Author: Corbett Buchly

Corbett Buchly https://buchly.wordpress.com Writer of poetry and fiction, sci-fi ethusiast, and collector of playing cards and typewriters.

Pace Setting for Writers

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As I come up on 250 pages in my novel, I’ve been pondering the importance of pace in writing. The closer to the end of the narrative I come, the more anxious I become, and I sometimes fear that I write too quickly. I used to not dwell on this. You write at the speed you write, right?

Years of practice have shown me this isn’t so. I’ve learned that slowing myself down a little can help the quality of the work. Slow enough that I consider how the language is fitting together. Word choices, symbolism, character motivations, all of these background components get a little more screen time in my writing brain. It’s important to not go so slow that you lose your emotional momentum. That is probably more disastrous than the alternative. But pulling back a little, I’ve learned, makes everything shine a little more.

Writing as Ritual

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I think there’s a little mysticism in every good writing process. The little tics and superstitions that we pursue that help us enter that proper state for ultimate wordsmithing. The act of creative writing involves a bit of tearing into our subconscious, and it’s very unlike mentally painless processes like changing a tire. We’re are taking advantage of our fragile psyche, and so we need to get comfortable first.

Here are  a few of my rituals:

  • Location: A public venue, like a coffee shop, with a busy, but relatively quiet clientele works best.
  • A beverage: Lately this has been a red bush tea.
  • The right spot at the right angle. This is probably some mental residue from having read one of Carlos Castenada books and his discussion around places of power. See, I told you: Mysticism.
  • A review of what’s been done before, usually to include the last paragraph or so of prose and my notes on plot and character.

Many years ago, I was compelled to write everything longhand and then transcribe back to the PC. Obviously, this is terribly inefficient, and through pure consideration for the time I have on earth, I trained myself out of this. Although, I must say, I still compose most poetry by pen first.

The Timelessness of Wells?

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Last night, I started reading The Time Machine, published first in 1895, and was struck with H.G. Wells’ audacious choice to forgo proper names, referring to his characters as “the Time Traveller,” “the Psychologist,” “the Editor,” and so on. With difficulty, I tried imagining picking up a modern novel that made choices like that. There may be many who feel the choice an archaic one, removing too much of the necessary personality and detail from the story’s characters, turning them into nothing more than stereotypes. A fair argument. But I find it a bit exciting. Perhaps, it’s because it makes the story feel more like a fairy tale filled with impossible things.

Torturing Characters

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I listened to a podcast today in which someone quoted an interview with Jim Butcher, writer for the Dresden Files. Jim basically said that he loves to torture his protagonist, presumably to heighten the comedy and drama of the show. And I realized that I don’t go far enough with my characters in that way. I treat them too nicely. Perhaps, in a sense, I’m too “nice” of a person to write dramatic fiction. I hope not, because I sure love doing it.

So from this realization, I have formed my next step. I’m going to do some brainstorming around my main characters on how to “turn up the psychological heat” for each of them. I may end up throwing all these ideas out, but I want to see what happens if I can make things a lot worse for each of them. I just hope I’m not too squeamish. I want to get my hands a little dirty here. I’ll let you know how it goes.

After all, words are messy.

Tying the Knots: Visualizing Plot

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As I reached the middle point in the novel, I began to worry about having all my characters enter and exit the final climax with meaningful story arcs. I worried about having everything come together and “feel right” and give the reader that sense of “everything paid off.”

So I entered my second phase of frantic story plotting. I struggled for awhile with a way to represent the story visually. I toyed with the program XMind (which satisfied some of my needs but not all). In the end, I couldn’t get it to present the elements I needed to see all at once in the format I needed. Primarily, I wanted to lay out character motivations and plot events, and be able to easily move things around, draw and erase associations, and so on. Plus, and this is the shortcoming of most programs like this, it needs to have a flexible and free-wheeling approach. I would also like the visualization to have some depth to it, so I can bring forward and push back certain element types. Color coding and icons are also critical to highlight story arcs and similar threads. Someday, perhaps, I may collaborate with a developer to design such a tool. For now, however, in the heat of artistic creation, I was too impatient to slow down for such a project. So I did the visualizations in my head. Still, I think there’s a better way.

Although I would still love to have the tool I describe above, I am fairly satisfied with the resulting outline. Having a plot line I’m comfortable with, makes writing the prose relatively smooth sailing. I love not having to worry how I’m getting to the next scene. Knowing that, I can just play with the language and the characters and the scene and just make the prose come alive more.

Your Environment: The Other Character

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Today’s blog post was inspired by this excerpt from the comic, Breaking into Comics The Marvel Way. The passage from which it is taken focused on advising new comic book artists:

Include more backgrounds to give us a better sense of place. Think of your background as another character in the story and use it to help enhance the storytelling and the world your characters are inhabiting.

While the writer, C.B. Cebulski, was talking about comic art, his advice could just as easily apply to fiction writing. It’s so easy to forget the importance of the background. When developing a story, we’re often trained, formally or informally, to think about sentient characters and their development.

But the background, and here I mean the environment or the setting, is critical to your story in that it provides that layer of texture that grounds the more ethereal qualities of dialogue and action. Not only that, but it’s also a key element in differentiating your story from all other stories. And by thinking of your environment as a character, you can really flesh out its nuances and peculiarities.

I suggest writing up a character persona on your environment. And finally, think about how that persona interacts with the other characters in your story. What do each do for the other?

Why Write When You Can Relax Watching the Latest J. J. Abrams Concoction?

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I’ve heard other writers say, “I write because I have to. ” A lot. And maybe it’s true. Maybe it’s some universal truth among writers. I even used to buy it of myself. But I don’t anymore.

I’ve had dry spells where I wasn’t writing. Turns out, I didn’t self-implode or shrivel up or anything equally horrible. I survived. I’m here writing this to prove it.

But what I do know is that when I’m creating, I’m happier. I’m more alive. And I see the world more poetically. Things are more magical. Those things of value are amplified and those of insignificance are diminished. And I know, intuitively, that it’s just a better way to live.

I think I must be an artist first, and a writer second. If my talents lent themselves more to music, I would have followed that path. I think we must all find that one thing that makes us burn with life and follow that thing, with a vengeance. If we could all do that, I’m certain the world would be a better place.

Gotcha: The Twist

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I’ve been mapping out my outline to Books 2 and 3 of the novel and having great fun doing it. After I got all the basic plot points down that I felt needed covering, I went back through and looked at:

  • Motivations
  • Plot Twists
  • Flow and Dramatic Sequence

Let me elaborate on these three points (which just so happen to be very much interrelated). After I’ve laid out the basic plot, I like to go back through with each major character to ensure that something is driving them through the story. I don’t want them to just be “along for the ride.” Then, I look for strong “gotcha” moments. In a sense, many of these moments were built in from the beginning; they’re almost the reason for the story. But in many cases, I can find additional moments that, ideally, even surprise me as I write them (and give me that “yes!” feeling). In some cases, these new plot twists derive directly from my work on character motivations. And finally, I go back through looking at the flow of the story and it’s dramatic tension (as a result of sequence). I need to not only ensure that I reveal the right information and resolve the proper issues in the order best for the story, but I need to make sure that the story flows properly from group to group, character to character, giving appropriate time to each.

And now, on to the prose!

Layers of Transformation and Depth – Repeat – Repeat – Repeat

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I’ve wrapped up the first draft of book one (about 130 pages), and I’ve got this nagging feeling that there will be no end to revisions. I’m moving on now to book two, but I know, in the back of my mind, that I need to return to this first book with:

  • more details in various places (specifically, technology and the speech style of certain characters)
  • setting up certain scenes in more dynamic, engaging ways
  • opportunities for tension-tightening in certain areas

It sounds simple, but I keep finding more revisions to add to the list. Not to mention, I’ve already been through a few rounds.

This reinforces my belief, of course, that most great art is brought about through the use of layers. When I refer to layers in fiction, I mean to say this going over the text repeatedly to add and transform, and essentially to add depth. There is a direct comparison, I believe with painting.

The Big Scene: In the Thick

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I am nearing the end of book one (of which there will be two or three), and I am ending it with the “big scene.” This is the scene that inspired the entire novel. It was one of the first images I saw in my head when conceiving the story, and it has been the primary driver in creating the rest of the world, its characters and its sub-plots.

And let me tell you, it is sheer thrill. Much more so than if I had written it first. Because now, as characters act and cause great change, I understand the impact of those actions, I understand the nuances, and I suspect, I hope, the reader will too. It is a writing experience charged with passion and adrenalin (mine).

Enough. I’m getting back to the thrill.