Write that Novel: The Skeleton

Every writer I know talks about establishing a great plot. A plot is what makes a book, but how do you establish a plot and how do you know you have a good plot? The plot is not the writing, nor is it the hook. It is the skeleton of your novel. Flesh comes later.

We all know this chart. Yes, its simple and yes we all know how to do this, but do we really? The Skeleton of your story refers to the bones that hold up the flesh. Literally speaking. This is your core. Sometimes the skeleton of the story makes most people fail to see the idea of the structure. Artists insist that there is no point in the structure, because it clogs off your creativity. It blocks those emotions. Truly, every single story spices and tingles your emotions because it is based on a basic structure. Flip through ANY book. They all have the same skeletal structure as shown above.


Even query writing depends on this. A query is the tale of the very key skeletal structure. The very main points. You don't tell back-story, you don't show unneeded information. You focus on the key points. This structure applies to all genres worldwide.

Exposition is the information needed to understand a story. (Don't confuse exposition for back-story).

Complication is the catalyst that begins the major conflict.

Climax is the turning point in the story that occurs when characters try to resolve the complication.

Resolution is the set of events that bring the story to a close.

Cheers!

Graceling: A Review

I just finished reading Graceling last night by Kristin Cashore. I have seen lots of great reviews on it, so I picked it up and it also seemed like it was based on the more medevil sword figfhting era, which my novel is based in, so I wanted to see what the hype was. This book was admired by a lot of girls my age and after reading it I can say, I am really not so sure if it would be loved by boys (Forgive me if it is, lol) and I really don't understand why it is rated PG 14. If you have not read the novel, keep in mind that this review contains spoilers.

My Rating: * * * (3 stars/5)

So I will start with a short summary, and then get to the point of my review. If you are interested in having your novel reviewed by me, feel free to drop me a comment. Anyways, the summary...Basically Katsa is a girl who can kill people with the nail of her small finger. She has a grace of killing. Graces in the novel are more like specialty talents that are portrayed when somebody's eyes change color at a young age. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug. She never expects to fall in love with beautiful Prince Po. She never expects to learn the truth behind her Grace—or the terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

My Review:

Love the idea. That's why I bought the book, but to me the execution and plot was dull. Katsa is somewhat an annoying character. I know Kristen Cashore tried to make her a very strong female lead, but I found her to be very Mary Sueish at times and angry for no reason. Anger management, dude. Seriously. Her grace is a bit confusing to me and I find that if I wrote this I wouldn't call it the grace of killing but maybe of like fighting or something along those lines? Maybe strength? Because everyone has the ability to kill, its just the way she does it...She does though find out later that her grace is not killing, but survival. The fights were very swift and to me I found they were described too shortly. Like she just hit men with her boot and bam! Ten men down. What confused me was that how in the world she overcame graced fighters so easily.

Now, there were great things in the novel but let me continue my ramble...She is king Randa’s slave and when she meets Po, he tells her that she shouldn't be his slave. Ok, thinks Katsa, I’m going to go kill him if he doesn't let me leave. Randa fears her, for she can dodge arrows, but I am sure if he wanted her dead than he could arrow her down with a thousand or so men. I am sure it’s impossible to dodge that many arrows. So with Po who is the grandson of the stolen Lienid grandfather, she leaves to search why in the world the grandfather was stolen in the first place. Po lets her beat him up every day and I am surprised he hadn't gotten a hematoma from her punches to the head. I mean I was in a car accident and I hit my head....2 months off, brain bleed. Eeek! I think Po is a well described character, I liked him, but he takes allot of things that I really don't know if a real guy would take from Katsa. Actually he is probably the only one she is really nice to and I liked how she slowly evolved into a more humane girl throughout the novel.

Another thing, the whole giant back-story description of the kingdoms was confusing. I skimmed. It was like Wester, Nender, Ender, Blender and I was like what??? And all of those kings and queens and yikes! I think it would have worked better if it was weaved into the narrative. So anyways, she and Po leave to find why the grandfather was stolen. Their travel lasts forever and through that travel they get to know each other until, more than halfway through the novel, they find that king Leck stole the king and he is playing with minds. Did I mention Po (whose real name is Greening) is a mind reader? Oh, and I felt their romance was somewhat off and undeveloped...So they find Bitterblue who is running away and is the daughter of Leck. I think this could have been done better because a scene or two later, when Po sacrifices himself, Katsa kills Leck with a dagger. Easily. and I don't feel the defeat and victory that I should feel when an antagonist is killed. Of course they travel with Bitterblue to get to Leck (there is allot of travel) and when they get to Po's castle, guess who's there...Just guess...Leck! She kills him and they find Po who went blind and live happily ever after with Bitterblue as the queen.

Overall thoughts...I loved the idea. I enjoyed the read, but I thought there was allot of back-story, telling and not enough action to amaze me and engage me. Graceling didn't exceed my expectations but it served as entertainment and I think that it was a fun read overall. Katsa was interesting...Po was a very beta male I will do anything kind of person. So overall you should read it if you haven't! Cheers!

Opening Paragraph Analysis

OPA in short. Today I wanted to speak of openings. I worked long and hard to develop mine and...Nathan Bransford is holding a contest! Isn't that sweet? Check it out here. Prizes are great.

You are standing in a bookstore and a cover catches your eye. The cover is beautiful, shiny, attractive. You pick up the book and read the blurb. Interesting, very gripping. You flip open to the first page. The book only needs to pass one more test for you to buy it. It starts with a guy waking up and thinking. Boring. Perhaps the rest of the book might be boring and written in this passive and cliche way?

Very many readers go to the first page when buying books. In fact statistics show that the first page determines readership involvement by 80%. They love it or hate it. For me, I never really followed the first page analysis, let alone first paragraph. When I pick up a book and the blurb is interesting, I read it. It might start boring, it may lag and be slow, but I'll read it, because I figure that the story may develop. That was before I understood and learned the publishing world. I viewed books quite differently before I began trying to get published. So if the first page isn't vital to buyers, why is it so darn vital? It is the first thing agents/editors look at. It decides the faith of your novel.

Agents and editors don't have much time. You can see that if you start reading all the entries to Nathan's contest you begin to skim. Go through those comments and try to see what it would be like to be an agent (he actually recommended that himself). You don't have enough time to eat every paragraph. You can't read through that much. You have other things to do. So when the first sentence doesn't grab you, what do you find yourself doing? I find that I pass and move on.

So, with all this talk, get to the point. How do you analyse the grip factor of your paragraph?
Yes, don't get me wrong. I need to get to the point. Now, I am no expert and I won't pretend to be. I am a teen writer that loves imagination and wants to hold her novel in her hands in the next few years while still being a teen. But, I did have great responses from agents on my first pages and had nearly a dozen partial requests. As you might know, I am now revising for a publisher and they told me that my first paragraph pulls you right in, so I imagine I can give some suggestion.



"The Coming" First Paragraph Analysis:


The Coming is what I am devoted to, is what I am revising and is what I intend to sell. I go by the phrase "If you want it enough, you will push till the end". To analyze your first paragraph you have to take each word separately. A good suggestion is reading each sentence separately so that you can separate them and see how they flow. So here is my analysis of my first paragraph.

Someone was going to die today. The first sentence instantly places the reader in tension. Someone is going to die. It sets a dark mood. There was no other choice: it was kill or die. No I set the fact that the MC has no choice and that his life is in danger. Vitiosus stared at the tall, bulky warrior and took a deep breath. Now you can really imagine what is going on. He's fighting. There is a warrior and that sets the setting. You probably are not going to imagine they are in space or in a mall or whatnot. He stepped forward. Gravel crunched below his feet and wisps of wind swirled about his head as he calculated his chances. With one final glance toward his father on the throne, he walked to the middle of the arena. He was determined to make his father proud of him — just this once.  That is the hook. Frome here you can see that he wants to make his father proud just one time. That tells us the backstory without telling backstory. His father clearly thinks the his son is a failure and here Vitiosusu wants to prove him wrong, just this once.

So there you go. My analysis.  I highly recommend you to take your own paragraph and analyze it to death. It you are getting rejected there is a problem. Me, well, I have had people tell me that I shouldn't start with action, but the requests and the feedback speak for themselves. Cheers!

Main Character

MC.

It's a big short word when condensed. Literally one of the main aspects of a novel. The driver of your story, the illustrator of your plot. A main character is a nucleus...A sun...

Everything that followes; plot, minor characters, setting revolves around that MC. That guy/girl is the attraction of the reader. They have to be well liked and well developed in order for the reader to want to know them They have to be cared for and they have to be exciting. So how do you know if your main character is exciting enough to read about? How do you compell an interesting person that lives with you will you read the novel?

To create a compelling MC

1. First and foremost create a sketch and get to know who they are. What does he/she like? What makes her/him angry? Are they neurotic? Are they stubborn?

2. Flaws. Everyone says that your character has to be flawed, not to be a Mary Sue or a Gary Sue. But when he/she is too flawed which everyone begins doing now that we are all trying to avoid having a Mary Sure character, THAT becomes cliché. Focus on your characters having their good and bad sides. But not too much of either. Think of yourself. I have flaws. I have my good sides. I am perfect in some things that involve creativity and athletics. I am also great at academics, but I have my flaws and so does everyone.

3. Think about this...Perfect is perfect in the eyes of the beholder. Just like beauty. For example; in the eyes of an evil king, imagine a perfect kingdom. To him it will be perfect, to others not. Thus there is no perfect that will be perfect to everyone and that makes me wander off to the topic of writing...The best writing will not be the best in everyone’s eyes.

4. Show their sympathy, their soft spots, their emotional core. We need to see what they lost, what plot surrounds them and how they will evolve through it. Bare them.

5. Last but not least, surround them with a very interesting situation. That is when I (reader) will really want to know what will happen to this interesting person in this interesting situation.

Test your current MC

So you have a main character? Most of us do, right? So ask yourself these questions and see if they can be improved.

1. The name of your MC, is it in sync with the story? For example if you are in future time, or in past times, does it work?

2. Does your character tend to whine about life allot?

3. Is your character so strong and swift that they never really get hurt much?

4. Does your character always get their way?

5. Does your character "change" at all throughout the course of your novel? When writing a novel it is very important to stick to your characters persona.

6. What is the PROBLEM your main character is facing?

7. What are their main traits?

8. Do they have fears?

9. How is the problem going to change your MC?

10. Do you connect with your MC when you write? Does it feel like you are writing about live flesh?

These are just some of the questions you can ask yourself, and your character. The main important thing is to keep on track and when creating a main character birth a person. Not someone that you thought was cool, but a real person that you will lead through the hardship of your story. Feel free to share your experience and how you create a compelling character. Whether you get inspiration from other people, or other stories.

Cheers!

P.S. Another great activity to help with Main Characters is analyzing MCs from your favourite novels.

The award for sytlish blog goes to...

Hi writers! The great Alyson over at her blog has awarded me with a stylish blogger award. YAY! Thank Alyson. I am very happy that people out there seem to be enjoying my blog :) Sweet. According to the Rules of this award I must now bestow this award unto other worthy blogs, and...

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award - DONE

2. Share 7 things about yourself - DONE

3. Award 10 recently discovered great bloggers - DONE

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!  - Doing

7 things about me:

Well, what have I not shared before. Let me think....Let's focus writing.

1. On the manuscript that I am working, I am revising for a literary agency and a publisher so I cannot wait to see what they'll say. Wish me luck!
2. I can't live without my every morning gym workout.
3. I write listening to music. Always. Only. Mostly music that matches the scenario i.e. battle scene - Epic War music :)
4. I tend to like antagonists sometimes.
5. My main character used to be the antagonist.
6. I love dark fiction, things and fantasy.
7. I don't read that much fiction. At all. I read books about writing, non-fiction and such, but I am not a bookworm.

The award goes to...Drum roll...

10 very stylish and great blogs!

Dark Angel's Fiction Writing

Freckle Head

Jaydee Morgan

Bronwyn's Writing Blog

CipherQueen

Flights of Fantasy

Justine Dell

Stina Lindenblatt

The Alchemy of Writing

The QQQE

Happy Blogging!

AutoCrit, Editing and the RED Pen

I read other blogs allot and quite recently I stumbled upon a great blog that recommended...

AutoCrit

An editing software.  Now you can try it our free, but you can only paste a minimum amount of words. You can also purchase a package. So it is what it says it is. It is a critique software. I tried it and at first I liked it but when I looked into it, it can do nothing that I can't do myself with a red pen. So I sat down and looked through these specific redundancies, words and cliché phrases I should avoid and piled up a list for you guys to enjoy. I highlight each word in a different color and I find that it REALLY helps for the sentences to be smooth and not overdone. For example adverbs are needed. We should not take away all adverbs yet they should be used sparingly.  So here is...

THE LIST

Convict Telling Words:

Search for past & present

Saw

Heard

Ate

Felt/feel

Thought

Smelled

Scared

Anger

Happy

Annoyed

Adverbs Period. (words ending with ly) such as...

Softly

Gently

Happily

Nicely

Perfectly

ING sentences. Turn them to the NOW. For example...

Staring at him, he grabbed at his head.

He stared at him and grabbed on to his head.

(Weird example but you get the idea)

AND

This and that and that and that. Stop with too many ands. Connect sentences with action instead.

Extra Pest Words to Avoid (not always!)

Could

Had

Have

It/There

Just/Then

Knew/Know

Look

Maybe

WAS (This is a big one)

Notice

I found from my own writing that these are the words that you should be most looking for and perfecting on your last edit (and the first). I placed my text into the AutoCrit and it said that my writing isn't overflowing with these words which was great to know, but I certainly got a lot of help from compiling this list and creating a diagram for every chapter on which words are overused and descriptions I should avoid. Happy Writing! Cheers.

Reading AND Writing

I was just thinking that when we read novels and certain phrases may pop up in our novel. They may just pop up...I have a writer friend of mine who is a great fan of Twilight. Now, I am not a Twilight hater. But neither am I a fan. Every work of art is in fact a work of art and I feel that lots of haters are jealous of Stephanie's success (or author authors in other cases). This isn't the topic of today's post. So when reading his manuscript I stumbled upon a few small sentences and description that were from the Twilight book (I haven’t read it fully, but they were from certain parts I’ve skimmed). Yikes. How much do you read when you write and has your "mind" ever copied great sentences that you loved?


For me, I was never much of a reader and that may be surprising being that I began to write. I read, yes...But I read very little. Maybe just even a few books a year and those were the books that I got as gifts. I couldn't NOT read them. Sometimes I think that maybe my writing would have improved faster if I read more. Maybe. But at the same time, I began writing because I couldn’t find the novel I wanted. I couldn't find the story I was inclined to find, thus, why not write it down? Well, I did. Now that I have my story down, I find that I didn't plagiarize or steal because I simply didn't know much other works...

And this was the time to begin reading other works. To see what they did right and what I did wrong. To see what needs to be fixed. To understand the rules. I haven't read much novels yet in the fantasy genre, but I've picked up a couple of best sellers last year...See, I am a TOTAL bookworm. I read three books in 2010. WOW!!! I personally believe that it really depends on each and every individual, just like a critique. If you give the same writing to 5 people their critiques will be so different you will go hazy just looking at them. One person liked that part, the other said its terrible, remove. What I can say is that from my own experience you have to base your trust upon yourself, and knowledge. Yes, that is the key. Let me know what you think.