All posts by Jordan

Technique

The basics of plot

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Last week at ThrillFest, NYT bestseller William Bernhardt gave eight basics of plot as part of the CraftFest track. And my favorite point might just be his first.

1. Plot is the writer’s choice of events to tell the story of the character’s progression toward the goal or desire.

Sometimes as authors, we can let our characters run off with our story. That’s all well and good until suddenly they’re far afield from what we’d planned and going off in another genre and not even doing that well and stuck in a corner, and none of us knows how to get out. (Been there, done that!)

We, the authors, are in control. We get to choose the events. We get to create the characters. Your characters not doing what you want? Change their motivations. Work harder on getting to what they really want, and then manipulate the story circumstances or character so what they want will get them to do what you want.

This reminds me of a great example from a writing book I know I’ve read (I want to say Jack Bickham’s Scene and Structure, but it might be from Donald Maass or Sol Stein). In this example, the author needed the character, a nurse, to go back to check on a patient. Not hard, right? But the nurse was also busy, the patient on the other side of the complex, and a capable staff the nurse trusted was attending to him. So why would she make herself late and give herself the extra work when she knew the patient was in good hands?

I can’t remember the exact solution, but the author found some little detail that would bug the nurse—thinking she’d left something undone, perhaps. The nurse thought about that nagging little detail, watching the clock count down until the moment she could run back and check on it. This transforms the character action from the author jerking the character around to the author guiding the character and molding her into the person who would do exactly what you need her to.

This relates well to Bernhardt’s second point:
2. The plot must be right for the character—and vice versa.

The rest of the points:
3. The plot is composed of a series of conflicts. (See point 8 here.)
4. The protagonist should fail many times before succeeding.
5. The protagonist’s story is only as interesting as the antagonist makes it.
6. Readers like to be surprised.
7. Readers hate coincidence.
8. Conflict can be inner, personal or external.

What do you think? What’s your favorite “plot point”? (LOL)

Photo by Matthew McVickar

Technique

Ideas to Beat a Drought

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Most (though not all) of us experience some sort of writer’s block or creative drought every once in a while. I’ve been working on one lately, and let me tell you—it’s not fun.

Gabi Pereira of Iggi & Gabi had been dealing with a creative drought recently, too. She asked for suggestions from her brilliant readers, and she got a lot of great ideas to end a creative drought. Here are some of the great suggestions:

From Joel:

  • “Sit down and try to connect with what [your] inner self is needing right now, before it is ready to start writing again.”

From Selena Wolff:

  • Recognize the creative life cycle, and remain confident that the creative mindset will return.

Writing WednesdayFrom Kari Marie:

  • Spend a few minutes a day thinking about what bothers you about your WIP, or reasons why you can’t move forward.
  • Daily journal writing, even if it’s only a sentence or two.

From several people:

  • Get out and live life!
  • Read!
  • Give yourself room to breathe: don’t judge yourself, allow yourself to not write, etc.

This will be part of next week’s Writing Wednesday!

What do you think? How do you beat a drought?

Photo credits: desert—Guilherme Jófili; hand writing—Melanie Cook

Technique

The randomest writing question I can think of

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Last year, I volunteered to trade manuscripts with a stranger. If I remember correctly, her manuscript was one of her first completed novels—and just a few short months later, Deanna Barnhart‘s running a very successful writing blog, with an awesome blogfest this month:

Today, we’re supposed to post a writing question, so here’s mine.

I’ve been studying writing craft since I was a teenager—which isn’t a super long time ago (I’ll just tell you, I’m 28), but still, I couldn’t seem to exactly remember how I learned to write. A couple months ago, it came to me: the Internet.

In the mid-nineties, there was this website on writing craft. It might have even been an ezine. It had some pretty good stuff. The site color scheme was red and black, and it might have had a grayish color background.

The only concrete writing advice I can remember from the site was to edit (what a concept!) and a story one student had written that involved postcards and balloons. It had a sleepy beginning, but the author of the article (who wasn’t the author of the story) suggested the story author add two sentences to the beginning of the story that would help highlight the poignancy of the postcards to the readers.

I think I came across the site again a few years ago, so it might still be out there. I also think it had some form of the word “write” in the name and URL.

My question: where can I find this website?

Last week was our first Writing Wednesday. Maybe one of these articles will help answer your question!

Even if you can’t help me find that website, be sure to come back next Wednesday for Writing Wednesday II, to share your favorite blog posts on writing!

News & Contests

Happy Independence Day! (and odds and ends)

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Probably one of if not the most influential paragraphs ever to come from an American pen:

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Thank you to all those who have ever sacrificed to protect our freedoms.

Poll results: Right now Voice and Clues in mysteries & nonmysteries are tied for the lead. However, an emergency has come up in my family. I’ll try to get to these as soon as possible, but for the next week or so, posting will probably be a bit spotty.

In the meantime, be sure to check out the Independence Day Flash Fiction Blogfest and Writing Wednesday (still open to new entries through Tuesday!)!

News & Contests

Writing Wednesday!

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Welcome to the first-ever Writing Wednesday! Since so many of us are writers, I know we all must read lots of writing blogs. So let’s share some of the great things we learn about writing through a fun new linkup! It’s like a blogfest, only easier!Writing Wednesday

What are the rules?

  1. All articles must directly relate to writing. If you see something that makes you think of a writing principle, and you want to participate, I recommend you blog about your thoughts, and then submit your blog post.
  2. You should use a descriptive name so we all want to click on the article: Jordan McCollum wouldn’t be very enticing, but Doing Backstory Right would.
  3. Articles can come from your blog or someone else’s.
  4. If it’s your post, link back to Writer Wednesday in the post so your visitors can join in the fun! (You can use the badge below—the code includes a link!)
  5. You can submit up to three articles total.
  6. Posts can be old or new.
  7. You have until Tuesday, 5 July 2011 to submit.
  8. If you’d like to follow me, I certainly wouldn’t object! It’s not required, though.

Why should you participate?

  • We can all benefit from this!
  • Find new blogs and great writing advice—without sifting through the ENTIRE INTERNET.
  • Share the articles you’ve worked so hard on with my 200+ RSS subscribers.
  • It’s a great way to grow a blog!

How can I get a cool badge?
Copy the code below and paste it into a blog post or a gadget/widget in your sidebar. (It’s in HTML, so be sure you’re adding an HTML gadget, or select the Edit HTML/HTML tab above the text window on the edit post page.) UPDATED with fixed code!

<a href="https://jordanmccollum.com/tag/writing-wednesday/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z41/MamaBlogga/th_writingwed.png" border="0" alt="Writing Wednesday" ></a>

Where do we put our links?
Right here! Please remember to link directly to your post (i.e. ihaveablog.blogspot.com/2011/05/i-have-a-post.html and NOT ihaveablog.blogspot.com—this makes it easier to find the article!) and use a descriptive name (i.e. How to handle backstory and NOT Yippity Skippity Blog!).

Just fill in the boxes below to get started:

Thanks for participating!

Photo: writing with my new pen by Melanie Cook

Mechanics

For the love of commas!

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Get ready for Writing Wednesday tomorrow!

This has bugged me for a long time (I actually have a draft about this from a year ago), and I don’t know how much help I can really be, and I did just post something kinda ranty on Monday—but the time has come. I must take a stand for and against commas.

Okay, mostly just for the proper use and against the incorrect use of commas. (Note: we’ll be using the linguistic convention of marking incorrect sentences with an asterisk.)

When you DO NOT need a comma

  • When you are using a title with a name

He is not President, Barack Obama. You are not author, Jimble Berry. The comma implies we don’t necessarily need the element, that the sentence would be complete without it. But Barack Obama isn’t the only president ever in the history of the universe.

If the title can’t stand by itself, do NOT put a comma in there. You wouldn’t say:

*I had lunch with president!
*You spoke with head chef.
*Vice president fired him.

Thus, you wouldn’t use a comma there: I had lunch with President, Obama. VP, Wilsher fired him.

  • Kinda the same thing: when the thing after the comma isn’t the only example of the the thing before the comma

This might be easier to illustrate with examples:

*Last night I watched the television show, Jeopardy!.
*My sister, Brooke, had a baby three weeks ago. [I have three sisters. And one new niece!]

The comma in the first sentence indicates that Jeopardy! is the only television show. At all. Ever. I didn’t know that. As addictive as Jeopardy! is, I’m not sure how I waste so much of my life in front of the television if that’s the only show ever. But hey, when my turn finally comes up, I’ll know answer question to that question answer.

When you use a comma there, it means that “the television show” and “Jeopardy!” are the same thing. But the “the” is equally culpable, since that means there’s only one. So it’d be fine to say, “I was watching Jeopardy!, a television show, last night . . .” (You know, if you were on Mars and talking with someone who didn’t know what Jeopardy! was.)

  • When you’re using multiple adjectives that modify one another or that must read in that order

*I have a bright, red dress.
*She loves her Marine, drill, instructor boyfriend.
*Two, old, men played chess.

The first would be correct if your dress is both red and bright—but if you’re trying to say it’s a bright shade of red (which I’m guessing you are, unless your dress has LEDs), you need to drop the comma. Unless it’s a red, bright dress.

The second and third examples illustrate the other point. The commas tell us the order of these adjectives could change: that’s your long, old, dirty shirt could be written with those adjectives in any order and still make sense. “Her instructor, Marine, drill boyfriend” and worse yet, “men, old, two played” don’t work there.

  • Between an adjective and its noun.

Along with example #3 from the last round:

*I have a big, fish.
*He likes raw, bacon.

I hope this is obvious!

  • Between a subject and its verb

This doesn’t include phrases set off by commas, though.

*President of the United States Barack Obama, gave an address yesterday.
*The biggest problem here, is that we don’t know what a subject and a verb are.

(Note that if you added a “the” to the beginning of sentence 1 and a comma before “Barack,” you’d have it right!)

When you DO need a comma

  • When you’re using a title with the

The “the” makes it grammatical to drop the name, so you need commas to set it off.

The President of the United States, Barack Obama, addressed Congress.
He was fired by the vice president of internal sales, Jim Ferrera.

It would be okay to drop the names from these sentences: “He was fired by the VP of internal sales.” So the comma is necessary.

  • Kinda the same thing: when the thing after the comma IS the only example of the the thing before the comma

Again, easier to illustrate with examples:

Last night I watched the longest-running Broadway musical in the history of all time, Springtime for Hitler.
My middlest sister, Brooke, had a baby three weeks ago. [She’s in the middle of my three younger sisters. That makes her middlest. I reserve the right to make things up.]

Just like above, if you can completely drop the element, it needs to be set off by commas.

  • Between interchangeable adjectives

If you could say the adjectives in another order and still have a grammatical sentence, use commas:

Your old, long, dirty shirt stinks.
Your dirty, old, long shirt stinks.
Your long, dirty, old shirt stinks. (Wash it!)

  • To set off a dependent clause.

These clauses can’t stand alone as sentences. They include participial phrases, clauses of time and other modifiers.

Walking out the door, she noticed how scuffed the frame was.
When he woke up, he found a shiny nickel.
She hopped down the stairs, yelping all the way.

However, when these elements are in order in the sentence (i.e. not moved to the beginning), you don’t need one:

He found a shiny nickel when he woke up.
She held up her hands as she backed away.

It might seem complex, but with practice and meticulous self-editing, you really can become a comma wizard. Don’t give up on grammar or claim that it’s someone else’s responsibility!

When do commas stump you?

Photo credits: Obama by Floyd Brown; laundry by supermayd