. At least not yet. We’re trying to build my career before we start jumping all over the place.
by Jordan November 9th, 2004 at 10:32 amThank you Larissa! What a nice warm welcome.:-)To answer your question, yes, I think that’s exactly what he meant. I’m as guilty as the next person for doing that, although I’d like to think that since I came up with the story idea that it’s something that I enjoy and NOT just something I think will be marketable.(Or that at least it’s a combination of the two.) I think it’s wonderful that you already do that. I started out writing that way, then I got published and the rules of the game changed…in my mind. :-O Not sure what that says about me.
by Jordan November 9th, 2004 at 10:38 amJames, I agree that some of the advice can be a little overwhelming and not applicable to all genres. He has definite ideas about how books should be written and what he looks for in a novel. He’s very upfront about this fact. You can absolutely get everything you ‘need’ from the Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook. He gave us a few bonus exercises, but otherwise pretty much followed it. Like any instructional guide you have to use what works for you and discard the rest. If you’re using the workbook, then I think you’re in pretty good shape. Someone else you may want to check out is Sal? Stein ‘On Writing’. My dh recently downloaded the audio book and burned them to CD for me to listen to. Stein’s ‘book’ is packed full of ways to improve your writing. There’s so much information that I’m STILL going through them.
by Jordan November 9th, 2004 at 10:50 amJOrdan don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s something I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the last couple days. Writing what I want, what I know, I also think this should include things that interest you, writing for my voice or pushing myself to the very edges of my natural writing voice. I was forced to choose a year ago between romance(ST) and more mainstream writing and I think I’ve kinda reached that point again where I have to make a decission. I think I’ve reached a crossroads and it’s tough.
by Cece November 9th, 2004 at 11:12 amCece, You’re right, it is tough. I’m not good at deciding these things anyway. Unfortunately, sooner or later, if you want to be a professional writer you have to make a choice. Several actually. I’m not sure it will EVER get any easier. Thanks, J.
by Jordan November 9th, 2004 at 5:05 pm