Thursday, February 25, 2010
This Might Be a Bit Too Big…
You ever have that feeling that you might have bitten off more than you could chew? I know, it’s a well-known saying, but I think it can also be used to illustrate the writer’s dilemma.
I’m creating worlds, as I’ve mentioned before…(blogs are by definition supposed to be about personal experience, right? I worry sometimes that I’m being a big egocentric, always writing ‘me’ blogs…)
OK, for the sake or being different, let me talk about some other writer. Some other…unknown writer. She starts a story…tra la, la, la, la. Things are going along swimmingly. Great story, fun characters, nice plot… La, la, la. La. L…a.
Ooops. Ran out of plot at 65,000 words. Uh, this is supposed to be a big book. Hmmm. Well, this isn’t so much too big a bite as not really enough to satisfy. (What do they call that on the Food Network or Bravo’s Top Chef? Some French word that is supposed to mean one bite. Scar a bouche? (A prize for whoever knows this word!) Or for those of us uncultured…a snack.)
The market is tough for a manuscript this…uh, short. (Unless the eventual folderol known as the Harlequin Mess ever gets straightened out. Harrumph.)
OK. So, this writer says to herself, “Chance…” Uh, I mean, “Self! You need to do something to fatten this puppy up. It’s a good story, it’s a fun story. The characters are cool. Let’s get going!”
Self re-opens the document and begins to work on her 65k. Decides that isn’t really the ending…it was too quick. Too easy. She throws in more angst, more drama, another killing, kidnapping, oooh! Yeah, I’ll add a bigger villain! I mean, she adds a bigger villain! An über villain! Not just a threat to the heroine, but a threat to the WORLD!
On a roll! Really moving now! Yes! Toss in this plot line, this secondary couple! This… Wow. This has gotten a bit…large. From a snack to a buffet table.
Now, I like a buffet. I mean, she likes a buffet. And the market is better for a more fully developed manuscript. What market there is at present.
The rewrite begins, because this buffet needs a theme, a sense of organization. The entrees need to be near the end of the line, the deserts at the end, the salad at the beginning… (And I’m off on another metaphor! Damn!)
The gist of this blog is about starting projects that grow out of control. (Like this blog.) I do watch those cooking shows and time and again, it’s the chef that starts out too complicated that gets booted off. Or, as the picture illustrates, you start off thinking you can tackle this and then…wow, that is a big ship! And we’re small pirates.
I feel this way in general about writing at least once a month. That I’ve started something that is way too big for me. Then I get over that. But the Work In Progress will loom up with a similar theme… I’ve started something that is way too big for me. I get over that. Editing? I’ve started something…
You get the picture.
Everyone has these feelings. Every time we start an endeavor that seems overwhelming in the attention it needs. I’ve been guilty, many times in my life, of starting something with the best of intentions and then sucking at the follow through. Sometimes it works out anyway, despite my own unique way of running-away. (My house, for example…it’s still going up in value, even in this market… I live ½ from the Monterey Bay. I could let the walls fall down and it’s still going to be worth moolah.) (No, I’m not letting the walls fall in, but the paint is bad, the outside is two-toned, the yard is a jungle (and not in a pretty way…) … we redid the kitchen, never cook…. Blah, blah, blah.) Best of intentions, rotten follow through. (If I did the follow thru, the value would really climb! Whoop!)
Other endeavors I’ve managed to run away from? Making jewelry. I liked forging, soldering, sawing, filing… Casting. What was it I didn’t follow through with? Well, I really sucked at polishing. And pretty much sucked at marketing. But the big downfall was polishing. The buffing, the compounds, the patience to make something shiny instead of just…sorta shiny. Me? Sucked. Me? Don’t make jewelry anymore.
Singing. I like to sing. I have a good voice. I took classes when I moved away from my beloved, afore-mentioned, voice instructor. But…no follow-through. Didn’t look for someone who would like a voice to go with that guitar, that piano, that mandolin. Didn’t reach out, find venues for open mics…look for people who might need a voice to go with that… Uh huh. Me. Rotten follow through. I sing in the car now, that’s about it.
Now, I’m writing, and working so blessedly hard at not sucking with follow through. I’m learning how to polish a MS. I’m learning how to talk to editors/agents…write those awkward letters… “Remember me? You requested a partial from… Have you had a chance…”
Sigh. I think I suck at it, but I’m doing it. I sent some stuff out way too early…but I’m not going to just pull it. I love A Caribbean Spell, and I’ll push it until I find someone willing to work with me on making it sparkly. (Thanks fer the feeback, Q!) And I work to make it better periodically. And I work very hard at making sure the next manuscript I put out there is closer to perfect.
I constantly fight the feelin’ that I have bitten off more than I can chew. That I have a tiger by a tail. That this ship has too much sail… (I love metaphors!)
So, your turn! You feel often like you’ve over-reached yourself? Do you see a pattern in your life of being a bit…overly ambitious? True or not? (Because in truth, we are all brilliant and sparkle like the stars we are.) You know where your weaknesses lie? Am I so over the map I’ve lost you? (That’s OK, I get lost, too.) You ever read something where you can tell the author really overdid it with that buffet? You juggling too many chainsaws? (Can I fit in another metaphor?)
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43 comments:
First I have to grovel.
Helli, please please please accept my sincere, humble, mortified apologies for missing your 21st birthday!
May I say that you grow smarter and lovelier and more eloquent with each passing year.
How's that for grovel? :wink:
Now to the business.
Chance, I know that ladies are supposed to be good at multi-tasking, but in the pub here in England we call that scatter-brained.
With difficult tasks like writing novels you have to focus. Concentrate on the task in hand. Prioritise and take one step at a time.
Putting one crampon above the other repeatedly you can climb Everest. Honestly you can!
When you get to the summit you will know that you made it by admiring the view ... take a pocket radar in case its snowing *grin*
Just shut yourself away with the comp for a week and finish that book ...... readers won't wait for ever! :wink:
scar a bouche=mouth amusement, I think
Q, I accept your most eloquent, charming, and humble apologies. *blows kiss*
And I have to say your Sir Ken Robinson even says women are great at multi-tasking (and he doesn't call them scatter brained.) *tsk, tsk*
I don't think Chance gets scatter brained so much as she gets bored. She likes the rough, the new--but not the shiny or the end. Frankly she doesn't like The End--and she says so all the time. It's why she writes continuing series; it's why she writes "happy for now."--so she doesn't have to write the end. She doesn't want something to be finished.
That's a common problem. A lot of us write with a barebones thought of what the end will be, so when we write the ending of the story, it's done for us. We know the end and so we don't want to redo it. It's not interesting anymore (even if we love the characters.) The mystery is over and we're just polishing.
It's an Amuse bouche. To amuse the mouth in French. And for the record, ferme la bouche is shut your mouth. Little trivia for you there.
Off to read the rest of the blog. (What did I win?)
Whatever you won, Bo'sun, I hope it's not a book. *LOL*
Back to the question, I think if I found I was 20,000 words shy of a single-title (which is what I'd be shooting for), I would have looked for ONE really good subplot. Something that mirrored the main plot, and was something that would be so much a part of the story that it felt that the plot could not exist without the subplot. (I've read books like this and always admire it.)
I don't think I'd try to throw everything into the story, like I was making an omelet with ALL the leftovers in my fridge. I'd look at what leftovers I had that would make the most of the main ingredient I was trying to emphasize.
Oh! Another blog where I wish I had more time. If I get started when I only have like 10 minutes, I'll have bitten off more than I can chew! *LOL*
I definitely have that feeling often with writing. Every project turns more complicated than the idea it starts with. So, I don't think I start too ambitious (however crazy the paranormal idea is I start out with a crazy confidence it will work), but it becomes too ambitious and I feel like I work myself into corners. Mostly, I think, I get frustrated with insecurities that my technical ability doesn't match up with my vision. I guess that's definitely the feeling of biting off more than I can chew!
Like use of POV. Right now I'm convinced a solution to a problem is mixing first person with third person. And on the one hand, that annoying little voice is saying, "you know, this is a bit too advanced for you." And another voice is popping up with, "yeah, but it would be awesome if it worked."
And I have no more time to continue to argue with myself...*LOL* Great topic!
I don't feel like I've bitten off more than I can chew, but it does feel like I'm trying to live my LIFE as a pantser, and I'm thinking it would be better if I was doing it as a plotter. LOL With my books, I can go back and revise -- not sure I can do that with real life. LOL
And Melissa -- I'm convinced that writing those things that seem "too advanced for you" is a great way to learn new stuff. It obviously intrigues you, so it'll distract you from the difficulty of it. :)
Hellie, hope you had a very happy birthday!
Chance, I love your metaphors :) While I understand what you mean about having indulged too much at the buffet, it's usually only at the very beginning of the book that I wonder whether or not it will be big enough to sustain a full-length wordcount. It's the reason I've started to make sure I have at least a bare-bones outline of the main plot points and turning points of the story before I sit down to write. Even if the book morphs after that, at least I know I'll probably still be on track.
I agree with Donna, Melissa. Just do it. You'll learn far more just by doing it than deliberating and not writing at all. And it could very well work out. I've seen books where it does; and you could be one of those people.
Donna, grass is always greener. If you were a plotter, you'd wish you were more a pantser so you weren't so anal about following things in a linear way. *LOL*
I never have the problem of it getting too big, I always worry that it's not going to be long enough. Both books it turned out fine and word count didn't end up being the problem. :)
I am sweating this new story. Though I'm sure it'll be fine once I get a little closer. I'm 20K in and I think, based on my basic outline, that I'm about a 1/4 of the way through the story. So by the time I go back through I'm sure it'll be fine.
I'm with JK though; a very basic outline/plot points helps to keep things from getting out of control.
Q - Oh, I do the one step at at time, but Hel's right. When in the first flush of love and discovery, when all is new and fresh, it's a dream to just write, to just get it all down on paper. It's the revise, rewrite, edit, fix, tweak... And the project grows beyond measure.
I wrote over a million words before I ever sat down and looked at editing! And the story goes on and on and on and on...
To go back is a flat out struggle for me. It isn't always the torture I admit...but I find it overwhelming...
And Hellie wins the prize! I'll pop it in the mail soonest!
Well, crap...which is it? Scar a bouche or amuse bouche? I thought Hel guessed right...
I need clarification!
But it's not a book.
Good for you Hellie. You'd have a plan. I had a plan, it just blew up a bit...
Wait...did someone back there say I was scatterbrained? But coached in the more delicate fashion, multi-tasker...
Melissa, honey! Have a great day at school! Don't forget your mittens.
They're so cute when they're that age!
Sometimes it is about the vision outstripping the skills. But I'm a firm believer in doing it anyway. We all learn from some starting point. Mixing first and third...I tried that! Not the easiest thing to do...I shifted it all to third eventually.
But only I understood why I was doing it that way, to be closer to my main character.
JK, thank you, I had a very happy birthday!!
Donna - Life as a panster but wishing ta be a plotter. Totally makes sense to me! The difficulty with living life as a plotter is there be too many villains out there that toss in a monkeywrench. Mostly minor. Like the guy with the list of drinks at Starbucks.
You get all set up for a good day, from here to there and from here to there...and some twit steps into your path, so you have to pants it totally.
Terri should win it. She's the one who told me a long time ago what amuse bouche meant anyway. (I personally think French is crap because I think Parisians are snotty--I'd rather learn Spanish--Terri is the one with patience for French and Parisians. She should get it.) Plus she spelled it right. *LOL*
JK - Everyone loves a buffet!
Marn - With the book I'm writing off in this blog, I had a basic outline. I, is Sin around to slap me? Well, I'm gonna chance it...I actually plotted quite a lot. Even with the added framework, I was coming up short.
I'm finding as I edit I'm gaining a bit more words than I'm losing. Just hoping it remains that way as I move through the next step of editing!
OK, Terr it is! I always hear just enough of a word to be intrigued, but not have it on line...
Anyone ever watch "Chopped" ...that would be hilarious to attempt with writing. Open a basket and you get...a hero, an occupation, a situation... Speed write! Go!
Yup, I do enjoy The Food Network.
Scaramouche is in the song Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. LOL! And I have no idea what it means. *googles* Interesting. It's a French book turned into a play turned into a movie with lots of swashbuckling of the sword fight variety. (Wiki is my friend.)
Sorry, had a 10am meeting and I'm still trying to catch up on the comments. My worry is never that I have too much because my stories are so thin, I have way too little. This is why I'm a champ at short stories. *sigh*
Sooooo....dying blog... Anyone like the pic I used? Took that in Puerta Vallarta as the pirate excursion came around the stern of the massive cruise ship we were on... I thought it was sorta cool...
I love Chopped. Though the contestants almost always come across as arrogant assholes or scared rabbits. And the food is rarely very good (according to the judges.) But you're right, the ones who complicate things and try to do too much are always the ones out first.
And wouldn't that be an intriguing writing exercise? Chopped style writing! the course, a love scene, the players...a 48 year old Hispanic sailor, a 22 year old valley girl, stranded in the desert, in winter.
Go!
As for writing short, I imagine if...if the structure is well built, it's all in the decorating and additions. A solid short is a godsend!
But in writing, size matters and the shorts don't get the big advances or the big sales. Unless you have a really good collection. And I don't. :)
For the Chopped writing, you'd have to throw in something like a dragon, a burning bush, a hero with one leg, and a bald heroine. That's more like the weird crap they put in those baskets. LOL!
Yup, you got it!
With shorts, it's easier to build a reputation and a resume, don't you think? If you find the market, granted. Which is why when I'm looking at the Kraken's Mirror right now and going...great. Where do I go with a 60k story?
Off with Bonnie, crew...back later to see if the discussion is going anywhere!
And I am not scatterbrained!
I think.
...a bald heroine! LOL That would certainly be a different twist.
My problem isn't that my story is too big. My problem is that my characters are too big. I feel very schizophrenic when I'm trying to define my hero and heroine.
First he's the strong, silent tortured type, then he turns carefree and funny and adorable, then he turns possessive, controlling and difficult. The same thing for my heroine. I started creating different characters just so I'd have a place to dump all these alternate characteristics, backgrounds and motivations. So far, my mss is very crowded.
Irish, there may be a market for this... What is that television show? Well, there is Dollhouse, where she puts on different personas...as a profession. Or there is the United World of Tara where the lead has multiple personality disorder...
But honestly...sounds to me you have several books and characters superimposed over each other.
Hel - Last Chance is reading along and thinks you nailed me quite well... In love with the doing and struggling with the polish once the mystery is revealed.
I really do fight with the rewrite... I need a guide on that part. Absolutely terrified I'll lose magic while trying to smooth things over.
Today, for a little while. I hate my life.
Don't say stuff like that. You of all people know better. You're doing just fine. Dabbling in lots of things can be more interesting than doing the same thing to the finish over and over.
And besides, you've finished about a million MSs. And submitted several times. That doesn't sound like someone with no follow-thru to me. (Says the woman with NO finished MSs.)
Yes, Ma'am. Thank you, Ma'am. I'm feeling beat up about a MS I submitted last year, got it back with what I know see was a request for revision and resubmit...and kicking my ass for ignoring it, misunderstanding it, and thinking I just totally f*cked it up and can't go back and...and...and.
I need a very big drink...several in fact...to gain some perspective.
So fix it now. Those things don't have expiration dates. Life happens. Getting a request to resubmit is a freaking good thing! LOL!
And you realize you have all the drink stuff. Have as many as you want. ;)
I'm going to print it up this weekend, spend the bloody cash to get it on paper and work it like I did the other one.
Good idea! See, you have a plan and everything. You've totally got it together.
ROTFLMAO!
I always have a plan, it's implementing it where I suck!
And the cycle begins....
*bangs head on desk*
As long as I entertain. You keep rhythm with the banging, I'll go get a guitar...
You could sing!
Gah, must I tell you everything? LOL!
And I did actually play drums in HS band, so keeping the beat is no problem. Just get me a new bottle of ibuprofen.
Bo'sun's right. I've heard Agents/Editors say there wasn't an expiration date. They've made requests and then never get the full manuscript they asked for--and realize it's not finished and the author panicked. The agent laughed and said, "Send it in if you finish it."
I've totally done that, but I'm not finishing the book in question.
Well, this was another long and fun and wonderful day! Nail polishing, bookstore loitering, buying stuff, watching movies, cake & ice cream...Good times!
2nd, go get your manuscript done up the way you like and send it in. Yeesh.
Yes, Ma'am. I know...thanks.
I had some ice cream today...would love to have my nails done... Glad you had a good day after b-day day!
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