Fires Galore

Watched grass fires overtake dozens of houses in Midwest City and other Oklahoma areas. Scary to watch and the thought of those poor families. The 50mph winds didn't help any, plus gusts up to 70mph. Gotta love Oklahoma winds sweeping down the plains. Reminds me, I need to take down my large wind chimes until the wind tames a little or my neighbors will be leaping over my back fence to cut them down. They even bothered me last night.

Decided to re-look at the outline for Changeling and synopsis before I get back into deadlines, just to make sure everything flows as far as plot. Still like it. I think it will have enough meat for me to have a good story. I'll feel better when I'm back to meeting daily goals. I'm hoping the typing improves too. Still having a little motor trouble with the middle and ring fingers on the right hand so I get some strange typos at times. But then, I used to get strange typos before I could blame it on surgery. So much for that excuse.

Contest and Plots

First, I want to start a new contest. Once a month I'll draw a name to win a free book, it might be one of mine or an ebook from one of my fellow writers or a print book I particularly enjoyed. I might even throw in a book on writing once in a while. How to win, you ask? Just post a comment on the blog that month. The first monthly contest will begin September first, for a copy of my October release, "Bloody Murder." The name will be drawn October first and you should receive your copy after the seventh of October.

Now, if you're really anxious for a free book, comment in August and I'll have a grab-bag surprise book to draw for on September 1. Shhhh, the title is a secret.

Next is a question for readers and writers. What comes first for you, plot or character. As a writer, do you have the character all thought out first or the plot? For me, the character comes first because the way the plot unfolds depends so much on the character and the choices that character makes. In a series, once I have that character, then I can throw bizarre plots at her and see what kind of choices she makes.

As a reader, especially of a series, do you fall in love with a character first or a plot? What makes you stick with a series? Remember, to win prizes you have to comment!

Starting

How do you start a book. Like anything else. The five W's. Who, what, when, where and most important why? If it's a mystery, how can also be important.





Know who your main character is.

What she wants


Why she can't have it.


Who is getting in her way


How she can overcome that and get what she wants.


I'm using she because I am, works for either one.


Now, what's the tone. I like Urban Fantasy that doesn't take it's self so seriously. Dresden meets Sookie Stackhouse. I like ironic, humor, sarcasm along with my blood and gore, demonic bad guys. The bad guy doesn't have to have a sense of humor but it can add to the story.


Conflict: You know there will be a bad person in conflict with the main character, or nature will be against her, or society. For greater depth, you also want to see the main character at war with him or herself.


Tali Cates is up against a killer who wants to harm her and her family.


But, she is also at war with herself, trying not to use her paranormal gifts and knowing she must in order to save her family. Both conflict must be dealt with by the end.

As far as plotting, I'm not seat-of-the-pants. I need at least a chapter outline of one or two sentences per chapter. I kind of figure out how long the book will by and then, ballpark length I usually make chapters then I know how many chapters I might end up with. If you're a genre writer like me, the genre often dictates total work count. Look at guidelines for the kind of book you want to write, aim for that word count.


I use plot points with the initial incident, then a quarter of the way through, another incident that changes the direction of the story, a mid point incident that turns things on their ear, things continue to become darker and darker until it can't get worse, then it does and you have the darkest before the dawn climax and then resolution. (I use post-its on a board (one per chapter) to figure things out and then a spreadsheet.) Since I have a mystery involved, I have to know who the killer is, why and how they did what they did and how they get caught so I can distribute the appropriate clues and foreshadowing.

It's good to have an ending which satisfies the reader. Mostly, romances like happy endings. Horror let's you get away with killing the hero-"I am Legend" or main characters "The Mist." Other genres may not. Know your genre. Urban Fantasy-keep the main character alive but some of his friends can die.

If you write a series, devise a way that works for you to keep characters, names, eye color etc. the same throughout the books. Binders, notebooks, whatever. More on novel writing later.

Plot it.

There are so many ways to plot. A lot of beginning writers think if they could just find the magic way to plot, they would be published right away.



Guess what? There is no magic plot. The magic is when the method you choose, works for you.



What I use is similar to one used by screen writers. An initial incident propells the story.At the end of the 1st Quarter of the book is the first plot point, which is a major complication/reversal, at the half point is a bigger plot point/reversal that changes everything, then 3/4 of the way through, the last plot point that leads the character to the crisis, "darkest day" kind of situation and then the climax then the last chapter wrap up of the loose ends.. Once those are in my head I do the chapter outline. I know my tendency toward short chapters and plot accordingly with two or three short scenes per chapter. Works for me. If I don't do the chapter outline, sketchy as it is, I have sagging middle syndrome., not good.

I know people who go into more detail figuring out goals, conflicts, I don't. I learn a lot about the characters as they react to things and make decisions. The usually show me who they are. I have done the plot points and chapter outline on notebook paper and with sticky notes on white board. That's my plan.