Tag: novel-writing Page 6 of 16

Relationship Outlines: The Download

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On January 24, 2013

In Organizing, Outline

Last month I wrote this post containing some questions to build a relationship outline between two characters. I’ve now inputted all that information into a spreadsheet that you can download to make it easier to fill out yourself!

View and download the Fiction Writing: Relationship Outline spreadsheet here. (link will take you to a public Google spreadsheet you can copy into Google Drive or download into Excel or Open Office) You can even add your characters’ names and have them self-populate into the questions!

I hope people will use it and find it helpful. Please share it with your writer friends! 🙂

First, Probably Not The Last

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On January 24, 2013

In The Road to Publication, The Waiting Game

I got my first form rejection today. Last autumn I submitted my book to Harper Voyager’s open call for unpublished works, a month after I’d finished the first draft.

I was surprised at how not-upset I was. I’m notoriously thin-skinned, after all. I take very nearly everything personally.

I fully expected rejection. Thousands upon thousands of people were submitting, and I rushed through editing my first draft in order to get it in on time. I also wrote my first query letter with absolutely no research beforehand. “Still,” I thought, “I’ll be sad when that rejection comes.”

I totally wasn’t. It was a very nice form rejection, actually. It didn’t say my book sucks. It didn’t say I’m a terrible writer. It didn’t suggest a career change. And so I feel emboldened, ready to try again somewhere else, with something that’s changed so much from what I enclosed in October.

I may be singing a different tune when I have a hundred form rejections under my belt (although let’s be optimistic and assume I’ll never amass that many), but for now, I’m actually weirdly proud of that rejection letter. It means I submitted my book in the first place. That’s kind of a really big deal for me.

The Last Six

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On January 23, 2013

In Just Keep Writing

I just learned that Six Sentence Sunday is holding its last list of contributors this Sunday the 27th. I’m sad, for it was a lot of fun to choose my favourite six of the week when I was writing The Unravelling and the kind feedback from my posts helped me to be more confident in sharing my work.

I’ll be posting six sentences from The Unseeing this Sunday, and may keep up with the tradition even though the official list isn’t being managed anymore. I’m grateful I was able to participate as much as I did!

Sequel Sorrows

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On January 19, 2013

In Just Keep Writing, My Failings As A Proper Novelist, Research

I got myself all set up to start writing the next book in my series today, and already I find myself stymied. How much explanation do I have to give of the previous book’s events at the beginning of this one? Do I assume that readers have read the first installation and skip all the details, or do I have to give a blow-by-blow recounting of everything in The Unravelling? I mean, people don’t just jump straight to the second book in a series, do they? And writing in the first person complicates it further, for me anyway. I don’t want it to feel like Callie’s saying, “now sit down, little reader, and let me tell you about everything that just happened. We’ll get to the exciting new parts in a bit.”

I suppose the best thing to do is to go back and have a look at the first chapters of books beyond the first in some of my favourite series, and see how they handle it. I have a bit of reading to do. And I was all psyched up to start writing today too!

And Away She Goes

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On January 18, 2013

In Big Ideas, Just Keep Writing, Planning for the Future, The Next Step

I sent off my first query last night, after the eleventy-first revision. I think I like it. Just to be 110% sure, though, I sent it to the Query Shark. Hopefully I’ll be chosen for evisceration. I’ve also decided this fulfills my goal to send out my first letter by the end of January and my new plan, after some helpful advice I read on another blog (Query Quagmire I think?) is to wait until March-ish to start querying in earnest, since apparently many, many people who are either post-NaNo or fulfilling New Year’s resolutions are also querying right now. I’d rather wait until things settle down a bit and there aren’t so many fish in the water.

In the meantime, I was rudely awoken at an ungodly hour this morning (okay, 7:00, but I’m a special little princess who likes her beauty sleep) with a bit of an idea to add to The Unseeing. In adding it to my outline, I gave the rest of it a quick skim and got excited all over again to begin writing. There’s so much going on! I can definitely see myself starting writing for real this weekend, if not tonight.

I’ve also decided I deserve to have my own writing space. Right now, my “office” is the couch in the basement rec room, a few feet away from our only TV, and the majority of the kids’ toys. So if I want to work, I have to ensure that the kids aren’t around (really, only when they’re sleeping) and that my extremely understanding husband doesn’t want to watch TV. It’s also cold as hell down there and kind of dark because there aren’t any windows. At first I wanted to build a nice loft office above the garage, but that doesn’t look feasible based on the way the garage was constructed. So now I think I want one of these: minus the kitchen and trailer, but definitely with the loft. There’s a nice corner in my backyard where I think it would fit perfectly, and I bet I could build one on the cheap with salvaged materials. It would make a nice spring project, because I don’t have enough on my plate already…

It’s nice to have things to look forward to.

The Query, The Quandary

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On January 11, 2013

In Learning, The Next Step, Things That Make You Weep For Your Sanity, Writer's Low

And I thought editing was hard. Writing a query letter, specifically the part of the query that describes the story, is enough to make me smash my head against the screen. I did that last night, actually. Twice. Thankfully my MacBook’s a sturdy machine.

There’s a lot of great resources out there to help writers along the way, but a lot of it’s conflicting. Loglines! No loglines! Reveal the ending! Don’t reveal the ending! Include a bio! Don’t include a bio!

And then there are helpful suggestions like my dad’s for a letter: “Yo bro’….what’s up with THIS??”

Love you, dad, but just no.

Slowly, I’m getting there, but it’s agonizing. I’ve re-written the damn thing ten times and probably have another ten ahead of me before I’ll be satisfied with it. The biggest problem right now, I think, is that I’m never going to know which one is best. And a lot rides on that letter, you know?

Back to head smashing.

Validation

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On January 8, 2013

In Revision, Things That Are Awesome, Writer's High

I had my fifteen-page critique today. My city is fortunate to have a writer in residence, who will kindly review samples by writers in the community. I was really nervous going into it (so much so that I got off the train at the wrong station and had to get on the next one!) but it was a really rewarding, valuable experience. I feel great about my chances at publication now. Of course there were some issues and fixes we talked about, but overall the feedback was very, very positive. I couldn’t be happier! High-fives all around.

When I told my mom on chat, she said, “BELIEVE IT!! We have always known that you had a gift for writing but you didn’t believe it. Now I think you are starting to!” and that’s totally the truth. And when those rejections start rolling in, as I have no doubt they will, I can go back and read that, as well as the letter Deborah included with my critique, for a little ‘atta girl, chin up’ when I need it.

FACT:

By

On January 6, 2013

In Things That Are Awesome

This is actually what my life looks like.

By Dirk Verschure. http://dirksbigbunnyblog.blogspot.ca

It’s why I’m always stubbing my toes on the sidewalk.

It’s why I’ve blacked my eye walking into a cupboard.

It’s why I can walk right past someone I’ve known for years without so much as a hello.

It’s why I can take hours to fall asleep, but don’t mind a bit.

IT NEVER STOPS.

The Up-and-Coming

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On January 3, 2013

In Big Ideas, Organizing, Planning for the Future

Well, the arbitrary date we’ve assigned to indicate the beginning of another pass around the sun has come. I’m all for any opportunity to think about goals and aspirations for the future, as well as doing some planning. It’s like outlining, but for your life.

That was deep, hey? Anways.

I’m finished the third draft of The Unravelling. Other than the possibility of a few more minor tweaks, I feel like what I have now is what I’m comfortable querying on. I have a critique scheduled for my first 15 pages early next week, and based on how that goes, I may do a bit more work on the first two chapters, then start figuring out who I’d like to send it off to. I started researching literary agents this week and plan to spend a good amount of time in the next few days working on a framework for my query letters.

  • Goal: Send out my first query letter by the end of January. Try to send one a week after that.
  • Goal: Be organized about this shit. Keep track of everything in a spreadsheet (I do loves me a good spreadsheet).

I’m on the fence about using a professional editing service. Before, I felt like it was something I definitely wanted to do, but now I’m wavering. I might send out a few rounds of queries first, and if there are no bites, then go with a paid edit.

  • Goal: Curb my chai latte habit (slightly) so I can save for an editor if needed.
  • Goal: In the meantime, find a few people who don’t know me at all to read the thing.

I’m also looking ahead to starting in on The Unseeing in earnest sometime soon. I think my outline is pretty much complete, and things are starting to build themselves up in my head around the few scenes I’ve already jotted down. I’m not at the bursting point yet where I won’t have any choice but to start writing, but I feel like it’s soon. I miss sitting down here on my writing couch in my writing room and just letting my thoughts carry me away every night. It’s been so long!

  • Goal: Start my first draft no later than March.
  • Goal: Finish my first draft no later than the end of 2013 but hopefully sooner.

Can’t forget the most important one:

  • Goal: Be awesome.

Relationship Outlines

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On December 19, 2012

In Big Ideas, Learning, Outline

I searched high and low for a guideline for fiction writers to plot out the relationships between their characters and couldn’t find anything, so I created my own. Since this tool doesn’t seem to exist (or my googling skills are poor) I thought I’d share it so others might benefit. I find things like this enormously helpful when it comes to tricky parts in a story when I’m trying to figure out why two people are treating each other the way they are, how they might react in certain situations or how to move forward when their relationship is evolving. I also think it would be very useful when trying to define the relationship between a protagonist and an antagonist, especially if they know each other well. These would work best if you’ve already done individual chracter outlines.

Copy into the word processing document of your choice and fill in the blanks.

  • First Person’s name:
  • Second Person’s name:
  • Current status of their relationship (friends, enemies, siblings, lovers, etc):
  • Current feelings for each other:
  • What was the First Person’s first impression of the Second?:
  • What was the Second Person’s first impression of the First?:
  • Describe briefly their first meeting:
  • Have their first impressions changed since the first time they met? If so, how, and why?
  • How long have they known each other?:
  • How often do they see each other?:
  • Where do they usually meet? What do they do?:
  • Describe briefly a typical meeting or encounter:
  • How do they speak to each other? (tone, language, feeling):
  • Is their current relationship what the First Person wants? If not, what would they like to change?:
  • Is their current relationship what the Second Person wants? If not, what would they like to change?:
  • Does the First Person trust the Second? Why/why not?:
  • Does the Second Person trust the First? Why/Why not?:
  • What are some things they have in common?:
  • What are some things they are opposite about?:
  • What does the First Person like most about the Second?:
  • What does the First Person like least about the Second?:
  • What is the First Person’s favourite memory of the Second?:
  • What’s the most hurtful thing the First Person has done to the Second? How did it make each of them feel?:
  • What does the Second Person like most about the First?:
  • What does the Second Person like least about the First?:
  • What is the Second Person’s favourite memory of the First?:
  • What’s the most hurtful thing the Second Person has done to the First? How did it make each of them feel?:
  • What do they fight about?:
  • How do they resolve their arguments?:
  • What bonds them together? (common goal, mutual interest, etc):
  • If their relationship is not already a romantic one, is there the possibility of romance between the First Person and the Second?:
  • If so, why hasn’t it happened yet? What’s holding them back?:
  • If romantic, which one pursued the other? How did he/she do it? How long did it take?:
  • If romantic, how is their sex life? Do they both find it fulfilling? If not, why not, and what would they change?:
  • What will their relationship look like in five years?:
  • Is the intensity level of their feelings about each other the same, or does one like/dislike the other more?:
  • Describe the defining moment in their relationship:
  • Is there anything unusual or unconventional about their relationship?:
  • Are they honest with each other? If not, what are they dishonest about?:
  • Do they keep secrets from each other? If so, about what?:
  • Are either of them jealous of each other? If so, about what?:
  • Would the First Person die for the Second?:
  • Would the Second Person die for the First?:
  • How does the First Person think he/she has changed the Second?:
  • How does the Second Person think he/she has changed the First?:
  • What, if anything, does the First Person see of him/herself in the Second?:
  • What, if anything, does the Second Person see of him/herself in the First?:
  • What is the First Person blind about when it comes to the Second?:
  • What is the Second Person blind about when it comes to the First?:
  • What would it take for their relationship to become the opposite of what it is now? (ie: from lovers to exes, enemies to best friends):

If you find this as useful as I do, please let me know! I hope this writing exercise is helpful to other novelists out there who are trying to better define the relationships between their characters so that their writing can become more meaningful.

***UPDATE***

I’ve just put all this into a spreadsheet that people can download and fill out for themselves, if they’re so inclined. View and download relationship outline spreadsheet here. Feel free to share it with your other writer friends!

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