What I learned from my first/second/last WIP

Ooh, interesting thread idea.

WIP 1 taught me a LOT:

-Say things as simply as possible. Don't use ten words where you can use five.
-Adverbs need to die.
-Deus ex machina = no.
-Get to the freaking point.
-At least one major character needs some sort of redeeming quality. (Most my characters, even the protags, spent fifty percent of the story b*tching at each other. It took away from the story's appeal. I know that now.)
-On that same note, perfect characters suck. Everyone has flaws. Everyone.

First try taught me that it's not enough to have an "great idea for a book to write", because, unless you've had a lot of formal training, whatever you write probably won't sound so hot. Not to mention that it's going to be unstructured and a general mess.

After ten years of sulking, I took another shot and learned that, no matter how tedious it seems, you really have to look up words in the dictionary and search through the thesaurus. It also taught me that, when you get someone else to critique your work, it is invaluable in letting you know how your voice is perceived.

My third and fourth which are my current WIP's (depends on which mood I'm in) have taught me to shut the hell up, get off the writing web sites, get my ass in a chair, and hit the freakin' keys, or noting gets done. Learned enough to give it a go, and fix the little things along the way.

- the job is not even a quarter done when you finish your first draft.
- editing can be a total b*tch.
- editing can be a lot of fun.
- Strunk & White are my best friends.
- I use too many adjectives.

WIP 1: I am capable of finishing a novel-length work. Present tense is not for me. Beware of cliched plot lines, especially in fantasy. I can edit much faster than I can write.

WIP 2: I can finish a much longer novel-length work and can consistently write for long periods of time (33 days in a row).

WIP 3: Sometimes you have to ruthlessly cut things, even if you love them.

WIP 4: I'm not half bad. And I can take criticism of my work.

WIP 5: (The one I'm working on now). Maybe SF/Fantasy isn't my thing after all. Chick lit and more mainstream fiction might be a better fit after all! And I'm actually becoming a pretty decent writer.

I used to write a lot of novels consecutively, so I'm going to skip the ones where it was all just part of the process, and mention the ones that taught me something of impact.

WIP 2: Oh my freaking gosh - I have this whole story in my head! And I'm there, and it's amazing! I want to do this again!!!

WIP 3: If you don't keep a character true to themselves, they morph, and loose their arc. This is different than finding a character - this is loosing one.

WIP 5: Nobody likes vague prologues. And adverbs are a sin. Also, do not throw a temper tantrum when Wise Writing Mentor tells you that adverbs are sin. Even if she's a journalist, and you write fiction. And adverbs add flair. And --

WIP 6: Do not write an ending that is so crazy, so wild, so over-the-top dramatic, that you can't even reconcile it in your own mind. Additionally: never write a story that only works with a crazy, wild, over-the-top ending.

WIP's 7-8: Quality or quantity? Quality or quantity? What am I going to doooo! (Hint: these were failed attempts.)

WIP 9: To heck with it. Quantity. Write the book, write the book, write the darn BOOK. Learn to pause and reflect every few chapters so as not to get blocked. Learn how to take a simple story and complicate it.

Also, you may need to experiment with many scenes, plotlines, and characters that will not appear in the story. Prepare to loose 63% of what you write. Prepare to spend large portions of novel soul-searching.

Do not forget to write the book.

Characters can not be flat; they need two kinds of conflict, raised stakes, things to live and die for, etc. Writing The Breakout Novel will be my role model from now on.

FINISH the book. finish finish finish.

Learn to recognize Rewriting Fatigue for what it is, tear yourself away with work unfinished, but also learn when it is too early to tear self away.

WIP 10 - current project: When you concentrate too hard on your plotting/characterization skills, basic use of language slips. Remember to kill adverbs. Remember to avoid tired metaphors, overuse of like, overuse of "but," "just," and personal cliches. Stretch self when describing. WRITE EVERY DAY, even if you only write fifty words. Be amazed at how easy this is compared to last novel.



Yup, I'm a whole storehouse of learned wisdom Who wants to help me rework my ninth novel? Any takers?

-Feathers

vrabinec said:

First try taught me that it's not enough to have an "great idea for a book to write", because, unless you've had a lot of formal training, whatever you write probably won't sound so hot.

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I don't agree with this. I agree that having formal training or an MFA can be a tremendous benefit, but I believe there are capable writers who do not have this background.

vrabinec said:

First try taught me that it's not enough to have an "great idea for a book to write", because, unless you've had a lot of formal training, whatever you write probably won't sound so hot. Not to mention that it's going to be unstructured and a general mess.

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When you say 'formal', do you mean university training?

'Cause if that's the case, I'm screwed, as is every other writer who left school at sixteen.

Trunk 1: I may be certain that there is a strong market but the gatekeepers may feel differently. I cannot edit at home.

Current WiP: Never say never when it comes to genre (because sometimes the ideas won't leave you alone no matter how often you say "but I don't want to write XYZ").

scarletpeaches said:

When you say 'formal', do you mean university training?

'Cause if that's the case, I'm screwed, as is every other writer who left school at sixteen.

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Not to mention those of us who went to art school

Kathleen42 said:

I don't agree with this. I agree that having formal training or an MFA can be a tremendous benefit, but I believe there are capable writers who do not have this background.

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What she said.

Unfinished serial: How to develop interesting characters and generally the craft of fiction writing.

Novel #1 (published): How to properly start a novel; tried too hard to be "writerly" until I found my real groove and just let the words pour out; the finer art of writing dialogue and developing page-turning plot; learned how not to navel-gaze when writing in first person; realized niche market novels are a much harder sell...

ETA: also learned how to self-edit and how not to "self-edit" during draft mode....

WIP: Complex plotting with parallel threads, a large cast, etc.; realized the importance of research; learned to get the plot out and fill in the details later. Third person limited is kind of a bitch....

Trunk 1: I was 12 when I wrote my first full-length (over 50k, if I remember correctly) "novel". (Dec 2005 - April 2006) It was really a fanfic, but the only thing those characters had resembling their published self was their name. So I do consider it my first attempt at novel-writing.

I thought it was genius at the time and haven't read it all the way through since then. So I guess it taught me that a lot changes in three years and you do in fact grow as a writer. I never tried to get it published (obviously - that's illegal), but it did teach me never to rush to publication as a teen. Like I said, a lot changes.

Trunk 2: NaNoWriMo that same year (2006). 23k was as far as I got. Again, I thought it genius. But I guess I had structure down better and it was the first time I had any long-term plans to keep at it with a character. Characterization then, I guess.

Trunk 3: NaNoWriMo 2007: 52k, my second completed novel. This one was actually MINE, not a fanfic. I loved writing it, but it really sucked. It taught me not to be verbose and keep adding stuff in just for word count. Which, granted, is the antithesis to NaNoWriMo, but whatever.

And about a million more attempts at something longer than 5k in 2008, at which point I'd lose interest. Taught me that just an idea won't get a book written.

WIP: I'm learning to make it through a first draft (I hoooope I finish it) and how to ignore other ideas that keep popping up so I finish something. That was a problem of mine during last year - I would start something and stop for something shinier. Not this time.

Also, I'm learning self-editing. I haven't done it until now, and while I'm trying to save it for after draft 0.

Namatu said:

How do you do this? My head can handle the general plot arc, but how to have my characters get there when I don't know all the details myself leaves me staring at the screen or ignoring it altogether. Refining details I can leave for later, and some I can ignore or fix later, but too many others mock me with a blinking cursor.

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To me, how the characters "get there" is less interesting to me than what they do after they get there. Transitions are my weakest, and I'd rather leave them out than letting them get me stuck. Also, details such as settings, full dialogue, detailed actions, etc. can be left out -- just focus on the emotions, the basic actions and reactions and consequences. Those tend not to change especially if you know your characters so well.

For example, going through my notes I see a lot of things like "<takes place at the temple -- describe later>" or "<character somehow get to the river>" -- to me, how they get there is not exactly interesting at this point, and may very well be left off in the final draft if the transition doesn't add anything to the story. Same with dialogue -- I have notes that say "<expand on the dialogue to make it more real later>."

Once I get into plot momentum I don't want to lose it by bogging myself down with details. This is first draft stage. I can add more layers and details, much like painting an oil portrait, later.

Passive voice and (overused) adverbs are bad.
Head-hopping is bad and can be confusing.

Yay for Advanced Fiction Writing classes too!

Current WIP
- Detailed chapter outlines are my friend.
- Periodically the outline should be evaluated and the remaining chapters reoutlined to reflect changes to plot that have occurred while writing.
- I can keep writing even when I realize how much these pages suck.
- Just because I think I've found an intriguing and unique "voice" does not mean everyone/anyone else will agree.

1st book -- I learned there is such a thing as "too many dialogue tags"
2nd book -- I learned there is such a thing as "not enough dialogue tags"

I learned with my first major undertaking that the story will never happen if you don't get it written in time. It is possible to think something to death; stories are not meant to stay in your head. If you wait too long to write the rest, your ideas will be too stale to you and you won't even like your story....and a newer, shinier one will come up and steal your attention away. And unless you do some major reimagining, the other one will never get done.

Oh yeah, and go easy on the adverbs.

Truck 1: Kill your darlings. Cohesion is your friend. Dialogue is fun. Editing is fun. I have what it takes. Don't put too much faith in an agent. I have a weird macabre side to me. There is such a thing as too much planning.

WIP: If it seems silly, get rid of it. The little words count.

"Show not tell" does not apply to backstory.

Every scene should have some kind of conflict. Somebody has a goal, and something's in the way. The goal can be acquired in the scene.

I use a lot of empty words. I lost fully 5% of my word count just by eliminating empty words.

Dialogue comes easy to me. (Hey, we're allowed to learn a few things that don't hurt.)

I need some kind of map. I actually use a spreadsheet, with a column for each of the major characters. As each event gets written in, I think about what each character will do, if they're in it, and how they will react, if they're not. This generates a lot of new ideas. And prevents a lot of continuity problems.

Great Question!

1st Story- My writing was a little juvenile and I had no clue what I was doing. I realized I could write funny characters.

2nd story ( I call them stories, because I never finished them)
Music is my friend and keeps me going, also I like to have stories with pot smoking in them...

Current WIP- This story may actually become a book. I think I can write funny dialogue. Always know who the killer is before you are 24,000+ words in... I learned this the hard way, now I have to re-structure the whole thing... oh well.

lostgirl said:

1st book -- I learned there is such a thing as "too many dialogue tags"
2nd book -- I learned there is such a thing as "not enough dialogue tags"

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I am a quarter way through my eleventh novel. I don't seem to carry many lessons from one to the next. I just carry on blundering through. Perhaps the only thing I've learned is not to worry: most plot problems get resolved even if you have to be ruthless and rewrite almost everything. I think the other thing is not to take yourself or your book too seriously. It isn't that important. Someone will like it, someone will hate and almost everyone in the world will never read it : )

Kathleen42 said:

I don't agree with this. I agree that having formal training or an MFA can be a tremendous benefit, but I believe there are capable writers who do not have this background.

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Certainly there are capable writers who don't have this background, but I doubt that they sat down and worte brilliant prose the first time they tried their hand at writing. Maybe some of them did, but not me or most of the writers I know who haven't had any formal training outside of grade school. To me, writing is much like cooking, either you are self taugh though a long process like the one I'm going through, or you get some courses on it that teach you the basics, and then you're on your own.

Of course, if you're saying that you had no training and sat down to write your first MS and loved what you wrote right away, my hat's off.

NO-ONE sits down and writes Golden Prose first time out, formally trained or not, whether they have a degree and a piece of paper that says they're a good writer or not.

You can spend time at university, studying and writing essays and learning that way (and getting into debt at the same time) or you can learn on the job - by reading and writing. It takes the same amount of time. Possibly even less, that way.

Some of the dumbest folks I know went to university. It means absolutely nothing in my opinion, to say someone has a degree in English Literature or anything similar. Going to university teaches you to be student and to write essays. Reading and writing teach you how to be a writer.