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!
Archive for November, 2004
Well I’m off to the Donald Maass seminar. I’ll catch everyone upon my return. Practicing sponge exercises as we speak. See ya.
I managed to finish my edits for Kensington yesterday and get another 900+ words written. At the moment I’m waiting for Fed Ex to come pick the document up.
I’m very pleased with my weekly total, even though I’m sure there are a lot of authors out there who would consider it measly.
I’m adding one more scene today to a paranormal novel I am currently working on. Afterwards, I’ll probably call it a day because I have to get ready to leave for the Donald Maass seminar tomorrow. Hope everyone’s goals are within reach. See you after the weekend.
I had one of those truly productive days yesterday. I managed to write 14 pages, which for me is amazing. All I need in order to meet my weekly goal is another 545 words. I’m so excited, since it looks like I’ll be able to edit today without guilt. I’ve decided to go over the pages I’ve already written and fill in description, since the scenes are truly lacking. Fingers crossed that’ll do it.
Quick update. I’ve officially met my weekly goal. I’m debating whether to write a bit more so I can pad next week. 
I’m glad the election is finally over. I am done talking about it. Now I just need time to grieve. LOL!
I know it’s obvious what today is but I wanted to put up one more reminder. PLEASE GO OUT AND VOTE. A while back an email circulated about the women who fought for our right to vote. Several of them were threatened with being institutionalized, while others were jailed and beaten. Some didn’t survive the latter. Not one of these women gave up the fight. I felt ashamed after reading about their struggles. I felt ashamed that as women we don’t take that privilege more seriously. I hear so many people say it doesn’t matter who wins the election, BUT it does. Take time out of your busy schedules today to vote. If you won’t do it for yourselves, then do it for the women who died to give us the right to vote.
I’m stepping off my soapbox now.
Today is the beginning of the unofficial book in a month group otherwise known as WORD (write or die). Several of my blog buddies have joined forces to push each other’s productivity level. And, fool that I am, I agreed to join in.
So far things are going better than I’d anticipated. I’ve made my daily goal. Yeah!!! This is great for me, considering the panic I felt just two days ago. Now all I have to do is figure out how to keep it up. LOL!
Wish me luck.
