Minutes, plot, story structure, Writing

Writers’ Mill Minutes June 2020

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Writers’ Mill Minutes Fathers’ Day, June 21st 2020

We had close to 20 attendees at our Fathers’ Day meeting, including two new members and one returning member. It seemed to be the perfect number to inspire lively Zoom discussion, so those of you who missed the meeting missed lots of fun.
We started by touring the Writers’ Mill website - http://www.portlandwritersmill.org/ - where we looked at the schedule, noting that:  
  • Ginny Hansen’s children’s book is scheduled for critique next month  and Cindy Brown (author of the Ivy Meadows mysteries) is scheduled to speak at our first annual mystery writing event.
Moving on to the contest tab (at the top of the site) we looked at how to read, comment on, and vote for entries. Judy read out the contest winners for June’s Seasons contest:

First place was Joanne for “Rudy”
Second Sheila for “With Apologies to Shakespeare, Gloucester and Clarence” (poem)
And third Zita for “Seasons of Time” (poem)

We’re trying to encourage more people to enter, and more people to read, comment and vote. For that reason, we have a 1,200 word limit on entries, making it easy for members to read all the entries when they’re posted. So do, please, consider entering the upcoming contests, which we looked at on the same part of the website:  https://www.portlandwritersmill.org/contests/upcoming-2020-contests/ 

Joanne’s rewardfor winning is she now has to come up with a topic for October. Read your newsletter to see how to enter (or email me). Entries are due by the end of the first Sunday of the month.

The first Sunday of September is also the due date for submissions to our annual anthology. We discussed the various topics that have been suggested (title discussions will come later) and chose Challenges. So please collect your challenges stories, from contests, from your computer, from dreams and nightmares, or from anywhere else you can find them. Again, read your newsletter to see how to submit entries. Submission requirements are: 
  • No more than 5 separate entries per person (not counting pictures)No more than 5,000 words in total – for example, you might send one 5,000 word novella, or five 1,000 word essays…Pictures will be included as appropriate. Feel free to send pictures with your entries, or separately from your entries, but remember all images must be royalty-free for us to use them in a published work.
These requirements are almost the same as last year, but we’re allowing more pictures than last year.

Sheila had promised to talk about writing methods, aphorisms, rules, etc. But she started by pointing out that, while some rules (like don’t touch live wires) are not meant to be broken, others (like show don’t tell) represent simply one way of looking at things. So we looked at proverbs and their opposites. Such as:
  • Great minds think alike – Fools seldom differ
    • 

  • A stitch in time saves nine – More haste less speed
    •   
  • Birds of a feather flock together – Opposites attract
    •  
  • Silence is golden – the Squeaky wheel gets the grease
    •  
  • Good for the goose is good for the gander – One man’s meat is another man’s poison
    • 

  • Never too old to learn – Can’t teach an old dog new tricks, and more.
See https://www.weirdfacts.com/en/weird-interesting-112/3213-opposite-proverbs for a fun list.

Moving on to those familiar things we get told about our writing, we found again that “every action has an equal and opposite reaction.”

     
  • Show don’t tell – Don’t forget to leave something to the imagination.
    •  
  • Write what you know – Write what you want to read, or write what you wish you knew.
    • 

  • Start at the beginning and write through to the end – Always start in the middle of the action
    • 

  • Avoid prologues – Put the backstory in the prologue
    • 

  • Avoid adverbs like the plague – “ly” words are sometimes wise.
    • 

  • Avoid saying “said” – Avoid using replacements for “said”
    • 

  • Avoid dialect – Give your characters unique speech patterns
    • 

  • Choose your point of view and stick to it – Don’t be afraid to try a different point of view
    • 

  • Create three-dimensional characters – Don’t tell me everyone’s height, breadth and depth (or favorite food)
    • 

  • Never revise till it’s written – Never write the next chapter till you’ve reread the last one
    • 

  • Never give up – Don’t be afraid to put your story down
    • 

  • Kill your darlings – Never throw anything away
    • 

  • Write down your plot – Stop plotting; just write!
    • 

  • The action should always come before the reaction – surprise your reader
For more of these, try: https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/eight-rules-for-writing-fiction or https://wac.colostate.edu/docs/journal/vol4/monninger.pdf

With these in mind, Sheila went on to introduce several different writing methods. Maybe none of them will work for you, but maybe some parts might resonate and give you that useful hint that helps you see where your next writing step lies.
And the rather strange word from C.C. Humphreys, COMOCA : Character obsession meets obstacle creates action. The following notes are taken straight from the presentation:

The Mountain Method – drawn as a guide book

     
  1. First Draft  
    1. Scope out the mountain.
      2.   
    2. Set up your waypoints.
      3.   
    3. Start climbing.
      4.   
    4. Don’t look down (don’t edit)
      5.   
    5. Make whatever necessary diversions
      6.   
    6. Eventually reach the top
    

    2.   
  2. But your job is to get the reader to the top of the mountain: Second Draft  
    1. Take someone with you (editor, beta-reader)
      2.   
    2. Look for the best route (easier to see now you’ve tried lots of diversions)
      3.   
    3. Hammer in the pitons etc. and add the necessary road-signs.
    

    3.   
  3. And now you test your route. Third draft.
The Quilting Method – especially good for pantsers  
  1. There’s always a scene that you’re ready to write, so no writer’s block
    2.   
  2. Write what excites you. Write fast and clean.
    3.   
  3. Move the scenes around – say in Scrivener, but
    4.  
  4. Continuity and transitions can be a pain
    5.  
  5. Hard to know when you’re done
The Snowflake Method – drawn as a snowflake, for obvious reasons

     
  1. Start with a triangle – beginning, middle, end
    2. 

  2. Turn it into a star by adding triangles on each side – beginning of the beginning, middle of the… etc.
    3. 

  3. Turn it onto a snowflake by adding more triangles, etc.
    4. 

  4. And by now, the idea has turned into a story and you’re ready to write.
    5. 

  5. There’s a program that goes with the method, lets you store descriptions of characters, keep track of who appears where and when, move bits around, etc… rather like Scrivener

The 5-Step Method 
  1. Summary: Summarize the idea in 1 or 2 sentences. That’s your hook.
    2. 

  2. Synopsis: Write a 3-5 page synopsis. (I’d suggest a one-paragraph synopsis first, but that’s just me.)
    3. 

  3. Outline: All the major scenes, start to middle to end
    4. 

  4. Write: Write fast, don’t edit, expect your first draft to be awful. Then leave it for a month
    5. 

  5. Revise: Read, edit, learn, repeat. Expect your final draft to be… well, close enough to awesome.
Write From the Middle
  1. Ever story has a mirror moment – the moment you discover what it’s really about. And that moment is in the middle – not only that; it’s in the middle of a scene.  
    1. It’s where the protagonist asks who am I? Where am I going? Who am I supposed to be?
      2.  
    2. It’s where the protagonist realizes he’s about to die
      3. 

    3. It’s where everything changes.
    2. 

  2. Pantsers – find the middle, write the middle, then build up to it and forward from it.
    3. 

  3. Plotters – find the middle, plot how to get to and from it, then write your novel.
    4. 

  4. Or buy his book: Write Your Novel From the Middle.
Novel Factory  
  1. Start with premise – character, situation, objective, opponent and disaster
    2.  
  2. Write out the plot (maybe use the Hero’s Journey)
    3.  
  3. Work out the key traits for all your major characters, including age, appearance, role, goals and motivation
    4. 

  4. Write a synopsis – expands the skeleton with outlines of major scenes
    5. 

  5. Extend the synopsis – add more detail; keep building
    6. 

  6. Goal-Decision Cycle:  
    1. Goal: Character must have something they desire or want to avoid
      2.  
    2. Conflict: someone or something stops them
      3.  
    3. Disaster: something takes the character further from their goal
      4.  
    4. Reaction: characters has an emotional or physical response
      5. 

    5. Dilemma: character has two choices which are both bad
      6. 

    6. Decision: character makes a choice, which creates a new goal… repeat.
    7. 

  7. Character questionnaires – keep developing your characters
    8.  
  8. Locations – spend some time thinking about all the locations
    9.  
  9. Plot – again, but now you’ve got various subplots ready to go. Don’t leave loose ends
    10. 

  10. Viewpoints - Write and rewrite scenes from different character viewpoints (feels like lots of work)
    11. 

  11. Scene blocking – Rough outlines of each scene should reveal major plotholes
    12. 

  12. First draft – now you start writing
    13. 

  13. Second draft
    14. 

  14. Final draft
The Three Act Structure – drawn as a triangle, rising action through acts 1 and 2, then a short rise and longer fall in act 3
  1. Act 1: rising action, this is the set up for the story  
    1. Beginning
      2. 

    2. Inciting incident
      3.  
    3. Second thoughts – will character(s) try to prevail
      4. 

    4. Climax ends act 1
    

    2. 

  2. Act 2: confrontation, character development, rising action  
    1. Obstacle
      2.   
    2. Obstacle
      3.  
    3. Midpoint – the big plot twist in the middle of the novel
      4.  
    4. Obstacle
      5.  
    5. Disaster
      6.  
    6. Crisis leading to
      7.  
    7. Climax of act two, but there’s time for a bit of reaction before
    3. 

  3. Act 3: Resolution

       
    1. Action rises to the climax of act three
      2.  
    2. Then descending action through obstacles
      3. 

    3. Wrap-up
      4. 

    4. And the end.
And the Hero’s Journey – drawn as a circle with protagonist at the top.  
  1. Introduce character in their known world
    2.  
  2. Call to adventure leads protagonist to
    3.   
  3. Threshold with the unknown world (draw a horizontal line across the circle. Know is the smaller part at the top. Unknown is the larger part down below)
    4.   
  4. Introduce a helper and / or mentor
    5.   
  5. Pass through challenges and temptations to the
    6.   
  6. Abyss of death and rebirth at the bottom of the circle
    7.   
  7. Pass through transformation and atonement, heading up the other side of the circle till
    8.   
  8. Cross back into the known world with a gift earned from completing the task.
    9.   
  9. Back to the character, renewed.
Discussing what methods work for us, whether we’re plotters or pantsers, and where our stories come from, we came up with the Embroidery Method:  
  1. Write two chapters
    2.   
  2. Read the last chapter and pick up its threads to write the next one
    3.   
  3. And repeat.
And from Eleanor, a link to https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/resources/ for even more ideas.

We pondered, during the break, where or how any of this might apply to writing short stories, flash fiction, essays, poetry? If every novel, every chapter and every scene has a beginning, middle and end, what about a poem?

We started with stories, because they’re simpler. How do you turn your 5,000 word short story into a 1,500 word piece of flash fiction – or your 5,000 word novel that’s just not working out, or the last 5,000 words of your diary… into a drabble of 100 words?  
  1. What is the story about? (If five people read the same story, you’ll probably get five different answers to this.)
    2.   
  2. What’s the most important scene in the story? (What evoked the biggest emotional response in you?)
    3.   
  3. If you’re short of words, the start might have to be implied, rather than shown. What part of that most important scene will let you imply it?
    4.   
  4. The end might have to be implied rather than shown as well. What part of that most important scene will let you imply it? (Could your character look back over 50 years without telling us any details, if the journey was triggered by his five-year-old self?)
    5.   
  5. Now rewrite the most important scene, adding those extra bits, removing anything extraneous.
    6.   
  6. The result is flash fiction.
What about turning the short story into a poem? (More likely, you’ll be polishing a draft poem to make it better, but the techniques are the same.)  
  1. What’s the most poetic part of the piece? (Think of music; music creates emotion; the most poetic part is probably the same as the most evocative scene, and it’s probably subjective – different people will answer differently.)
    2.   
  2. What words and phrases do you love?
    3.   
  3. How can those words and phrases imply the start without telling it?
    4.   
  4. How can they imply the end without telling it?
    5.   
  5. Take that most poetic part, add and subtract, and end up with
    6.   
  6. A shorter poem.
Discussion followed, covering questions such as  
  • What is a short story? The answer depends on the audience. Anthologies all have different rules (Don’t forget to read ours and send your entries in!)

        
    • 100 words is drabble
      •   
    • 1,000 words is flash
      •   
    • 5,000 is a short story, but might be a novella
      •   
    • 10,000 is a long short story, or a longer novella
      •   
    • 50,000 is a short novel
      •   
    • 90,000 is a long novel.
    •   
  • What’s in a short story? Hook, Conflict, and surprise Ending. (COMOCA perhaps?)
    •   
  • What’s the difference between a short story and a novel? Maybe the absence of subplots.
    •   
  • Where do ideas for short stories come from? Things that we see or hear. Contest prompts. Memories evoked and passing thoughts. What ifs…
    •   
  • How do we win the contest? Bearing in mind that our “voters” are not “judges,” you win by writing something that your readers like, and you enter to enjoy turning inspiration into writing and getting helpful feedback from readers.
    •   
  • How do we win external (non-Writers’ Mill) contests, or get published in other (non-Writers’ Mill) anthologies? Read what they publish or award prizes to. Find out what they like and write something that fits. It’s great to surprise the Writers’ Mill with something so amazing we’d never have imagined it before. Not so great to surprise “the great American short-story publisher” because they already know what they want to publish.
Zita suggested some interesting books that “read” differently – crossovers between poetry and prose perhaps, and books that leave plenty of room for the reader's imagination:  
  • The Crossover by by Kwame Alexander
    •   
  • Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
    •   
  • Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, and even
    •   
  • Homer’s Odyssey
Also Shanghai Messenger  by  Andrea Cheng,
Love that Dog  by  Karen Creech, 
Brown Girl Dreaming by  Jacqueline Woodson, 
Make Lemonade by  Virgina Euwer Wolff, 
Gone Fishing: A novel in verse  by  Tamera  Wissinger, 
Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings, a Memoir  by  Margarita Engle,
 Aeneid by Virgil
 The Iliad by Homer
 Beowulf
 Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
 The Divine Comedy by Dante
 The Epic of Gilgamesh
 Song of Hiawatha --
 The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge
 The Song of Roland 

So… we have plenty to read and plenty to write. We’ll see you next month, July 19th, 1-3 in the Zoom room. Meanwhile,

Happy Writing everyone!

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