The People In My Head
January 24, 2013 23 Comments
I thought I’d share some of the things I’ve learned about writing today. Well, not what I’ve learned so much as how. I’m not going to pretend I’m so great that I can write about writing like an expert, but I’ve gotten pretty good at finding what works for me when I want to learn something new about writing.
One thing I’ve sometimes needed help with is creating characters. I think I’m pretty good at observing real people and I’m getting better about knowing what I’m feeling and why, but sometimes sticking to the fictional character requires reacting or acting how they would not how I would. That would be acting out of character which, even if you don’t specifically realize that’s what happened, you can definitely say that doesn’t seem right and you’re popped out of the story for a moment.
So, two books I really like for dealing with who these fictional people are and how they might act are:
- The Complete Writer’s Guide to Heroes & Heroines, 16 Master Archetypes by Tami D. Cowden, Caro LaFever, and Sue Viders — This one is great because it takes an archetype like “The Best Friend” and explains it in a lot of detail, gives examples from movies, and then shows how this type of person might work with someone of a different archetype. It’s all really basic, idea-starter information, but that’s why it’s so fabulous. Also, I’m not limiting it to only women can be these archetypes or only men these other ones because that’s ridiculous. (I’m not linking to any site for this book because it’s only available in ebook for a reasonable price. I got mine from a library sale of used books last year for like $3, but print copies are going for over $40, which is just crazy. The author link up there has some really basic info about archetypes from the books that’s like a sneak peek.)
- The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi — This one is a printed version of some of the emotions available from The Bookshelf Muse. It’s a lot of lists that let you get a lot more creative about expressing an emotion like impatience or hurt without going for cliches or coming right out and telling the reader how the character feels. (Visit their website — and scroll down the right side — and you’ll find a ton more information on weather, settings, physical attributes, and a lot more that’s all for free.)
As for writing books related to the romance genre, I’m not thrilled with the ones I’ve found in bookstores and the library. They seem aimed at creating the characters and stories that drove people away from reading romances in the first place. Plus it’s all about selling to New York publishing houses or getting an agent and that’s just not happening for me. Not that I’m putting myself down, just that I don’t want to make writing that much of a business because it has to stay fun.
I liked Stephen King’s On Writing and other books about writing in general without an emphasis on genre, but I haven’t spent a lot of time reading bunches of them. A few had just enough to make me think I was doing it all wrong, so I put those down quick because I’m writing my way and that’s that and nobody’s going to make me feel bad about it. I don’t sell because someone doesn’t like my style, fine. Their loss. Bad reviews? You’re entitled to your opinion. But I’m doing it my way.
As far as I can find, there’s only one book about writing M/M and that’s Josh Lanyon’s Man, Oh Man! Writing M/M Fiction for Kinks & Cash. It’s a little tiny bit out of date, but I heard he’s updating it this year, so I’m excited about the new version. That’s just going to be awesome.
About Thorny
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Great recs everybody! I wish I had even a tenth of the talent of Josh Lanyon or Stephen King. You’re doing great Thorny and keep it up!
Thanks for the additional recommendations!
The one book I’ve worked with was “Steering the Craft” by Ursula K Leguin. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68024.Steering_the_Craft I had fun with the exercises and did gain some insights that I think were very worthwhile.
Lanyon’s book is good even for people who don’t write MM. And Stephen King’s is one of the best I’ve ever read–I have both the electronic and the audio versions, lol! I’ll have to look up the Angela Knight one.
Letting things stew is what works for me too. If I don’t have time to let it sit in the back of my brain, or if life is too crazy to keep a bit of my attention on it all the time, then the story doesn’t progress. But when things are working, wow, is it ever wonderful.
I love *The Complete Writer’s Guide to Heroes & Heroines, 16 Master Archetypes*, and I actually used excerpts from Stephen King’s *On Writing* when I was teaching. I love his toolbox metaphor. One of my favorite books on writing process is *Passionate Ink* by Angela Knight. She talks a lot about structure and tropes. She also does things like breaking down the anatomy of a sex scene. Some of it’s really helpful, some (like in any book I’ve found) doesn’t fit my style so I note it and move on… She’s quite readable, though, and knows her stuff.
I remember Lora Leigh (love her or hate her, the woman sells like crazy) talking about teaching herself to write – she took novels by Linda Howard and created plot charts for them and analyzed the way the story developed. I’ve done that myself with a couple of authors I love – not necessarily looking at it from a sales standpoint, but more from a “this works for me as a reader, and I’d like to emulate it” standpoint.
One last comment (English teacher needing to pontificate – sorry! lol) – while there’s a lot of “prestige” publishing with a NY publisher, what I’ve seen appears to be far more stressful than the payoff is worth. Just in my opinion. My friends who NY publish tend to agree the editing is generally scanty, the contracts are ridiculous, the money is sparse – unless you’re Lora Leigh or Nora Roberts, lol. E-publishers, the more reputable ones at any rate, tend to have better “customer service” where their authors are concerned. Their editing and art departments are, in my experience, fairly accessible and responsive. And if sales/money is your goal, e-pubs are often *more* successful for a less known author. I think, at this point, it’s also the best place for exposure as a m/m author.
Okay, my two cents turned into two dollars… Oops?
Hi Sunshine! Jamieson Wolf did a seminar on writing m/m several years ago called ‘Riding the Lightning’. It was amazing! It’s what got me motivated to write m/m romance in the first place. I lost my copy when my computer crashed
but if you wanted to contact him I’m sure he’d like to help. (he’s really nice). https://www.facebook.com/groups/130259113792555/154221031396363/?ref=notif¬if_t=group_activity#!/jamieson.wolf
The weather thesaurus is absolutely fascinating and so informative, I’m not a writer but I think I would enjoy browsing these. Thanks for sharing this interesting aspect of writing, I like the insider information!
I have read the stories you have made available and all your snippets from Splinters, and the one thing that has been so obvious to me is that you truly have a natural talent for writing. It is spare, yet packs a huge amount of emotion. Some writers never learn this. So you’re a step ahead already.
Any references you find to help you along the way are great, but know that the essential ability is already there. And I agree, when Josh’s revised book is published, that will be one to get.
Thanks, Susan. I just hope it’ll be OK that the word count is a little low since I’m so sparse! I thought it would end up being this huge novel — felt that way — but it’s going to squeak into novella…maybe. Of course, it’s not done yet and what do I know?
Thorny, just write the story you need to tell. When it’s done, it’s done.
What she said – the right length is the length the story wants to be. You write a ton of punch in a small number of words – if a novella does the job for the story you want to tell, then padding it for length will just dilute the impact. With ebooks, any length will sell if you do it right. Good luck and try not to sweat the word count.
The Emotion Thesaurus looks like a great reference. I heard Will P. talking about it not too long ago. I’ll have to check it out!
I have found that “plotting” works best for me as opposed to “pantsing”. As for developing storylines and characters, I learned a lot from reading through the material at this website: http://www.how-to-write-a-book-now.com/how-to-write-a-novel.html. In fact, I made myself a couple worksheets using the information presented there and refer to them each time I start a new writing project. Happy to share with any other plotters out there.
I’m really looking forward to reading more of your writing, Thorny!
Thanks for the link, Madison. I don’t have time now to peek, but I’ve bookmarked it for later.
Thanks for sharing some of your process and trial-and-error Thorny. =)
I think you’re wise to discard references that don’t work for you. I went to a local chapter meeting of Romance Writers of America & the most important thing that stood out was to always write in your own voice – more success, therefore more fun lol. Keep doing it your way.
Thorny, from the short stories I’ve read of yours I can say I absolutely love your style of writing! I can not wait for Splinters
So keep doing what your doing and rely on those books that your comfortable with, that don’t put you down, for help along the way. I’ve heard A LOT of good things about Josh Lanyon’s book, from a lot of great authors in the genre. That’s awesome that he is updating it. Keep it up, you’ve got a huge fan base already!
Thank you, Carey!
No no no! Josh is not allowed to write about how to write! He must write devine fictional m/m romance for me! I need a new Lanyon book, damn it! I’m going into withdrawal!
Ahem. Ok, just had to get that out. I think it’s awesome you’re educating yourself on how to create characters.
Do you have all his latest ones, Shell? I saw a few new ones, but I haven’t gotten them yet. Need to write and he’ll just distract me.
I do! Most have been repubs, but I’m somewhat obsessed with listening to audiobooks when I run now and am slowly purchasing the few bks he has available in that format. I love Lanyon.
I’ve read my share of books on how to write and create characters and the like. Some were helpful, some were ridiculous. The best advice I remember is from Orson Scott Card. I don’t remember the name of the book and I’m pretty sure it was about writing sci fi. But he said early on in the book that when you first get an idea is not the time to start writing it. You have to let it percolate in your brain, really take the time to sort it out, figure out where it’s going, figure out the world. I’m absolutely paraphrasing and I know this isn’t the case for everyone, but for me, this really helped. Sitting with and idea for weeks or months and really mulling it over is essential for me to “get my story straight.” Thanks for those references, T! The second one is definitely one I’ll check out!
I think letting it percolate, Kris, is what I did with Splinters at first. I wrote down all my ideas, thought some more, rearranged things, wrote little bits, thought some more, wrote bigger bits, plugged plot holes, etc. And NOW I’m writing more and more. I think accepting that my process is OK because it’s mine was a big step.
And that right there is all that matters. Because its obviously working for you!