What Gender Do You Write In?

This is an amusing site that *predicts* the gender of an author. Try it! It's free, fast, and fun.

Gender Genie

The Outer and the Inner

How does one design a story, whether a novel or a screenplay? I like to think of each story as actually TWO stories, an outer and an inner. The outer story shows the actions that occur in the story, just as if a camera were following them: first the hero goes to this place, he talks with so-and-so, then he hops on his motorcycle, and so forth. The inner story, on the other hand, describes an emotional problem within the hero, and how this problem is solved.

Yes, it is possible to write a story with only an outer narrative, but no matter how flashy this story might be, it will melt away as soon as it's finished. Agatha Christie Books come to mind; so does the terribly expensive movie Cat in the Hat or (for the most part; it had a rudimentary inner story) Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull --> these stories evaporate as soon as they are finished.

I do some coaching with writers for creating and developing their stories. One way to develop a story is first to figure out the THEME you want to explore, and put it in one succinct sentence. Some examples might be:

Great love overcomes even death: Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Longing for something outside the self leads to the realization that the answer has been within the self all along: Baum's The Wizard of Oz

Willingness to relinquish absolute power leads to preservation: Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring

Perpetration of a great wrong leads to a great revenge taken by the victim: Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo

The story then grows from this theme. Find a line of comparison that highlights the theme (such as rich/poor), and think of scenarios through which the theme might be played. Then, imagine characters who might act in these scenarios.

Designing a story is an enormously complex process, and there is no *A-->B-->C* type of rule book. However, the theme is in many ways the engine of your story. After all, movies and novels are today's myths, and people tell myths to relay truths about the human animal. It's great to have a *shock and awe* plot, but it will fall flat if you don't have an underlying change in the character, reflecting the theme!

NANOMANIA and Update

Just a short entry today.

I have a bunch of writer friends who are doing NaNo (National Novel Writing Month), where the writer attempts to write 50,000 words in a month. I've been interested to see how quickly my email inbox has emptied!

I'm not brave enough to go the full boat myself, although in honor of all of this effort I've been aiming to write 750-1000 words per day (5000-6000 words per week), and believe me the pages pile up. It's fun to get back to writing full time, since I've spent the last many moons getting Lever ready to roll.

I'm working on the prequel now, Nest Among the Stars, about Sara's space station disaster. I have about 50-60,000 words on it so far, with a *shock and awe* outer story. I'm buffing the inner story.

I just wanted to mention an awesome book I'm working through as I do this. This book sits by my computer, and asks insightful questions as I develop plot ideas and character entanglements. I'm freewriting lots of answers; this book has triggered some interesting ideas. Here it is:

John Truby's Anatomy of Story

OK, there's my tip for the day. Now go forth and write!

How to Get Your Manuscript Done

I just read an interesting article that said people who write down a goal double or more the chance of accomplishing it. Wow. We've all heard to write things down, of course, but maybe it's a chestnut that needs to be revitalized. It reminded me of a very simple trick I use to finish long writing projects. When I use it, it's magic. When I don't use it, nothing gets done. Are you ready?

Two steps:

1. determine a daily or weekly writing quota of WORDS PER DAY. (not hours per day --> you want results!)

2. make a chart, and put it on your refrigerator where you always see it. Every day, write down what you've done.

Doing these two steps is amazing, I promise.

I'm keeping this entry short because you shouldn't be on the internet anyway! Get back to work!

~missing dear friends~

It's here!

I'm dying to tell someone -- my first copy of my first book just arrived on the UPS truck! My daughter opened the package and flipped through it for a minute, then handed it to me with a smile. "It looks good, Mom." She's upstairs in her room now, so it's just me holding the book. My book.

It's so funny -- I open the pages, and words that I've read 50 times on a computer screen seem different when bound between two covers. I flip through, sampling the different passages...

I'm so excited!

I want to tell someone. I want to celebrate--the book is gorgeous. There is a long way to go yet, but for right now I'm content to smile and feel like I've done something good. I've gone a far way. Wow.

I'll be getting some advance copies soon to send to influencers. Influencers are the people who read your book, and if they love it they talk about it to their friends, write about it on their blogs, or otherwise attempt to get the word out. Anyone reading this who would like to read the book and become an influencer if they love it, please drop me a line. I'll also be initiating a contest for amazon reviews soon.

Celebrate with me, my dear friends :-)