Ongoing Education

Learning to be a writer is a lifelong process, much like pretty much every other skill in existence. While my college education was valuable, it’s been a while and also it was expensive. Luckily there are a lot of other resources out there that have helped me continue to grow as a writer. I wanted to take a second and point them out, just in case someone else would find them useful.

Growth

I’m finally at the end of a draft 2 rewrite of one of my books, and something that’s come up a lot has been growth. My main character is a supervillain who’s slowly going to reform over the course of several books, so the little signs of her growth arc at the end of book 1 has been fun to poke at. Coupled with a book that has a lot of really good character arcs, and a few shows that also show interesting change in characters, this is something I want to spend a bit more time thinking about.

Read more: Growth

“Growth” in a character can mean a lot of different things, and it’s not always a positive. Sometimes characters grow by learning to be worse versions of themselves. I personally like a positive change arc, but villain arcs are also a lot of fun. Watching the villain steadily give in to their worse impulses more and more can be really compelling.

From what I’ve seen recently, in my own work and elsewhere, one of the most important parts of a growth arc is the ending. You can sprinkle in a lot of details rather piecemeal, have things progress slowly or quickly, and generally get away with a lot of variation. Not that you want to be disjointed or write a character’s arc at anything less than your best, but there’s a lot of leeway in there.

The ending needs more care. Everything has to culminate or all the attention the reader spent was wasted. Everything that’s been hinted at and used thematically has to come together in the final moments or it’s lame. More accurately, it’s pointless. If nothing happens, you come away from the story feeling dissatisfied. Having a character arc come to fruition is fantastic, even if the results are not what you wanted or entirely expected.

This brings the book Oathbringer (by Brandon Sanderson) to mind. One of the characters in that book has an arc that’s wonderful to read even as he ultimately fails in his journey. The whole book sets up for him to finally take a specific step, and then in the clutch moment, with everything riding on it, he just can’t. But it works, for two reasons. First, his failing is set up throughout. Emotionally he’s not ready yet and the reader knows this. Fortunately, it’s a series and we know he can figure it out in the future, but in this moment he’s not there yet. Second, someone else’s arc is set up to have a major breakthrough at the same time, so the day is still saved and we still get that satisfying moment. It all comes together feeling natural and epic without everyone winning all the time.

I…somewhat lost the plot about this blog post and forgot how I wanted it to go. Which seems directly counter to what I was trying to say, and I find that amusing, so this is how I’m going to end the post.

The Curse of the Reboot

We are cursed to exist in an era of sequels and reboots and live-action remakes. I’m not going to be saying anything new. This is a well-worn topic, and we all have lists of things that have been ruined by the adapting. I feel like complaining in particular this week.

When is it Enough?

Writing projects can go on forever. Actually, that’s pretty much any kind of creative endeavor, but writing is more pertinent to me at the moment so that’s what we’re discussing today. You start a project, it’s rough, and then you edit. Then some issue pops up, and you fix that. And then you tweak something else. Then more editing. Then you put it aside in a drawer for a while, then come back and realize you can do so much better so it’s a full round of edits again.

And so on and so forth. But when is enough enough?

Read more: When is it Enough?

The answer is, who knows? Every project is different, and every author is different. There are a few subtle signs that I’ve noticed in one of my more polished books lately that make me think it’s time to send it out into the world.

When your latest editing pass doesn’t include any major issues. No more chapters disappearing entirely, no more reorganizing the third act, no more characters getting combined. And so on and so forth. You’re still tweaking stuff, but the adjustments can be finished with a sentence added or switching a word around. At that point, you’re risking the dreaded flip-flop edits, where you switch something in one draft only to change it straight back in the next.

When someone else looks at it, they don’t have editing notes so much as responses, and they’re the right responses. Having people read your book with the viewpoint of a reader instead of an editor can be invaluable. When the book is almost done, they’ll be asking questions and making responses that will hopefully mostly fit with where you want to lead your reader, or even better that they’re spotting nuances that you put in subconsciously.

When you understand that it will never feel completely done but it’s been long enough. You’ve done so many drafts and you feel like you’re going in a circle, you’ve been working on the book for so long. It’s time to either push the book into the world or else shove it in a drawer for a very long time.

The book I’m working on at present is at this stage. Either I do something with it, or I put it aside, and I really want to get this one published. It’s a lovely book and I think it’s turned out pretty well. So now I have to decide what to do with it. Anyone else with a project they feel is almost done? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

November Results

Hello! So I did intend to write a blog post in the middle of the month but that intention failed in the wake of a very busy month, and besides this is mainly for me anyway. Lots to report on for this post, and hopefully for next post I’ll have my prompts back so I can do a short story.

Why File Names Are My Bane

I nearly fell into a panic the other day because I couldn’t find series notes for a set of books I want to work on. I knew I’d written it, but I couldn’t find the words in any of the five other places that I’d put various notes. Fortunately, I kept looking and found it, finally. The name threw me off. Again.

This Summer, I Write

I’m getting married! Not for a few months more, and not in the summer, but that’s good because it gives me plenty of time to prepare for the wedding and also write words. Lots and lots of words. Hopefully all the words.

Story Sticks #4: Escape

I have a box of writing prompt doodads, and I plan to go through them and see what ideas they spark.

Today’s post comes as an idea from the Box of Prompts. I plan to use these to jumpstart creativity and stretch myself a bit. Today I’m using three sticks with sentences on them, chosen randomly. The prompt is:

First sentence: “Dad gave me a wink, like we were pals or something.”
Middle sentence: “If you don’t take chances,” said the man in striped pajamas, “you might as well not be alive.”
Last sentence: “the lemon sherbet that melted all over the counter.”

Knowing Which Will Be Better

I don’t think my current project will be very good. Which is totally fine because it’s a first draft. I’ll get it there eventually, after a lot of work. The problem in this situation is that I have a completely different story that I want to work on that even in the outline phase feels like it will be a much better story. And also more fun to write, because it’s superheroes.

Pros and Cons of Leveling Up As a Writer

I am definitively not a beginner writer anymore because when I looked at the first book I wrote, I cringed. And then I completely rewrote it. And then I let it sit for several years and have finally come back to it, and it still makes me cringe. But it also makes me wistful.