This is one of those "don't do it the way I was doing it" posts, which probably makes it a rarity out there in the blogosphere.
If I'm frank with myself, I've only really done one project at a time. I do a short story, send it out and I TRY to work on something else, but I'm really going back and looking at that same short story, wondering what I could have done better, wondering how lonely that little guy is sitting the huge unloving slush pile.
So my new angle is going to be what I call "critical mass." Instead of writing and sending out one short story at a time, I'm writing four or so right after each other, then submitting them to various pubs en mass. If one gets rejected, then its sister story is sent out the next day. The idea goes beyond just throwing something up against the wall. If editors keep seeing your name, they know that you passionate and trying. That puts you ahead of about 70 percent of the pack.
Even if you're self publishing, this a potential strategy. Think about what you -- and most other people do -- when they find a great new writer. The first thing they do is look for more of their work to buy. They've got an appetite and they want to feed it.
If they can't find anything, they go find something else they can sink their teeth into.
If they find that the next writer had more than one delectable stories, they'll buy more and gorge at the story buffet.
So it's time to get cracking at the keyboard! ... Right after lunch.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Monday, August 5, 2013
If you like that plot hole, hang a lantern on it. No, don't actually do that.
Call it an increasing level of cynicism, sophistication or meta-fiction, but there's a growing trend for movies to call out a plot hole than actually trying to pave it over.
This little trope, Hanging A Lantern, keeps growing because film crews figured out that shooting a new line of dialogue is cheaper than re-shooting a scene of plot sealant.
So why do writer's end up Hanging the Lantern when they don't need a film crew?
Thinking about the workshops I've been to, there's three main reasons you have a plot hole.
Part Time Writer:
A person has to eat, so their fiction writing is done here and there, on the train, during lunch, late at night when everyone else is in bed.
Writing in chunks like this leads to the writing forget what ground they've covered before and/or what they have yet to explain.
The cure: A continuity re-draft. This a different kind of rewrite, you don't add a missing apostrophe, or delete an extra comma. You grab a pad of paper and take notes on the plot, character names/spellings and anything else that needs to maintain consistent throughout the story.
Idiot Plot:
The writer has a "vision" or doesn't know how to get to their great money shot of scene without taking a logical path to get there. You're biggest hint: If nine people tell you it doesn't make sense, then the issue might be the story, not your readers.
The cure: Readers you can trust. This is where a good workshop can help you understand that: a.) Your plot doesn't work; b.) How to get there in a believable way.
Lazy Researcher:
If your idea of military research is to watch more Hollywood blockbusters, then don't be surprised when your war story never makes it past the slush pile.
The cure: Too often the adage "Write what you know," is taken to literally. If that was a truth instead of a guideline, then The Wire's first season would have had drug dealing scriptwriters. And Elmore Leonord would have never written a crime novel ... or a Western. A little research or having a researcher helps fill in the gaps.
This little trope, Hanging A Lantern, keeps growing because film crews figured out that shooting a new line of dialogue is cheaper than re-shooting a scene of plot sealant.
So why do writer's end up Hanging the Lantern when they don't need a film crew?
Thinking about the workshops I've been to, there's three main reasons you have a plot hole.
Part Time Writer:
A person has to eat, so their fiction writing is done here and there, on the train, during lunch, late at night when everyone else is in bed.
Writing in chunks like this leads to the writing forget what ground they've covered before and/or what they have yet to explain.
The cure: A continuity re-draft. This a different kind of rewrite, you don't add a missing apostrophe, or delete an extra comma. You grab a pad of paper and take notes on the plot, character names/spellings and anything else that needs to maintain consistent throughout the story.
Idiot Plot:
The writer has a "vision" or doesn't know how to get to their great money shot of scene without taking a logical path to get there. You're biggest hint: If nine people tell you it doesn't make sense, then the issue might be the story, not your readers.
The cure: Readers you can trust. This is where a good workshop can help you understand that: a.) Your plot doesn't work; b.) How to get there in a believable way.
Lazy Researcher:
If your idea of military research is to watch more Hollywood blockbusters, then don't be surprised when your war story never makes it past the slush pile.
The cure: Too often the adage "Write what you know," is taken to literally. If that was a truth instead of a guideline, then The Wire's first season would have had drug dealing scriptwriters. And Elmore Leonord would have never written a crime novel ... or a Western. A little research or having a researcher helps fill in the gaps.
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