Whole Worlds

Cover page of the Children of Tamal

One of the hardest parts in writing Sci-fi/ fantasy, for me anyway, was knowing where to draw the line between providing enough information about your version of the world for readers that they understand and yet not flood them with irrelevant and boring data.

You can work out the full political system, but do they need to know that the Council only rules in the King’s stead while he is mad? Maybe. Do they need to know that it is the Council that determines whether or not the King is mad? Eventually, especially if the plot involves him trying to reclaim his throne. But when, where and how? These are questions you always need to ask.

So what are the alternatives? Here are  few examples of how.

 

• Third person observation – his reading of the fading calligraphy gave him but one answer, it was the Council that decided the King’s ability to rule.
• Third person conversation – upon reading of the crumbling scrolls, the ambassador looked across and his friend, “It looks like it is the Council that decides.”
• First person thoughts – “So how would he prove himself sane to those that stood to lose the most by it?”

Sometimes the where takes care of itself. If the opening scene is the King’s determination to return to his rightful place as ruler, then start telling them right away. If you mean it to be the final plot twist, then near the end makes sense.  But you can foreshadow – i.e. give hints.

Foreshadowing can be difficult. It often makes sense to you, but for those that haven’t spent ages immersing themselves in your world, it can be a confusing irrelevance that stops them reading long before the actual moment is in play.

The best advice I was ever given by my editors was to give it to a friend to read. Someone that will be ruthlessly honest and hasn’t ever heard you ramble on about the world before. They can be hard to find, but well worth it. If your book is suitable, I find a twelve year old is a perfect blend of ruthless and is unlikely to have been listening to you even if you did talk about it. Maybe mine will still be that way when she is old enough to read my books. Sigh.

Winging It? by Christine Duncan

This post is a bit of a gripe and is not related what I was trying to say last week. But do you ever sit down to a deadline (for say, your blog) knowing you have to write something and yet you have no idea what to write?

Uh huh. Me too. There are some days when it feels as though every topic, every thought in my head is already covered and copyrighted somewhere by someone else. And yet, I have to write something. I tend to go looking for ideas at Crimespace or in my research when that happens. Or I go looking through my hard drive. Often I have jotted a note down somewhere about a blog topic that I ‘ve thought of but don’t have the time to research or write about just then. Yet many bloggers and tweeters seem to just…write whatever comes into their heads.

Over the years there have been a number of writing exercises out there like this. You know, the warm-ups where you sit down and just write with out stopping, without censorship, without planning it out-whatever you’re thinking about at the time so that once you’ve done your ten (or fifteen or whatever) minutes, you will be primed to write on your WIP. I believe Bird by Bird has an exercies like this, and I’m sure I’ve seen it in writing magazines and the like.

It may prime the pump, folks but it’s not necessarily great reading. I don’t want to read blogs just for the sake of reading. I don’t what to see tweets on the clouds you just saw outside your window. Hey! I’ve got my own clouds.

K-Love quoted a study out this week stating that 40% of all Tweets out there are about the minutia. (Okay, they were nicer–they didn’t use the word minutia. I’m paraphrasing, okay?) I have to say, if all you got to write about is what the cute girl who was riding past you on the bike was wearing, I’d rather you took a blog/tweet vacation. I’ll catch you later. I promise.

Go ahead. Tell me I’m cranky. I know it.

15 Favourites by Karen Fainges

Read the first chapter online for free

Recently I was asked by a friend to list my 15 favourite books – ones that stuck with me. I found it harder than I thought. My husband was no help, saying “Tell them Adhesives that work by V Elcro”.

Once I had hit him with a cushion, I stopped to think, what does make a book stick with me? For me, it is one of two things, passion or the ability to make me stop and rethink. If a book has both, it goes on my top 15 list.

One of my favourite authors I am rereading at the moment is Tamora Pierce.  Her Tortall series of books is supposedly for children and although my daughter loves her too, I find myself reading the ink of the page (or the pixels off the screen seeing I read ebooks). She makes me laugh, cry and sit back with shock. She examines people’s motivations without ever getting bogged down. Like a Chinese painting, she portrays incredible scenes with a few slight strokes.

It is the simplicity I like, allowing us to look through the eyes of her characters without judging or noticebly guiding the reader. When writing, I often find myself dropping into preaching mode when trying to make a point. I immediately delete that passage, only to find myself doing it again as soon as I relax. Caring passionately about something is important, but preaching about it is like trying to shoe a fish, frustrates both you and the fish and it’s ultimately pointless.

Actions speak louder than words. Tamora’s characters gently show the consequences of evil actions,  mine tend to just rip the evil guy’s head off. Still it takes all sorts. Which way do you prefer?

In your PJ’s by Karen Fainges

Destiny Sets - read the first chapter free online

Reading Christine’s post started me thinking. One of the best things I ever did for my writing was get a PDA or personal digital assissant. Most people call them smart phones now, they are like a mini computer you hold in your hand. It is the old “keep a notebook beside the bed” hint that writiers seem to give out in interviews all the time.

Having a PDA meant I always had a notepad to scribble quick notes to myself, and if my hands were covered in soil (which they never are, I kill plastic plants),  I could leave myself a voice message rather than having to type. My PDA goes everywhere with me, and I can jot down quick prompts to myself all day, so when I am finally in front of the keyboard, I can get them down. Even at night I might roll over and scribble down a quick note about a dream. It is strange how many thoughts dump into your brain at the end of the day.

It doesn’t always work.  I was looking at a prompt the other day, scratching my head and going “what was I thinking”. Even that seems to help though to get the creative juices flowing. It is strange how it works, but it does work for me. And the weirdest thing, having voice seems to work even more than written notes. I can add the emotion I was feeling at the time, maybe hum a quick piece of music that gave me ideas, even take a quick photo of something that made sense at the time.

Electronic doohickeys aren’t for everyone – still you can find most of these features on your mobile phone now, even the cheap ones. And if you can’t work it, give it to a 6 year old to teach you how. They are whizzes and have no fear, thay will just hit buttons until they figure it out. There is a lesson to be learnt there somewhere. Carpe diem or maybe, seize the buttons.

Weeding out Ideas by Christine Duncan

I was out in the garden earlier today, weeding out around the roses and planning all the writing stuff I was going to do in my head. I had ideas for my WIP, ideas to talk to my publisher about, stuff I wanted to tell you all about on this blog. Do you think I can remember a single one?
Now it’s hot in the garden right now, but I can’t blame this on heat stroke. I have done this before. Regular readers of this blog will remember me complaining that I will go running and plan a whole chapter in my head and come home to the computer and write…nothing. It’s gone.
I was more than slightly frustrated about this until I remembered a column that Lawrence Block wrote long ago in Writer’s Digest. He talked about ideas that pop up at you in the night (or on the run) and said that some won’t stay with you. That was all right, he claimed, since this is the brain’s way of getting rid of the clunkers. (Yeah, I kind of doubt that Block said clunkers too–but you get the idea. I am quoting this article YEARS after the guy wrote it.)
On thinking this over, I think he’s write, err, right. The thing is when I finally do get to the scenes I’ve mulled over like this, they tend to write themselves. Somewhere in the back of this thing I call a brain, some decisions have been made and the scene is usually a good one–even if I don’t really have a conscious memory of how I planned to write it.
Of course, you have to remember, I’m one of those people who can’t plot either. Maybe it’s just how my brain works. How about you?

Talk about the weather

Destiny Sets - read the first chapter free online

My mother always told me don’t talk about religion or politics. You’ll only get into arguments. So what about when you are writing? Should you mention them then?

I feel a hearty Yes coming on.

After all, you are not supposed to talk about those things because they lead to arguments. People feel strongly about them. If you leave them out of your books, you leave a big hole in your characters.

So where do you draw the line between well rounded character and someone that is just a vehicle for your own beliefs?

The question holds the answer. Is this really the character speaking? Is that a legitimate point of view for them to have, and would they really say that out loud?

One of my favourite authors is John Ringo. His characters are often quite pronounced in their beliefs. Occasionally he can stray into the realms of proselytising  but it’s rare. (Or maybe it’s only when I disagree with him that I notice it.) Most of the times, it rings very true for the character, even if they are complete blow hards. And the characters around them treat them accordingly.

That is the other litmus test for me. Do the people around the character react in a realistic way? When proofing, I often try to put the other character’s hat on and think about their reaction while this is happening. It can drive your editor mad when your point of view shifts mid stream and you didn’t notice, but it really does make for a more realistic flow to the action.

So what do you think? Should we talk politics or the weather?

Blog Tour Posts

Just in case I haven’t griped enough about the blog tour I’m doing, I have found another drawback to the whole thing. It is difficult to come up with so many different posts that showcase my writing voice. Now don’t get me wrong–I have no illusions that I have an unbeatable voice. But I do have a voice and if I am doing one of those, 3 ways to conquer writer’s block type posts, I am so bored myself that the voice is lost. (This is not meant to put down the people who can write those kinds of posts–only an awareness of my own limitations.)
After all, the point of doing a blog tour is show readers that they will want to read my stuff. I myself, started reading Donna Andrews and a couple of other mystery writers because I liked their blog posts. The ones I liked and whose books I searched for, talked to their readers about everything under the sun and did it with humor and grace.
So I know I can’t get away with a post that just says read Safe Beginnings And although a lot of my blog tour host sites are aimed at writers, the posts that I’m just now finding out to be effective don’t have as much to do with writing as with revealing something about my writing and me. (which sounds so ego-centric, doesn’t it?) Why I wrote the books, interviews with the character, and facts about domestic violence in our society tend to make me more passionate and I think that’s why it works better. On the other hand, standard interview questions about me (Ms. Duncan, have you always wanted to write?
Um, well, yeah, doesn’t everybody?) don’t work for me. I become tongue tied–or writing blocked or blank posted or something.
If you are just now planning a blog tour, I recommend that you spend a week trying the whole thing out and test posting. You’ll see what I mean. Meanwhile, I’m back to agonizing over guest posting.
Who knew this would all be so complicated? A real book tour (given some money, which I don’t have) is beginning to look good.

The Worst Thing

The surest way I have ever found to get myself out of writer’s block is to ask, “What is the absolute worst thing you can do to your character?”  Bujold put me on to the idea and I love her for it. Find the one thing that would really disturb the character and do it. This tends to work in two ways.

1. You really have to get to know their motivations to answer that question, and
2. They start to do all sorts of interesting things to avoid it.

One of my favourite characters that I have ever written was born from just this process. The world I was writing was based very strongly on survival of the fittest. So what if they met someone who was surviving quite well but was in a wheel chair? How would they cope?

To my considerable surprise, the main character fell head over heels in love with her. Who knew he had it in him? As I typed, I could see it unfold and really threw me. No one reacted the way I thought they would. I really got to know them in a whole new way and the characters became a lot more real. Just like us, facing adversity really made them grow as people and gave them substance.

            One of my favourite movies is Soapdish. A line in that movie goes something like, “I’m normal, who wants to watch me on TV?” While characters can be normal people, they should always be given something extraordinary to overcome, losing the farm, finding their father’s murderer, finding the ‘Forgotten Crystal of Doom’, whatever the genre, giving them something to battle makes them interesting. And what should they battle? Well ask yourself – what is the worst thing that can happen to them? And see what happens.