Chickens and Eggs

When I first started writing, what plopped down first in my imagination was story, or plot arc. Initially, I would populate the story with off-the-shelf characters and jump into the tale. As one might imagine, this lead to a death-spiral of problems beyond even a gifted writer’s ability to save. What I knew about my main character amounted to the path through the story he or she needed to take. I knew even less about the other main characters. They were just there to fill in the blanks in a cardboard sort of way.

My characterizations were shallow at best and the areas where character motivations crossed were almost entirely lacking. Without those intersecting motivations and goals, my subplots almost didn’t exist.

Fortunately for me, Snarky (our tallest dwarf), referred me to a book by Debra Dixon called GMC, or Goal Motivation and Conflict. During our recent writing retreat up in the mountains, I was able to read and absorb the ideas put forth by Ms. Dixon. To put it bluntly, it was a revelation of the many things I was doing wrong. I had no idea what my heroes wanted out of the story or why they wanted to participate.

Knowing a character’s goals, motivations, and conflicts eases the development of plot. You know there are certain things which must happen in the story. It also helps greatly with foreshadowing and red herrings.

What does this all mean? For one thing, fewer rewrites and going back to plug in information you missed the first time through. It also keeps your characters on track according to their GMC.

Chickens or eggs? Well, what works for me is both. An idea about the plot/story and a lot of character building, then back and forth. It’s an ongoing process.

Perhaps a little slower to get your first draft finished, but a quicker way to get that final draft.

PS: If you’re interested in the book by Debra Dixon, the lowest price I’ve found for it is at: http://www.gryphonbooksforwriters.com/ The cost there is $19.95 and it’s 57.99 at Amazon.

Research

Here I sit, recovering from the all-nighter watching the Royal Wedding.

Why in the world would I do that? Is it really in Smokey Dwarf’s character to watch weddings?

Not in the normal course of things. The Royal Wedding, however, provided an amazing opportunity to research tidbits sure to be useful in future tales of epic fantasy set in a medieval time zone.

The church service for the royal couple alone provided much insight into the difference between the commoner and the king. The language used and the points made by the Arch Bishop certainly would not have been heard at one of our weddings.

Also of interest for future tales, besides the food, were how some of the costumes were designed and made—especially the uniforms of the groom and his best man.

The church itself provided many ideas for future settings.

So what am I getting at this week? Simply that research opportunities exist everywhere. It’s not always necessary to bury yourself in the dusty archives of the local castle or google yourself into a frenzy. Keep an eye on current events and your favorite news station.

Smokey

PS–That’s my story and I’m so sticking to it…

Creative Craft

Another Saturday afternoon here at the old homestead and the temperature rests right at 91 degrees. Later on, I’ll be making wood smoked pizza with my granddaughter. As a pizza maker, I’m a newbie, but learning fast.

What does that have to do with writing?

Everything.

Pizza making is a creative process like writing, painting, and many others. There are two sides to these activities–the craft side and the creative side.

It doesn’t matter how well a painter can draw a line if he or she can’t mix color, prepare canvas, or select and care for the proper brushes. It requires both sides for the results to be superior. Without the craft…

Writing requires the same diligence as any other artistic endeavor. Even the best story ideas will not sell if not accompanied by a solid foundation of language, grammar, usage and style—the craft. The resources available these days on the web for working on the craft side, be it pizza or writing, are endless.

So how do you develop the craft?

Just like making pizza—the more you learn and practice, the better you become. And believe me, when Ernie and his swamp friends show up for pizza, it better be superior—or else.

It was just last Saturday, during the dwarves’ monthly write-in, that the thermometer pegged at a sunny 95 degrees. With the cooler and fan on the patio, we survived the heat. Today, as I write, it’s raining and the temperature is 44 degrees. Some years, Arizona spring can be an adventure.

The downside is—I missed my weekly trip to the Gilbert farmers market. It will be a week of surviving on supermarket tomatoes and less than fresh eggs.

A positive milestone for the week was my first batch of pizzas made on my new pizza stone. They turned out great and will feature on our write-in for May. Everyone gets to design their own pizza!

So why talk about food and the 7 Evil Dwarves write-in? In point of fact, it is extremely rare that we actually write anything during our monthly get together. It’s our monthly social, which sometimes includes our spouses, kids and grandkids. Probably the only constants are my cooking and Ernie’s desserts.

Instead, we get together to brain-storm story ideas, workout plot points for various stories, and work on each other’s flagging muses. Occasionally, we even pick a topic ahead of time. It’s our creative support group. In several ways, it is even more important than our critique sessions every two weeks. As writers, we sometimes get to feeling isolated and the group helps by bringing us back into a community of actual people. (Apart from Ernie’s swamp friends, of course)

What would Smokey do if…

Dwarves Interview

1. When did the writing bug first bite you?

                1959

2. Friends and family aside, what are the five things you cannot live without?

                Coffee, tobacco, books, the internet, the first Saturday of each month.

3. Every Dwarf has a special name. What is the story behind yours?

                It may have something to do with my cigars and pipes, but who knows?

4. What movie can you watch 1,000 times and never get sick of? Why?

                None, but Christmas Story comes the closest.

5. What’s your favorite thing about writing?

                Starting with nothing and discovering a story.

6. If you could be any character in fiction, whom would you be?

                Merlin

7. If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?

                The ability to drink gallons of coffee without having to pee.

8. What is your favorite color?

                Thalo green.

9. What is your favorite drink?

                Coffee

10. Why are manhole covers round?

                So they can’t fall into the hole.

Meet the Dwarves – Smokey

Ah, Saturdays. How I love them. And to top it off, the first (usually) Saturday of every month, our gang heads over to Smokey’s for an afternoon of great company and delicious food. As Smokey says, he is our cook.

And man, can the man cook.

Introducing Smokey Dwarf, best darn cook in the west.

J.R. Williams is somewhat older than Gandor, but taller than Frodo and has decided to partially come back from the dark-side. 

In prior lives, he has been an intelligence analyst and software engineer but now focuses on corrupting the youth of the world through young adult fantasy.  He hones his techniques daily on his mostly-willing five grandkids.  They almost believe his tales of sailing the seven seas, fighting pirates, and slaying vampires and other beasts.

He is known by his fellow seven dwarves as a pipe smoking, fact checking, grammar and word Grinch.  He is also the group cook.

Find Me:

Blog: http://campchef.wordpress.com/