Five Writing Mistakes Worth Making

I came to life as a writer after working as a research scientist. One lesson I brought with me was humility. No matter how elegant and pleasing your theory is, Nature’s answer may be, “No, you’re wrong.”

Another lesson was Don’t be afraid of making a mistake. Most of the best discoveries began with an error (penicillin) or a “failed” experiment. For the former, new knowledge follows if you pay attention and work to understand what happen. For the latter, you find out what doesn’t work. On a deeper level, the best surprises happen after the researcher mutters, “That can’t be true.” 

Try something you’re sure to make a mess of. Getting out of your comfort zone stretches your imagination and your craft. If you haven’t tried it, write in the point of the opposite sex. Compose an epic poem or song lyrics. Write a fight scene or a sex scene. Develop an argument for a point you disagree with. 

Do the work with integrity, bringing everything you have to it. You don’t have to submit it anywhere. You should make notes afterward about what you learned and how you felt.

Let your character lead you into a dark alley. When a character takes a story into a wrong direction, let him or her keep going for a few scenes. See what happens. At a minimum, you’ll know more about the character, but sometimes you’ll find a new angle for your story.

Write too fast. Jettison punctuation. Put down the wrong word. Write nonsense. Let it flow until all that’s left is your own distinctive voice. This is not for publication, it’s for self-discovery, so charge forward.

Submit a manuscript you think is wonderful even though it isn’t. In the days before electronic documents, this would have cost you money. Today, you can test the reactions to your story with a dozen editors and have a dozen more to send revised versions to. And even a form rejection is feedback. A manuscript that sits on your hard drive will never have any perspective but your own.

Write something you’re not ready to write. I think this idea from Stephen King. Often stories do have their own times, but it’s also possible that hesitation isn’t fear rather than a need for ripening. And any story you are not ready to write is more likely to be wonderful than one that comes with no effort.

This list is far from complete. Many of the most important mistakes are made inadvertently. To have those opportunities, you need to spend a lot of time at your keyboard. Recognize something that did not go as you hoped it would. Move past the frustration and discomfort of making a mistake and accept it. Analyze the situation. And learn the lesson.

The Heart of the Story

Hemingway said, to get started on a story, "All you have to do is write one true sen­tence." Graeme Shimmin has an excellent exploration of this idea, in combination with others, but I'd like to stick with the main concept, a focal insight into why your story matters.

I prefer to call this the heart of the story because ideas can be abstract. Jurassic Park is about resurrecting dinosaurs. Groundhog Day is about a man living the same day over and over again. The idea or premise for a story is a kind of starting point that can be analyzed and embroidered. Though it might come with emotional elements for you, that isn't necessarily the case. Some people begin from an even more distant point, a prompt. The Web is full of writing prompts, which seem to do well for nonfiction, but can be unreliable for creating stories that matter. (You can even follow Twitter sites to get regular prompts.)

A premise has real value, but you often need to do a lot of hard work at finding the emotional connection. It's not often you can sit down and compose the story with the premise alone (although, the muse may, occasionally, cooperate).

In the same vein is the theme of a story. Themes, correctly articulated, can reveal meaning and provide help in rewriting and, sometimes, in development. Generally, they become accessible only after many words are written, so they aren't usually the best starting point.

But, if you know the heart, you have the idea and the emotion together at the start. How do you capture a heart?

Absence makes the heart grow - For me, this often comes from looking at a list of premises or titles I've stored away. What may have amused or intrigued me, with the passage of time, is likely to emerge with full power with a later visit. I think my subconscious picks up bit and pieces and endows them with meaning when I'm not looking.

Grand gestures - Watch for this in life. When someone surprises you by behaving out of character so they can have a big impact on someone else, notice. Absorb. Create your own version, and start writing. (I like to think of these as demonstrations of love, but, for the sake of a story, they can also be the opposite.)

Beauty - Nature and art can expose the world in startling new ways. The response is inevitably emotional. And, if we are paying attention, there is likely to be an accompanying insight that can be articulated.

To find the heart of the story, something must capture your own heart. You must allow yourself to be wooed by observations, experiences, and rich ideas. Explore, be open, treasure what you come across, and revisit whatever has touched you.

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Upcoming classes

February 2-15 The Perfect Setting (online) http://ce.savvyauthors.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Calendar.eventDetail&eventId=2149
February 25-March 11 How to Write FAST (face to face) Westchester Community College http://www.sunywcc.edu/continuing-ed/ce/
March 9-April 3 Career Planning for Writers (online) http://yarwa.com/programs/

Revision Questions: Sandwich or record?

I think Motown's Berry Gordy may have had the best test for a work of commercial art. Each week, he'd review the new songs and ask employees this question: Would you buy the record or a sandwich if you were down to your last dollar?

If you're writing for yourself, your friends, or "high art," this question doesn't matter. But if you hope to make a living writing or make the bestsellers list, you must provide an experience that is emotional, entertaining, and free of distractions. While we may appreciate the information and insight, we read commercial fiction for the thrills, tears, and laughs. We expect to be immersed in the story and to be carried along through highs and lows by a need to know what happens next. We have little tolerance for malformed sentences, impenetrable prose, leaps of logic, inconsistent characters, or scenes that don't go anywhere.

Few people can create beautiful, enticing, and clean copy in a first draft. The jewels are cleaned, cut, and polished during revision. Below are ten questions aimed at helping you with this process. They are not comprehensive, but they might provide a starting checklist as you develop your own list. As always, successful analysis and reworking of your manuscript needs to take into account your target audience. The changes you make to engage with a young adult who loves well-constructed fantasies will not necessarily be the ones you'd make to reach a middle-aged fan of technothrillers.

OK. Here's your starter set of questions:

1. Is it clear? Does it make sense? Does it confuse rather than raise interesting questions? Are elements (characters, world, plot) inconsistent?
2. Is it fresh? Does the premise intrigue readers? Are there surprises? Does it avoid cliches? Does it raise questions?
3. Is is it a page-turner? Is there a problem with the pacing? Where did you stop or slow down? Are their long blocks of backstory and narration? Do you raise the stakes? Does it have hooks?
4. Is the ending satisfying? Does it pay off the story question? Are important loose ends tied up? Does it fulfill genre expectations?
5. Does it have the right scenes? Are there important holes in the story? Could some scenes be cut?
6. Is your main character someone readers can identify with? Is he or she likable? Someone readers can sympathize with? Are there any "too stupid to live" choices?
7. Did you pull your punches? Could some scenes be bigger? Go further? Did you risk your own emotions?
8. Does a clear voice come across? Does it sound like you? Or an amalgam of your favorite writers? Is the voice right for the story?
9. Is it poetic? Did you read it aloud without stumbling over the words? Does it include images you can't forget and phrases that feel wonderful in your mouth?
10. Is it a clean read? Do sentences work? Are verbs strong? Is it typo-free?

This doesn't address genre specifics (e.g., sparks flying in romance novels, clues in a mystery), and answering all of the questions satisfactorily does not ensure that you have a work that works as a whole. There is no formula. Instead, like Gordy's sandwich question, this provides a first-order quality control that can save you from errors and omissions that make editors say, "This is not for me."
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Upcoming classes

January 20-February 17 Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing Workshop (face-to-face) https://writerscenter.org/courses/science-fiction-and-fantasy-writing-workshop
February 2-15 The Perfect Setting (online) http://ce.savvyauthors.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Calendar.eventDetail&eventId=2149
Februrary 25-March 11 How to Write FAST (face to face) Westchester Community College http://www.sunywcc.edu/continuing-ed/ce/

Clarity Is the Soul of Wit

Fundamentally, writing is communication. Yes, it includes sound values, wordplay, images, allusions, and a fair share of nonsense and fun. (Anyone who has ever listened to comedian Sid Caesar's gibberish knows how far you can go with no attention to syntax and still succeed.) But confusing readers is one of the fastest ways to drive them away.

Making everything you write clear and unambiguous isn't easy. Robert Heinlein claimed that the best writing course he ever took was one where, in the US Naval Academy, his teacher presented military situations to the students and asked them to write orders on the blackboard. If anyone else in the class could misinterpret an order, the day's work was a failure. A job I had early in my career was even harsher. I had to write procedures for purifying enzymes and nucleic acids. Errors could cost the company a lot of money, but, worse, they could threaten the health of the lab workers.

In that case, my readers often did not have English as their first languages, and it taught me lesson number one: Know your audience. What words do they know? Can simpler terms be used? What is their education? Are they familiar with your references? Expressions? I used the phrase "In for a penny, in for a pound" in a Young Adult novel I was writing, and my daughter called me on it. Your assumptions about what people know about history, songs, public figures, and scientific facts may be wrong. Which brings up another lesson...

Get another pair of eyes. If possible, find beta readers (non-writers who will read complete manuscripts), and explicitly ask them to mark places that are confusing, unclear, or need to be read more than once. Ideally, you want someone who is likely to enjoy what you are writing. Genres have different demands. When I write science fiction, I can count on readers to be more comfortable with learning about new terms and concepts as the story unfolds. (James Tiptree actually recommended writers "drop readers in dark holes, and then don't tell them.") On the other hand, romance readers who read SF romances often don't have the same tolerance for uncertainty. They want the SF concepts clearly explained as they are introduced. (These same people would attack you if you explained all the secrets keeping lovers apart right away.)

Story logic can be another stumbling block. Leaving out clues and essential concepts (or introducing them in the wrong order or at the wrong times) can leave readers scrambling to put the puzzle together. And the emphasis or context is important, too. Mysteries play with this notion by purposely introducing red herrings and by creating distractions to make important clues less obvious, but this is dangerous business. Do it outside a mystery, and your wit may not be appreciated. Do it wrong in a mystery and you'll frustrate even these readers, who will feel cheated. Revelations in all stories must be handled with care.

The most common failures of clarity I see are places where it isn't obvious who or what a pronoun refers to or where there's confusion in the dialogue as to who is speaking. Fix these.

It is reasonable to push your readers' vocabulary -- slightly. Coming up with a few new words in a book can be a delight, provided they are the best words for what is being conveyed. Dialogue that is "on-the-nose" sacrifices subtext and opportunities to express character. And all art seeks subtlety and ambiguity that can extend the range of interpretations. But there is no room for showing off your vocabulary, wit, and intelligence to the point where you are frustrating and humiliating your readers. Resist the urge.

The Fast Draft Challenge: Hurts and helps

Throwing words, sentences, and paragraphs onto a page in a rush is like running a race. If you're out of shape you may finish with a limp or even come up short. If you write regularly, you'll get to the end most days, but some will be easier than others.
Since fast drafting is one of the critical steps I mentioned in Productive Writing Stripped Down to the Essentials, I'll dig into it a bit more this time. (I've drilled down on Story Premise and Drafting Goals in previous posts.)
Lots of practices and attitudes can get in the way. Here are a few that may hold you back:

• Perfectionism - Drafts are all about allowing yourself to make mistakes, but that isn't easy for some people. Putting down words and creating scenes that won't make the final draft can feel sloppy or like a waste of time. For most people, it's not. It's a great time saver that keeps you moving forward so the story can be exposed. Rewriting is where things get fixed. Getting that part of your mind to quiet down and let the words flow takes practice.
• Looping - There can be an irresistible urge to fix what is written as you go along. This knocks you out of creative, composition mode, and slows things down -- often to a stop. It can be difficult to let it go when you see ways to make it better, but, for most people, the starts and stops get in the way of productivity.
• The right word - Good writers make the best word choices for final copy, but stopping to search for the best word as you compose can trip you up. I've found, for my own work, it's best to just put something down if the third word I come up with still isn't quite right. Inevitably, the best word comes to me in rewriting. (Sometimes I put questionable words in italics or just add an asterisk at the end.) Similar to this is uncertainty about spelling (put it down phonetically) and reaching for a fact (see bagel below).
• Lack of commitment - This is similar to dithering, but in real time. It is not unusual to have other scenes, other stories, and other work suggest themselves as you work on your draft. Somehow, you know the words will flow if you just change projects. This is usually an illusion. If you've set your goal for writing, consider it a promise to yourself. Keep your promise, and then feel free to go after the shiny objects.
• Interruptions - The words are flowing and then you hear the familiar "bing" of new email. Or you have the desire for a cup of coffee. Or the cat jumps into your lap. Do what you can to eliminate interruptions and temptations. Track what happens anyway to see if it stops you too often. Take steps to give yourself the time and quiet you owe yourself.

There are certainly more problems with keeping the words flowing. Sometimes the juices don't flow for no apparent reason. All you can do is write down a noun, and then a verb, and keep building stuff that is horrible but keeps you moving forward. A process one of my mentors called (I'll paraphrase) "defecating masonry."
Usually, it doesn't come to that. To provide some help, here are a few things you can try:

• Remind yourself it's not a watercolor - You want perfect? You can get it in a later draft. Everything can be fixed, and no one needs to see this version.
• Use a timer - It's like a starting gun, and it puts a definite limit on the minutes you need to dedicate to composing.
• Fill in with bagels - I just write the word bagel when the right word or fact refuses to come to mind. I clean up the bagels later on.
• Be ready - That means having your premise and your goal for the day. Sometimes it also means getting research done and answering questions about the mood and the purpose of the scene.
• Use a dictation program - This is especially valuable if you tend to loop. Rewriting as you work is very difficult when you are dictating.
• Interview your character about the scene - When I'm lost, I turn to the character who has the most to lose in the scene I'm writing. I cut and paste questions onto the page and write his or her answers.
• How do you feel about the other people in this scene?
• What do you need or want?
• What's in your way?
• What happens if you succeed?
• What happens if you fail?
• What's at stake for you?

Are there days when I use everything in this toolbox and still have a blank page when the timer goes off? Yes. But it's rare, and I've seen days when I'm blocked become more rare over the years. When it happens, I shrug my shoulders and let it go. Usually, I forget about it. Sometimes, I change my writing goal for the next day. I don't chastise myself or brood about the "failure." Often, I've found, the best writing days follow a day when nothing worked. That's a helpful perspective to keep in mind.

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Upcoming classes
January 5-30, 2015 How to Write FAST (online) http://www.yosemiteromancewriters.com/workshops
January 13-February 17 Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing Workshop (face-to-face) https://writerscenter.org/courses/science-fiction-and-fantasy-writing-workshop
February 2-15 The Perfect Setting (online) http://ce.savvyauthors.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Calendar.eventDetail&eventId=2149
Februrary 25-March 11 How to Write FAST (face to face) Westchester Community College http://www.sunywcc.edu/continuing-ed/ce/

Persuading Yourself: Arguments to keep you writing

Almost every fiction writer working on a big project will hit a wall along the way. Usually, it comes at about one half to two thirds through the drafting, though it can also come during the revisions.

Often, unhappiness builds as incomplete and broken scenes accumulate. Sometimes, the muse goes on vacation and the words and ideas stop flowing. Plot problems seem intractable. Characters who were happily chatting away go silent. The whole idea of writing the book or script seems ill-conceived, or you conclude you are not the right person to be writing it.

I advise my students to create a list of arguments early on that will convince this frustrated self to keep writing. Ten to twenty single sentences can usually do the job, and they should be written as soon as is practicable. (Before drafting is good. No later than before you finish Act One, or 15-20% of the manuscript.)

Some of the questions I listed last time in A Story Premise You Can Love and Cherish can help you write these arguments. I always have a bit I'm passionate about and my hook to the market (or at least a key audience) on the list. But that still leaves a lot of list to go. So here are some prompts that might help:

1. Passion - "The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know." You may just be head over heels in love with the story that's in your head. That's fine. How do you articulate it to the future you who has fallen out of love? I usually try to write a poetic line that expresses the core of the work. For one work of mine, it was "Three bullet holes in a wall plaster can't hide."
2. Market - Can you get specific about what will create the buy decision? Usually, this is a fresh angle on something with a known audience. (Ironically, I'm working on a fresh angle with zombies.) If you can express this element in a logline that convinces other people now and will convince you in the future, you've got it.
3. Career or brand - How will this work advance your career or establish/deepen your brand? If you are writing a book that is the second in a series, that's a good reason to finish the book.
4. Challenge - What about this work stretches you as a person and/or as an artist? Can you articulate that? For instance, writing from an unfamiliar point of view (different gender, religion, culture) might be reason enough to write and finish a book or script.
5. Explore a concept - Years ago, I wondered, after reading Philip K. Dick novels, about the impact of memory erasure and implantation on romance. This resulted in a long short story (which I sold) that led me to a deeper understanding of how we grow through failed relationships. (Yes, it sound like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but I got there years before the movie. Maybe Charlie Kaufman is a Dick fan, too.)
6. Explore a character - This is almost always on my list. I'll hear a distinctive sentence from a character and write down that quote. For me, it works like the poetry in the first prompt above, evoking a world that fascinates me.
7. Do some good - Does your work expose and evil? Inspire philanthropy? Encourage and guide? Great. That's an excellent reason to finish. I have a story where a character throws his friend's life into chaos (loss of job, pursuit by police, being mugged). But the consequences to the friend are less than the danger of self-indulgent complaining -- which can be devastating spiritually.
8. Honor a person - When I lose people in real life -- either because they die or because they move on -- I often use them as inspiration for a character so a part of them can still be cherished.
9. Create art - The sentences written in answer to this one would vary widely. For me, it has to do with what might live on in the work, what delight it might bring aesthetically, and what I have to share.
10. Pay off investment - The investment could be time, money, energy, reputation, or whatever you put at risk to take on this project. But don't just mention that in your argument. Mention the possible payoff (money, fame, reputation, etc.), too. Otherwise, this argument is just a bludgeon.
11. Keep a promise - The most obvious one here? The work is under contract. But, even if it's speculative, chapters and scenes could be owed to a writing buddy or a reader.

Note: These are only useful if they can convince a future you, so use your best talents of persuasion. Also, the statements need to be specific. In teaching, I've found a lot of people default immediately to generic statements. Ideally, each sentence should be phrased in a way that is particular to the work in progress and can't be applied to any other works. If the statement can be applied to another work, be suspicious.

Recently I've taken a new view on my own lists. In addition to doing the basic work of keeping me going, I try to make some of the statements part of an Argument for Excellence. My aim is to take the work, especially in the revision phase, to a higher level of competence, making it more engaging, meaningful, and authentic. This is not easy, but keep it in mind once you've completed some works to your own satisfaction.

Your main goal is to get around, over, or through the wall you hit with a big project. A good set of statements should persuade that future you and lead to success.

A Story Premise You Can Love and Cherish: 10 questions

Few things are more important to getting attention for and selling your story than the premise. But, as mentioned in the last post, your premise, whether it is a phrase or a paragraph, is a foundation for productive writing. I recommend taking two weeks to formulate a premise for a book or screenplay, and that's if you are someone who is tuned to noting down ideas and connecting key concepts in interesting ways.

Getting the premise right is essential, so I've put together ten questions you can use to test yours:

1. Are you passionate about the premise? Is the concept one you want to delve into? Will it lead to answers that will matter to you?
2. Do you know who you want to share your story, findings, or thesis with? Who is the audience for this and what compels you to bring this material to them? Do they share your passion or will they need to be lured in?
3. Are you the right person to write this? Stretching and getting into areas that make you uncomfortable is fine (perhaps essential for the most valuable work), but can you gain the knowledge, perspectives, insights, and emotional connections that will make your version distinct, essential, and true?
4. Is your premise clear? Does it include all the elements (e.g., for a logline), and are these specific, evocative, logical, and accessible? Is it complete enough?
5. Is it the right time for you to write this? Has the idea fermented long enough? Have the ideas been pushed to the limit? Do you have enough information and understanding to start? Have you developed background and a few focus areas (theme, character, plot points, arguments, questions)?
6. Do you have good reasons to write this? Have you put together a list of 10-20 arguments to present to yourself when you enthusiasm and confidence wane?
7. Is the premise rich enough? Does it support a book-length investigation without padding or adding adjunct material?
8. Have you investigated comparables? Are there similar books, movies, or other media around? Do you have something new or under-explored to add? Could one of these provide a good model for your work?
9. Is it marketable? Does it fit a particular genre? Does it catch the zeitgeist? Does it have appeal? Does it exploit your platform?
10. Have you chosen the best medium? Why a novel or a script or a nonfiction book or a play or graphic novel or a speech?

It may not be necessary to have good answers to all of these before you commit to your premise, but reviewing these questions may reveal holes or deepen your understanding of what you intend to undertake. For many writers, who have a long list of possible books, more than could be written in a lifetime, this list can help with prioritization. And the greatest value might be shortening the list. It is very easy to spend too much time on topics that are flashy or popular, but not high quality.