Wednesday Writing Workout: Befriending the Revision Monster

Today I'm happy to share a guest Wednesday Writing Workout from Illinois author Shirin Shamsi.

Shirin was born and raised in the UK to immigrant parents from Pakistan. She moved to the United States where she raised three wonderful human beings who are doing great things in the world.
Shirin always wanted to write stories in which her children would see themselves. Living on three different continents gave her a global perspective and she dreams of writing stories that inspire empathy. You can read more about her at her website and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Shirin's most recent book is the middle-grade novel Laila and the Sands of Time (Spork). Here's a brief summary:

Thirteen-year-old Laila, still grieving over her father's death, goes on their planned pilgrimage to Mecca with her aunt and uncle. While on pilgrimage, Laila is transported back in time to 7th-century Arabia. There she faces the dangers of the desert, takes on a disguise, and saves a baby's life. But will she ever return to her own time?


Here's Shirin's Wednesday Writing Workout.

Wednesday Writing Workout:
Befriending the Revision Monster
by Shirin Shamsi

I began writing Laila and the Sands of Time when my eldest daughter asked me to write a chapter book. At the time I considered myself a picture book author only.

The journey has been a long road. I learned much from it. I was a total "pantser" before and now try to be a plotter, so hopefully I am becoming a bit of both.

I feared revision before. In fact, I believe it was the fear of revision that made procrastination much more palatable to me. My fear of revision grew and grew until it became a monster.

Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay

Let’s face it, if you love writing then revision is going to be your companion for the duration of your writing career. It has taken a lot of time, patience, and perseverance, but I now come to revision with the same excitement I bring to writing a rough draft. Revision and I are now best friends.
From the time I signed the contract for Laila and the Sands of Time to the moment when I held it in my hands, it took two whole years. During that time I went back and forth with my editor. Without my amazing editor, I feel my book would not have been as good. It was a learning process for me, being my first middle grade novel. I was impatient to see my story in print, but even when I thought my story was perfect, my editor made it shine. Our constant back and forth conversations and revision made my book the best it could be.

I feel so passionate about revision that I would like to share a few ideas here with you:

1. When you feel your story is complete, put it away. Let it rest.
2. When you read it again, ask yourself if every fact has been researched. For Laila, I had to research a lot about 7th-century Arabia. I feared getting the facts wrong.
3. Also ask yourself: Does everything make sense? Is every page interesting?
4. Each time you revise, approach your work with a new goal, such as word choice, tone, factual details, story arc, plot.
5. Go through each page to cut out the “widows” and “orphans” at the beginning and end of each page. It will make for a cleaner and tighter story.
6. Read your story as though someone else has written it. Does it still excite you? If your answer is “YES” then you are ready to share your story with the world.

Revision is a lengthy process. I think of it as excavation. We have to dig deep, cut through hard obstacles to get to our gem of a story.

Image by PaulaPaulsen from Pixabay

Good luck. Keep writing. Keep revising.
_____
Thank you, Shirin, for today's Wednesday Writing Workout. Readers, I hope you'll try her suggestions. If you do, please let us know how they work for you.

Posted by Carmela

2 Tips for Bridging the Middle Plus 2 Book Suggestions

Today I have the honor of kicking off our next TeachingAuthors topic: "Messy Middles." But before I get to my post, I want to congratulate the winner of our latest TeachingAuthors giveaway:

Carl!

Carl will soon be receiving an autographed copy of Ona Judge Outwits the Washingtons: An Enslaved Woman Fights For Freedom by my fellow TeachingAuthor, Gwendolyn Hooks. Our thanks to all who entered. Be sure to stay tuned--we'll have one more giveaway before the year ends. 

Now, for today's topic: It recently occurred to me that, while we've discussed story beginnings and the inspiration for them, we've never devoted a series to discussing middles. The reason? It's not an easy topic to address.

I'm currently teaching a writing class at College of DuPage called "Beginnings, Middles, and Ends," which is named for the book by Nancy Kress that we use as our class text. In the text, Kress herself has difficulty providing a precise definition for what we mean by the middle of a story.  She describes it in part as follows (italicized in the text):

"The middle of a story develops the story’s implicit promise by dramatizing incidents that increase conflict, reveal character, and put in place all the various forces that will collide at the story’s climax."

She goes on to say:

"In other words, the middle is a bridge—sometimes a long, winding bridge, sometimes a short, direct one. At one end of the bridge, the story's beginning introduces characters, conflict and (sometimes) symbols. Then in the middle, these same characters, conflicts, and (sometimes) symbols move across the bridge . . . . Some people change during their journey across the bridge; some don’t. Conflicts deepen. People become more emotional. The stakes may rise. By the time the characters reach the other end of the bridge, the forces determining their behavior are clear. At the far end of the bridge, these same forces will collide (the story’s climax)."

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

Building that bridge can be a tricky process, especially if you're a pantser like me. (As I explained in this post, pantsers are writers who don't plot a novel in advance, but instead write by the "seat of their pants." The opposite of a pantser is a plotter--a writer who creates an outline or some sort of road map before actually writing the story.) 

While middles can cause problems for picture book and short story writers, too, the two tips I'm sharing today are probably most useful for novelists.

1. Feel free to write your story out of sequence.

When I was working on the middle of my first novel, Rosa, Sola, I got stuck. I didn't know what should happen next. After banging my head against a wall for a few days, I realized that I DID know what needed to happen a few chapters ahead, near the end of the novel. So I wrote that future scene next. I then created a patchwork of scenes to fill the gap--working on each scene as it occurred to me rather than in the story's chronological order. This seems such an obvious solution now, but when I share it with my writing students it often has the same AHA! effect it had on me at the time.

Image by sewingdirectory from Pixabay

 2. If your story takes a wrong turn, becomes boring to you, or you lose energy for it, reread it from the beginning and stop at the last scene where you're still interested/engaged in the story. 

I ran into this problem while writing Playing by Heart. I got to a point in the middle of the novel where I couldn't move forward. I realized it was because I didn't like the story anymore. When I reread the draft, I discovered that my protagonist, Emilia, had made a choice that was out of character, and that had sent her on a detour that made no sense. After I cut that out-of-character scene and all that followed, I was able to get the story got back on course.

My two book suggestions if you're having middle troubles: 

As you might guess, I recommend Kress's Beginnings, Middles, and Ends to writers struggling with middles. In addition to helpful tips and concrete examples, the book includes practical exercises to use on your own projects. The book is from Writer's Digest Books' Elements of Fiction Writing series and was initially published in 1993. Even though the publisher re-released it in paperback in 2011,  some of the content is a bit dated, but overall I think it's still a valuable tool for addressing issues not only with middles, but beginnings and ends, too.

By the way, if Kress's book sounds familiar, it may be because I included it on a list of twelve writing craft books I recommended in a post several years ago.

James Scott Bell was the author of not one, but two books on that list. My second suggestion for those dealing with middle issues is another of his craft books: Write Your Novel From The Middle: A New Approach for Plotters, Pantsers and Everyone in Between. I heard Bell speak at a writing conference about the approach he takes in this book, and it sounds like an intriguing one. I have to confess, I haven't tried it yet myself, but several authors I know have found the book helpful. If you've read Bell's book, please share your response to it in the comments. And if you have any suggestions for coping with messy middles, do let us know!

Don't forget to check out this week's Poetry Friday roundup hosted by Karen Edmisten.

Remember to always Write with Joy!
Carmela
 

13 Ways of Looking at Plotting ~ and Happy Poetry Friday!

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Howdy, Campers!

Happy Poetry Friday!  A poem by Paul Bennett and the link to Tabatha's Poetry Friday post are below.

In TeachingAuthors' opening round for 2015, we are each asking ourselves, "What Are We 'Plotting' for 2015?"

Mary Ann started us out, sharing how she does or does not plot."Planning and plotting are not the same thing," she writes. "Plotting is knowing what happens first, then next, then next and at the end. I never know more than one of those things before I start writing.  I've stopped worrying about it."

Thank you, Mary Ann. I haven't a clue how to plot.  When I sit down to write, I'm never sure if I'm starting a poem, a song, a verse novel or a picture book.  I might be inspired by a color or a phrase from the news. Of course I know that everyone doesn't plot their stories methodically, but it's great relief to be reminded of this!

A group photo of the TeachingAuthors.
from morguefile.com

We are each snowflakes in the way we approach writing and life; and beyond this, I think that we are different from moment to moment, year to year, in crisis and celebration.

For example, until recently, I would say I'm fairly disciplined.  I've been writing a poem every day since April 1, 2010 (1,743 poems), I brawl with L.A. traffic every two weeks to meet with my marvelous critique group, I write in amiable silence with three or four other writers weekly, and I have a goal or two tucked away in my writer's smock--a couple of picture books, a novel in verse, a collection of poetry, a Pulitzer Prize.

But when my mother began to fade, particularly this last year, it was all I could do to hold onto my writer's smock.  Why? Partly because of the increased responsibility, and partly because of the foggy lethargy which set in.

Yeah...kinda like this.
from morguefile.com

There is so much to do, now that Mom has died.  So, I've stopped attending my critique group, stopped writing books, stopped meeting with other authors at my friend's sunny kitchen table.

I still write a poem a day, though.

So, What am I Plotting in 2015?  Nothing.

Well, writing a poem a day.  But beyond that?  I haven't a clue.

I'm reading Loving Grief by Paul Bennett, a book in brief chapters, each of which ends in a poem, written after the death of his wife.  In the chapter, Coming to a Stop, he writes that the three times over a period of months his legs would no longer carry him forward.  He stopped. On a street, in an airport, on a hiking trail.  Later, he wrote, "those incidents of coming to a stop, those moments of stillness, struck me as early invitations from deep within myself to start new."

Here is the poem which ends that chapter:

Well. I was going to post the poem, until I read the copyright page (oops) which states that I cannot post it without permission.  So I won't.

What I will do is to post my own poem about stopping in my life.  Please note that each person experiences a death uniquely. I don't feel as if I'm in deep grief right now. Still:

STOPPING BY THE WOODS
by April Halprin Wayland

No snow.
No woods.

But I pause.
To hear the hawk.
To breathe my breath.
To hold this stone.

Alone.

poem (c) 2015 April Halprin Wayland.  All rights reserved.

I think I'm listening for the music to cue my next step.

I'll be ready.

Thank you, Tabatha, for hosting Poetry Friday today!

(So...the title of this blog?  You were expecting a parody of
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird?)

posted with affection by April Halprin Wayland

The HappyWanderer

     Any former Girl Scouts out there?  I had a very short stay with the Girl Scouts, but during my time I learned any number of songs guaranteed to drive any adult insane if you sing them for hours on end on a road trip.  One of them was "The Happy Wanderer."  You know..."I love to go a wandering, along the mountain path, and as I go I love to sing, my knapsack on my back."

    OK, that's all I remember, but you get the gist.  What does this have to do with writing? April kicked off our current thread on Friday...are you a pantser (a person who just starts writing and finds their story as they go along) or are you a planner (someone who outlines and draws story arcs before you open a single document file?)

     I am somewhere in the middle, a "happy wanderer."  I am horrible at outlining. When we had to outline term papers in school, I would write the paper first, then go back and outline what I wrote. Even worse, I find it impossible to think in a linear fashion. I write a last chapter, then something in the middle, then something that I know will go somewhere, I just don't know yet.  For years I tried writing in sequence, one chapter after the other, only to find myself stuck on chapter two, every time.  I somehow thought that writers had it all in their minds, in order and a real writer's sentences flowed, one after the other, in the right order.

    Obviously, I was not a real writer.

    Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird (my personal writing bible) gave me permission to write horrible first drafts.  She gave me permission to write chapters as they come to me, in whatever order that might be.
I dislike rules, so my new rule for myself was "Just get the story down, anyway you can."

     However, I don't start writing the minute I get an idea. I live with it for a long time. At least a year, often longer. (You don't want to know how long I've been "living" with my current WIP). I do my research. My research leads to to subplots, new characters who then beget other characters. In other words, I wander.

    My first drafts are twice the size of my final one. I throw in everything but the kitchen sink. I pack for trips the same way. I put in way more stuff than I need, because, hey, you never know what you might need.  When I can't close my suitcase, I start re-evaluating. Do I need this?  Really?

    When I get to the end of my permissibly awful first draft, I start taking stuff out. Lots of stuff. The best piece of writing advice ever given to me was in the Vermont College MFA Program.  Here it is:  If you can't decide whether to take something out, ask yourself "How does this move the story along?" (Or as my writing students and critique group members know it as HDTMTSA). If that character, that scene, that description does not move your action forward, take it out.  In writing for kids, you really don't have the luxury of writing just to "admire the scenery" so to speak.

   So the answer to the question....I know my main characters well before I start (which I suppose is a form of outline), I know my setting, and I sort of know the emotional arc of the story. But how my characters get to where they are going?...that happens as I write. And re-write. And wander.

     Sooner or later I come to a place that feels like the end of the journey.  I'm done wandering, and am now wondering.  Wondering about the new place and characters that have been waiting ...possibly in my happy wanderer "knapsack on my back."

Posted by Mary Ann Rodman

P.S. Today is Veteran's Day, where we remember those who have served out country in war and peacetime. This is a picture of two my favorite veterans., My mom, WAVE Frances Smith, and her brother, Seaman Jim Smith of the Merchant Marine. My Uncle Jim was the real life inspiration for Jimmy's Stars.

Are You a Plotter or Pantser? Poetry Friday, AND...a 2 Weeks of Thanks-Giving Teaser

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Howdy, Campers--and Happy Poetry Friday!

Diane of Random Noodling is today's host ~ thanks, Diane! 
(My poem's below.)

Okay, Campers...

Are you a Plotter?

Or a Pantser?

Do you plot, plan and outline before you begin, or do you write by the seat of your pants, plunging right in? See my TeachingAuthor blogmate (and confessed Pantser) Carmela's column on this topic (and this post...and on and on...and if you want to lose yourself completely down the rabbit hole and never get down to your own writing, Google "pantser")

Or maybe you're a Hybird?

Marc, of Fantasty-Fiction.com says Hybirds are those who "…plot part of the book, or loosely plot the whole thing, and then pants their way through the gaps. Or they might pants their way through portions, but plot other, more difficult scenes to help them keep track of things or to get through it without stumbling or sidetracking...

Marc continues: "I believe that a person is, by nature, one or the other, and only a select few can do both effectively. If you’ve been trying to plot out a novel, and find that you are having trouble, try just writing down whatever comes to your head and pants it for a while. Conversely, if you get stuck pantsing it, try plotting out the next scene and that might help you get moving again."

Me? I'll confess, I'm no hybird.  I'm a full-on, La-La-La, finger in the fudge jar, painted flowers on my face Pantser.

PLOTTER OR PANTSER?
by April Halprin Wayland

When you sit down to write do you fret and grow hot,
design or outline your book's intricate plot?
Is there sweat on your brow, is there blood on your blotter?
Do you work with a ruler?  Kid, are you a Plotter?
Or…
Do you run out the door under moonlight to dance?
Do you scribble your tales by the seat of your pants?
Are there horses and fig trees and strange dream enhancers
in your room where you write—Honey, are you a Pantser?
.

(c) 2013 April Halprin Wayland

I'll admit it: this is a stereotyping poem...some of my best friends are Plotters!  I had fun writing it but it's probably just a tad too snarky to be true.

And that may be a downfall of being a Pantser.  Sometimes I let the adventure of where the heck are we going with this? to overpower the story I meant to tell.

What about you--are you a Plotter, a Panster or a Hybird?  Write a poem with your answer in our comments!

And now for a quick teaser about TeacherAuthors' annual Two Weeks of Thanks-Giving!

We're hoping you'll join in the celebration! Simply post a short thank you (preferably in the form of a Thanku or some other poetry form) to someone who's made a difference in ensuring others receive quality education (see this link )—we’ll include a round-up of links to participating blog posts.  Start thinking about who you'd like to thank now--then post your thank you here between November 15-29th!

all photos courtesy morguefile.com

posted by the seat of my pants by April Halprin Wayland.  Thank you for coming.

I am a Pantser. What about you?

Hello, my name is Carmela, and I am a Pantser.
You don't know what a "Pantser" is? Neither did I, until I came across the term on Larry Brooks's Storyfix site. A Pantser is someone who doesn't plot a novel in advance, but instead writes by the seat of her (or his) pants. The opposite of a Pantser is a Plotter--a writer who creates an outline or some sort of road map before actually writing the story.

The fact that I am a Pantser actually puzzles me. Given my logical, left-brained tendencies (my undergraduate degree is in math and computer science, after all), you'd think outlining would come naturally to me. I did actually outline the first novel I ever wrote. However, despite all my pre-planning, that novel ended up with plot issues nonetheless, which is why the manuscript is boxed away and will likely never see the light of day again.

Still, I gave pre-plotting another try in 2007, while working on a contemporary young adult novel. I discuss that experience in this column for the SCBWI-Illinois Prairie Wind. Bottom line: that manuscript is also boxed away. (Some writers have drawers of abandoned manuscripts, I have boxes.)

But I'm nothing if not persistent. For my current work-in-progress, a young adult novel set in 18th-century Italy (and based on the lives of two real people), I tried again to be a Plotter. I even made charts using Larry Brooks's techniques, such as identifying my novel's 8 story milestones and when they'd happen in the story. The charts looked great, until I began writing. The more I wrote, the farther I strayed from my plot plans. One reason things didn't go as planned: while researching the culture of the time, I learned some of the milestones I'd planned weren't very plausible. On the other hand, my research also unearthed information about historical events that provided terrific scene material--material I didn't know about when first plotting the story.

So why am I writing today about being a Pantser, instead of celebrating National Poetry Month? Well, over the weekend I reached a true milestone in my WIP: I passed the 70,000-word mark! Better still, I'm almost to the end of the story. (I might have finished it by now if I hadn't been struck by a nasty head cold that makes it hard to think straight. I'm hoping this post is at least coherent.) 

I'm also writing to share something that happened last week. As my novel's plot kept evolving, I realized that the climax and resolution I'd planned would no longer work. I had no idea how the story would end! For a while, that immobilized me. But I forced myself to keep plugging away all the same. After all, I did know where I wanted my main characters to be emotionally by the end of the novel. I just had to figure out to get them there.

Then, somewhere in the last 10,000 words or so, the story picked up momentum and took on a life of it's own. Characters started saying and doing things I hadn't planned, but that fit their personalities and societal limitations, AND THE STORY. Instead of having to force myself to keep "Butt in Chair" (a crucial requirement for Pantsers!), I practically leaped out of bed in the morning. I was excited to see where my characters would lead me that day.

Of course, after I finish the remaining few thousand words of this novel, I'll face a new challenge: I'll need to go back and revise the beginning to fit the story's final trajectory. But that's a different kind of fun for me--that's when I dig deeper into my characters and their motivations. I used to hate revision. Now I find it's my favorite part of the writing process.

Earlier this week I read the Psychology Today article "How to Write for Children Without Injuring Your Brain," a rebuttal to Martin Amis's derogatory comments about writing for young people. The article features an interview with children's author Joanne Rocklin. In talking about "flow and revision," Rocklin says:

 I've found Anne Lamott's concept of the awful first draft very liberating, as well as the UP and DOWN concept of writing: Get it DOWN, then fix it UP. 

Rocklin's "UP and DOWN concept" describes my process as a Pantser. I'm looking forward to soon entering the fixing-it-UP stage. :-)

One more thing: a number of articles and books I've read imply that being a Plotter is somehow better than being a Pantser (or vice versa). I disagree. I think we each have to find the process that works best for us. And our preferred process may change from one manuscript to another. Maybe I'll be a successful Plotter next time around.

Then again, maybe not.

What about you? Are you a Pantser or a Plotter? Please share your answer in the comments. If you're not sure, maybe the following Writing Workout will help you decide.

Writing Workout:
Figuring out if you're a Pantser or a Plotter

In his book Plot & Structure, best-selling author James Scott Bell uses the terms "No Outline People" (or NOPs) and "Outline People (or OPs) instead of Pantsers and Plotters. He suggests the following exercise to determine which you are:

"Make a list of your favorite novels. Put down at least ten titles. . . . Are they heavy on plot and action, or do you prefer more character-driven books? Or is there a mix?
      There are more NOPs on the literary/character-driven side, and more OPs on the commercial/plot-driven side. Take this into account in choosing a system. You should be writing the type of novel you most like to read."

[Personally, I have a mix on my list of favorites, though I do lean toward preferring character-driven novels.]

I encourage you to also check out Bell's book for techniques that help both NOPs and OPs. 
 
Happy writing.
Carmela