Learn Writing with Uncle Jim, Volume 1

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James D. Macdonald

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What should you do?

Write 250 words of original fiction before you post on this board again.

They don't have to be perfect -- they don't even have to be good. They just have to be there.

Cut the crap and write.
 

bsolah

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There. Now I can come back :D

I took the idea from a prompt on a blog I contribute to, Write Stuff. The prompt was: You’re behind a car in traffic when you notice part of a trash bag sticking out from the closed trunk. What’s in the bag?

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Nice Merc, I thought as I rolled to the back of a traffic jam. No surprise here. The gleam of the recently polished sedan distracted me from the early morning horrors of working in the city and living so far out.[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]We moved forward another few inches and the angle sent the reflection into my eyes. I pulled down the visor and cut the glare all together. A garbage bag stared me right in the face. It hung out from the gap in the closed trunk. Probably nothing but rubbish, I thought.[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]But there was also something else that caught my attention. The licence plate read: PM – 001. It looked all too familiar, but my groggy mind blocked out the blatantly obvious. It was too early and I was too tired for mysteries.[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The traffic lurched forward again and I thought we were off again, on some kind of steady flow. The cruelty was that this was never the case and we were fools for believing it. The traffic halted again and we all weren't ready for it. The flashy, mint condition Merc didn't have time to break and the passive, early morning rush was thrown into chaos.[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The sound of the crash startled me awake. I looked at the scene in front of me; the licence plate was out of view as they boot was up and the bag was in full view. The wind opened the bag like mother nature's detective and notes began to fly out. Hundreds of them. Green, so obviously hundreds and the owner of the car came running out in panic. The victim of his tired judgement running close behind.[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]It clicked then. PM. Prime Minister. John Howard ran with all the grace he didn't have, skittering along the bitumen, dodging starting and stopping cars. The drivers all looked in wonder, most laughing as our head of state ran like a fool, doing what he always did, stumbling for money.[/FONT]
 

skelly

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If this has been addressed before, I apologize. In a scene written in third-person from a single character's pov, should I always use a pronoun to refer to the character: "She did this. Then this happened and she thought 'what the hell?' She turned and..." and so on. I find myself throwing the character's name in there occasionally, and I'm wondering if this is a mistake given that the reader already knows what the character's name is, and there is no possibility that she might be confused with anyone else. I appreciate the help :)
 

Judg

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Well, I throw the name in rather frequently, so it better be OK. Much less often if the character is alone, but still... It seems to me that when an author uses the pronoun all the time, they're being coy, like those openings to books where they refuse to name the character, which I usually find pretty annoying. But this is just my personal opinion, of course.
 

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If this has been addressed before, I apologize. In a scene written in third-person from a single character's pov, should I always use a pronoun to refer to the character: "She did this. Then this happened and she thought 'what the hell?' She turned and..." and so on. I find myself throwing the character's name in there occasionally, and I'm wondering if this is a mistake given that the reader already knows what the character's name is, and there is no possibility that she might be confused with anyone else. I appreciate the help :)

I think it depends somewhat on the voice you're using, and whether or not it sounds right in that voice. Think of Dickens referring to Scrooge, for example: he referred to Scrooge as Scrooge, Ebenezer Scrooge, him, he, and all sorts of adjectives I can't recall (probably miser, etc.) and it worked because of the voice Dickens was using. Might or might not work for you.
 

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Outline

My outlines aren't submission-quality prose (though some bits do make it all the way through without change).

They most closely resemble a guy telling his buddy about a neat movie he saw the night before -- bits of memorable dialog, descriptions, but most important the order of the scenes.

Often at this stage I have nonce-names for characters (sometimes they're named for their function in the story: "Bestpal" or "Cannonfodder"). Sometimes the author is a character: The author looked up from couch where he sat taking notes. "Just keep talking, guys," he said. "I'll fix it in the rewrite."

I love the visual of the author as a character:) I've found (if I'm alone) that I talk and make caustic remarks as the author as I'm outlining or writing. So between that and learning that I'm not the only one reading the stuff outloud to "hear" the flow better I'm beginning to feel normal ( I'd begun to wonder.) One thing I thought I'd slide in here and mention is the use of character sheets...I've found that they help me keep the detail areas concise..every once in awhile my brain goes sideways and I can't recall certain aspects of the story. The charts contain the basic stats, then their character/attitude and motivation, their current life, preferences etc. and friends.
Of course I may have said all this and find that everyone's been doing this all along...that I'm the one discovering the techiniques I've stumbled on have been implemented by The Old Sage forever:) ie reading the piece out loud:)
 
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Loretta

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First Sentences

I didn't say one sentence, let alone the first one ... the first chapter is good enough. (You see young, inexperienced writers trying to get everything into the first sentence. This more often than not gives you an opening sentence that looks like a runner-up in the <a href="http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/" target="_new">Bulwer-Lytton contest</a>.

But ... do give your readers a reward for reading the first page, a reason to turn the page, then ... you have chance.

There's a reason publishers ask for three-and-an-outline. That small sample will give them an idea of whether you can give readers a reason to start your book, and an idea of whether you know where you're going.


Do you formalize your outline more when submitting it James? Or when you do your revised version do you just submit it as you used it to work from?

Loretta
 
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smsarber

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As I keep writing, I continually track where I have referred to my character as "name", and as "he", etc... If I started my previous paragraph with, "Glenn walked to the edge of the sidewalk...," then if the next paragraph was set to begin with my character I would use "He", or "The Chief". But in a paragraph involving two male characters, I will generally pick one to name, and one to pronoun. But then, I don't know anything anyway! (Laffs drily)
 

Sean D. Schaffer

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Hi Uncle Jim,

I have a couple quick questions, if I may. It seems I cannot decide upon a particular story to work on. I have about three different stories in my mind at the same time, two of which have already been written, and the third I can't even get to Page 30 on.

So my first question is, how should I decide what story to work on?

Another similar question comes up here: how do you decide what to write next? In other words, where do you get inspiration from, and do you even wait for inspiration before writing a story?

I'm interested in these things because I figure I might have been going about my writing the wrong way. I want desperately to think of something and stick to it, but then my feelings get in the way and my mind wanders.

So basically I'm asking how I should gain inspiration, and also what story should take precedence in my own work. I just cannot seem to make up my mind, and I frankly am getting tired of it.


I look forward to your and anyone else's answers, and I thank you all in advance.
 

James D. Macdonald

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As William Faulkner said, "I only write when I'm inspired. Fortunately I'm inspired at nine o'clock every morning."

Were I in your place, I'd put in the daily BIC on the new work, and plan out a time period every day to edit/rewrite/revise one of the old works (flip a coin to figure out which one). By the time you've done editing that one, the new project should be about done, so put it into the editing queue. Start writing a new story. At the same time edit the second story you have in inventory. When you're done with that ... you'll have the story that you just completed about finishing up its three months in your desk drawer.

So, you might consider arranging your time like that.

Remember that what works for you is what's right.
 

Sean D. Schaffer

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As William Faulkner said, "I only write when I'm inspired. Fortunately I'm inspired at nine o'clock every morning."

Were I in your place, I'd put in the daily BIC on the new work, and plan out a time period every day to edit/rewrite/revise one of the old works (flip a coin to figure out which one). By the time you've done editing that one, the new project should be about done, so put it into the editing queue. Start writing a new story. At the same time edit the second story you have in inventory. When you're done with that ... you'll have the story that you just completed about finishing up its three months in your desk drawer.

So, you might consider arranging your time like that.

Remember that what works for you is what's right.



Cool. Thanks!

I have another question, if I may. This concerns outlining. I've noticed my new work isn't working like it should be, and I think it could be because I haven't outlined and I don't really know where I'm going. How do you think I should go about figuring out where the book is going? I basically had an idea and started writing, but had no ending or any real plot made up before starting the work. I did have something basic in mind, but I never wrote it down. I've heard some people mention writing the ending first. Would that be a viable option, in your opinion, for making my writing more solid?


Thanks in advance.

:)
 

Jennifer L

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Now what?

I sent my current WIP (speculative fiction) to a trusted beta reader. Ordinarily I do this around the time I'm ready to stick the manuscript in the drawer for three months. This gives my readers plenty of time to get to the manuscript, and then when I'm ready to take another pass, not only do I have fresh eyes, but I have all of this feedback to help me consider what to do next.

My reader called me and said, "This is haunting and lyrical, like an Enya song." So my question is, do I burn the manuscript now, or do I put it in a drawer and burn it in three months?

Actually, my question is, what do you do when a heretofore trustworthy beta reader suddenly loses her mind? I'm trying to figure out where I'd find another beta reader to replace her but I'm coming up empty. Thoughts?

Jennifer Lawler
 

Jennifer L

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"Thank you" AND mean it? I thought the other homework was hard. She used the word "Enya" in the same sentence as the title of my manuscript. But, okay, she DID read it and I should be appreciative. But . . . Enya? I realize she could have called it total crap. Still, I can do something with total crap.

Anyway, leaving Enya aside, the essential problem is she didn't give her usual constructive feedback, leaving me at a loss because the WIP needs work.

I've had excellent beta readers so far but have never had to find one. They've always sort of shown up on my doorstep, like stray dogs. Now that I need to put this on one hiatus until she recovers her sanity, I'm curious as to how other people find their beta readers. I tried a search and am turning up lots of references to beta readers but nothing specifically on finding them. No doubt such a thread or at least some relevant posts exist, but apparently I'm not searching the threads the right way.

So that's the gist of . . . how do you find these people? I know mostly other writers (I need to get out more). The beauty of the beta readers I have is they're not writers. Am I being unfairly adverse to using writers as betas? How can I get a beta reader to show up on my doorstep? What sort of bait do you guys put out?
 

Sean D. Schaffer

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Sure. Write the ending. You can do that right now.

Also, see the idea of flow-charting the story by way of an outline.


Awesome! Thanks again.

I did have to look up the word 'flow-chart', but now that I have a pretty good idea what it means, I think it'll work great for me.

So I'll probably write the ending tomorrow when I BIC again. BTW, I did a goodly amount of BIC today, like you suggested, and got four pages into the older work, and from Page 28 to 33 on the new work. I BIC'd for 45 minutes on each. It's a start, even if it's not a lot of time with my butt-in-chair.

Quickly, one more question: how many words of the ending should I do? Should I make it the whole last chapter of the book, or should I just do the last page or two?

I'll talk to you later, and I hope you have a good weekend ahead.


:)
 

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Jennifer, I'm new on this site too (saw your join date) but there is an area located beneath the Newbie section that lists people who have stuck up their hands to be Beta's. You might try contacting some of them? of course, I'm sure they probably are writers, but then, they will understand the effect it has on you to say your work is like Enya:) Hope that helps:) I'm so blinkin' new on here that I'm surprised I found it:) and had never heard them referred to as Beta readers, gawd what's THAT tell you? Been in a writing group for quite a while and written several pieces but never heard the term used until I came to this site. Anyhoo, I know it's upsetting...just drop into that area on the site, I think there would be someone there to help you:)
 

James D. Macdonald

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Quickly, one more question: how many words of the ending should I do? Should I make it the whole last chapter of the book, or should I just do the last page or two?

That's another "How long is a piece of rope?" questions. Write as many words as you need to.
 

smsarber

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Oh, and what you say to a beta? "Thank you very much!" And mean it.

I don't know, I just cleaned my son's beta tank, and I sure wasn't saying thank you! Oh, wait.... that's "betta".

Uncle Jim, I checked my tenses, and I don't know what the hell I was thinking. It has been fixed. Thank you, Absolute Sage.
 

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Something else I recommend is that you start writing something else while you're letting your work marinate in your desk drawer. That too will help cleanse your mind.
That is something I now agree with. Although a lot of the advice I got initially, was to the contrary.
 

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Hi, Beta, Have some candy...

Jennifer, I find that writers make the best betas. They know what they are looking for. They understand that a concise, constructive critique is important. They know what to look for. At least most of them, anyway.

I have two beta readers that I trust heavily, my mother, who retired from an editing job, and my wife, who is able to criticize me at the drop of a hat.

When they are done, I have a group who agrees to read each other's work and bleed suggestions all over our babies.

If the comments hurt, read them carefully. If they really hurt, post them on the wall in your writing room.

I've had my comments embroidered on my palatial futon cover.
 

Lilybiz

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My best beta readers are also writers, and neither of them specializes in fiction. One writes scripts, the other nonfiction, and they're both pros. I like this; they're able to tell me what's not working as well as what is, and why. They can also make worthwhile suggestions. I beta read for them, too, and am expected to be constructively critical.

The only problem with them is they're often to busy to read when I need them.
 
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