Novel Advice: What to Do When the Story Isn't Working

the above photo is a modified adaptation of this work

This is post #7 in a fifteen post series, entitled “15 Days to Writerly Awesome in 2015,” 

posting on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday of January.

This is a guest post, brought to you by the lovely Ashley R. Carlson. Read her other guest post here. Enjoy!

I published my debut novel, “The Charismatics,” in December of 2014, and it was a whirlwind six months leading up to the release (read about my process here and how I felt after the release here). So now that things have died down a little, I began to work on something new, because that’s what every successful indie author says to do, right? RIGHT.

Whenever you finish a piece of work, get started on something new. Side note: Don’t spend weeks or even months trying to market the thing. Let your readers do that for you. Just produce more great work and get your name and work in readers’ hands. (I do have a couple of speaking events coming up that will involve “The Charismatics,” and possibly an event at an indie bookstore, but those were in the works before release. Other than that I haven’t written guest posts for it, nor paid for advertising. I’d rather write some new material to sell).

So that was my plan, to begin working on another novella in a completely different genre than my novel (contemporary adult vs. YA steampunk fantasy) because 1) I wanted a break from fantasy and 2) I wanted to push myself with a new genre.

A few things happened when I started working on the first draft of my novella, “Misery and Marlene,” a few weeks ago, and I noticed how nice it was to be writing a first draft again (the freedom! The inexplicably wild naked-and-running freedom of pantsing a first draft of something again!). I also noticed how for some reason, it wasn’t happening very easily for me.

That’s right. I was having a hard time with various facets of “Misery and Marlene.” Firstly, it was a genre I’d never written in before, and didn’t even really know much about: contemporary. No dragons, no magic, no secret governmental plots (all awesome things in my previous novel). Nope. This story had cell phones and a girl who worked at a bar and lived in Missouri but called it “Misery” because she hated it and the whole thing just wasn’t very … inspiring. It was all sort of bland to me, and you want to know why?

Because it felt a little too much like my own life.

A single woman in a dead-end job with huge dreams she doesn’t know will come to fruition or not. Yep, I had inadvertently begun a memoir, hidden under the ruse of fiction. I also noticed that I was used first person present, which is the tense I’ve used in both my short story (“Cruel”) and my novel.

So because I wasn’t feeling the itch to sit down and tap these keys into words of the story, I decided to try some things before scrapping it entirely.

1) I changed tenses and narrative. As mentioned, it was previously a first person present tense story, which seems to be my “go to” narrative style. I like it because 1) it’s personal (you’re in the character’s head, hearing their thoughts and experiencing their experiences) and 2) it’s “in the moment.” “The Hunger Games” series is written in first person present tense, and I think it lends to the intensity and fear of the situations. Both my short story and novel are high-action, tense stories with female protagonists, so it worked for them as well. But this? This contemporary novella about a sad girl in a sad place with a sad life?

It was all just sounding a bit too whiny, a bit too mundane in first person narrative. So I changed it to third person past tense a few days ago. But how?

2) I started over. Yep. I ignored the 10,000 words I’d begun (though I didn’t delete them completely) and began a new manuscript, with the differing tense. I noticed a difference right away; this story was no longer a silly diary of a bored girl. It was deeper than that. It was tragic. I could literally smell the tragedy off the main character, off her family members, off the little town in Missouri itself. Disappointment. Broken dreams. Compromises. Dysfunction. The words were flying into my head and onto the page, and I was looking at things from an entirely new angle. The other good thing was this:

3) I used the previous information for the new version. I had 10k words of good material to direct me with this new draft—characters and their names, places, events. Now, obviously this is what an outline would tell me, if I did those. But even for those of you who outline like crazy, I bet sometimes you get started on a story and it just doesn’t work, for some fundamental reason. That doesn’t mean you get rid of the entire idea—it could still be a great one. You just need to tweak, examine another way. And if you still feel like there’s passion there, that it’s a story your heart aches to tell, than keep at it.

Just remember that if the idea has grown stale in your mind, scrap it completely and start something new. Always, always start something new. You’re a writer, after all—the stories are there in your mind and at your fingertips, just waiting to be placed upon the page.

Ashley R. Carlson grew up wanting a talking animal friend and superpowers, and when that didn’t happen, she decided to write them into existence. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with four (non-talking) pets and one overactive imagination. Follow Ashley R. Carlson’s writing at www.ashleyrcarlson.com or find her on Twitter @AshleyRCarlson1. Her novel, “The Charismatics” has debuted to rave reviews on Amazon and Goodreads and can be found here.

Five Ways to Schedule Your Writing Time in 2015

This is the first of a fifteen post series, entitled "15 Days to Writerly Awesome in 2015."

Good Morning, pretty people! Get yourselves a cup of coffee and prepare for some valuable, writer lessons. It's the first Monday of the new year, and with that, the beginning of my first blog series called, "15 Days to Writerly Awesome in 2015." With several guest posts from my much cooler friends, we're going to write ourselves into awesomeness this year. Ready for it? Hooray!

I always start of the new year with a million good wishes, plans and strategies. Some of them stick, while some of them do not. Last year, I made this writing calendar, which turned out to be good in theory, but a bit difficult to keep up with consistently. However, I made a few concrete resolutions that I not only kept, but exceeded.

This year, I plan to publish my book. I couldn't have reached this point without a dedicated, conscious commitment to writing daily. There are a few ways to go about doing this. Let's walk through them together, shall we?

1. Set Time of Day

I can make this statement with utmost certainty: I will never be the type of writer who wakes up before work to get my writing time in for the day. It's just not going to happen. For some writers, scheduling a portion of the morning is a lifesaver. Recently, I've been writing on my lunch break, which has been a great strategy. For the most part, I'm a nighttime, before bed writer. Figuring out the best time of day for your writing schedule is essential to maintaining a consistent writing routine. (That sounded kind of fancy and high-horsey, but you get the gist.)

For me, it's easier to put myself to bed thirty minutes earlier than to pull myself out of it in the morning. It all comes down to what works for you.

2. Word Count Goal 

I've spoken about the magic of word sprinting before, and I've mentioned Jeff Goins' My 500 Words program. Word count seems to be the easiest way to measure your writing. Personally, I aimed for more than 500 words a day, but Jeff's program was a great way to ease into the process. I try to pen at least 1,000 words, because I know I'll end up trashing about half of them. (Did you realize how many words get cut in the book-making process? It's like alphabet soup over here, y'all.)

There are a few options for you: a weekly word goal, that lends itself to some flexibility. I'd say about 5,000 words a week at minimum. A daily word count goal is also a good thing to shoot for, but can be a bit more difficult to manage.

3. A Page a Day 

I'm not going to lie. This is about the bare minimum for writer people. A page is approximately 250 words double-spaced or 500 single-spaced. This is basically a journal entry. However, it's a good way to kickstart your routine, and also an opportunity to practice your longhand. (I happen to be a big believer in writing on paper.)

If you write a page a day, you could have a novel in a year. And chances are, when you get started writing, a page just won't be enough. You writer machine, you.

4. Time Increments (an hour, etc.) 

"I'm going to sit here and write for an hour and I'm not leaving this chair until I do." This kind of writer is a habitual person, and most likely pairs this with strategy #1. Kudos to you, my timely friend. This strategy works as long as you hold yourself accountable. The problem I find is that structuring your writing time around, well, time itself can make your word count fluctuate. Try your best to not squander your first thirty minutes staring at a blank screen.

I suggest pairing this strategy with the sprinting technique. "I will sit here and write as fast as I can for thirty minutes" is usually a much more effective method.

5. Deadlines 

Still with me? Did your forehead just fall on the keyboard? Deadlines are not a negative thing. They're simply a means to an end. "I plan to write three chapters in the next week and a half." It's an incredibly effective way to hold yourself accountable, especially if you tack on some kind of reward or consequence to it. "I will write 2,000 words by next Tuesday or I will have to go a week without coffee."

Yikes.

If that doesn't scare you, involve a friend. Have someone that expects your pages/chapters/words by that date, even if they're not actually going to read it. You feel a lot more pressure when there's someone waiting on the other side.

Discussion Time: How do you plan to make the most of your writing time in 2015? What's your favorite way to schedule your writing time?

A Lesson in Editing and A #TATM Update

This one goes out to all you post-NaNoers. And everyone else knee-deep in the thick of their own rambling, misspelled words. Last week, I talked a little bit about how I just recently merged my dual timelines, and now I'm all, "Holy Heck, this looks like a book." When I made this merge, I realized there were a few filler scenes that I needed to finish writing, before I could print out the dang thing and get a good look at it. I'm happy to say that I only have two more filler scenes + the final scene (which I am shaking in my boots just thinking about) until I can move forward with what I consider to be my second draft editing.

When people say that writing is hard work, I think they really mean editing is hard work. Dear Lord, is it tough. My second draft of These are the Moments is a mix of edited and non-edited chapters, that I am fully prepared to hack into with my pink pen (red's too creepy) once all of the writing is done, done, done. I have a strategy, I promise you. First step, write the book: check. Second step: merge the timelines: check. And for my editing plan? Well, it goes a little something like this (ten points if you caught that Aaron Carter reference):

An In-Depth Read-Through

This is what writer people like to call "macro edits." Big picture stuff. My first read-through isn't going to be a hey, I think you missed a comma there kind of reading. It's going to be a you gave that girl two different last names and a what happened to the cat kind of editing. Here's what to look for in this stage:

• Subplots: Do they each have enough "screen time," so to speak? Are they evolving? Is there a resolution? For example, my main character, Wendy, and her relationship with her sister Claudia is an integral subplot. They begin the novel a little distant, their age difference acting as a kind of barrier, and by the end, well…. you'll see.
• Themes: What's your story trying to say? And more importantly, how well is it communicating that message? I'm not a huge believer in the bold, HEY THIS IS THE THEME method. I think stories affect everyone in different ways. Example: one theme of TATM is the idea of growing up and dealing with that post-college phase of your life. This is communicated through her living at home again, getting used to a full-time job and trying to be self-sufficient. In the end, Wendy has to realize that she's an adult now. But it takes a while to get to that point!
• Transitions: This one is doubly important for me, as I'm basically making two stories fit to one. But in general, is your story fitting together? Can readers follow your zigs and zags? My story covers ten years of livin' so it's especially important for me to keep readers grounded in when things are happening. The last thing you want is for a reader to get confused. They'll most likely give up.

Keep notes from your first reading. In a notebook or in the margins of your print-out. Whatever you feel most comfortable with!

Review and Edit

Wow, what a whirlwind, huh? Okay, now's the part where you go back and check out all the crazy notes you made. Then make the changes. This might involve big edits, like reworking full scenes, or minor edits like cutting sentences or paragraphs. On the first round, try to focus on the big issues first, and then trickle your way down to the baby fixes. With TATM, I don't anticipate too many total scene reworkings. I conquered a good deal of that when I transferred my scenes from paper to computer.

Was that so bad? Yeah, it was. I'm not gonna lie to you. But guess what! It gets easier… I think. The next step is another read-through, with a narrower focus. Look for things like hey I use the word "look" a heck of a lot and okay, I need to vary those sentences a bit. Actually, now that I think about it, this step might be even tougher than the first. I tend to drive myself crazy over this kind of thing, over thinking it, when I should just leave well alone. Hey Jenny, nobody cares how many times you used the word blue. They just don't. Keep a little perspective, I'd say. After this round of edits, make the changes. Read, Edit, Repeat. More and more focused with each cycle. You get it.

END NOTE: This has nothing to do with anything in this post, but I'm currently reading a fantastic set of e-books on self-publishing, called The Indie Author Power Pack: How To Write, Publish, & Market Your Book. I highly recommend!

What's your best advice on the editing process? No, really. Help a sister out.

Writing Dual Timelines: A How To

So, you're writing a dual timeline? And you're thinking to yourself: hmm, how the heck is this going to work? You may be thinking: how do I balance these two or one storyline is more interesting than the other or why the heck is this so hard?

My novel, These are the Moments, spans ten years, flipping back and forth each chapter. There a few great ways to write this kind of narrative. I, however, have only done this once. So let me give you my version as well as some back-up plans, for those of you more structured folk.

A dual timeline is a novel/short story/what have you that takes place in… you guessed it, two periods of time. This could be historical fiction or contemporary or whatever you choose. My novel is a contemporary fiction, spanning high school into college and then post-college life. Here's how I did it:

Option One

Option One shall be known as "Jenny style," not because I have some sort of copyright on this, but just because I said so. If you read this post, you'll know that I started writing my novel on paper. I began with whatever scenes popped in my head at the time, not really concerning myself with plot points or the flow of the thing.

I saved that until I transferred it to my computer. In grouping my timelines, I decided to structure them separately, in "past" and "present" order. Yes, I waited until the stories could stand on their own before combining them into one, structured novel. The reason? I wanted to feel what it was like for each piece of each story to flow one after the other. I needed to make sure I didn't miss anything in each timeline before I sorted them together. 

Why this works: This helped me to group my scenes together. It gave me confidence that each story had its own arc, before I fit each of them into place. 

Why this doesn't work: Say you prefer writing your scenes in order. This method could potentially trip you up. Also, it's tricky to go over the transitions of the story this way. Maybe you have a certain idea for how the scenes should fall, but in combining them, it doesn't work.

Option Two

Option Two shall be known as the "Write Through the Dang Thing" method. If you're an excellent multi-tasker, and can envision the story each step of the way, then this is for you. In this method, you just write straight through both of the timelines, alternating back and forth each scene, if that's what you choose to do. 

It's important to give equal time to each timeline, as each is equally important. Remember: each story informs the other. Personally, I don't think I could master this method. I'm not very good at envisioning my story step-by-step, because I'm always coming up with new plot ideas that I need to weave into the existing story. 

Why this works:It allows you control over where both of your dual timelines are heading, and let's you keep a tight back-and-forth between them. 

Why this doesn't work: It's difficult to handle the progression of one story, let alone two. There's a greater chance of getting stuck.

Option Three

Let's call option three the "Cheater" method. Okay, it's not really cheating, but you'll get the idea. This is a method for a novel with flashbacks or a story within a story. This is a novel that doesn't give equal time to each timeline, but rather uses one of the time periods occasionally through the work. This could be in the form of a letter or a story or dreams. 

For this type of story, you'll need a strong example from the secondary timeline in order to really sell it. The purpose of the secondary timeline in this kind of novel is to shed some light that we might not otherwise see on the primary timelines. 

Why this works: It helps you to "show" rather than "tell," depending on the way you choose to write it. This pulls the reader out of the story for just a moment or two. 

Why this doesn't work: It can come off as gimmicky, if not done correctly. Try to be organic with using this tool, and think to yourself, "Can my story survive without this?"

Okay, so there you have it! A lesson in writing dual timelines. Have you ever written a story this way? If so, what's been your biggest challenge/success?