Making It Worse!

Have you ever read a book that was fantastic most of the way through, but the end just felt flat?

Chances are, you have. And chances are, the reason had to do with the climax. The story may be wonderful, but if they solve the climax before it climaxes, it's a letdown. Face it, we like characters to face unconquerable odds, impossible choices. We want to see how they'll take absolute defeat and turn it into incredible victory.

When everything is as bad as it can get, that's when we want the good guys to come blazing their way in and save the day...in the nickiest nick of time.

You never forget those books.

So what's with the bad climaxes? In most cases I read, the characters solve the problems too quickly. You just start getting excited when POOF, it's all over and everybody lives happily ever after. And you sit there and go “Hey! What about...”

MIW is the way to avoid this. It's quite simple. Take your climax and check it out from all angles. Look at the opposition. What's standing between your character and victory? When you know what the main problem is, make it worse. Make it as bad as it could be. Then make it worse again.

Result: a never-to-be-forgotten climax!

My favorite illustration of this is Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King. Think about the climax. Frodo and Sam are dodging Nazgul and lava on the slopes of Mount Doom. Gandalf, Aragorn & Co are marching to certain death. The Shadow of Sauron is falling everywhere. Everything you care about is dying. And the world is ending. Bad as it can get, right?

Oh, but then Frodo decides to keep the Ring. And instantly it's so much worse than you ever dreamed! There is no way you'll ever forget that climax.

The thing I've just discovered is that MIW doesn't just apply to thriller/action/suspense/mystery. It works just as well for romance, and even straight literary. You can make emotional situations worse, or moral quandaries. Whatever you use it for, it's guaranteed to ratchet up the stakes and make readers care. Just remember, if you have a climax that feels flat, figure out what the opposition is, and make it as bad as it can get. Then make it worse.

You may get hate mail from the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Characters, but your readers will love you.

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I'd love to hear what you think on this! Have you used MIW? Tell me about it!

Two Heads Are Better! - A Look At Co-Writing

For two and a half years now I've co-written with Ruth Rockafield. I'm a co-author and proud of it! Just last week someone asked me once again what it's like to share a story. Many people wonder if it would even be possible for share something as intimate as a piece of writing.

Since this question keeps popping up, I decided to address it in the form of an interview. I took the most commonly asked questions and answered them!

Enjoy!

Why did you decide to co-write? It was rather spontaneous. We started out writing a single short novel about a British nurse and an RAF pilot, which spun into a longer novel, which spun into a trilogy, which is now spawning loosely connected other novels!

Our approach to co-writing is to each take a MC. In the first two books of our Wings of Fire series, Ruth writes the RAF pilot, Peter Standish, and I write a set of sisters, Liz and Julie Knight. The neat part is that the characters take on real depth. Ruth and I are very different people, and the characters as a result are also very different! Feedback tells us the resulting depth of character is unusual and appealing.

Do you approach writing differently? Very much so! Ruth is the dreamer, the idea-spawner. She gets all the brilliant brainstorms. I tend to follow along after her weaving the stray electricity into actual words. I'm the one who structures the story, builds an outline, figures out the details. Ruth breathes the life into it! She also is the one who is never discouraged, and always positive – which is wonderful for me.

Can readers tell which of you wrote which parts? No. Since both of us edit each other's sections, the writing styles blend. For fun, we've had friends try to guess which of us wrote which parts – they never are sure!

Do you ever have conflict over where you want the story to go? Not really. We're grand friends, which spills over into our writing; but we forestall collisions by outlining. For about six months before starting a novel, we talk it over constantly. By the time we're ready to write, we know exactly where we want it to go.

What is the best thing about co-writing? The energy. When writing alone, I'm often tired or discouraged, but that never happens when we write together. If one of us is stuck, we just holler for help! The excitement of working through the story together is the best part. Ruth will come up with a good idea, I'll add something else, which gives her another idea, which gives me another one – and so on! Our absolute favorite scenes have emerged through this rapid-fire ping-pong style of brainstorming.

What is the worst thing about co-writing? I love most of it. But I will say – the responsibility is sometimes overwhelming. Knowing any wrong decisions I make will also affect Ruth is scary. Also, we have occasionally had different goals for publication, which have been rocky to work through when one of us felt very strongly about something. Thankfully, on those occasions, God has stepped in and solved the problems for us!

Both of you write alone as well. How is that different from co-writing? Both of us wrote separately for years before beginning to cowrite, and sometimes we just need to tell a story of our own. Sometimes, the freedom to make all the choices without consulting anyone else is refreshing. Other times, for me, it's not as much fun! But we usually get involved in each other's separate works as well – if only to share advice, feedback, and support. Sometimes I feel that Ruth gives me so much support on my separate projects that she should really be listed as a co-author!

Do you plan to always write together? I hope so! We have quite a few projects planned already. We intend to finish our Wings Of Fire trilogy with A Dwindling Fire, the story of a Luftwaffe pilot who returns to Germany in 1945 as a British agent, and the Frenchwoman searching for her sister in the ruins of Nazi concentration camps.

Then we're outlining two other novels. One, Enemy In Our Midst, takes place during the Civil War, with Ruth writing a Confederate calvary captain, and myself writing an passionate abolitionist Union spy. The other, Shadow Of A Whirlwind, takes place in in New Orleans during the War of 1812. Ruth writes a dashing, mysterious aristocrat-by-day, pirate-by-night, and I write a woman whose past is hunting her down in the shadows of war.

And finally – Ruth has succeeded in talked me into writing a novel about the Korean War. Loosely connected to Wings Of Fire, it will be the story of an RAF pilot who, after an empty life of war and adventure, is searching for a place to belong. Little does he know he's about to become responsible for a very pretty missionary with twenty adopted Korean children – the enemy is closing in and his life will never be the same.

As you can see, we're very busy!

What advice would you give to people trying co-writing for the first time? Make sure you're compatible. If you aren't friends, chances are the experience will be upsetting. The “discussion” period, where you talk about your vision of the story, really helps to know where you both want to go. Also, make sure you both are passionate about the story! Writing about something only one of you is interested in could be miserable.

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Have you tried co-writing? Are you about to? Do you like or dislike co-written novels? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Eye Candy For Writers!

In celebration of Christmas (and just because) I'm sharing these web badges I made with all of you! Use them for avatars, blog awards, sigs, or whatever you like! Credit is nice but not necessary.

Enjoy!!

Christmas Musings

This is going to be an Utterly Pointless Post: a result of far too much time spent hanging snowflakes, decorating trees, sewing and constructing Christmas presents...in short, all the bustle and hustle of the season! Profound Thoughts On Writing have been put aside till after!

So...in between all the business, I've found time to read A Christmas Carol again. It's sort of a tradition of mine to read the story and watch the (old edition) movie around Christmas.
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This year, I've come back to many old childhood reading favorites and found much of the magic I remember has sadly gone. Approaching Christmas, I wondered if that would be the case with “A Christmas Carol”. Silly me – a story that's been so beloved for so long will never lose a single spark of its magic!

I was fortunate enough to catch an old radio broadcast of the story as well, from 1939 with Orson Welles narrating; I listened to it while working, and started wondering just what makes this story so special. Why does it survive? What about it touches people's hearts, generation after generation?

I'm not quite sure. ;) For me, though, I think I love the story for its quirkiness, its oddball comedy, and most of all for the theme of redemption. The more I write and read, the more I realize I'm drawn to that theme. Redemption in a Christian sense, of course, but also just plain redemption – the opportunity to redeem yourself, to change your life for the better. And Dickens' story is all about redemption. The message of the story is that it's never too late. No matter how bad your life has been, there's always a chance for a better future.
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Which, of course, is the promise of Christmas.
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And now...unwrapped gifts are looking accusingly from me to the wrapping paper and ribbons so I will close. Merry Christmas, everyone!

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Oh yes, and make sure to come back right after Christmas, because I'll be posting some special Christmas presents! :) If you want to know what, come back next week!

Guest Post: A New Life Form?

Today my talented sister and fellow writer, Mitzi, has consented to pop over here and share this hysterical short essay she wrote! To tell what it's about is to give it away. :) But I hope you all enjoy it!

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Science has made a remarkable discovery. A new life-form. Cold-blooded, and completely without emotions, this creature bears startling physical resemblances to Humans. Their natural habitat is what they call an 'office'. A room, cluttered by stacks and piles of paper, envelopes marked URGENT, phones ringing. They spend most of their time seated in chairs with wheels, which they shoot back and forth from the desk while speaking in calm tones over the telephone.

Their favorite tool is a large pen, their favorite color red, their favorite word REJECTED. Preferably all together. They have mastered the art of speech, and spend their free time memorizing the Dictionary of Insulting Long Words.

They have made extensive studies of smiling... the more teeth, the better. Their most common heard phrase is “I'm sorry, BUT....” in slow tones, laced with the occasional mention of “agents” or “a little editing”. They keep printers going at all times, and computer files open at Reject Letter.

Science fears for the extinction of this species – not from natural disaster, but from their most common predator, an ancient and savage breed called Writers or Authors. But most of this new life-form has already taken protective measures and hired Large, Well-Muscled Humans with Guns. This is called Protection.

We are seeing a long happy future for this new species, for every year there are more Writers and more Books and Envelopes.... just waiting for the Mark of the Red Pen.

Oh, did I forget to mention? Scientists are calling them Publishers.

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Hahaha! Thanks so much for visiting, Mitzi! Love you!

For those of you who enjoyed Mitzi's post, she blogs about scriptwriting at: http://annoyed-director.blogspot.com/

NaNo Quiz - What did YOU think of NaNo?

Hello peoples! Last year I started the tradition of filling out this quiz, filing it away, and taking it out to look at next year just before doing NaNo! It's a wonderful way to preserve the memories of each year's sprint for 50k.

This year, I'm sharing my impressions of NaNo with you all! If you like the quiz, feel free to copy it and take it yourself! File it away, or put it on your own blog – and if you blog about it, let me know! I'd love to read what you thought of NaNo this year!

Enjoy!

1. Was 2009 your first NaNo? No, I did NaNo 2008 as well!

2. How did you find out about NaNo? Last year, my co-author told me about this mad scheme to write 50,000 words during a month. Sounded insane, but I decided to give it a try!

3. What made you decide to do NaNo this year? Last year was such an incredible learning and growing experience as a writer; I'd planned to do NaNo 2009 since December 1 '08. :D

4. Did you come into NaNo very prepared (outline, synopsis) or did you choose to wing it? My first novel, SS-5 was very structured. I had a detailed outline, character sketches, etc. My second novel, A Forbidden Homeland, I winged. I had no outline, no character sketches, and not much idea where I was going!

5. What was your original goal for the month? Somewhere around 85,000 words. Midway that changed to hitting the big 100!

6. Did you make your goal? Yes! Final word count was 102,095

7. Did you learn anything through doing NaNo? This year reinforced my belief in outlines and synopses. They are so important, and if you take the time to sketch your story out, a very readable first draft is completely possibly, even at NaNo-speed. This year, I also learned an incredible amount about character development.

8. Give your novel/s title and a one-line synopsis. SS-5: Jolted out of a self-centered, drifting childhood by the Nazi invasion, fourteen-year old Jan forms and leads a group of young people called the SS-5 to defend Holland against the Gestapo. Homeland: A Resistance leader and a woman of the enemy Protectors make a last desperate stand to regain their forbidden homeland.

9. What will you do with your novel now? Well, I'm already editing SS-5; I'd like to start sending it out to agents by 2010. Homeland isn't finished. I'll probably take a break from it for a while, do some outlining, and take up writing it again later.

10. What was your daily word goal? In the neighborhood of 2,500 – 3,000 words.

11. What was your highest day's word count? 7,494, which was 2,000 more than I'd ever written in one day! That was the night I finished my SS-5 novel...

12. Did you write any time you could, or did you have a more structured, set time for writing? In the beginning I wrote constantly; while doing dishes and scrubbing floors, in the middle of work...during cooking. About halfway through the second week, that tapered off to writing pretty much at night. I'd try to think the story through all day, and then start writing about 8 PM and just keep writing until I'd made my word goal.

13. Will you apply NaNo techniques to writing in general? Oh yes. I learned about outlining from last year's NaNo, and this year has reminded me of how important daily writing is. It doesn't really matter how much you write every day – it's just important that you do write.

14. What was the best thing about doing NaNo 2009? Finishing SS-5, being happy with it. Learning to write two extremely difficult characters. Also, doing it with my friends, and watching my sister do it for the first time!

15. What was the worst thing about doing NaNo 2009? Probably writing Homeland without an outline. It was extremely frustrating. Also, the first week of NaNo was extremely difficult, because I totally didn't understand my MC in SS-5. I felt I was ruining a story, and it wasn't even mine to ruin. Thankfully, God and my co-author stepped in and saved the day by helping me to see Jan the way he really is!

16. Best advice to someone planning NaNo for the first time? Having an outline is an awfully good way to start. But most of all, be sure you want to do it, and then just have the most fun you can. NaNo is all about adrenaline and challenges, crazy hope and following your dreams. Run with it!

17. Will you do NaNo next year? You bet your life. ;)

NaNo Winner? Come Here!

The first of December, I woke up unsure whether to celebrate or cry. NANO WAS OVER! Ended up doing a bit of both. Then I decided to make some NaNo eye candy! Here are the results! I would love to know what you think.

Please feel free to save and use any of these as avatars, web badges, blog decoration, etc! If you decide to use one, please let me know - a comment here is fine. Credit is nice if that's possible, but not required.

So here they are. Some are traditional....

And I even did some Western and horse-theme ones!

Enjoy them! You amazing people deserve a little candy!