Experts

I think I’m studying this thing too much. When I first began writing, I wrote carefree, jotting down events as they came to mind. Then I was introduced to WIFYR and became aware that there are formats and procedures and formulae to follow. More and more, I began to research what the experts were saying on writing. Now I’ve got so many “do this, don’t do that” things going on in my head, I’m bound to go against some expert’s opinion with every sentence I write.

Cheryl Klein, Martine Leavitt, Alane Ferguson, Ann Dee Ellis, Mathew Kirby, Kathleen Duey; these are some of the gurus to whose savvy advice I try to adhere. The latest is John Truby. I recently caught up on some back copies of the SCBWI journal when I ran across an article in the November/December issue. It talked about Truby’s book, The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller. Silly me. I went out and purchased it.

I’m not sure which of the 22 steps I’m on, as they are not readily laid out in the table of contents. Truby addresses story anatomy from a screenwriter’s perspective but his concepts can be adapted to any fiction writing. I’m on the chapter about story structure. Truby says story structure is how a story develops over time.

He says your MC must have a weakness and a need. The weakness could be the character is arrogant or selfish or a liar and the need is to overcome the weakness. Then there must be desire, which is not the same as need. Desire is what the character wants. It is the driving force in the story and something the reader hopes he attains. Need has to do with a weakness within the character and desire is a goal outside of the character. The hero must, of course meet an opponent. Truby says the opponent does not try to prevent the MC from accomplishing their goal as much as they are in competition for the same thing. In a mystery story, it would seem the protagonist is opposed to the perpetrator of the crime. Under the surface, however, they are both competing for their version of the truth to be believed.

This is where the conflict is with my work-in-progress (my incredibly slow work-in-progress). It’s a middle grade book, so the story is not as intricate. Do kid characters need the complexity of adult characters? I get it that you can’t make them too sterile, too one-sided. Should a middle grade MC be arrogant or a liar?

Likewise, I’m having trouble with the opponent aspect. In my story, there is no real antagonist. There is a mystery the MC is trying to solve, but no person is preventing him.

The experts say do this or do that. My gut tells me different. What’s a poor writer to do?

Killer first lines

Life just ain’t fair. You work your heart out on a story, spend months writing, revising, and rewriting some 50,00 words or more. Then you send your precious darling off with high hopes and what happens? An agent or editor may not read more than the first sentence. If you’re lucky or your writing shows promise, maybe they’ll finish the paragraph or even first page.

What’s up with that? Alane Ferguson taught a WIFYR workshop a few years back. She said agents and editors are busy people and hundreds of manuscripts cross their desks each year. They’re not looking at story but need to quickly assess writing potential. Agent John Cusick receives 5,000 queries a year. In a few short sentences, you have to stand out from the crowd. One way to do that is with a powerful first line.

The local SCBWI chapter sponsored an evening event at the Salt Lake City library once with speaker Clint Johnson. In his presentation, titled “Great Beginnings,” he said he tries to hook the reader on the first line. If they are intrigued, maybe they’ll read on through the 1^st paragraph, then the 1^st page, and on and on.

Johnson went further. He said there are three things imperative to a story’s opening. You should present conflict, pose questions, and reveal character. Conflict is the driving element of the story. We naturally want to see conflict resolved so it is a reason to read on. Pose questions, or better yet, write so that readers pose their own questions and thus want to read further for answers. The main character’s POV is the door into the story. Johnson said to try to hit all three in the first line.

Similarly, John Cusick said he wants the entire book in the first line or paragraph.

Then comes the question of where to start the story. Gone are the days of the soft break-in of character or setting. Readers today (and publishers) want action from the get-go. We’re told to never begin at the beginning, but start at the middle. Avoid too much backstory or info dumping.

I rewrote the start of my NaNo story and shared it with my critique group. They get hungry and I have to feed them every once in a while. I spent a few hours perfecting that first chapter. My first line was good, but they didn’t like where I started. They want me to do it again.

Life isn’t fair.