Morning Pages

Red Tide at Amazon

Peg Brantley, author of debut novel Red Tide, is this week's guest. Red Tide is available in both print and eBook.

I have shelves full of books on craft. I admit that although they’ve all been perused, there are only a few that have been read and marked up. I have a few favorites, but today I want to talk about one in particular.

There’s not one thing in it that has to do with POV or plot or character development or anything that we work on to improve every time we sit down to write. And even more, I want to drill down to just one takeaway from this book that doesn’t mention our craft but has everything to do with it.

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron should be required reading for every writer. I bought this book years ago, long before I became serious about creating a piece of entertainment that only uses words. It set on my shelf for a very long time until apparently, the time was right for me to crack it open and go to work.

My biggest takeaway from my first time through TAW has been the concept of morning pages. Three full pages of stream-of-consciousness longhand writing. This simple little habit helps me deal with my Lizard Brain (thank you, Seth Godin) or whatever you want to call your inner Censor. For a while, I called mine Snake. It’s the little voice that resides inside my head and tells me I can’t spell, or find the right word or… do this.

What you write doesn’t matter, just that you write. You can write about the things you need to do that day or the things you did yesterday. Not every day of morning pages will give you fantastic insight, but I promise you, done faithfully, they will.

One of the most useful things my morning pages have evolved into is that of a personal brainstorming session. The stream-of-consciousness process allows me to explore plot or character issues freely. I’ve morning-paged myself into more than one perfect place.

In fact, I brainstormed what might be useful to readers of this blog and voila… here it is. I hope you’re encouraged to give this idea a try… and maybe even to get your hands on a copy of The Artist’s Way and gift yourself with the insight and strengths if will help you find.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F9MfZ0JaUs

About Peg Brantley

A Colorado native, Peg Brantley is a member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and Sisters in Crime. She and her husband make their home southeast of Denver, and have shared it with the occasional pair of mallard ducks and their babies, snapping turtles, peacocks, assorted other birds, foxes, a deer named Cedric and a bichon named McKenzie. Red Tide is Peg's first novel. Her second will be released in late 2012. She's on Facebook and Twitter with her real name as the handle, PegBrantley. Blog: Suspensenovelist.blogspot.com

Learning to write and bike. Not so different

Buy Print or eBook

This week I'm delighted to welcome debut author Donna Galanti as my guest. Her first mystery, A Human Element, was recently released in print and eBook.

I’ve always loved bike riding. And been a daredevil at it. In the words of Goose and Maverick “I feel the need–the need for speed!” (That applies to skiing too, but speed there ended up in cartwheeling down the mountain to exit on a stretcher. Ahem.)

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUpwLhZh66A

But back to the open road. Loved biking it ever since I was seven and flew down the hill to crash and burn winning some nasty road rash. Move on to when I was eleven and would bike four miles into our one-stop-sign country town for a popsicle. I had no problem knocking on stranger’s houses on the way back for a drink.

Fast forward to being 30 years old and trekking out on a hand-me-down, rusty, three-speed bike to explore my new place in the country where I lived alone. I shot down random roads at whim. Dark fell. I was totally lost. How to get home? Once again, I knocked on some stranger’s house, this time for directions. I limped back for miles in the pitch black night jumping in the ditch each time a car came barreling along.

Yep. Out on the road alone, no helmet, no water, no headlight, no idea what rules-of-the-road were, and certainly no cell phone. I didn’t know what I was doing and was not prepared at all.

How did I even manage doing it without knowing all I needed to know and being fully equipped? I just did because I loved it so much and couldn’t stop.

It occurred to me that this is just like writing a book. When I sat down and wrote my first book (the manuscript still collecting dust on a shelf) I had no concept of how to do it, what the rules were, or what tools I needed. I just did it. I loved it and how no idea, like my old-days of biking, how unprepared I was. I didn’t know what point-of-view was, head-hopping, story arc, tension on every page, sub-text, plot layers, or personal stakes were. Among many other things.

I wonder now how in the world I even rode wrote before without knowing the rules. I think it was wonderful that I didn’t know the rules. If I had I might have been too overwhelmed to try. It was fun. It was exciting. I couldn’t stop. I had fallen in love with creating stories. I wanted to do it again and again. And I did.

Just like biking. I eventually got a decent bike, helmet, mirror, and all the other gear, and learned the road signals to ride safely (thanks to my sweet husband). I learned to always be prepared. This meant riding with a buddy if possible, telling someone where I would be headed, taking my cell phone, wearing a helmet, carrying extra tire tubes and tools, and bringing water. And I’m glad I did. It helped the summer day two years ago when I crashed and split my helmet open. I survived my crash and burn then because I was prepared.

Since writing that first dust-collector book I have armed myself with writing tools and been learning the rules of writing. This involves going to writing conferences, participating in workshops, reading self-help books from the writing masters, and using editing services. I may have crashed and burned with my first book, but it taught me one thing. I survived it and could write a book. I could write THE END. And that is what motivated me to keep going.

I still don’t have it all down, but I know enough to write a better book now. And I’ll keep learning to write a better book after that. Why? Because like any addiction, I can’t stop. Nor do I want to. And if you love doing something enough don’t you want to be the best you can be at it?

About A HUMAN ELEMENT by Donna Galanti:
One by one, Laura Armstrong’s friends and adoptive family members are being murdered, and despite her unique healing powers, she can do nothing to stop it. The savage killer haunts her dreams, tormenting her with the promise that she is next.

Determined to find the killer, she follows her visions to the site of a crashed meteorite–her hometown. There, she meets Ben Fieldstone, who seeks answers about his parents’ death the night the meteorite struck. In a race to stop a mad man, they unravel a frightening secret that binds them together. But the killer’s desire to destroy Laura face-to-face leads to a showdown that puts Laura and Ben’s emotional relationship and Laura’s pure spirit to the test.

With the killer closing in, Laura discovers her destiny is linked to his and she has two choices–redeem him or kill him.

Reviewers are saying…
“A HUMAN ELEMENT is an elegant and haunting first novel. Unrelenting, devious but full of heart. Highly recommended.” –Jonathan Maberry, New York Times best-selling author of DEAD OF NIGHT

BIO:
Donna Galanti is the author of the paranormal suspense novel A Human Element (Echelon Press). Donna has a B.A. in English and a background in marketing. She is a member of International Thriller Writers, Horror Writers Association, SCBWI, The Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group, and Pennwriters. She lives with her family in an old farmhouse in PA with lots of nooks, fireplaces, and stinkbugs.

Connect with Donna here:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/DonnaGalanti

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DonnaGalantiAuthor

Blog: http://blog.donnagalanti.com/wp/

Purchase A HUMAN ELEMENT here:

Ebook/Paperback:

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/dg-the-Kindle

Ebook:
Barnes & Noble: http://tinyurl.com/dg-he-Nook

Those Tricky Flashbacks

This is a very long post today, but flashbacks are tricky. They're also controversial. Many people dislike them. My vote is for moderation (in all things). Flashbacks should be used sparingly and limited to past events that have a direct impact on the main story. Nice little scenes that show some characteristic or pleasant interlude do not make compelling flashbacks.

Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge

Once in a while the whole story is told in flashback (Isaak Dinesen’s Out of Africa, for example). Sometimes a murder mystery begins with the discovery of a body, and the story flashes back to reveal the history and events leading to the murder.

Transitions into and out of flashbacks require particular care. A flashback is when the story shifts to a scene in the past, a time before the time of the main storyline. It’s not told to the reader or remembered (that’s backstory) but shown as if it’s happening now. If your story is written in past tense, as most fiction is, then the flashback will be in past tense. Use the same tense as the main story, whatever it is. The reader should see the action in the flashback just as she does in the main storyline.

Here's an example. Sarah’s memory of the scene burned into her brain provides the transition into the flashback. Use had only enough to let the reader know the scene took place in the past. Had takes away the immediacy of the scene. Remember, flashbacks have action and dialogue. Show, don’t tell.

That June afternoon was burned into her memory--she envisioned it like a brand, a smoldering scar in the gray matter that was her brain. She had returned home from Massachusetts the day before, free of the Pendleton Academy and its straight-laced  headmistress forever. She wakened at dawn, brimming with joy, and tugged on some old pants and a tee shirt.  (She wakened is past tense, just like the main story line. Only one “had” is used to lead in to the flashback. After that, use the tense of the main storyline.)

Tugged was the word, all right; she must have put on more than a few pounds this last year. Taking care not to disturb her grandmother, Sarah signaled Trouble, the large hound dancing at her side, to silence. Together they slipped from the house and ran to the rickety barn to get Atticus. The horse whickered softly, bumping her with his nose as she lifted the bar that closed off his crude stall.  (For the reader, this is happening now. We experience it with Sarah, making it immediate.)

After a flashback, there must be a clear transition back to the present. This is essential. There should be no doubt. It must be clear that we’re back to now, the main storyline. Here’s the return transition from the same story. During the flashback, Sarah's arm is cut badly. To bring it back to the present, where she’s sitting in a car watching the snow fall (and has time to remember), I did this.

Sarah felt through her thick sweater for the scar on her right forearm. Harry Lucas had left shortly after that, and she never saw him again. (Note the single use of “had.” Harry Lucas had left shortly after that. That’s enough. The reader is reminded it happened in the past. Then you can go to past tense, or whatever tense your story is in.) From here, continue with the main storyline.

This was a long scene, one I felt was important, so I made it a separate chapter. The flashback occurred while Sarah is waiting for something, so she had time to remember without interrupting any action. It could have been a prologue, but I try to avoid them. I think it works better as a second chapter, with the first an action scene that raises questions and problems for the main character. 

So, what do you think about flashbacks? This is how I see them, but if you disagree, speak up!

The Plot Thickens

Moonlighting
Bruce Willis, Cybill Shepherd

Plotting is tough, at least for me. I often discard something because I don't think I can develop it into a full novel. My process is a bit foggy, possibly part of the problem.

The characters come first. I know them before I start. Next I try to come up with real reasons that will keep them apart-the main conflict. Just as an example, an environmentalist and a developer and the reasons they care passionately about what they do. The stronger the motivation, the stronger the conflict.



  Then I think of the main problem they have to overcome. Say she wants to build a low-income housing development in the place where the last two dodo birds live, which he wants to protect. Since I write romantic suspense, the problem usually involves a crime. So enter the villain, a greedy energy magnate (a stereotype, but okay for this blog). He wants the land because of a natural gas pocket below ground. When you give all the characters strong reasons for what they want: she came out a tenement and her sister died because of the crime/poor conditions/whatever; he was lost in the woods as a child and a wolf saved him; the bad guy has to have a strong motive too, something more than just wanting money. You have to ask why he wants money so badly he'd use underhanded or shoddy methods to get it.

MUIR WOODS

© Michael Thompson | Dreamstime.com

  Once you work out these things, ideas for things that could happen along the way should pop up. Of course, you have to figure out how to overcome the problems and get the characters, at least the H&H, to work out their differences and have their HEA (happily ever after, if you're new to this <g>).

I'm a mix of pantser and plotter, so I don't have any details worked out ahead, but I do have a general idea. Often the plot veers unexpectedly, but that's what makes it interesting.

How do you do it? How much do you plan, and does your story stay on track?