How to write a book

Oh, this is funny. It's true, too, says the writer whose own deadline looms, though not quite as imminently.

Although I have a sneaking suspicion that writer assembled it while denying a deadline.

Swiped from difrancis

How to write a book

Oh, this is funny. It's true, too, says the writer whose own deadline looms, though not quite as imminently.

Although I have a sneaking suspicion that writer assembled it while denying a deadline.

Swiped from difrancis

Get to work dammit

...because every once in a while, you do something that strikes you at the time as Right. And you sit back and admire it. And you turn it this way and that way and admire it some more. Like the hitter who stands and watches the ball fly out of the park, the tennis player who boggles at their last forehand, the golfer who tees off and then remains in place like a bronzed and burnished statue to the golf god. Wow, look at that fly. I did that. Hit it right on the sweet spot. So purty.

Ever see the movie Funny Face? There's a scene in the bookstore where you see the front of the model--I think it's Dovima--and she looks all sharp and put-together in that architectural 50s way...and then they show the view from behind which is all clothespins and string and clipping and such to make the dress hang properly and photograph well. Purty for the camera. But not exactly functional. Not sturdy. Wouldn't last five minutes with a good editor.

The living room looks great, doesn't it? Just don't open the door to the hall closet (no, I'm not that old. Just used to listen to rereuns of old radio shows).

Don't mind me--just admiring the view. Trying to forget about all the stuff that still needs fixing. But I can't.

Back to it. For real this time...

Get to work dammit

...because every once in a while, you do something that strikes you at the time as Right. And you sit back and admire it. And you turn it this way and that way and admire it some more. Like the hitter who stands and watches the ball fly out of the park, the tennis player who boggles at their last forehand, the golfer who tees off and then remains in place like a bronzed and burnished statue to the golf god. Wow, look at that fly. I did that. Hit it right on the sweet spot. So purty.

Ever see the movie Funny Face? There's a scene in the bookstore where you see the front of the model--I think it's Dovima--and she looks all sharp and put-together in that architectural 50s way...and then they show the view from behind which is all clothespins and string and clipping and such to make the dress hang properly and photograph well. Purty for the camera. But not exactly functional. Not sturdy. Wouldn't last five minutes with a good editor.

The living room looks great, doesn't it? Just don't open the door to the hall closet (no, I'm not that old. Just used to listen to rereuns of old radio shows).

Don't mind me--just admiring the view. Trying to forget about all the stuff that still needs fixing. But I can't.

Back to it. For real this time...

A birthday

It's James Marsters birthday today!

Thanks to madrobins for the info.

A birthday

It's James Marsters birthday today!

Thanks to madrobins for the info.

Transition chapters

Some chapters are harder than others. Yes, they should all advance at least two of the following: plot, character, and theme. But sometimes these advances involve transitions, profound decisions that really jerk the steering wheel and move the story in a very different direction. And these transitions can be difficult to set up because so many things need to work together just so to ensure that a true tipping point is achieved. The plot needs to advance to the point where the character makes a decision, and that decision in turn needs to be supported by the information revealed to that point, and by the actions of the deciding character and all about her, and by the overall flavor/sense/*theme* of the book. It seems obvious, but when you're dealing with any sort of mystery/puzzle/crime, you need to lay out the facts in a way that the character can uncover them, then give the character enough information to make a decision.

And when it's a Jani chapter, and she's already planning to do something that more than one person who knows her guesses she is going to do, and she needs to mask that decision in a costume of sound political judgement because she knows that none of her friends wants her to do what she's planning, and because as this is going on, underlings are actually digging to databanks and mining information and gathering evidence that supports her surmise but you know, constitutes actual evidence...

I'm just trying to say that this chapter is going to take longer to write than I thought. But if done properly, it will provide the footing for much of what comes after. So it needs to be done right. Because the "and then a miracle occurs" stage of the draft is long past.

But I got to make up a class of diseases and a method of transmission, so that was cool.

Transition chapters

Some chapters are harder than others. Yes, they should all advance at least two of the following: plot, character, and theme. But sometimes these advances involve transitions, profound decisions that really jerk the steering wheel and move the story in a very different direction. And these transitions can be difficult to set up because so many things need to work together just so to ensure that a true tipping point is achieved. The plot needs to advance to the point where the character makes a decision, and that decision in turn needs to be supported by the information revealed to that point, and by the actions of the deciding character and all about her, and by the overall flavor/sense/*theme* of the book. It seems obvious, but when you're dealing with any sort of mystery/puzzle/crime, you need to lay out the facts in a way that the character can uncover them, then give the character enough information to make a decision.

And when it's a Jani chapter, and she's already planning to do something that more than one person who knows her guesses she is going to do, and she needs to mask that decision in a costume of sound political judgement because she knows that none of her friends wants her to do what she's planning, and because as this is going on, underlings are actually digging to databanks and mining information and gathering evidence that supports her surmise but you know, constitutes actual evidence...

I'm just trying to say that this chapter is going to take longer to write than I thought. But if done properly, it will provide the footing for much of what comes after. So it needs to be done right. Because the "and then a miracle occurs" stage of the draft is long past.

But I got to make up a class of diseases and a method of transmission, so that was cool.