2013 - Steven R. Southard (Poseidon's Scribe)

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Pantzers vs. Plotters

One of the ways writers differ is in the type of preparation work they do before the first draft. Some, called pantzers, write that draft “from the seat of their pants.” Plotters, by contrast, organize and lay out their story’s plot and characters within some sort of outline before writing one word of the story.

These two approaches might be epitomized by two zodiac signs, and the personality traits attributed to each. Aries is characterized by impulsiveness and rushing right ahead—a pantzer. Virgo is characterized by analysis and careful prior thought—a plotter. Astrology is bunk, of course, but that comparison gave me an image for this blog entry.

Which type are you? Is one approach better than the other?

Here are some advantages the pantzers claim:

I write stories faster, without having to do all that preparatory work first. While the plotter is still doing her careful outline, I’m a quarter done with my first draft.
My writing has a sense of spontaneity, of natural flow; since I don’t know what is going to happen next, neither do my readers.
I’ve learned to trust my instincts. I’ll figure out which way to go when I get there. The story has its own direction, and I’ll figure it out.
I write with a feeling of freedom, without having added a constricting, constraining outline. If I used an outline, I’d feel like I shackled myself.

But the plotters counter with the benefits of their method:

I dispute the pantzers claim of writing faster. I think plotting helps me avoid getting stuck.
Good prior planning helps me avoid the kind of re-writing pantzers do to add in earlier parts so the later parts make sense.
Without a plot outline and some character sketches, I’d lose focus, forget where I’m going, and write aimlessly.
I write with a sense of comfort knowing I’ve got things all planned out.

I suspect this is really a sort of spectrum, a continuum of ways to write, and that very few people are really located at the extreme ends. That is, I suspect pantzers do a little bit more pre-plotting than they’re willing to admit, even if the organization is not written down. For their part, plotters aren’t always so wedded to their outlines as they think; they’ll deviate if the story takes off in a different direction as they write.

Further, authors may well move back and forth along that spectrum as their career progresses. They may even find some stories require more pre-planning than others, so they become adept at both methods. My guess—and it’s only a guess—is that among the more accomplished and prolific authors there are more pantzers than plotters. I think they’ve developed sufficient writing skills so they no longer need a written outline and have come to trust their abilities in avoiding, or writing their way out of, plot problems.

As for me, I’m further over toward the plotter side, though I’ve been exhibiting pantzer tendencies lately. Those who adhere to the snowflake method of writing are definite plotters. Most of the writing software packages out there are dedicated to plotters. Pantzers would find the snowflake and such writing software quite frustrating.

So, in this battle of pantzers vs. plotters, who wins? Naturally, you do! You can choose how to write your stories in the manner that suits you best. You can change that method later if you want, depending on what ends up working for you. Please leave me a comment letting me know whether you’re a pantzer or a plotter, and why. It’s okay to share your secret with the Internet, and with—

Poseidon’s Scribe

May 21, 2013Poseidon's ScribePermalink

15 Writing Virtues

Many people believe you aren’t just stuck with the way you are now, that you can better yourself by persistent act of will. I’m one of them, but let me just focus on self-help as it applies to the writing of fiction.

Benjamin Franklin was an early example of someone who developed a program of self-improvement. His method was to list thirteen virtues along with a brief description, then he would set about to focus on one virtue per week. Franklin actually kept a log of this, giving himself a black mark on days he fell short. Presumably, by focusing on one virtue at a time, it did not mean he was abandoning the others during that week.

Examples of his virtues include:

1. Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

4. Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

In the spirit of Benjamin Franklin’s list of virtues, I’ll offer some virtues of writing fiction. I’ve grouped them into ‘process’ virtues dealing with how you write, and ‘product’ virtues dealing with aspects of the manuscript itself.

The Poseidon’s Scribe 15 Virtues of Fiction Writing

Process Virtues

1. Productivity. Fill hours with writing, not researching or time-wasting activity.

2. Focus. Turn off your inner editor during the first draft.

3. Humility. Seek other trusted people to critique your work; be receptive.

4. Excellence. Only submit work you’re proud of.

5. Doggedness. Be persistent in submitting to markets; be unshaken by rejections.

Product Virtues.

6. Relevance. Ensure your work passes the ‘So What?’ test.

7. Appeal. Hook readers from the first paragraph.

8. Engagement. Put your characters in conflict with something or someone; make the story about conflict resolution.

9. Empathy. Create vivid, engaging characters.

10. Action. Weave logical, interesting plots with appropriate causes and effects.

11. Placement. Provide clear but unobtrusive descriptions of the story setting, without overshadowing character or plot.

12. Meaning. Ensure your story’s theme explores eternal human truths.

13. Style. Seek your own voice, then follow it.

14. Communication. Ensure your characters’ dialogue is appropriate and advances the plot. (Mentioned here, here, and here.)

15. Skill. Salt your tales with symbolism and appropriate metaphors.

Your list would likely be different. One way to go about it is to examine critiques of your fiction you receive from members of your critique group, from editors, etc. Are there repeated criticisms? Turn them around and express them as a positive affirmation or goal, not as a negative to avoid. Those goals represent things to work on, and would be on your own list of virtues.

George Carlin fans would likely point out to me that there’s no such thing as self-help. People who get their list of virtues from their critique group, or from this blog post, aren’t exactly engaged in self-help, since they got help from others. Moreover, if beginning writers truly helped themselves get better, then they didn’t need help. Witty gags aside, it can be a comfort to a struggling writer that there exist methods for improvement, but all I offer is a framework for starting; the writer must shoulder the burden of actually doing the work to improve her writing.

I’d love to hear if you’ve found my list useful, or if you’ve developed your own list, or even if you’ve embarked on a completely different method of improving your writing. Let me know in your comments to this blog entry. For now, back to improving his writing goes—

Poseidon’s Scribe

May 12, 2013Poseidon's ScribePermalink

Tightening the Screws

Today I’m discussing why and how writers increase conflict in their stories. Long-term fans of this site with keen memories will recall that I promised to get to this topic in a previous blog entry. Far be it from me to let you down.

Conflict is a necessary part of all stories and it’s a good idea to ramp up the level of conflict as your story proceeds, both to hold your reader’s interest by building tension, and to subject your protagonist to a progressively more difficult test of character, forcing him or her to confront inner fears or character flaws.

Let’s look at a couple of examples. In the 1993 movie “Jurassic Park,” directed by Steven Spielberg and based on a novel of the same name by Michael Crichton, we see a gradual step-up in conflict. The central protagonist, Dr. Alan Grant, is persuaded to leave a paleontological dig to conduct a review of a theme park. Once there he is awed that the park engineers have re-created living dinosaurs. He is put in close contact with children, which he dislikes. When part of the park’s security system is deactivated, a Tyrannosaurus attacks the group. Grant and the children must spend the night in the park, with predatory dinosaurs on the loose. They encounter cunning Velociraptors, and finally both Velociraptors and the Tyrannosaurus.

Conflict need not be physical, or even dangerous. In the 1964 musical “Fiddler on the Roof,” with music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, the conflict is of a different nature but also increases. The village milkman, Tevye, must first contend with the fact that his eldest daughter has chosen her own husband against tradition and his wishes. Then his second daughter likewise makes her own marital match, but with a political and cultural radical. Later his third daughter seeks to marry outside the Jewish faith. Finally, on orders from the Tsar, Russian authorities expel the Jewish villagers from their town.

Notice how, in each case, the author chooses plot events that begin with small conflicts and then escalates, figuratively tightening the screws as with the medieval torture device, progressively challenging the characters with more taxing situations. Just as the protagonist resolves or comes to terms with one disaster, a worse one occurs. Moreover, the nature of the conflicts is such that they strike at a character flaw. In Dr. Grant’s case, it’s his dislike of children. In Tevye’s case, it’s his over-reliance on tradition. The protagonists are forced to grapple with their own weakness and try to overcome it.

It’s sad, in a way, that writers must put their characters through the torture of increasing conflict intensity, just for the sake of reader enjoyment. But as long as the characters stay imaginary, it’s all legal, so ease your mind about that. You’re welcome to comment on this topic of increasing the level of conflict. I’ll return now to my Work in Progress (WIP). Please don’t mind any screams you might hear as the screws get tightened by—

Poseidon’s Scribe

May 5, 2013Poseidon's ScribePermalink

Motivational Objects

Often just the sight of some object can motivate writers to put butt to chair and fingers to keyboard, even when they feel like doing something else. Do you have such an object?

I do. A couple of decades ago, I put this framed picture of Jules Verne directly above the computer in my den. The text states, “Keep writing, Steve!” – Jules Verne. I’m not sure what prompted me to do that, and the whole thing may seem silly, but there’s just something about it…

After all, musicians have long placed a bust of Beethoven atop their piano, and from that perch he gazes sternly as if passing judgment on the pianist’s skill. I have suggested that some enterprising person could make and sell small figurines of some of the muses as inspiration for their various creative talents. If offered inexpensively, such figurines might sell well.

But let me get back to my picture of Jules. It seems ridiculous, but the notion that my literary idol might communicate to me from the grave, urging me to keep writing, is something I find encouraging. It’s as if he’s allowing me to tap into his dedication and maybe a sliver of his talent. JV is assuring me that if I keep at it, I’ll improve. Moreover, when I’m not writing, I feel guilty for letting him down.

Half of you are now wondering if you’re reading the blog entry of a lunatic. The other half is questioning whether this really worked for me, and I’ll respond to that second half. When I first hung the picture on the wall many years ago, I think it worked well to instill the daily habit of writing. I’d be playing some computer game, would glance up and realize Jules Verne himself had commanded me to write. So I’d click out of the game and write.

In other words, yes, that very personalized object did serve to motivate me. These days, with the daily habit of writing well formed, and with several of my stories published, I’m not sure I need the framed picture any more. But Verne still stares from my wall, and will do so until I can write no more; I can’t imagine taking it down.

I’d welcome your comments on this idea. Would a motivational object work for you? Do you already have one? I suppose I’d even take comments about my sanity from the half of you with strong feelings on that subject. In the meantime, I’ll resume work on my next story; after all, Jules Verne himself has given an order to—

Poseidon’s Scribe

April 28, 2013Poseidon's ScribePermalink

Describing Your Characters’ Feelings

How are your characters feeling? It’s important for your readers to know. I’ve written an earlier post about conveying a character’s thoughts, and another one about facial expressions, but it’s time to tackle emotions.

For this blog post I’m going to regard ‘feelings,’ ’emotions,’ and ‘moods’ as being synonymous, even though neuroscientists draw distinctions between these terms.

Emotions are part of the human experience, and seem to result from how we’re hard-wired, what our individual background has been, and a recent external or internal stimulus. Since we all have emotions in the real world, the characters in your fiction must have them too, to make them convincing.

Whether there are six basic emotions, as depicted by Dr. Paul Ekman…

…or eight as pictured by Dr. Robert Plutchik…

…writers just need to know there are many emotions, and characters can feel them in combinations and in various intensities.

As a writer, it’s your job to convey these emotions to the reader with clarity and accuracy. There shouldn’t be a doubt in the reader’s mind about what a character is feeling.

How do you do that? Here are some guidelines to follow:

Make sure the emotion is appropriate. Remember, it’s based on a character’s background, but is also a response to a recent stimulus.
Show the emotion through the character’s actions: speech (not only what is said, but word choice and tone of voice), facial expressions, hand motions, or body posture.
Show the emotion by describing the character’s thoughts or mental state.
Use metaphors and similes, but shun clichés.
In certain situations (fast action scenes, very short fiction, or if applicable to a minor character or sub-plot), just tell the character’s emotion. This is not as effective as other methods and indicates amateurish writing if used too often.

If you get stuck trying to portray a character’s emotion in words, one technique that might help is to recall a time when you had that feeling yourself. See if you can draw on that memory and maybe even recreate the emotional state within yourself. If you can conjure up within yourself the same emotion your character is feeling, you stand a good chance of finding words to describe it.

There are some helpful websites that list adjectives useful in describing emotions, notably this one and this one. But I caution against an over-reliance on such adjectives. It’s more effective to show emotions through a character’s actions or by describing what’s going on inside the character’s mind.

How did this blog post make you feel? Are you now confident you can convey a character’s feelings in a more precise way? I welcome comments from you on this topic; in fact few things in life bring greater joy and serenity to—

Poseidon’s Scribe

April 21, 2013Poseidon's ScribePermalink

Your Author Platform

Several years ago, the writing world buzzed about the concept of “author platform.” Here I’ll briefly define the term, state the purposes of these platforms, describe mine, and offer thoughts on yours.

There are many sites where you can get a good definition of author platforms, notably here, here, and here. Basically your platform consists of the ways you use to stand out in the crowd, the methods you use to attract a fan base of readers.

An author platform starts with your stories, your books. From a platform point of view, it’s best if they have something in common—genre, theme, style, etc. But the other aspect of the term platform is how you connect with readers. Not just how you connect books with readers, but how you connect you with readers.

There are many ways to do that, including appearances at conferences and other venues, interviews, and your web presence. Web presence includes blogs, social media, e-mailed newsletters, etc.

What’s the purpose of this platform? In the ‘old days’ publishers would build a platform for the author. No more. Now it’s expected the author will take out saw and hammer and construct it herself. If a publisher or agent sees that a writer has an existing platform, that represents a low business risk, an established product that’s ready to sell to already-waiting customers.

Readers don’t need to know about platforms, but they do enjoy connecting with authors they like. When they take delight in a book and do a web search for the author and find a rich and varied web presence, they feel they can join the author’s circle. When they find the author has other books just as good and similar in some way, they feel comfortable shelling out money for them because there’s a familiar consistency there, a set of established expectations.

For authors, the platform serves the purposes of connecting to both readers and publishers in the modern, web-based world.

As for me, my platform is still under construction. I’ve mainly been working on writing stories, as many as I can. Although I’ve dabbled in different genres, I’ve found I enjoy writing about the problems of people dealing with new technology, especially in historical and foreign settings. The stories in the series What Man Hath Wrought, put out by Gypsy Shadow Publishing, are the best examples.

My web presence is slowly increasing, by means of this blog, Twitter, and my author page on Amazon. I’m still working on Facebook and other venues.

What about your platform? My advice is to do what works for you. Start with writing stories; hone your writing skills. If you can get some of them published, even at non-paying markets, that at least gets your name out there. Then work on the various marketing methods. As you try things, pay attention to sales and spend more time on things that increase sales and less time on things that don’t.

As with any trend or movement, a backlash is forming with respect to platforms. See section 3 of this entry. I think Jane Friedman’s advice to new fiction writers (for whom I write my blog) is sound. Just write. Think about writing, focus on writing, enjoy writing, and let the marketing develop later.

What are your thoughts on author platforms? Feel free to leave a comment and let me know. In the meantime, see that guy trying to erect some sort of raised dais there in the middle of the internet, using two-by-fours and bailing wire? Don’t laugh, that’s—

Poseidon’s Scribe

April 14, 2013Poseidon's ScribePermalink

A File Full of Ideas

If you’re a writer, do you keep an “Ideas File?” You might have a different name for it, but I’m speaking of a single place where you store ideas for future stories.

The philosopher Socrates opposed writing anything down, whether it was a good story idea or not. He had his reasons, but it occurs to me the world would never have heard of Socrates if his student Plato hadn’t written down much of what the great philosopher said. Similarly, you could trust your memory to retain all the story ideas that occur to you. Or you could type them or write them by hand and store them for later retrieval. It seems obvious that, as writers, we’re not adherents to Socrates’ school of thought in this regard.

It doesn’t matter what form your Ideas File takes, whether it’s an electronic file, a paper one, or a list on a white board. The important attributes are that it’s available to you for storage of new ideas and for later retrieval.

The ideas you store there will likely be based on flashes of insight you get when your mind is otherwise idle; when you’re commuting, or cleaning the house, or taking a shower. These idea sparks can also occur based on reading books, magazines, or newspapers; or from listening to radio or audiobooks; or from watching a movie or TV show. Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games trilogy, said she got the idea for the series’ first novel from the juxtaposition of two TV shows while flipping channels.

The entries in your file can be basic story ideas, plot layouts, character descriptions, images of settings, even just metaphors or clever turns of phrase. The file can contain a combination of all of these. The file can be organized or not; order doesn’t matter until the file gets quite large.

Your attitude toward your Ideas File is important too. Don’t worry if the number of entries grows and grows and you never seem to be using any of the file’s ideas in your stories. Don’t berate yourself if you look back over early ideas and they appear stupid or juvenile. It should give you a good feeling to peruse the file from time to time, especially when you’re stuck for an idea. That’s what it’s for.

Let’s look at things from the point of view of these ideas, the thoughts you’re putting into the file. They each start life in your mind. At that moment you’re enthused about them; they take on a sure-fire, best-seller glow in your mind. You write or type the idea and put it in your folder, only because you are in the middle of another project and can’t flesh this idea into a story right now.

The idea then sits there in your file for a while, maybe years, along with other ideas. It waits there for you to come across it again. When you do, the idea might look worse than it did before, or the same or even better. Sometimes the idea appears to lack something, but combining it with another idea lifts it to greatness. Sometimes a poor idea sparks an unrelated good one, for reasons you may never understand.

As for my own Ideas File…well, there’s little point in telling you anything specific about it. I’ve kept it for decades now and its entries span the spectrum from idiotic to pretty good. If I described my file or its entries, I’m afraid it might cause you to construct your file in some way that doesn’t fit you.

If you’d leave a comment, I’d love to hear about whether you think such an Ideas File would be useful to you. If you already have one, has it helped you? While I await the deluge of comments, I’ll thumb through the files of—

Poseidon’s Scribe

April 7, 2013Poseidon's ScribePermalink

Leave Yourself Wanting More

You’ve heard the show business adage, “Always leave them wanting more,” meaning an entertainer should exit the stage before the audience gets bored. By the same principle, novelist and poet Helen Dunmore said you should “finish the day’s writing when you still want to continue.”

Why is that? There seems to be some important facet of human nature at work here. To cite another example of this phenomenon, I used to read to my children when they were quite young, but I tried to observe them as I read to look for the early signs of boredom. In time I found I could stop reading, even in the middle of a book, and tell them that was it for the night. They’d beg me to go on, but I wouldn’t, because I knew I’d timed it right.

The human brain seems unusually good at pattern recognition and associating things together. If your brain associates a given entertainer with a feeling of boredom, you’ll be less likely to pay for a ticket next time. Similarly, if a child associates books with a feeling of interest and yearning for more, the child will likely develop a love of reading.

Let’s say it’s late at night and you’ve been writing for a while. You are at the point when you usually go to bed. You know you should call it quits, but you’re so near the end of a section, or chapter, or the whole book. Moreover, you’re in the flow, and the words are coming out well, better than usual. If you can just push it a little longer, you’ll achieve the satisfaction of completing something good.

This is the moment of decision, and you’re tempted to push on. If you do, and your fatigue causes you to get stuck for words, your brain can start associating writing with being stuck and tired. That leads to writer’s block.

However, if you save your work and turn off the computer now, your brain will associate writing with being in the flow, with feelings of interest and enthusiasm. Moreover, you’ll get the sleep you need.

It’s a funny thing, but you needn’t worry about forgetting overnight what you were going to write next. When you come back to your manuscript the next day all the memories flood back in, along with the confidence and fervor of the previous night, and pretty soon you’re in the zone again.

If you wish, before you finish for the night (even in the middle of a sentence!) you could jot down some quick notes of where the prose was headed. By some mysterious mental mechanism, your brain will be thinking subconsciously during your non-writing interval, working out better phrasing, solving plot problems, etc. The next day when you resume, you may find you have better ideas than you ended up with the night before.

Has this been your experience? Do you agree with Helen Dunmore and me, or do you adhere to a different school of thought? Leave a comment and let me know. There’s much more I want to say, but I’ll stop here, so you’ll associate feelings of fascination with—

Poseidon’s Scribe

March 31, 2013Poseidon's ScribePermalink

Is Your First Draft Terrible Enough?

That’s not a typo; I’m questioning whether the first draft of your story is horrible, trashy, and amateurish enough to qualify as a first draft. I’m not talking about cacography here, I’m talking about tripe, drivel, bunkum.

Yes, I know all writers are different and for some, their first draft is their publishable, final draft. Isaac Asimov said he didn’t re-write his stories. But I’m guessing that doesn’t work for most writers, especially beginning writers.

For most of you, here’s my advice: set out to write a bad first draft. Why? I’ll explain.

The first draft is unlike all later ones in that it has no predecessor, just a blank screen (or page) and a writer’s mind buzzing with ideas. That moment before you write the first word is a daunting one; the task seems mountainous. Often that story idea in your head seems so perfect, you just know readers will love it.

But when you try writing down that idea, it looks so awful it’s embarrassing. The text falls far short of the shining, crystalline structure in your mind. You can get so frustrated you’ll be tempted to abandon the whole stupid idea. “What was I thinking? I’m no writer!”

I’m suggesting it’s best to admit up front your first draft will be garbage. That way you’re establishing reasonable expectations and lessening the frustration. Trust in your ability to improve the first draft later. Accept that those later revisions will be easier than writing the first draft; you will get closer to the ideal story in your mind.

How do you write a first draft that qualifies as pure dreck? Think of your writing mind as having at least four component parts, four people with distinct attributes. These are your muse, your playful inner child, your squint-eyed editor, and your glad-handing marketer.

I’ve described the muse before. By the time you’re writing your first draft, her job is done and she’s left town. Think of your squinty-eyed editor as a scowling old man with an eyeshade and a huge supply of blue pencils. Send this editor on vacation now. Trust me, he’ll come back well-rested to help you with your second draft. As to that ever-smiling, extroverted marketer with the plaid suit, he’s on vacation most of the time and that’s okay for now.

Let’s focus on the one I left out, the playful inner child. I suggest you picture the character Josh Baskin, played by Tom Hanks in the 1988 movie “Big.” He was pure drive, energy, and enthusiasm. He had no inhibitions, no taboos, and no fear of failure.

Channel that character as you write your first draft. Strive to get in the zone, in the flow. If you find yourself momentarily stuck, write down what you will need later to get past the sticky part, put that in brackets (or different font or color, whatever), and move on. For example, knowing how important the opening hook is, let’s say you can’t think of one. Just write “[come up with hook]” and write on. Chances are the words you write next might serve as a hook, or a hook will occur to you later. Don’t stop to do research now, just bracket it, “[Do whales really get hiccups?],” and look it up later.

Even though your first draft is a stinking pile of compost, you’ll feel better about having something written down, something you can now work with. Further, by writing in burst mode, you can maintain a consistent, integrated work that maintains the same tone and voice throughout.

More great first draft advice is available here, here, and here. By the way, do you think this blog post is poorly written? Ha! You should have seen the first draft typed up by—

Poseidon’s Scribe

March 24, 2013Poseidon's ScribePermalink

A Review of “A Steampunk Carol”

How about that? My book, “A Steampunk Carol,” received a favorable review by the nice folks at Coffee Time Romance. Here’s that review, where my book earned 3 coffee cups on their rating scale.

I’ll raise my own coffee cup to Hollie, at Coffee Time Romance. Her review is much appreciated by—

Poseidon’s Scribe

March 22, 2013Poseidon's ScribePermalink