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And I'm considering breaking one. . .
Okay, one of the things that is coming out of my little adventure in self reflection is that I've got rules, although I'm not sure I ever considered them quite so stone-clad, but as I've thunk about writing, they are there. And I'm not sure I have ever deviated from them.
I won't bore you with the whole list - it's long and it meanders because I haven't let myself edit (lie to myself) about what I've already written although I do go back and re-reflect on them so I know what I really think (what the lies are . .) It actually shouldn't be too surprising that I have and abide in my rules - after all, I was a submarine driver - we LOVE rules. I mean, without rules we might try to submerge with a hatch still open. Water in the people tank - NOT good!
Okay, the one I'm thinking of ummm, hmmm, experimenting with (yeah, that's good, so much more thoughtful that scrapping or breaking or ignoring.) is the following: (ahem with apologies to whatever wine company developed the catch phrase)
"We will publish no story before its time."
In simplest terms, I don't publish a story until I know it is 'complete' in the sense that a story ever really is. Early on, noteably with "A go-no go test" and then with "A Losing Season" with the stories fairly far along, I showed the tales to someone (not Brandy) and got back well thought out comments that were right on the money, but that to my dismay, redirected large sections of the already written story. This at a time when I was just about to start posting ALS to Sapphire's list serv, because, hey, it was almost done, right? Since then, I can't tell you how many stories by other authors have had me waiting on pins and needles for the next installment of a REALLY COOL story only to be left hanging. So, with the exception of some authors who have earned my trust (and who write just too darn well for me ignore the 'no' on the complete field), I tend to wait for the last installment of an interesting sounding story until the complete field says "Yes".
So why am I interluding you with this? Well, as you all know, the muse has been, well, busy on other projects and has only been available to me in bits and pieces. (rereading that to make sure we are not dissing the muse - yeah, that works. She's too good to just lie around on a cloud waiting for me. . ) Part of the problem is from some of the other things that are coming out as I do my reflection. Primarily that it feels like I'm trying to write the stories I used to write and I'm not really that person anymore. And my writing has always been, and now I am coming to understand, has to BE personal. Trying to write stories like Ken's Barbie or Caitlyn's Tale reaches a point in the project where what I have to write is just WRONG, or perhaps better said, what has been written so far doesn't fit my new truths. So I get stuck, my muse goes to help a more productive client and the project gathers magnetic dust on my hard drive. But hey, nobody else has seen it so the story isn't embarrassing to me.
I'm trying to write a new story now that is about what I used to do, but from where I am now. Quite frankly, it's hard because some of the concepts are hard, but I've got to get through it and tell the freakin' story - even if I don't know how it ends yet. I know how I want it to end, but who knows where a story that so far is an opening interlude and a few bullet points and a blurry vision will go.
And I'm thinking, seriously (yes, self, SERIOUSLY) of posting it in progress, serialized. (oh god, I said it!) Why, because if it is sitting out there, undone, I won't be able to forget about it when the subject becomes 'too hard" or a little 'too dark'. It would be embarrassing. I'm just a little too proud of (okay arrogant about) the fact that there are no incomplete Tigger stories out there. Petard. Hoist. Fuse . . . sigh 
So, I'd like thoughts, beyond just the 'hey Tiggs, go for it!!' encouragement (still greatly appreciated, btw), particularly from those of you who seem to be able to send out serials and get them done (you guys and gals are AWESOME!). Do you outline? write in chunks? How do you maintain continuity, or maybe that is another rule I need to, umm, experiment, with?
Help?
warm furry hugs!
Tiggs
Comments
When I board a plane
To go from say Tampa to Chicago I like to think that when I land I will be in Chicago. I certainly don't like the idea of taking off and running out of fuel mid flight and crashing and burning. Even if I survive I'm hardly likely to book a flight on that airline again. That's why I wait for a story to be complete - even from authors who have always completed their flights of fancy.
I also don't like the passengers giving the pilot suggestions on where to fly. That's why pilots file flight plans. They check The weather and fuel and deliver their passengers where they intended.
To put it another way I would prefer not to spend forty years wandering in the desert.
Commentator
Visit my Caption Blog: Dawn's Girly Site
Visit my Amazon Page: D R Jehs
"We will publish no story before its time."
Could not agree more in this one.
I have one story that I started in 2004 that is still unpublished here. I still edit from time to time. It is nearly finished I promise. (honest, cross my heart, hope to die).
The rule about not publishing unfinished work is one that I would hope (folornly) other writers would follow.
Keep playing with your muse Tigger. It is giving is lots of purrssssssss :)
Hannibal said it best
Hannibal(from the A-team) said it best. 'What you need; is a PLAN". I get an idea and play around until I get a concept. then I create Protagonist, some supporters, an Antagonist and some supporters and then I name(or create) a place for it all to happen. Finally, I decide how many chapters I want. Free story- 20, Amazon story- 30/29 for the BC version. Now that I have all that. I take the ol' notebook page and number the chapters and set chapter goals. What do I want to happen of note in each chapter. Some chapters will have the designation 'Daily Life' mundane things, school/work, shopping, random conversations. Things like that. Sometimes it's during 'Daily Life' that things just pop up that can be explored later on. Or a needed character can be introduced that hadn't been in the story before. Prime Example: Zeke Malone in VentureRealm. He had not been named earlier in my prepwork but I introduced him, and he quickly took hold in our hearts. Frills became so big because I didn't use that structure. LNP did. Now I'm not saying everybody should just jump on that method, I'm just saying it works for me and there might be something in there that you can apply. Best of Luck, and I enjoy the loves of a fine Tigger*pounces you*
quidquid sum ego, et omnia mea semper; Ego me.
alecia Snowfall
I don't know how others writes but here is my way
I know that most people like to think that an author can just sit down at a computer or typewriter and just bang out a story. The truth of the matter is that doesn’t ever happen. When I start a story, I start with my main character. First, I give them a ‘back story’. I list all their quirks. What drives them. What they want to accomplish in life. What sets them apart from everyone else. Next I decide on how many chapters there are going to be in the story. It doesn’t matter if it is for free on-line, BC, or for sale at other sites. I never change the number of chapters. My next step is to rough out a storyline. Once I have these I go for the villain. I decide just how bad I want the guy to be. Do I want a Seth Lord or just an everyday street thug mentality. Once I have all this done I print it out and tack it to cork boards. If I need technical data, I research it and print it off. This way I can keep track of how and where I want the story to go.
May the peace and happiness of the Goddess keep and protect you
as always your humble outlaw
Jessie Wolf
Know where you're going
I think that is the most important thing you have to consider, though others will have different priorities, of course.
If I had written all my epic before I published any of it at all it would never have been finished. (Mind you, I did start out thinking it would maybe stretch to 40 chapters or so. What did I know?)
So I began writing it. When I wrote the first chapter I had literally (can I say that here?) no idea what was going to happen next, only a rough idea of "girl marries Prince". I knew there were planets involved and what sort of technology would be around but that's all.
By the time I'd written about 6-10 chapters I decided to begin posting and the whole effort took about 6 years. That included two hospitalizations and some unexpected trips to the US (from the UK) to see my son marry an unexpected fiancee and then to visit the equally unexpected twin grand-daughters which provoked the marriage :).
However, I always swore to myself that I would finish the project and I did manage that. Sometimes I wrote a chapter a week (~9,000 words) and sometimes maybe two a month, with the big gaps noted above.
I always knew where the story would end up, though, even if some of the detail came as a complete surprise. I think that was a big factor in being able to finish it. I have read, sadly, many stories here which start off as a good idea and then stop because, and I'm guessing, the author didn't know where the story was going. I get lots of good ideas but, if I can't see an appropriate ending they stay festering in my brain until either they get one or they fade away.
I've started re-editing that story and have accompanied it with commentaries. If you have spare time (!) you might care to peruse my ramblings, although if you do that there will of course be spoilers if you haven't already read the story. Needless to say, the editing process is taking longer than the original writing time, but that is a function of health and time available, as per usual.
TL;DR: Make sure you know where your story is going. It is an incentive to reach the target.
Penny
Here is How I do it
Hey Tiggy!!!! *hugs tight*
I outline. Usually I start the outline at the beginning of the action. take these bullets like a progression of the story. I just jammed them out as titles with a visualized sequence of events.
A. Beginning of being kicked out.
B. Journey to Aunt Jane's.
C. "Hell on Earth"
D. The Daring Escape
E. Brief Glimpses of Freedom
F. Caught!!!!!
G. Earnest Reform
H. Giving the Devil her Due
I. A New Way of Looking at Life.
J. Help Needed.
K. A New Friend?
L. A surprising helping hand.
M. A New Sister.
N. The Season's House Breath of Life.
Now I can condense them into smaller groups:
1. Being Thrown to the Wind A-B
2. An Introduction to a New Way of Life C
3. Hell No!!! D-F
4. Giving the New Life a Chance G-I
5. For Each One, Teach One J-L
6. Unable to Leave M-N (conclusion)
Now you can see the story arcs.
(1) MC Gets Kicked out and is sent to Jane
(2) MC hates what they see at Jane's and Flees
(3) MC escapes and thinks things over
(4) MC is caught and taught
(5) MC needs to use new skills on a friend
(6) MC considers the Season's House her home
Which can be broken down to 3 phases:
1: (1) and (2) Beginning Action Arc 1 (intro baseline and Action of Arriving)
2: (3) and (4) Middle Action Arc 2 (Action of new routine and HATING IT so escape. MC is caught and taught)
3: (5) and (6) and End Action Arc 3 (New Secondary character. MC is influenced by new feelings. Helps. And finds the new way of life better and chooses to stay at SH)
Normally one would start down here and work their way back up. I tend to write down the stream of thought action in bullet points and then group them based on their similarity in idea. That tightens the outline into a simpler cluster of main points. Of course feel free to add and subtract as needed. The whole concept is to organize your idea (Loosely). Do not try to initially nail down every detail. That goes separately on a character outline for each toon in the book.
And yes, I think backwards.
The Biggest thing you have to do is list 3 things period:
1. Where your MC begins
2. What changes occur to the MC
3. What the MC is like at the end
"Gosh Ms. Thompson...ummm yeah," Valerie hemmed and hawed, "Wouldn't that be a bit... like writing a story?"
Jane Thompson closed her eyes and slowly counted to ten.
"Valerie Tucker, we do NOT "ummm." It is not ladylike. And yes, you are correct. It is writing a story."
"But... Ms. Thompson!"
A wicked smile of pure evil crossed the headmistress's face. "You young lady, will write me an essay of 20,000 words on the topic of why we write and write to speak clearly."
Valerie's mind exploded inside leaving the shock waves of terror visible on the outside.
Valerie screamed, "NNNNoooooOOO!" And turned to run.
Darla, anticipating this reaction had already placed herself behind the young charge and neatly ducked and spun one leg to trip up the ditzy Valerie onto the floor. Valerie wound up on top of Darla staring down into the feminine face of the boy, boy-girl, (girl entirely maybe???) who had captured her earlier. Darla smiled and pulled Valerie's face to hers and forced a passionate kiss.
Ms. Thompson, upon seeing the scene, suddenly became flustered as the emotion of the passion even began affecting her internally.
"G-g-g-giiirrr-rls. Enough of that. Stop. Please."
Jane, realizing that neither charge was listening to her, covered her face and turned around, promptly leaving the entangled twins of terror of the Season's House.
Valerie opened her eyes through that delicious mouth contact that was keeping her locked in this position against her will. She saw Darla's eyes were closed as she kept up the famous french tradition of a kiss with her. Valerie was really surprised at this. First, she wanted to escape again! But now, she would be leaving this pleasant... ummm... more like a person being pleasant with her behind. Why was life so unfair?
Darla opened her eyes as she pulled back from the kiss and smiled. Valerie paused staring into those blue orbs of Darla's eyes.That's a girl! No way in hell does a boy kiss like that! And I have experienced both ways too!
Valerie had to ask the obvious. "W-why did you kiss me like that?"
Darla gently rolled Valerie off of her and leaning on her arm, answered, "Because I liked what I saw. Simple"
Speechless, she retorted, "What makes you think you can go around just kissing anyone you like? For that matter, why did you stop me from escaping again?"
Darla stood up and looked down at the new student, offering her a hand to help her up with. "Doesn't matter hon. You are stuck here, with me, in this house for the entire summer and fall. So you had better get used to it."
Valerie allowed herself to be helped up. She sorted through her confused emotions and uttered, "I HATE you!!"
Darla gave her a sad sort of smile. "Tough! You know you enjoyed it."
It was hard for Valerie to argue the point. How could she argue the Chinese logic of Mike coming out of a beautiful body like that?
And even when this story is done; Is there more? Does the character irritate you by staying in your mind and getting you to watch new scenes play out with them in it ? If so, odds are there is more to their life than what you presented and they want you to tell it for them.
So in retrospect, our MC at the Season's House Has found her new life, and unfortunately for Jane Thompson, is really a girl after all. So now the continuation of that character. She has scenes of herself trying going to college while staying with MS. Thompson. She meets a boy there that becomes interested in her. Initially she does everything to ditch Mr. Stalker off. He is way too persistent.
When the MC's friend from Book One finds out, Holy Batsheet! She becomes Jealous as hell! So Book Two seems to have formed. The main point is a love interest/triangle. How will it resolve? Will it Resolve? is it possible it leans towards one of the two secondary characters with the the romance failing spectacularly leaving the MC alone? Will that enable Book Three to come about with the other Secondary friend approaching the MC after the disaster?
Well we have two possible additional books with just a romance as a thread. There should be more than just that. A good story has more than one thread coursing through it. We have romance. Does the MC gain something? IS there a threat to them or the Seasons House? Does a new character get introduced? Does a tragedy befall anyone and how its dealt with? That is entirely up to you.
I prefer stream of consciousness outlining, specific enough to plot the entire story, but vague enough to permit changes in mid writing and accommodate accidents that got introduced, well, accidentally of course. What I DO DO though, is after the initial writing, I use the initial writing as a guide template to rewrite the story AGAIN, starting with each chapter, checking off the original chapter writing and the outline as I go down it ensuring to take note of important things and jotting them next to the pertinent chapter bullet. For every paragraph I wrote originally, I try to make 1/4 - 1/5 of the page in writing newly. I make paragraphs from the original sentences. I expand the dialogue some. I add more detail to the main points of the initial sentences. So the new chapter will be roughly 25% - 35% longer than the original attempt, allowing the fine tuning of details and remove things that may be clunky or belong elsewhere in the story rather than where they are now. That is why I said do not wrack your brain trying to detail everything at first. Leave it loose enough for the second write-over.
You are a director and creator in one filming a movie for your audience. The initial shooting is for the scenes. But later shoots (the second writing over of the initial draft) is too add finishing touches and ensure the flow is smooth and clean: To edit out the unnecessary, and add in the necessary to make the whole thing flow.
Valerie, sensing the house was asleep, pulled her army pack out from it's hiding place in the bottom drawer of the dresser. She pulled out her regulation uzi paintball gun she purchased a week ago and attached the filled hopper above. She then flicked on the tactical flashlight with a red filter inside it and cocked the bolt on the gun.
A satisfying clink was heard as the bolt slid shut, arming a paintball in position. She put her helmet on and pulled down the visor.
Game on! I'm outta here!
Slowly the door opened into the hallway. Valerie swept the red beam across both ways and ensuring no one was afoot. The house was dark and silent. It wasn't much different from planet LV-428. Of course, Debbie, Mike, and the rest of the gang would be with her in this platoon scouring for a means to escape from this planet. She had to worry about the Alien Queen Jane from capturing her and having one of her face-hugging minions, Darla most likely, attach itself to her mouth again and infect her down her throat.
Valerie gulped, sweating, as she slowly made her way down the staircase, her back rack shifting as she took each step slowly.
Sephrena
Ah! Aunt Jane
Oh, the memories.
Thanks Sephrena.
Me too
I refuse to post a non-complete story, which accounts for the sixteen titles in my works in progress file that are years old, because I can't seem to wrap my head around where the story line was going when I stopped writing. :o(
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Gardener
They say there are gardeners and there are architects. I have not problem posting the work I write as I write it. My editing process is effective, but time consuming, and once I have a hold of something I don't stop until it's finished. If people expected a polished, professional work, they would be reading books by publishers, not an online serial. The feedback is nice, but the truth is that I would keep writing feedback or no.
The only concern I have with drafts is voice and theme. Voice can take an entire rough draft, or two to get right, and the theme won't come to you until at least halfway through, if your lucky.
Right now I'm 15,000 words in a story for which I haven't even written the beginning. And I'm only just now finding the voice. Once I've got a solid handle on it, I'll go back and write the beginning, and edit a couple of chapters to get the finished voice in there. Them I'm just gonna let it fly on here.
I kind of know how you are feeling...
I kind of know how you are feeling, as I had the same rules.
No incomplete story gets posted, but then again what is an incomplete story?
I wrote a bunch of pilots/origin stories that could go on but cut off after introducing the main cast and premise.
Like a pilot episode of a series on TV.
I think that is alright as it leaves the reader with a good picture and lets them fantasize themselves how it continues.
But that jump to serial. I currently trying it out for a change.
So far the experience is positive.
However, I made sure that I had enough parts done before posting, that if I have an accident or such, the reader gets at least something out of it.
I agree with other commentators that if you try to write a serial you have to plan the story out. Going back and doing drastic changes in earlier posted parts is a big no-no.
A definite plus is the added feedback you get from posting as a serial.
As for unfinished stories, I do feel you there. I have a few too.
I was contemplating to post one or two that I know that I will never finish.
Why? Because soon or later you have to see them as what they are: sunk cost fallacy.
Putting them out there as an unfinished story is a way of saying that you won't waste any more time on them.
Of course, now you say: "But that's what I want to avoid. That someone stumbles unto a story that they like only to find out it won't be finished."
My thinking is to post them on TBC not as "fiction", but as an organizational page. They don't show up in the update stream. I intend to clearly mark them as a given up project too. This way only those who are curious about me as a writer will stumble upon it.