I'm usually a write-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of writer. I don't outline. I don't think too far ahead. I just come up with a character and let them take me where they will. This has made for some exciting discoveries...and some pretty big flops.
I decided that in order to get out of my rut with Last of the Elves, I needed to make an outline. I needed a clear idea of where the story was going and how the characters were going to get there. And I outlined myself right into a wall.
The good thing about this was: it's only an outline. I didn't have chapters and chapters of useless scenes to build up to a pathetic and cliche ending. I saw it immediately and about gagged. Really, Brandi? That's all you could come up with?
Maybe it's because I fixate on certain things. I have a comfort niche and I unconsciously write into it. Bleh.
This comfort niche involves the MC. Usually they are unassuming and not very powerful, but they have a secret power locked inside them and they can use it to conquer evil, if only they figure out how! Looking back at my "completed" works, I see it in FURY and DRAGON QUEEN. Of course, there is a slight variation due to circumstance and such, but now I find myself trying to grab onto it for ELVES. No! Bad Brandi!
So, I have to come up with something new. Something different. But how? Every time my mind tries to go a different direction, the niche pulls me back in. And I'm stuck. Stuck and frustrated.
I don't want to be one of those authors who gives their characters different names and slightly different circumstances, but in the end tells the same story. Just the thought that I might not be capable of anything else makes me want to cry. ::sniffle::
(Ok, moment of self-pity over.)
I will come up with something else...I just don't know what yet!
I have a tendency to write characters that know they are capable of overcoming obstacles and defeating their demons, but have to force themselves (or BE forced) into action.
ReplyDeleteI also have quite a few that have that special something inside of them that they don't know is there until it's forced out by circumstances.
This isn't really a surprise; I have discovered a great many strengths about myself in the past six years that I never knew were there, and I also have a tendency to have to be forced into action sometimes, so it's only natural that some of that comes out in my characters; they're all a part of me reflected in a printed mirror.
I can get around it only by forcing myself to create a character that doesn't show these attributes and sticking to that.
It's difficult but rewarding, and much easier said than done.
I'm a seat-of-the-pants writer as well, and I tend to write characters that are always fighting the inevitable. I honestly have no idea why. Usually I have some very vague idea of where the story is going to end up, or what's going to happen along the way, but I never let that steer my story... which basically means that when writer's block hits, it hits hard. For one of my books I have a scene that has been in my head now for two years... yep, two years and never once have I attempted to write it on paper. I don't know how I'll ever get to it, or (at this point) if I'll ever get to it at all. *le-sigh* But I suppose eventaully I'll find my way out of this mind-boggling maze of indecipherable ideas that don't want to come out on the paper right.
ReplyDeleteYou will too.
When you strip a story down to the basics, as you do when sketching an outline, it's always going to look bleh, cliche', old hat, etc., until you fill in the details.
ReplyDeleteMy original outline for Summer Hoax had an entirely different ending than what I ended up using. But did it? Actually, no, not really, once I took a more analytical look at it. It was the same, just in a different place in the timeline and with slightly different details. But in story form, they would have been perceived much differently by a reader.
That's my long way of saying: don't worry, it's probably not as cardboard/predictable as you think it is. If you try too hard to make it different/groundbreaking, you might end up with something that readers can't connect with. Keep it basic. Look at the classics... if you strip off the fancy details, they're extremely predictable. That doesn't make them any less enjoyable.
In my opinion (for what it's worth) "high concept" will get your initial sales, but making things primal--something that anyone can relate to--is what resonates and keeps people coming back for more.
For example, Indiana Jones. When that first movie came out, the "high concept" appeal was hyped and made it a hit. But now it's a classic because of how well we--anyone--can relate to the characters and their basic need to survive.
Don't underestimate the importance of simplicity, which is what you see in your outline. Also, I'd like to suggest reading Save the Cat! by Blade Snyder. He claims every story ever told can be put into ten basic categories. Once you pinpoint what category each of your stories fit into, and perhaps realize that they are all the same one... then all you have to do is select a different one and make the necessary changes.
It really is that simple. Don't stress (too much).
I'm finding having an outline is a great way to gain general focus. As a writer I find myself needing to distinguish when it's time to see the forest and when it's time to see the trees. Sometimes when I take a closer look, when I'm getting into the meat of it, I find out that the path through the forest takes different turns that what I had seen at the start. No big deal. (And sorry for the lame metaphor.)
ReplyDeleteOkay, so I can officially say that I've become a plotter. ;)