Getting Crafty

Not crafty as in arts-and-crafts. I dabble in that but really, I'm not very good. I'm talking crafty as in writer's craft. And craft books.

As I'm going through revisions on not one, but two WIPs, I've been consulting a couple of my favorite craft books: Writing the Breakout Novel and Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass and Don't Sabotage Your Submission by Chris Roerden. I also like Hooked by Les Edgerton and The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman, but I've yet to crack those open again - I'm still working on plot and characters, not worrying about how beautifully the first few pages shine yet.

I've realized I should do more reading on craft. There are several books I still want to read (The Art and Craft of Fiction by Victoria Mixon, Architecture of the Novel by Jane Vandenburgh, The Art of War for Writers and Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell and others...) and I'm sure I can learn something from each of them. We should always be working on improving our skills and although writing itself is the best way to improve, so is learning from the experts.

On the other hand, we can't go too far with "expert" advice. I learned this the hard way with Promise. Experts give all kinds of great advice and various sets of rules we must follow (although they often conflict with each other). Doing so will make our stories so much better. Our writing will glow like a hundred-watt light bulb. Our characters will pop off the page. And not doing these things will cause ultimate failure.

My lesson: With Promise, I followed all the experts' advice in the multitude of books I read. I revised, rewrote, edited, proofed and spit-polished exactly how they said to do it. I took out the big no-no's. I replaced them with what "really makes a story good." I was a model student. And when all was said and done...I hated my story. Hated it. Following all their rules and advice created an uninspiring narration that was the equivalent of cardboard pizza.

I also realized that I had come to the point where I was changing things just to change them - I wasn't making the story any better. Despite what the experts said.

So I went back and revised again. No, I didn't undo everything they suggested. Many of their recommendations did make the story better. But I did undo/redo the lifeless parts. I took my story back and made it mine. And I'm so freakin' glad I did.

Craft books, conferences, professional critiques/editors...they're all great. We need them. We must continuously grow and learn or we start dying. But we also need to know how to apply what we learn, know when to take something and when to leave it. Because all those experts only know what works for them, their clients/students/friends/past successes/etc. They don't know our story. And every story is unique.

Keeping that in mind, I'll be making a point of reading more craft books. I have a ton of fiction to read (did I tell you we cleaned out Borders' paranormal section? And there was a lot still left at 80% off!) but I need to make a point that for every two or three novels I read, I must read something about craft or the business of writing.

So...what are your favorite crafty books? Have you read any of those I mentioned? What has been your experience when applying what you learn? Do you do any arts-and-crafts?

Let the Revising Begin...Any Time Now

After a few days of no writing or revising - not even a peek into a file - today was the day to start revising Book 3. I've been excited to get back to Alexis and Tristan's world after six weeks in the world of the novella and I made allowed myself a break over the weekend, upping the can't-wait-to-get-started factor. I expected to bound out of bed this morning, too excited to sleep and ready to get to work.

Except I couldn't. I awoke and just lay there, wondering what on earth I was supposed to do. I drew a total blank on the revision process. I've been thinking all along that I need to start by simply printing it out so I can read through the story - the plot - without editing the writing along the way. But, for some reason, that made no sense to me this morning. I already know some parts that need to come out and others that need to be developed better. Why waste the paper and toner now?

So I thought about just diving in. Open the file and get to work. But that made no sense either. It's been a while since I've worked on this project. I've never read it start to finish. I don't really know the story as a whole - not well enough to know what parts should be moved around, what's been repeated, what's not necessary.

I felt so lost. I felt like a writer-baby who'd never done this in her life. Was this reviser's block? Is there such a thing?

If there is, the answer to overcoming it is the same as overcoming writer's block. Just do it. Do something. Get started. Once you get going, it eventually comes to you. It's physics - an object in motion stays in motion and one that's not in motion...well, isn't doing anything (very scientific there, I know - brownies in place of cookies, please).

Whether writing or revising, we have to put ourselves in motion. We have to type out some words or scrawl them in a notebook. We have to simply start reading and thinking about the story and how to make it better. At some point, momentum builds and we overcome that block. We get down to business. And before we know it, we're on our way to accomplishing great things.

Well...I don't know if I'm on my way to the great things just yet, but I did finally get started today. I decided to stick with the plan and print it out and read through it. This phase of the revision process allows me to absorb the entire story and make notes on what needs to be changed, only focusing on plot right now. Reading it on paper prevents me from actually changing anything yet, because there's no point in rewriting something that might not be there next week.

I just had to make the decision to do something and then put myself in motion by starting to read. Once I started to read the first couple paragraphs, I knew what I needed to do and the momentum has built. So...I'm off to do some more reading and scribbling.

How do you overcome writer's block? Have you ever had reviser's block?

Novella Done! And Now for My Next Trick...

Finally! The novella is done!

It took a lot longer to finish this novella than expected. I mean, it's barely 60,000 words. It took me longer to write it than it did to write the 124,000 +/- words of the first draft of Promise & Purpose. But it's done. (Did you feel that breeze Wednesday afternoon? That was me letting out a major sigh of relief.) And hopefully it won't need nearly as much work as Promise and Purpose did.

Because, of course, it's the best thing I've ever written. I'm allowed to think that for now. I get a few days to bask in that glory. But that's it.

Then it's time to move on to the next trick. Well, actually, to go back to the previous one. Back to Book 3 for rewrites and revisions. Since it's had to sit and stew for much longer than expected, my brain should be good and ready to work on it. After the brain gets acclimated.

I had fun meeting new characters and learning about them and their world, but it'll be nice to get back to the "known" - Alexis, Tristan and all the other characters I know so well. Also the "known" as in today's world. The novella takes place over 2,000 years ago. So now I have to fast-forward to...now. Get re-oriented with the modern world. Remind myself that they have cell phones and running water and don't eat with their fingers. Well, most of them don't. Some just eat with their fangs. Haha!

Anyway, I expect it might be a bit of a challenge. I've never done such an about face. And it's been a long time since I've started revisions from the first draft. Since I shared all my woes and joys of new writing methods with these two stories, I imagine next I'll be sharing what I learn with new revising methods.

So...here I go! Wish me luck. And speed. I need speed. Definitely getting behind on deadlines.

How do you handle switching between such different projects? Do you enjoy the change-up? Or does it take time to get back into each world? Or do you stay with the same story from beginning to end and avoid the confusion altogether?