What is a Novel?

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As I type this far ahead of time in anticipation of my National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) participation, I’m thinking nearly constantly about what I want to write. I’ve still got nearly the whole of October, though, so I’m silly to be so obsessed.

All the same, it’s led me to wonder just what defines a novel. The word is a noun, obviously. Answers.com offers these definitions:
1. A fictional prose narrative of considerable length, typically having a plot that is unfolded by the actions, speech, and thoughts of the characters.
2. The literary genre represented by novels.

The word is also an adjective: Strikingly new, unusual, or different.

More than anything, I would say this defines what I really want to produce next month. Let’s hope I’m well on my way. Happy writing and/or reading to you!

Character, Plot & World Building

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This week’s topic is likely the most nebulous for me. It can be one of the hardest to reduce to specifics, but it is also one of the most important. The over-reaching ideas for your characters,  plot and setting are the basis for the entire story. You need a good, solid base in order to have a cohesive, readable story that takes you from introduction to conflict to a satisfying resolution. Let’s take a look.

First up is character building. You will often hear writers discuss whether they are character-driven or story-driven. What this means, for those character-driven writers, is that  some prefer to start with vivid characters they can really ‘see’ and  take it from there. I am definitely one of those. When writing a story, you will spend an unbelievable amount of time with the characters. They will drive you, tease you, thrill you, and at times refuse to speak to you. They will live in your head, chattering away. At times the constant buzz can get distracting, but telling them to shut up is the last thing I want to do.
Where do they come from? All over. Remember my example from last week about the lady in the funny hat?  Sometimes people I see will stir a character idea. Sometimes, as I noted with the historical I wrote last fall, they just appear, ready to go. Those are the lucky days.  Generally, for me, a character will whisper from the shadows, spilling just enough hints about  himself (or herself), to pique my interest. I’ll poke and prod them to get them to give up more details.
Sometimes it take gentle coaxing.  Sometimes the character will unload their whole story as if they’ve been waiting years  for someone to listen to them. Most are in-between, and we do this little dance for a  bit while we get to know each other. This is  the most essential step.  As this character’s writer, I need to know all I can about them if I am going to portray them  in an accurate, believable manner. Besides, I want them to like me. After all, we are going to be spending a lot of time together.
For those writers who are story-driven, the plot’s the thing. This is where they start – the “Oh, what if this happened? What then?” moment. But whether they start with  characters or plot, every writer needs a great story. This is the meat to go with your potatoes, er, characters. What happens to them? How does it affect them? What do they learn? Is it believable and does it draw in the reader so they keep turning pages, reading to the end?
A well-developed plot needs three things for each character: goals, motivation, conflict. What do they want to accomplish? What drives them, keeps them going in the face of adversity? And what is that adversity that interferes with  their  goals, threatens their happiness? How do they face it? And perhaps most importantly, how does it change them in the end? What do they learn and are they better for it? The best plots are those with layers, details that add to  the story, making it more complete.  To continue our meat and potatoes analogy, the seasoning that makes it all work. To quote Shrek, “Ogres have layers. Onions have layers. You get it?”
I mentioned believable regarding plot. Believable does not have to mean possible and  proven by current scientific and social rules. If it did, Dracula would never have gotten off the ground.  What this means is, within the scope of your story and characters, do you pull the reader in effectively so they stick with your story? Is this believable in the world you have created? Here’s the one area that some writers adore, others hate.  World building. Whichever side of the line you fall on, we all have to do it.
Where does the story take place? Can you make the reader see it? Is it complete? Does it have layers? Some genres are easier than others in the world building department. If you are writing a story set in the current day in your hometown, well, you can simply observe and record, changing as needed. But what if you are writing science-fiction set centuries into the future?  Then you’ll be building this place from the ground up and it better be believable within the rules of your universe.
Wait, there are rules? You better believe it. When you set about building your own world, whatever form it takes, there are rules, your own natural laws if you will, that determine how things work. You need to establish them and stick to them. Your readers certainly will expect you to follow them. Nothing guarantees a reader will throw your book across the room, and not go  pick it back up, like abandoning your ‘laws’ for the sake of plot convenience.
Include details makes it richer, more developed, more believable. What’s the social structure? The government? How do they dress, what do they eat, what sort of entertainment do they prefer?  World building is not all about the mountains, rivers, and cities, it’s about the society too. What is acceptable, what’s taboo? And is Desperate Housewives still popular in its 487th season?
This all skims the surface, of course, but it does give a good idea of what goes into the structure of your story. Everything you do from here till the end of it depends on these things.  Take your time and make them detailed and rich.
Layers.  You get it?

Developing Character

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I’m increasingly interested in whether other writers use some form of character sheet. Even if done haphazardly, it’s a practice that seems increasingly vital as I have so many different WIPs in various stages of completion.

I’ve seen all sorts of questionnaires and charts but still haven’t really utilized them. I mainly started doing some basic listing of character traits so that I don’t forget details. It seems like the plots develop my characters and vice versa, not like a character wakes up in my brain and demands a say.

The more likely scenario is that a scene from a dream kicks off a tale. It might even be something more esoteric like a strange phrase or unusual name popping into my head. Then, the characters grow from what I put on the page. Some days the process does feel almost like I’m taking dictation. I love when that happens.

If you write, what is your method? I’d enjoy learning how different folks create their unique voices for story.

Wiley Wednesday: Writing Through the Chaos

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Today, we have some Wiley Words of Wisdom from Writer’s Retreat forum member Isabelle Flynn. Enjoy!

Writing Through the Chaos

I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said that my life has been chaotic in the past six months. It started in March when I left my home of the past three years with my two sons. My husband was stuck behind to work and get the house ready for our big move. We were headed to a city only a few hours away but with training and some family visits in between, we had months to hang out. It should have been easy, fun, and carefree. It wasn’t.

I left with writing in the forefront of my mind. It was hard and I didn’t hit word count, but I tried. Boy, did I try! I wrote with my sick three year old by my side and I wrote when I felt like doing nothing but curling up into a little ball. When my truck was broken into, when my grandfather was hospitalized for a serious illness, when I spent the day in the hospital and then the nights giving my son breathing treatments, I found the time to write. Then I didn’t.

I didn’t write but I learned. I learned that writing is the first thing I question about myself when things begin to go wrong. I learned that forgiving myself isn’t easy but truly divine. I learned that reading can be productive, even when it’s not a craft book. I learned that there is more than ‘filling the well’ or studying the craft.

Just being helped me to renew my love of putting words down on paper. I listened to music that opened my mind up to daydreaming and story creation. I fell back in love with the tapping on my keyboard and the words that simply appear across my screen when I’m in the zone. Pressure is my enemy but chaos doesn’t have to be.

How do you get past the chaos in your life to keep at your writing practice?

NaNoWriMo

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If you’re involved in the writing community, you’ve surely seen these NaNoWriMo participation badges in various shapes and sizes. As I write this a few weeks in advance, I can only hope my opening effort honors the event.

To be honest, I am equally excited and nervous at the moment. Writing has never created such a mix of emotions before. I’m telling myself this is a good thing. A minor shake-up is good for us, right?

Time will tell if I have that many words in me for one story. So far, I’ve tended to author much shorter pieces. In fact, such a tale is due to be published any day in a science fiction m/m erotica anthology. So I should be on cloud nine anyway, right? That said, I guess I am.

Breathe, Darla. Better.

So much of every day’s outcome depends upon our attitude, right? And taking things day by day is the only way to reach any goal. I hope your attitude is great, your day is good, and that you’re joining me in the truly international National Novel Writing Month.

May good things come your way whatever you choose to do!

Where Do All Those Ideas Come From?

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Not long ago, I participated in a group experiment: several of us wrote a series on our creative processes, each from our own point of view. I have since taken that blog down, but wanted to present them here for your enjoyment. Over the next two months, I will be examining both the creative and physical processes of writing – everything from idea generation to getting the words on the page and polishing them up into a final draft. These posts will reflect my process, how I do it, but one thing is certain – there is no one way to write a story. You’ll find as many different processes as there are writers, and different types of writing might come with  different processes. I hope this series will help spark your own  process, whatever that may be.
First a little bit about me. My favored genre is paranormal, though I am currently in the final leg of a contemporary romance draft. I’ve also written science fiction and horror extensively, as well as some historical stories set in the Victorian period and 15th century France. My stories tend to be longer, novel length, which means anything from 50,000 words on up. And while that is considered a novel, my friends like to smile and say it means I am long-winded. I’ll take that. I have a yearning to try a novella, however, and have a few ideas waiting in the wings. It should be a challenge, but I am curious to see if I can do it.
Speaking of ideas, that is the subject of the beginning of this series. How do I think up all these story ideas?  Where do they come from?  Do I write about people and things I know? Well the short answers are: all sorts of ways, from all over, and yes and no. Clear as mud?

The more complete answer cannot be split up into separate questions. Storytellers, and that is what writers are when you get right down to it, find inspiration all over. Sometimes a word or phrase overheard starts the wheels turning. A lady walking by the window in a funny hat could stir an idea. Sometimes a snatch of song turns on the creative light bulb. Perhaps a dream has us waking up and running for pen and paper, or the computer, to make notes before we forget.
This last bit happens often to me. The paranormal I was writing last fall is a good example. I knew all the characters that were to be in the story and was already off to a great start. I woke up one morning with a character sitting in my head. She had a face I could see clearly. She had a name and a whole backstory ready, and informed me that she was supposed to be in this story and  what was I doing lazing about instead of in there writing her in? I did as directed. Who am I to argue?
Do I write about things I know?  Here is that yes and no answer. The people and places I know may spark ideas, but I don’t write them as they are. They start as the first glimmer of an idea. I make a note of it so I don’t forget and think ‘Hey, that could be cool!’. Then I let it simmer. That’s my highly technical term for tossing it into the primordial soup that is my brain, letting it swim around with everything else lurking in there, and see what eventually bobs to the surface. Sometimes the idea is too small and I throw it back to simmer some more. Some ideas sink to the bottom never to be seen again.  But some of them appear shining with the light of inspiration. And what may have begun as a lady walking by the window in a funny hat has become a prince of some unknown land, wearing a large crown, who is the subject of an assassination plot. See what I mean?
The point is this:  ideas can come from anywhere at any time. I learned early on to carry a small notepad with me for this very reason. I got tired of pulling notes from pocket and purse that were scribbled on paper, gum wrappers, bar napkins, take-out menus, etc. People always think writers are so much more creative then they are.  I don’t think that is true, I think we just are more tuned in to the random ideas that float through our brains every moment of the day. We are more likely to grab hold of them, shine a light on them, and see if they squirm to life. People are natural born storytellers. All of us. It’s just a matter of looking a little more closely at the world around us. You may find, in doing so, that instead of too few ideas, you have too many. I’ll take that any day.