This is a brief rundown of some of the bigger thoughts and exercises I came away from the MileHiCon workshops with. These are things I want to try and apply to my writing, either in revision or future projects to see if perhaps I can break through to some higher quality prose, plotting and characters.
1. In a novel, don’t treat the entire manuscript is one big story. Write in scenes (not necessarily chapters, because some chapters can have several different scenes from beginning to end). Each scene is like a separate story in itself with it’s own pacing, intro hook, rise of tension, and hooking end. Each scene also has a specific purpose, and if you have a scene without a purpose in your story, it either needs to be removed, or to be revised so it does have one.
–Thanks to Nancy Kress for this advice.
2. In short stories, you want to try and have two story elements going on at the same time that eventually come together to solve each other. These elements can be a mix of internal or external conflicts/themes/plots. This gives the short story more depth and a more satisfying ending.
— If I remember right, I believe this also came from Nancy Kress.
3. The pyramid of distraction. This concerns the number of details you put into a scene. How many details are necessary, and how many can you add before they distract from the story? Picture a pyramid. The capstone of the pyramid represents the goal you are trying to reach through a particular scene. However, this can only be achieved if a foundation (bottom of the pyramid) of concrete details supports the scene. What are the best, most necessary details you can employ in order to best support the rest? Too many details, or the wrong ones, and you’ll distract from the main reason you’re writing the scene in the first place. Too few, and the scene becomes too abstract for the reader to really connect with it in the first place.
— This was Brandon Sanderson’s contribution, as taken from one of his writing classes he teaches at BYU.
4. This last one is also a Sanderson observation. Not so much a technique, but something to keep in mind. He stated that of all his peers who have continued to grow in their success as professional writers, he has noted a common denominator among most of them. The ones who do consistently well in getting published and improving their craft are not necessarily the people who write the fastest, or have the most complex worlds, or who write perfect first drafts. Instead, the ones who are the best at revising their work are the ones who tend to lead the pack.
I recognize I might not have explained all this half as well as the folks did running the workshops. I have tried to boil them down to their most basic concepts, and you have to take into account that these were all explained amidst jokes, anecdotes, audience questions and the like. Maybe for my next convention I can just take an audio recorder and post the results on here, instead of trying to decipher all my chicken-scrawl notes.
What about you? Come across any new advice or techniques you’ve been practicing (or meaning to)?
Number 4 is definitely the most thought-provoking.
When I was at SiWC 2009 this past weekend, two separate speakers mentioned that studies have found perseverance is a better indicator of future success than talent or IQ. One of them also mentioned that a willingness to change and be adaptable is also key. I suppose good self-editing could be considered a combination of those two skills.
I'll be posting summaries of the workshops on Mondays on my blog for the next few weeks if you're interested.
Your number 3 is what I'm working on right now, especially with me attempting to condense my novel skills for shorter works.
Good post. 🙂
I'm a new writer working on my first novel. Your post was certainly timely. I've attended a couple of conferences: Writer's Digest and the Backspace Writer-Agent Seminar. As I learn more, I consistently revise my manuscript and I'm amazed at how much better it gets.
Every time I think it's as good as it can get, I learn something new, make changes and the manuscript gets better. Perseverance and regular self editing are key to growth in the craft of writing.
I've learned that the ability to utilize Observable Dramatic Action in scenes, as opposed to Exposition changed my writing dramatically.
Showing and not telling is not just a hackneyed phrase. I see from my own experience, the difference it makes my writing; master that and you'll be leagues ahead of the game!