Favorite Enemies
- A Little Sisterly Advice
- Cheeky Reads
- DRD aka Donna's Blog
- Gunner Marnee's Blog
- J.K. Coi: Living with Immortals
- Just Janga
- Killer Fiction
- Kimberly Killion
- Maggie Robinson
- Maureen O. Betita
- Megan Kelly
- Pam Clare
- Renee Lynn Scott
- Romance Bandits
- Romance Dish
- Scapegoat's Blogspot
- Smartass Romance
- Terri Osburn Writes Romance
- Tessa Dare
- Vauxhall Vixens
Blog Archive
Powered by Blogger.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
A Case for Pantsers: Writing Your Book Through Inquiry
Recently I read an article my boss wrote about science education and inquiry. He uses a lot of boring and technical language in his article, but since we’re pirates and have shorter attention spans, the term inquiry amounts to a bastardized version of this: nurturing people’s curiosity to allow them to investigate something (i.e. Why do magnets only stick to some kinds of metal?) without telling them what’s “supposed” to happen. You let them take their pre-conceived notions to the game; give it their best shot; then have them sum up the experience after the fact. Then you go over it again, straighten out the misconceptions, and voila, they supposedly have true understanding of how it all works. He was particularly scathing about the practice of “cookbook” teaching, where you’re given an assignment with all the steps to tell you what’s supposed to happen when and the answer at the end. All formula, but no passion or room for mistakes or taking chances. You may come to the right answer, but did you really believe it or care? Hands-on experience, I surmised from his article, is the best teacher to understanding and owning a subject.
To which I thought, hands-on experience and inquiry can also be the best teachers for writing a book.
In inquiry, you should come out of the experience having gained knowledge you didn’t have before—you are altered, you have grown; and with each book you write, I believe not only do the characters have an arc, showing where they change and grow as heroes; but we, the authors, are altered and grow with each book we create. We learn something more about craft; we grow as a writer; we change our perceptions—and audiences’ perceptions—about what can and cannot happen in a novel. Sometimes we come to the absolutely wrong conclusion, have to go back, correct the mistakes, but in the end, we know the subject of our book with absolute clarity. We can show it to anyone.
We should always tackle our books with inquiry and leave the cookbook approach for the kitchen. Romances, on the whole (as Nicholas Sparks will tell you), have the same cyclical journey. Most of us have read enough romances to recognize the beats of the story almost instinctively. First kiss, page 80. Sex, page 200. Black moment around page 300 or 330, depending on the length of the book you’re reading. There’s the inciting incident: boy meets girl or boy pisses off girl; and there are the handful of Turning Points, where you don’t know if you’re coming or going; and of course, the climax and resolution, most often resulting in a HEA or HFN ending. (That is, unless you’re Nicholas Sparks.)
The same beats can be identified in mysteries, horror novels, fantasy, and thriller. Commercial fiction follows beats. Audiences expect a satisfying ending of some sort from the novel: the guy gets the girl; the killer is caught; the ring is found or quest is completed; and the world is saved. Clearly there is a bit of “formula” involved, based on these expectations.
But just because a story follows genre expectations, it doesn’t mean it needs to follow the cookbook approach. There is still room for inquiry. You are still solving for knowledge you didn’t know about yourself or your characters, knowledge that you won’t quite know everything about until you get to the end. I think that is one of the most rewarding things about finishing a novel. You feel like you know something new and different about yourself. Something more than “I am a person who can write a 400 page book.” Your views, perceptions, philosophies, beliefs are there for everyone to read—whether you’re aware you had those particular beliefs or not. I think there are some perceptions and beliefs we prefer not to acknowledge or think about because they’re not comfortable; and writing forces us outside of our comfort zone of what we’re allowed to feel or believe. Except it allows us to do it through characters (role-playing), where it’s safer. We get to resolve our conflicts with these beliefs safely too.
A long-winded way of saying: writing is cheap therapy.
So yes, some days you’ll write and it will be like you can’t keep your fingers going fast enough; and some days, it will be like you have to force out every word from behind your teeth. Honestly that’s not much different than going to the therapist. Some days you won’t shut up; some days, you want to do nothing but plead the fifth. In the end though, you come out realizing you’re not as screwed up as you thought you were.
I hope I feel that way about this novel when I’m done: it’s not as screwed up as I thought it was. And in the meanwhile, I can feel better that I don’t know absolutely everything about my characters in the beginning of the experiment—that we’re all just doing this inquiry together, and maybe by the time I finish, my pre-conceived notions of how I think Adam should behave and Eve should feel will be flipped on their head. And that’s just fine. That’s how the science of writing works. You don’t know; you just experiment.
So what experiments have you done in your writing lately? Do you think you know a bit more about yourself after you’ve written something particularly hard or emotional? Do you read some books and think you know something about the author? (I’m reading one called The Accidental Bestseller and I rather feel this way; and some of Jenny Crusie’s books, I feel this way.) Do you like formula but hate cookbook, or does it matter?
To which I thought, hands-on experience and inquiry can also be the best teachers for writing a book.
In inquiry, you should come out of the experience having gained knowledge you didn’t have before—you are altered, you have grown; and with each book you write, I believe not only do the characters have an arc, showing where they change and grow as heroes; but we, the authors, are altered and grow with each book we create. We learn something more about craft; we grow as a writer; we change our perceptions—and audiences’ perceptions—about what can and cannot happen in a novel. Sometimes we come to the absolutely wrong conclusion, have to go back, correct the mistakes, but in the end, we know the subject of our book with absolute clarity. We can show it to anyone.
We should always tackle our books with inquiry and leave the cookbook approach for the kitchen. Romances, on the whole (as Nicholas Sparks will tell you), have the same cyclical journey. Most of us have read enough romances to recognize the beats of the story almost instinctively. First kiss, page 80. Sex, page 200. Black moment around page 300 or 330, depending on the length of the book you’re reading. There’s the inciting incident: boy meets girl or boy pisses off girl; and there are the handful of Turning Points, where you don’t know if you’re coming or going; and of course, the climax and resolution, most often resulting in a HEA or HFN ending. (That is, unless you’re Nicholas Sparks.)
The same beats can be identified in mysteries, horror novels, fantasy, and thriller. Commercial fiction follows beats. Audiences expect a satisfying ending of some sort from the novel: the guy gets the girl; the killer is caught; the ring is found or quest is completed; and the world is saved. Clearly there is a bit of “formula” involved, based on these expectations.
But just because a story follows genre expectations, it doesn’t mean it needs to follow the cookbook approach. There is still room for inquiry. You are still solving for knowledge you didn’t know about yourself or your characters, knowledge that you won’t quite know everything about until you get to the end. I think that is one of the most rewarding things about finishing a novel. You feel like you know something new and different about yourself. Something more than “I am a person who can write a 400 page book.” Your views, perceptions, philosophies, beliefs are there for everyone to read—whether you’re aware you had those particular beliefs or not. I think there are some perceptions and beliefs we prefer not to acknowledge or think about because they’re not comfortable; and writing forces us outside of our comfort zone of what we’re allowed to feel or believe. Except it allows us to do it through characters (role-playing), where it’s safer. We get to resolve our conflicts with these beliefs safely too.
A long-winded way of saying: writing is cheap therapy.
So yes, some days you’ll write and it will be like you can’t keep your fingers going fast enough; and some days, it will be like you have to force out every word from behind your teeth. Honestly that’s not much different than going to the therapist. Some days you won’t shut up; some days, you want to do nothing but plead the fifth. In the end though, you come out realizing you’re not as screwed up as you thought you were.
I hope I feel that way about this novel when I’m done: it’s not as screwed up as I thought it was. And in the meanwhile, I can feel better that I don’t know absolutely everything about my characters in the beginning of the experiment—that we’re all just doing this inquiry together, and maybe by the time I finish, my pre-conceived notions of how I think Adam should behave and Eve should feel will be flipped on their head. And that’s just fine. That’s how the science of writing works. You don’t know; you just experiment.
So what experiments have you done in your writing lately? Do you think you know a bit more about yourself after you’ve written something particularly hard or emotional? Do you read some books and think you know something about the author? (I’m reading one called The Accidental Bestseller and I rather feel this way; and some of Jenny Crusie’s books, I feel this way.) Do you like formula but hate cookbook, or does it matter?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Books by the Crew
39 comments:
I had my local RWA chapter meeting this Saturday and we did an exercise...have your character have to put on some clothing they'd never wear. Ever. I thought a moment, and turned it around. Had Emily strip naked for her lover.
Granted she'd done it outside already, but there was something different about watching him watch her. Him, already naked on the bed, her wanting to join him but suddenly super aware of everything about herself that wasn't perfect.
This scene isn't in the book. Yet. After I wrote it, I realized this needed to be in the book. It was a great experiment and the newest I've done in a long time.
Think it opened up a stagnent place I wasn't dealing with.
I love not knowing in particular where I'm headed with my writing. Yes, I know, Bo'sun, I do plot. But I do it undercover! ;)
Think it opened up a stagnent place I wasn’t dealing with.
I think some of the best scenes in manuscripts are where this is realized. You realize you're dealing with more than just your characters' issues.
Way to turn the assignment on its head and possibly find a use for it in your novel.
I sometimes think we should have writing assignments on the ship. Would you guys be game for a writing assignment one day? Just for laughs?
Helli, in this mode you are like fine wine or maturing scotch, you just keep getting better as time flows on. You know, I think you could be a superb inspirational teacher if you wanted to be.
I find that some people just spend all their time in a library, trying to learn everything that is known about their subject and never ever trying to solve anything original.
On the other hand, the more exciting people dive in at the deep end and set about trying to solve their problem straight away, learning to swim as they go and going to the library when stuck or checking that no-one else did it first.
These are the inspirational research scientists and like Feynman they can set a coffee room alight with their thoughts and insights as they make gigantic steps forward in understanding.
Feynman once said that he only really understood something when he had derived it for himself. So the great man was a pantser!
I am constantly struck by the analogies between science research and novel writing. Both are exploring the unknown and also discovering things about self. When successful the rewards are immense.
I think that cook books and formulaic prescriptions should be banned. Far better to make a complete hash of the book and be original than stick to a recipe and be boringly predictable.
Helli luv, I don't think there is a boring word in your vocabulary and ultimately I just know that you will succeed. Nothing else about your writing is predictable! :D
First, I love the experiential method of teaching. The kids love it and well, it's more fun for a teacher. However, in my experience as a teacher, I never had enough time to do enough of it. Most school curriculum is packed so full of content the kids need to know with not enough time to teach it. The most time efficient way of covering it is the "cookbook" method, even if it isn't the most effective. And if it's not the jam packed content, it's class size way to big to manage the technique. It works best with 20 or a little more kids. I always had classes with 30+. Or, not enough resources to do more hands on stuff. I'm not condoning any of it, but it all makes for harder teaching conditions. And less than ideal outcomes in the classroom.
Ugh. Anyway.
I don't know if I've done any experiments in my writing lately, but I definitely prescribe to the just write and see what you see. I do some planning. I do some serious thinking into my characters. But nothing seems to beat just getting to know them through writing them. If you're true to their characters, it's amazing what you find out.
Q, I'm glad you liked the blog. *LOL* I have to say, as much as I loathed science in school (and I don't care a lot for it now because my brain just doesn't seem to grasp certain things), I find it amazing I'm able to correlate as many aspects between science and writing as I do.
Technically speaking, I'm more apt to research first, then dive into the pool. In my mind, there is no sense in reiventing the wheel by discovering something that every scientist has known since they were five and they can't believe you didn't know it yet either. It's elementary. I mean, I think Darwin knew the theories and research his contemporaries and such had done about explaining evolution in a creationist society--and probably held a lot of those beliefs before he finally went off on his own path and forged a whole new thinking.
Sometimes it's good to do some research, just so you know what you're against. If you don't understand the other side's thinking, you could lose the war. (Now I'm trying to be a military strategist. Seriously. I need some coffee.)
My dad would be thrilled you think I'd be a good teacher. Thrilled and very "I told you so."
Marn, time and resources have got to be the top two reasons we are taught the way we are in the US. Well, that and MAPP tests. Cramming kids for exams is no way to prove they know anything they're regurgitating. And what's sad is that you can't really do anything about it. Teachers' hands are tied; the kids' hands are tied; the administrators' hands are tied...and the government is trying to mean well, but freaking out that every kid outside of America is smarter than us. Well, duh, they teach their kids through experimental learning, don't they?
If only we cared as much as education as we did NASA.
It's probably unfair to expect teachers to teach everything a kid should know. I think if kids were introduced to this type of thinking and learning by their parents at a young age, it may stick...but again, we're back to time and resources!
Still, I think taking your kids to a good city kids' museum where they can explore this sort of stuff, et al, is good for their learning.
I've totally gotten off track.
Yes, being true to your characters is the best way to write them...even if you haven't "researched" them first. Definitely question their motivation if they seem to be acting out of character in action. Then if the character can convince you, move on. :)
DS loves the kids museums, the aquarium, the zoo... even the art museum. And the library. Luckily, these are all places I love, so it's good to have someone willing to come along with me. LOL!!
And I have to admit, I'm not sure I really "knew" some of my past characters. I usually figured them out by the end, but then it's hard to do a lot of adjusting. :)
We've met and interviewed plenty of published authors who don't know everything there is to know about their characters until they write The End. And even then I bet they can still surprise the writer.
Sometimes it's like being the cop at the scene of the accident. You just need to get the name, insurance, and what they were doing before the crash in order to proceed.
I think sometimes we stop going to museums and such because we just don't have time or don't make time--which is sad, because they're so beneficial. They unstop a brain when you least expect it. They say reading-reading-reading is what you should be doing when you're not writing, but I think a trip to the zoo can work just as well, or a stroll through the art museum.
Hellie, I think every woman writer of genre fiction will likely find some point of connection in The Accidental Bestseller. I love it! I liked Wendy Wax's new one, Magnolia Wednesdays, too.
I agree that teaching to tests is a bad idea, although many teachers have little choice but to do so. But I disagree that every student learns best through hands-on learning. I think there are different learning styles, and the best teaching uses the style that works best for the individual.
Same thing holds true with writers. Jo Beverley posted a speech she gave at Nationals in 1999. In it, she says:
"However, there is no right way. I don't think that can be said often enough. There is no right way. No better way. No more efficient way. No more virtuous way.
Flying into the mist is NOT more artistic and free than careful pre-plotting. At the gates of heaven, St. Peter is not going to be checking which we were.
Part of our personal writer's journey is to find the ways that work for us. And they may change over time, or even from work to work."
It's a great speech! Here's the link:
http://www.jobev.com/fim.html
Janga, The Accidental Bestseller started out so depressing, I nearly stopped reading...and thought about getting a different career. I can't imagine why getting published would be a good idea--they make it sound so HORRIBLE! But fortunately they gave it a happy ending. Which makes me think, "Good God, talk about fantasy."
True. There are many many ways to learn and there is no right way to do so. I sorta need like two or three ways offered at the same time. I need to read things AND have a picture to process it. Sometimes doing it myself makes for the best teaching process. (Sometimes leaving me to figure it out by hand makes me toss the whole project out with the trash and picking up something different to do entirely.)
You and Jo Beverly are quite right: there is no right way except the way that gets it done.
Awesome blog Hellie! While I am a plotter, I don't think I take a "cookbook" approach. I know the arc my characters need to take to get to the end, but I have no idea what the specifics of that are going to look like. For example, I need Josephine to learn that it's okay to trust people, it's okay to ask for help now and then. I'm not sure yet what will happen to get her to the point where that's possible. It could be all sorts of things - that's the fun part!
I'm taking a class on the structure of romance novels right now. At some level, yes, they're formulaic, as they all include the same 8 basic elements (the meeting, the attraction, the barrier to the attraction (conflict), the point of ritual death (black moment), the declaration, the betrothal (or the happily for now in more comtepts), etc). The part that people forget though, is that's it's not a formula, it's a checklist. Sure, they have to meet, but that meeting can be all sorts of different things. Maybe they get married and then fall in love. Maybe the first meeting and first sex scene is simultaneous (those are always fun!). So while all those elements have to show up somehow, it's the mix and match, the shaking up of the order, the new ideas thrown in that make the romance genre so fresh and exciting.
(in other, shorter words, Hellie, I agree completely :) )
I think I've gleamed a reference to science in this blog, but my sinus medicine induced brain is not processing. Though to be honest, even on my best day, I don't process science well.
I do like the idea that as a writer, I grow as my characters and story grow. And I think I'm experiencing that now. This forced writing, which is turning out to be more fun than I expected, it doing wonders for me. I have moments of stops and starts and tiny fits, but once it's moving, it generally keeps moving.
Whether you're writing a book or a screenplay or even a song, there's a structure and formula involved. Doesn't make any of it less worthy or easier to accomplish.
That Jo Beverly speech would be good for newbies to read. I sometimes feel lucky enough to have gotten past that newbie stage where everything is a mystery and of Earth-shattering importance at the same time.
Hal, I like the checklist approach! They don't always go in the same order--but they have to be touched upon!
I always get bent when Fantasy readers argue with me that the Fantasy genre isn't formulaic or have the same things in their novels--but romance does. I start spitting pea soup and losing my mind. It's horrible. Books are books. Genres are genres. They all have certain expectations that are expected to be met, things you have to bring to the book or your audience is going to freak the hell out. Therefore, if you're writing a novel about a quest, they better damn well find whatever it is they're looking for or resolve it in some way, or your people are going to burn you in effigy and never read you again.
There is a difference between formula and cookbooks...and writing the book in an inquiry sort of way. You know, about 99.9% there's going to be a happy ending. How you get there might be different than other people's ways.
I have moments of stops and starts and tiny fits, but once it’s moving, it generally keeps moving.
A body in motion stays in motion...or however that Newton's law works. Something about inertia.
The newbie stage can be overwhelming. "This book has to do ALL THESE THINGS? At the SAME time?"
Exhausting.
More science, but I understand that one. Ironically, I've been ranting for a while (inside my head) against the "must write everyday" chant. I was determined that this MUST only applied to some people and I was not part of that some.
Ha! Was I ever wrong. LOL! I didn't get to write Friday or Saturday due to driving and it took a virtual act of will to get going again last night.
No, I agree about writing every day, whether you want to or not. It's like skipping the gym or church. You stop going, you won't go back.
As you say, it's inertia. I'm no match for inertia. LOL!
But I'm actually not sure I'm getting the inquiry method applied to writing. Does this mean writing a story centered around the Boston Tea Party because you find it interesting and get inspired from the research, or does it mean learning about writing my actually writing?
I'm not connecting the word "inquiry" with "hands-on learning". (Which is just how my brain works. Or refuses to work, as the case may be.)
Newton is so right. The more you don't write, the easier it is to continue to not write. And vice versa!
And yup, as adults we stop going to museums. I'm so overdo a trip over to Monterey to the Aquarium. And I hear they have a new exhibit with pink flamingos! Do I have time between now and columbus... I do so enjoy the strangeness of pink flamingos...
Basically it's learning about writing from writing. Instead of studying craft of how you're supposed to do something, you dive into the deep end of the pool.
I like flamingos. They're funny.
Sorry, y'all! I didn't mean to get unbearably pompous again.
I do agree that searching for your own answers rather than plugging in pre-established answers is a deeper learning experience, whether you are an eight year old struggling with cursive or two to ten decades older struggling with characters and plot. I know Hellie wasn't suggesting a one-size-fits-all approach to anything, and I think she's already a terrific teacher.
It's just that I know from years in the classroom that some learners need to see pictures, some need to hear information, some need tactile experience, and some--as Hellie said--need a combination. As a verbal learner, I also know that reading about the subject works best for some.
I hit "Submit" too soon. I meant to add a last sentence: I learn about writing best by reading good writing and emulating it; both reading and emulation are experience.
Man, that may be the worst comment I've ever written. LOL! That's horrible.
No worries, Janga, you made valid points and no pompous in there at all. But you make a good point, something I had to explain to my daughter's 4th grade teacher last year. It seems when you suggest they teach your child in the way that works best for them, you're treated as if you're requesting special treatment and they don't have time for that.
Which really miffs me off. It's not special treatment to ask you to get to know my child. After we had out little chat, the rest of the year went much better. But I shouldn't have to get stern with a teacher to get good results.
This year, both teachers have been a dream. My faith is renewed. :)
Helli - That's what I thought. Really struggling to process shit today.
Anybody know of the best OTC nose spray I can get so I can turn off this faucet in the middle of my face?
One thing about the diving into the deep end thing. I sort of tried that, and it didn't work for me. I need to do some real studying first. But then, applying what I learned was the only way to get a grasp on it. And I'm still learning every day.
So I guess that's along Janga's idea that it's different for everyone. Though I know people who study forever and never use what they've learned. That's not going to get you anywhere.
I still recommend Flonase. It's not that big a deal to get a prescription; and it works. Plus the OTC stuff...they sometimes say it's not good for long term.
Janga, I don't think you're pompous at all. (Though it cracks me up that you get all wound up, expound brilliantly, then return an hour later to apologize. Hilarious really.)
My doctor is in the next town over, I barely have any sick time (which is why I'm here) and I don't have this problem year round. Seems pointless to go through the trouble of getting the prescription for one week.
I won't get any nose sprays. But I will be picking up something on the way home. Along with another box of tissues with lotion. My poor nose.
Ahoy, pirates. Getting here a bit later than usual. I finished my revisions at 2 a.m. and then woke up at 6 a.m. -- with some sort of post-partum emotions. LOL
I was planning on taking it easy for the rest of the day, but my brain wants to go back and work on another manuscript -- and I think it's because of what I've learned on this past manuscript. Now I know what I was TRYING to do with #2, but didn't quite have the tools until I finished #1.
There is also a high probability that my lack of adequate sleep is making me THINK all of these words are in the right order, and actually make sense. LOL We'll see.
You finished revising at 2 am, slept 4 hours, and now want to immediately start working on a new manuscript, using all the information you've learned from the last one?
I think I want to vomit. I didn't finish anything at 2 am, and the only thing I want to do now is SLEEP. My jeans are too tight; and I'm worried about my car (still). I haven't learned anything from my manuscript, other than how to write even slower...and have I mentioned how badly I want the sleep? Yeah.
I'm going to try to not be jealous and work on folders again. And not fall asleep at my desk. Hell.
Sorry, Hellie. :( I didn't mean to be human ipecac.
I want to sleep too, and I'm actually surprised I'm still awake. (6 a.m. is a VERY unnatural wakeup time for me. I'm more likely to stay UP til then rather than GET up at that hour!)
Of course, I'm at home, not at a desk. If I was at a work desk, I'm sure I'd be zonked.
Don't mind me. I'm just jealous. *LOL*
I couldn't take it anymore so left the work desk behind at 3. I still feel awful, but awful on my couch is better than awful at my desk.
Congrats on the revisions, Donna. And go you for getting right back in the battle. It could be a sign of insanity (especially after FOUR hours sleep) or it could be the actions of a genius.
We'll say the jury's still out. ;)
Been out gallivanting so couldn't follow the comment trail earlier I’m afraid!
Delighted to see recognition of the relevance of science to writing though.
Newton’s laws of motion of course apply to ideal bodies without friction, but you guys are nearly perfect so they should be a reasonable approximation. :lol:
I don’t advocate trying to re-invent the wheel of course. I was assuming good background knowledge before embarking on detailed (scientific) research. The tools of the trade are assumed to be given.
When you reach the level of independent scientific research, or novel writing, I think that a good basic understanding should already be in place so that teaching is unnecessary.
The research involves discovering new scientific concepts or new literary ideas and techniques. If I were writing seriously, I would want to be in the Avant Garde of literature with a debut novel that takes the market by storm. Rather like Stieg Larson and his Salander trilogy.
Though as Janga comments, different authors have different talents and different approaches. There are many ways to reach the summit of a mountain and I think that I am advocating the daring adventurous route. That’s the way for me! *grin*
Bo'sun -- I'm voting for insanity. LOL
And Hellie -- don't be jealous. I'm teetering on financial ruin by not working!
Terri, have you really been trying to work on Easter monday?!
And I thought the whole universe was on holliday.
Sorry to hear your not feeling so good though.
Take it easy and curl up in bed with a good book.
Audio books are good and can help you get to sleep if you choose a nice soothing one. *smile*
Q - I don't really celebrate Easter and kiddo has been gone since Friday (it's her spring break with her dad), so no candy or bunnies or baskets at my house.
And I won't need any help falling asleep. The medicine I just took is already making it nearly impossible to keep my eyes open. This is not good for my page count!
Hope you feel better Bo'sun -- sounds like the medicine will do the trick.
Post a Comment