How we write

     I've been doing some work recently, and picked up a few books on writing. Almost anyone who has set out to write a novel is familiar with the argument - to outline, or not to outline? The slang I've heard for this is "Plotters and Pantsers".
   
     On one side you have the 'Plotters' (those who set out to outline the entire novel before they begin) on the other, the 'Pantsers' (those who start with only a vague idea of where they want the novel to go.) The Plotters would say "I couldn't 'pants' it! How could I write a book if I don't know what's going to happen?" The Pantsters retort with "I don't wanna outline my book! That just ties me down."

     In almost any discussion or book about how to write a book, with plotters or pantsers, I've heard the same arguments -

"A novel has a beginning, a middle, and an end.",
"A book is written with three acts."
"A book has an introduction, rising action, a climax, and a denoument."

- and so on and so forth. While all of these are true, I'm here to disagree.

    This is not how to write a book.

     Now before all of you writing students and literature buffs get yourselves upset, keep reading. As I said, these previous statements are true. But they are NOT how to write a book.

     These arguments are how you Analyze a book. Let me explain.

     When someone talks about the structure of a book, they're talking about a book that has already been written. When a book is finished, if it follows some of the basic structures of storytelling, it will naturally have a setup, a development, and a finale.
    
     But writing a novel is a lot messier than that. At least for some people.
    
     Some writers (like myself) have little to no idea what's going to happen in their book, except for a few key plot points. But they know that things will have to be set up, that things will have to get harder for the protagonist, and that they will have to wrap up the book in a satisfactory fashion. When starting a story no one says "Hm, what kind of structures of classical struggles in literature can I use as a basis for the next scene in my novel?"
    
     At least not many of us.
    
     ... at least not me.
    
     What happens is a writer says something like "OK, my hero is trapped at the bottom of an old well that's filling up with dirt, and he can't escape. His girl's gone, so he's distracted, but he has to find a way to stop the mad scientist from throwing the country into a panic with a mutated virus." (Cooties are a thing, apparently.) "How do I get him out of this mess?"
    
     When a writer follows the natural progression of their story, they're not thinking about the structures of successful novels, they're working to tell a good story.

     So if you're trying to figure out how to tell a story, studying books on writing can be helpful. Learning about the structures of fiction, how it's put together and how successful fiction works, is great. But don't let the analysis of fiction become a recipe. Let it be something that helps you understand how fiction works so that you can be free to write the way you do.

Beta Readers

Hey Guys,

     I know that my posts here can be a bit sporadic, but I have an exciting update. I know I posted a while ago that I finished the first draft of my first novel. This a huge step forward for me. Most of my experience in writing has been for fun. I wrote for the local youth fair, short stories, or for fun.
     Late last year, as I said, I completed my first book. Now I'm going to be in the process of revising it. I've reached a critical stage, however, and I'm going to need some help. 🙂
     Now I'm looking for beta readers. I've already had some sign up to help me, and I appreciate those who have. If this is something you are interested in, find me on Facebook and comment. You can search with "Jackson Kerr fiction" and it will be a page with the same pictures as on this blog. There you can message me or comment, letting me know that you're interested in being a beta reader.
     If you haven't been a beta reader before, or don't know much about it, being a beta reader involves reading through the book and giving feedback about the story and characters, as opposed to editing. If you have other ideas or thoughts about this, feel free to share.

Thank You!

First Draft

Hello again! It know it's been a while, but I have an exciting update. Over the past few months I've been going through some changes, so I haven't had time for writing. But things have settled down, at least for a moment, an I've had a chance to do some writing.
For a while I was stuck in my story. I had an idea of how I wanted it to end, but I didn't know the details. After a considerable break I went back to working on my novel.
And I am pleased to say that, as of last night, I officially have my first draft complete!
This is a big step for me, since having the first draft done means I have a pretty good idea of how the story will work. I know that there may be plotholes and times I will need to write characters in more or cut them, but I'm happy to say that the first major step of my novel-writing is finished.

Another excerpt - Paint

Well, as promised, here's another excerpt from my novel. It's a little short, but I hope you enjoy it.

          The table itself was crude. Workbench would be a more appropriate title. It was scarred here and there with cracks and indentations. Paint of various shades covered it. A bit of rusty orange here, violet there. It seemed worn, and yet satisfied. Like an apron passed from mother to daughter, its stains being markers of memories. Abigail pulled out a palette.

            “All right,” she said, “now the first thing you have to know about painting is that I haven’t done it in years. So, if you’re determined to do something-” she spread her arms “-now’s the time.” Robin laughed. She looked from the paints to Abigail and laughed again.

            “I can’t paint.”

“Of course you can’t. But how do you think I got started?” Robin shook her head.

“You’ve been doing this for a long time. I never-”

“Doodled in your notes? Used finger paints in kindergarten? Honey, you must realize that there was a point for me, too, when I had never painted before. Now come on.” Robin sighed, then laughed again. Abigail was squeezing paints onto a palette. Handing this to Robin, she stepped to the canvas.

            “What am I supposed to paint?” The protest was weak at this point.

“Whatever you’d like to paint.”

“Well… how about a tree?” That seemed simple enough. Abigail gestured to the canvas in answer.

Novel in Progress

     Here's a post to give you all an update on my writing. I know it's been a while since I've posted  about that 20,000 word-count.
     Things have been going very well for the last few weeks. I'm off for school, which means I can spend more time working on my current project and planning future projects. And having one of the family cats climbing all over me. Like right now, as I type this entry.
     I've been reading some new books on writing as well as pressing forward with the novel I'm working on. I still have to come up with a title. As you may already know, you can find some excerpts here on the site. I put out a teaser about putting a new excerpt, so I should probably follow through with that.
     Other reading material is made up of Christmas gifts I've received this year. One of these is The Children of Hurin by Tolkien. A bit dense, but an excellent read, especially for those who like older literature and the style of story-telling modeled by the traditional passing on of tales.
     Another book I am very excited about is The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain. This is something of an autobiographical work (I believe) by Twain. He had the opportunity to travel all over Europe by boad along the coastline. My familiarity with it stared as an interpretive speech during my last year of high school. In short, you take part of a book and turn it into a ten-minute skit. No props, no set, and you're wearing a suit.
     In any case, I thought I'd let you guys know that I'm rounding the bend with my first draft I think, unless some big plot development waylays me. My current word count is now well past the 40,000 word mark, and growing steadily. As I mentioned before, most novels (especially ones by new authors) tend to be around the 60,000 mark. Some are as long as 120,000 (or more) but I'm not nearly that ambitious.
     I hope your Christmas and New Years went well. Keep an eye out for that excerpt, I'll pick one and have it up soon.
All the best!

Exciting Word-Count

As some of you my know in the process of writing, we keep track of the word-count, the number of words which are in the project we're working on. Most novels on the shorter side tend to be 60,000-80,000 words, though there's a lot of variation. Some say that you have to have 60,000 to have a complete novel, while many agree that if it's within the scope/size of a novel, that's what defines it, as opposed to a shorter work, such as a short-story.
As I've been writing I've been keeping track of my word-count because it's a good encourager, letting me see how much progress I've made, and how quickly.
All of this is to say that I have an update on my word-count for my novel.
As of this afternoon, my word-count is up to (drum roll please)...
20,000 words!
This is big for me, as the longest project I've ever written before this was certainly less than half of this size. But the ideas keep coming and the words keep flowing.
So, until the next post, Blessings!

Chili-Mac

I caved and decided to post another scene from my project. This is an excerpt from one of the funniest moments, so far, in the novel. As a bit of background, Robin has just met Abigail, who invites her to sit and eat with her at this diner. Having heard it mentioned, Robin absent-mindedly orders the Fireball Chili-Mac. Having ordered the chef's special, Abigail also receives an order of the Chili-Mac.

          Robin took up a forkful and took a bite of Earl’s Fireball Chili-Mac. Her first impression was This is a good chili-mac! Though in the next instant something started to happen. Warmth. She moved the bite about her mouth a bit, getting a better feel. It wasn't just warmth, but heat. Not just any heat – then it hit her like a freight train.

            An mmph! came out, and Abigail looked up from her root beer float, smiling a little. Then she saw Robin’s expression, and the corners of her mouth dropped.

            “My goodness child, what is it?” But at this point, Robin couldn’t hear her. Her taste buds, her mouth, her very existence screamed one thing – FIRE!! Grabbing Abigail’s cup of water, she began chugging it, spluttering as she went.

            “Oh, it can’t be worth that much fussing!” The look on Robin’s now sweaty face said otherwise. Curiously, hesitantly, Abigail took up her own fork. Robin’s eyes went like saucers now. She had finished the water, but was still trying to find her voice.

            Shaking her head frantically, she waved her hands, trying to get Abigail’s attention. Seeing this, Abigail let out an exasperated sigh.

            “Now really, it can’t be that bad!” Robin was nodding a yes it could, but Abigail had already taken up a forkful. She took the generous bite whole.

Abigail looked up to Robin’s face as she took her first bite. Robin stared back, hopelessly. The first wave hit her.

            “Oh! Well, it looks like Earl decided to change up the recipe! I never-” then the second wave hit her, stronger this time. “Oh! Well I say! I haven’t-” Sweat began to issue forth from her pores, en masse.

            A hiccup issued forth from Robin. Abigail laughed before a hic sounded from her. Now it was Robin’s turn to really laugh. And so the two sat there, laughing and hiccuping breathlessly, tears streaming down their faces.

            “I guess-” was all Abigail managed before another hiccup asserted itself. “-guess misery – hic – misery loves company!” The twosome continued to hiccup through their redoubled laughter.

            At this point Peggy made her way up to the table.

            “Everything tastin’ all right for you two?” this caused squeals of laughter from both of them, shaking their heads ‘no’. Bewildered, Peggy looked from one to the other. “Well what on earth is the matter?” Abigail was the first to attempt an answer through laughter.

            "The ch- hic, the- hic chili is- hic a little- hic a little- hic- ” At this point she was laughing too hard to be comprehensible. Robin tried for them again.

            “She’s saying the ch- hic the chili - hic is too- hic the chili’s-” Abigail was laughing even harder now, and Robin burst out laughing herself.

            The waitress stared in wonder at the two hiccupping women in hysterics. The rest of the customers weren’t even pretending to be disinterested at this point. Determined to get to the bottom of the matter, Peggy spoke.

            “For heaven’s sake! What in the world could-” seeing the two bowls, she grabbed a spoon from a nearby table, and took a bite from Abigail’s bowl. This prompted another squeal of laughter from the women, followed by more hiccupping.

            Peggy was chewing at this point, but they hardly noticed. She sighed as she chewed.

            “I honestly don’t see what’s-” Now boarding the Fireball Express, please be sure your luggage is stored in the proper compartments, and hold on for the ride! Her mouth dropped open, and she fanned herself a little.

            “Well it must’ve been a while since I last had this one. But it’s not-” The next wave swelled. “I mean goodness! It’s got quite a kick!” This only encouraged the laughter from the two women, old and young.

Peggy opened her mouth to say something else, but the next wave of heat hit her at that point, and she stood there in silence, mouth agape, fanning herself. Seeing her expression sent the twosome into a redoubled fit of laughter. Not knowing what else to do, the waitress hurried back into the kitchen.