THE PASSIVE MC AND WHAT WE LEARNED FROM NOVELS

UK hairdressers.com is one of my
favourite places to find my MCs.

Once the summer holidays arrive my writing time goes from limited to endangered.

I feel bad for not getting to Blog, or Tweet, as often as I'd like but I have written two books in a week... enough said ;)

I hope everyone who stops by is enjoying their writing, feeling the pleasure of gathering words and gluing them onto pages. I know I've been having a lot of fun.

I found I needed to go back to Characterisation 101 yesterday when I realised my MC was running after her friend... again.

“There is no such thing as a passive lead character. Your main character must take control of her own destiny – she must make the decisions and take the actions that drive the story, and these must stem from who she is. This applies no matter which genre you are working in - including genres structured in a more plot-driven format. Even these are ultimately more character-driven than they may appear.” ~ Jennifer Knight

My MC is a girl.

She has a friend who is a boy.

They are the same age.

He knows more about what’s been going on than she does.

However, this is her book.

As their relationship is unbalanced I’ve had to keep this quote from Jennifer Knight pinned above my computer.

I've been checking one page at a time to ensure she is making decisions based on the evidence, to make sure the MC is in control.

As her friend is biased because of his prior knowledge I've given him an eager determination but also made sure he is guilty of seeing only what he thinks should be going on.

The important thing I re-learned this week is that no matter what age you are writing for the MC cannot be passive – a passenger in the vehicle you are creating – she needs to have the same emotions and motivations as most other girls of her age but she must have impulses and qualities that make her unique.

I have just started reading MATCHED  by Ally Condie and I'm loving it. 

THIS IS ONE BAD THING I LEARNED FROM NOVELS:

               Girls run after boys because boys have all the ideas... first.

CAN YOU THINK OF ANY MORE BAD THINGS YOU LEARNED FROM NOVELS?

THREE REVELATIONS a fluid metaphor and Unstonehenge

FAKE STONEHENGE
*image from LONDONIST.COM

It is the function of art to renew our perception. What we are familiar with we cease to see. The writer shakes up the familiar scene, and, as if by magic, we see a new meaning in it. ~ Anais Nin

I spent a few minutes in retrospection and it occurred to me that while I’ve been writing I’ve been wading waist-deep in words and constantly snagged by rules. 

Words are fluid like the sea.

In the expanse of words:

     some float on the surface and are easy to reach – constantly in use

     some are deep

     some are frothy  – they look pretty only at first glance

     words change their intensity depending on the light of meaning, and emotional impact.

Rules are nets that try to shape words into rigid forms:

     some are like seawalls – necessary barriers that stop words flooding everywhere.

     like groynes, some rules intrude in and among the words; they are designed to shape our understanding.

     constantly submerged in words, the rules change – eventually; they are worn down by use.

Who says I can’t stretch a metaphor into a simile :D *hahaha

THREE REVELATIONS:

While I have been spending far-too-long thinking about writing, I realised I have learned three important things:

·         No matter what you are writing, the basic material has been used before.

·         It’s how you put the elements together with creativity and flare that creates “voice.”

And voice is the only thing that is unique.

·         You can be positively inspired by something that has been done before.

WHAT HAVE YOU REALISED ABOUT WRITING?

SHARPER WRITING DRIVES THE PLOT *ouch!

I found Heidi Cohen's 21 Tips to keep your
writing sharp interesting.

A writer can write in an attic, or on top of a bus. Or with a sharp stick in some wet cement. ~Paul Muni

I’ve been thinking a lot about writing sharp. As I see it, to keep driving the plot forward I need to: 

Ø Structure the plot

Ø Shape chapters including some rough edges

Ø Slide over time

Ø Sharpen sentences – I find the Tweet comment box useful for this

Writing in first person from a young POV gives me a lot of time to notice everything and understand only the things that have importance for my MC.

Children have very sharp powers of observation - probably sharper than adults - yet at the same time their emotional reactions are murky and much more primitive. ~ Donna Tartt

  

I hear the little children of the wind

Crying solitary in lonely places. ~ William Sharp

DO YOU PREFER WRITING IN FIRST OR THIRD PERSON?

TEASER TUESDAY - THE FALSE PRINCE + 4 RULES OF WRITING... CRISIS

"Start as close to the end as possible." ~ Kurt Vonnegut

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 

Anyone can play along! 

Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

THE FALSE PRINCE ~ Jennifer A Neilson
MG/YA 

Civil war is brewing in the kingdom. To unify the people, Conner, a nobleman of the court devises a plan to find someone to impersonate the king's long-lost son. Once the imposter is installed as a puppet prince Conner plans to rein.

Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage.

This exciting story is full of plot twists and turns. It is all about the relationships Sage forms with the people he spends time with - a political manoeuvring - in this Game of Thrones ;)

"I'd never attempted roast thievery before, and I was already regretting it. It happens to be very difficult to hold a chunk of raw meat while running."

When I started to read this book I realised I had to shuffle one of my ideas to the back of the pack: refer to rule 4

MY 4 RULES OF WRITING:

·         Any time is a good time to write

·         Know your world and the conflict generated before focussing on the effect it has on an individual

·         Describe things that are specific and unique

·         If it is already on the bookshelves it’s the wrong thing to write

HAVE YOU READ ANYTHING RECENTLY THAT MADE YOU REALISE THIS WAS THE WRONG TIME TO BE WORKING ON A PARTICULAR MANUSCRIPT?

ASK YOURSELF, ADJECTIVE, ARE YOU REALLY NECESSARY?

AN ADJECTIVE CASTS LIGHT
ON THE SUBJECT
TOO MANY COULD BE BLINDING.

Thursday looks a lot like Wednesday... which is odd. 

“As to the adjective, when in doubt strike it out.” ~ Mark Twain

There are few writers who aren’t exorcising adverbs from their work.

Adverbs are being cast out of manuscripts no matter what form they take.

Adverbs of:

Manner – furiously, obnoxiously, intensely

Place – here, somewhere, upstairs

Frequency – never, often, always

Time – after, soon, then

Purpose – to avoid, since, so that

           

Adverbial phrases usually line up in that order.

Mortimer waited sadly in his room three times every day at each shift’s end in case his parent called in to see him. 

I wouldn’t usually use more than three phrases in the same sentence.

Every day at each shift’s end, Mortimer waited sadly in his room in case his parent called in to see him. 

But… are adverbs really the problem?

It could be the adjective’s greatest trick was to convince the writer that adverbs were the real problem while they ran amok through every sentence spreading systemic rot.

ASK YOURSELF, ADJECTIVE, ARE YOU REALLY NECESSARY?

There is a trinity of questions you can use to balance the worth of any adjective is it:

OBVIOUS

A large, powerful whale swam up to the edge of the boat.

Whale always conveys the image of a large and powerful creature. Whales don’t come in small.

I put the plate on the flat table.

The adjective is loitering if the image is already conveyed in the noun.

ESSENTIAL

The adjective should surprise or explain how the thing is different from the reader’s expectations. It must improve the image for the reader if it doesn’t  then it must be cast crossed out.

The excited toddler ran into the path of the metal car driven by bleary-eyed doctor.

An unnecessary advert can jar the reader.

APPROPRIATE

 The misplaced adjective is… The Reaper of the Narrative Voice

When I leave school, and I can pronounce the words in the anti-spell shields, I’m going to become a puissant Witch Slayer.

The right word used by the wrong person is just wrong.

MISS HARDBROOM    The Worst Witch ~ Jill Murphy

“Before Mildred had the time to reply, the door crashed open to reveal their form-mistress, Miss Hardbroom standing in the doorway wrapped in a black dressing-gown, with a lantern in her hand. She was a tall, terrifying lady with a sharp bony face and black hair scragged back into such a tight knot that her forehead looked quite stretched. ”

The introduction to Miss Hardbroom has only one spare adjective.

SNAPE Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone ~ JK Rowling.

CH 7 “… a professor with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin.”

CH 8 “Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid’s, but they had none of Hagrid’s warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.”

JK Rowling writes Snape’s description simply on page 94 but, with imagery and dialogue, takes the reader deeper on page 102.

The First Great Rule, when editing like an exorcist, must be:

Adjectives, I command you to obey me to the letter, I cast you out.

HOW DO YOU CHECK YOU ARE NOT WRITING TOO MUCH INTO YOUR DESCRIPTIONS IN YOUR WIP?

THERE ARE 6 MAIN USES FOR THOUGHTS ;)

THOUGHTS HAVE BEEN
HURTING MY HEAD

A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices.  - William James (1842 - 1910)

No one knows what we’re thinking unless we choose to reveal them.

Even when we reveal our thoughts, we censor them and only vocalise the thought that is most suitable, appropriate or powerful.

In writing thoughts and lectures directed internally can be used to:

·         heighten emotion

·         lighten the scene

·         allow an additional insight into a character

·         give characters an distinct voice

·         reveal a character’s motivations

·         can reveal a character’s conflict

Thoughts can slow the pace of a scene.

Although thoughts never need speech marks, any kind of visual marking can be distracting.

I have been experimenting with minimal punctuation:

Mortimer glanced around his L-terminal, checking to see when the Staff activated the chrys-chip implant switch.

Sometimes there was a look or someone asked a question. Yawning. Rubbing foreheads.  There was never a good reason for stunning learners. It was a painful abuse of power.

Mortimer glanced around his L-terminal to check when the Staff activated the chrys-chip implant switch.

Yawning. Rubbing foreheads.  There’s never a good reason for stunning learners. Sometimes there was a look or someone asked a question. It’s a painful abuse of power.

DO YOU USE ITALICS TO SHOW THOUGHTS? DO YOU CHANGE TENSES IF YOU DO?

A WRITER'S FOUR A DAY WAY

THE WRITER'S
4 A DAY WAY

Forget an invasion force of small silver centipedes, there is an easier way to make the world a better place.

Someone in my local area is a bit of a genius: they devised and launched a volunteer scheme called The 4-a-day Way.

When I hear the words "volunteer scheme" I panic, sometimes even to the point of crossing the road and finding the door furniture intensely fascinating.

Pay-it-forward just got simple.

The idea is that as many people as possible agree to do four small things every day:

• one piece of litter - pick up and bin (2.25 million pieces of litter are dropped daily in the UK)
• one "give way" - allow someone to go before you whether walking or in the car etc (many incidents of road rage, as well as other kinds of accidents, have an element of "me first" in them)
• one penny - put one penny away (in a jar) to be used for someone else's benefit (There are 60 million people in the UK x 1p? Enough said!)
• one "helping hand" - a good deed eg holding the door open for someone else, returning the harassed parent's shopping trolley etc (Psychologist, Michael Poulin, believes making a concrete improvement for another can reduce our own personal stress levels) 

A WRITER'S 4 A DAY WAY

• one significant comment - inspirational, meaningful, or encouraging

• one follow - look for someone new to the writing to follow every day

• one tweet or retweet or review - to help a fellow writer

• one "helping hand" - I set up What are you writing: "Tell Me About It!" I'm going to switch this to a separate page on the blog 

See I'm feeling useful and de-stressed already ;)

Here is a significant question too:

WHICH BOOK DO YOU WISH YOU'D WRITTEN?