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Visited your sign. I hate that spot, and that it must be there I go. There’s so much pain still there. Yet I am also, in a small, strange way grateful it is here, as it must be faced. It must be confronted and remembered else nothing will be changed.
There were already flowers. Someone else was thinking of you.
Wish I could say we have indeed fixed society. Perhaps in some ways we have, yet not enough. Maybe it never will be. Still we try.
Don’t say it was “delightful”; make us say “delightful” when we’ve read the description. –C.S. Lewis
I found this great piece of writing advice from C.S. Lewis on twitter today.(courtesy of @thatboycanteach)
I know the phrase “show don’t tell” confuses a lot of people who are new to critiquing/workshops, because all writing is telling… isn’t it?
But this is exactly what writers are talking about when they use that phrase.
This is also why, when critiquing your work, writers might tell you to remove adjectives and adverbs, or why you might hear that those two types of words are “bad writing.” It’s not that you’re never allowed to use an adjective or an adverb, but that–like Lewis says–it’s much more preferable to be terrified, than to be told something is terrifying.
Whenever you tell your reader what the characters in a story are experiencing, instead of letting your reader have an experience alongside your characters, you miss an opportunity to invite your reader into the story. If you miss too many, eventually your reader will stop waiting for their invitation and simply leave.
Just as it had been the first time, back when he was in Davenport’s plane, it was a strange thing to step before the mirror. It was almost a foreign act for him to do so, a thought which made Spike pause. He had no desire to glance into the small piece of glass before him because there was no sense of significance in doing so. The way he looked held little importance to him, just as it was for what he ate or wore. All of it was mere necessity.
Yet it mattered to everyone else. Every day he had been asked what he wanted to eat or do or watch or a hundred other things. And each of these choices mattered to them, something he was becoming painfully aware of yet could not comprehend, To Spike, food was needed for nourishment and clothes provided protection from the elements around him. That was all. But to everyone else these things held more regard than that.
Spike looked into the mirror. The same face he recalled from before stared back. Yet the longer he looked, the more uncomfortable Spike became. Something was wrong, a primal sort of thing which he couldn’t find the words to explain yet was beyond aware.
Pulling away his gaze again, Spike looked around the room. His gut dropped further the more he did. None of this was his. The items he had been using all this time, the place he slept, the objects which occupied his time, the people around him… not even the face which he saw in the mirror. All of it belonged to someone else.
No, his mind countered defiantly; he had his name. That was his at least. And yet, even that he could not full claim, as it was an acronym. Not a name, but a shortcut for a bunch of words that had been listed to describe what he was.
And what he was, as much as he did not wish to admit to such, was no a man. Spike was a parasite. Every moment he remained meant one less for Chase to live. Spike was robbing the boy, stealing him away from his family and those who cared for him. Spike was a damn computer app, a series of binary code created to serve a purpose when initiated. Wasn’t that all Spike truly cared about? Wasn’t that around which everything in his life surrounded?
His life…
He had no life.
And yet…
Spike looked back into the mirror, willing himself again to stare into the face. Chase Davenport stared back at him. The expression was pained now. Yes, Spike knew the truth. He understood. This was Chase’s life; he was merely here, existing within it. Spike was nothing, a painfully inapt, incomplete substitute who contributed nothing. Yet he still didn’t want to leave.
It’s not much, yet as we move ever-closer to the beginning of Nanowrimo 2017, here’s a few tips and tricks I’ve picked up over the years.
1. Create an inspiration board
Collect inspirational quotes and stock photos which you find interesting or which could fit your story. The first few years I wrote for Nanowrimo, I would print each photo and create a collage of them to hang on the wall above my writing desk. Now I create a board on Pinterest for them. Gather as many as you would like. When I’m lacking ideas, I open the photos and search for one, then beginning asking myself questions about it. Where is this place? How did we get there? Who is that in the photo? What is happening here? Why?
2. Ask yourself why
Why this particular story? Why these characters? Why this protagonist(s)? Why are you excited to write this? Make a list. It doesn’t have to be fancy; most of mine have listings such as certain scenes I can’t wait to write, aspects of the characters I look forward to most of bringing out, revelations I’m anxious to reveal, or even just one word listings. When I find myself stuck, I often come back to this question and the list I’ve made. Am I excited that Sarah is willing to defy anyone including family to do what she thinks is right? Then I’m going to show that in the next scene.
3. Keep your research to a minimum, especially in November.
I’m very guilty of getting so wrapped up in the facts I’m discovering that sometimes I waste precious time I could be writing. My rule while doing writing prep is five clicks then done; basically, I can visit five links then must stop. While writing, I have a no internet search rule in place. If I don’t know something, I put the information I was seeking in a set of parenthesis to come back to later.
4. Become friends with the parenthesis.
Sometimes when I’m getting ideas on paper, the scenes don’t come in order. I end up skipping around; I’m just excited for certain scenes I need to write rather than others. Due to this my best friend has become the parenthesis, which I use as place keeper. While in the middle of Nano, my piece is full of brackets, the insides with a piece of information I will need to search for later, character reactions that I don’t quite know yet, general notes for myself, or scenes I don’t quite know how to work just yet. This is helpful later as the plot continues and I have a clearer idea how to work things together.
5. Create a Plan
Writing aimlessly will only get you so far. Knowing something my characters, and by extension readers, don’t yet have knowledge of and working towards revealing it to them adds a compelling reason for me to move forward. Often when I don’t have one, I feel lost on what to do next. You don't need to have a scene-by-scene layout of your novel, but at least a basic idea for where you want things to go.
Me: Newsies is coming to town! We need to go!
Friend: What’s Newsies?
Me: Amazing, that’s what it is! Please come with me? I’ve been wanting to see this for years. Please, please, please...
Friend: Okay.
- two days later -
Friend: OMG that was amazing!
Me: Right?!? Want to go to my place and watch the movie?
Friend: There’s a movie? Who plays Jack? He’s my favorite!
Me: Baby Christian Bale.
Friend: Oh... I don’t like Christian Bale...
Me: No, no. It's BABY Christian Bale. You’ll love him.
Friend: Eh, I don’t know...
Friend: OMG HE'S ADORABLE! AWW! I WANNA SQUISH HIS WHITTLE FACE! AWWW!!!
Me: Told you.
If you plan to write for Nanowrimo, please check out this forum thread. Already have a few I’m adding to my inspiration notebook:
Hero and villain share a pint of ice cream.
DP: Neither of them knows who the other really is.
TP: At least one of them does know who the other really is.
Cookies: Both characters are fully aware of their true identities and they angrily eat ice cream at each other.
Dare: When your character has to do something (e.g. stealthily break into an enemy HQ, chat up someone, make a cup of tea, etc), instead of you the writer deciding on the outcome, allow your characters to decide instead. Roll a six-sided dice and choose the appropriate outcome, depending on the number rolled: 1. Catastrophic failure of the task!. 2. Failure of the task, but still recoverable with a little effort! 3. Barely failed the task by the narrowest of margins! 4. Barely succeeded at the task by the narrowest of margins! 5.You passed! Huzzah! 6. Your character passes the task so well, that they make it look easy!
jacobvanloon
germansingergirl
dailybridgerton
janainaart
tangentwithtanner
kaledo-art
yousharknotpass
