A few weeks back, Karen McFarland asked if I could guest on her blog. And I thought you guys may like to read it, too.
Three years ago, I made a decision. To step away from writing articles and write that ‘book’ I’d always planned to write.
Okay, that wasthe easy part sorted out.
I sat down, and for a couple of months scribbled in my note pad and tapped away on my laptop. I gave my finished story to friends, all of who liked it, and began plotting the sequel.
Then I met Kristen Lamb.
Kristen stumbled upon the first chapter, which I’d posted on a blogger site, and proceeded to hunt me down. She pointed out where I was going wrong and offered to help me. Naturally, I jumped at the chance.
We stripped back my story to its very core, and I wrote a background for my antagonist – something I had never done before.
Kristen’s reply, after I nervously emailed it across to her. “Crap, do it again.”
And again I did. Several times in fact. Until, finally everything clicked into place and I created a psychopathic alter-ego.
I’m very good friends with Kristen now. She has the most amazing way of making you pay for her kindness (see picture). I’ve since written two teleplays and currently adapting one into a novel. I’ve plotted my second book, and lead WWBC Team Delta. I apply the Warrior Writer method to every story I plot and wouldn’t consider doing it any other way.
So, without further ado, here is the way to write – Warrior Writer style.
Your Story
First and foremost – you must have an idea of what your book is about. Knowing the genre is extremely helpful, and what your protagonist wants and who’s trying to stop he/she from getting it will also make things a lot easier for you.
Log Line
Once you know the basis of your story, you can write that log line. Now, don’t be scared. They are easier to write if you follow this simple rule:
An ADJECTIVE NOUN (protagonist) must ACTIVE VERB the ANTAGONIST before SOME REALLY HORRIBLE THING HAPPENS (stopping the protagonist from reaching her goal).
See my post on Log Lines
Backgrounds
A background is a little like a biography. Imagine you were writing your own life story. You’d start from the moment you were born and take the reader up to the current day. Well, a background is the same thing. Write all about your character from the moment they were born, right up to the moment you are about to start your story.
This is a fantastic way to get to know your character, and give you time to flesh them out. Once done, you will have no trouble writing them, or writing their dialogue.
Backgrounds – Who To Start With?
Antagonist – Why? Because they are the biggest problem. Without them in our story, we have NO story.
Protagonist – Yep, you’ve guessed it. Now do the same for your protagonist. Oh, and don’t make them too perfect. Flaws are good! Flaws make us human.
Love Interest and Supporting Cast – Mentors, Minions, Allies and Love Interests all fit under this section. Note: These are characters that aid your main characters. I’m not talking about the guy who shows up in one scene and delivers the post.
Your Story
You need to ‘bullet point’ your story from beginning to end. Walk yourself through your story step by step. It’s better to hit your dead ends now so you can re-plot, rather than get 40k words in and realise you have to axe 10,000 of them.
Start with:
Normal World
Inciting Incident
Turning Point Act I into Act II
Turning Point Act II into Act III
Darkest Moment
Dénouement
Get to this point and voila! You have a story to write.
I know most of you may read this and think “Huh? What a waste of time.”
I’ve met people like this and guess what? They are still at the same stage they were a year or so ago. My team mate Piper Bayard and I are living proof this method works. Agents have requested fulls on both our manuscripts.
It’s like building a house. Do the prep-work: dig footings, add cement, lay bricks, and your building will be standing for decades to come.
Good luck with your writing.
Now, let me know if you are a ‘plot and plan‘ writer, or if you just ‘make it up’ as you go along. What works best for you? Have you ever written yourself into a corner?
Want more? You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Linkedin
See, for me this post makes outlining a novel sound like more fun! Great work, and it’s going straight in my ‘Writing Advice’ bookmarks.
How much detail do you throw in during the bullet-pointing stage? Every scene/sub-plot/conversation? Or just a brief sketch of events? That’s the kind of detail I would find it hard to get down to. Although if you can train yourself to write every day, then in theory you should be able to train yourself to do pretty much anything required to make your novel happen …
LikeLike
Hi Rosanna. Thanks for your kind words and for stopping by.
Regarding detail – I’m afraid I am a stickler for it. I make as many notes as I can. (You want to see my research files!)
I bullet point every scene from start to finish. I picture the scene and write as much information as I can. I like to start with Normal World – to show my protag before the inciting incident happens. I love these. Then, I paragraph/bullet point each scene. For example, one of my paragraphs looks like this:
However, Jason’s attempts at getting Joanna to remain in hospital fail when she insists in accompanying him. Their strong-willed personalities clash and, although Jason stands his ground and refuses to babysit Joanna while he works, he eventually backs down and allows her to tag along.
Sometimes, I do think of cool or witty dialogue to throw in to a scene, and I make a note of it in these paragraphs.
I usually sketch a really brief ‘road map’ of my story before I begin to bullet point. This way I don’t run into any brick walls or corners. Sometimes, while I am plotting, I may think of something and briefly divert from my planned route. That’s the fun about plotting; you can change stuff.
I would suggest giving your characters a problem to overcome in a scene. It’s what keeps a story going. For example, in the example above Joanna wants to leave with Jason but Jason does not want Joanna with him. This is a problem for both of them. Eventually, Joanna gets her own way. This proves to be a thorn in Jason’s side throughout the story.
Does all that make sense?
LikeLike
Love the post, Donna! (Even the first time around, lol). With the bullet-point list, is it more complex with mysteries? Because there are false clues/leads that seem to be progress, only to turn out to be a dead end, and this usually happens several times over. (I’m writing a mystery). Or would they be considered turning points?
Thanks, Kathy
LikeLike
Personally, I see false clues and ‘red herrings’ as part of the story. I would not consider these to be turning points. I use five acts when I write:
Exposition – Character introduction. Protag learns his goal and what is at stake if he fails to reach it.
Rising Action – Introduce the climax. Protag begin the journey in reaching the goal. We also introduce obstacles to thwart their success. By the end of this act, our protag has overcome the secondary problems and is in position to go up against his/her primary goal.
Climax – This is your turning point. This is where your protag makes a decision that will affect the outcome of your story. This is where the protag and antag have to plan to win. They go against each other in (or nearly in) direct contact. The end of this act sees them both half succeed and half lose.
Darkest Moment – The protag has tied up most loose ends. But, this is the darkest moment of your story. This is where we see your antag with the upper hand and your protag looking like they have lost with no chance of winning.
Resolution – Last act is the final battle between protag and antag. Only one will win. This will show how, what and why it ends the way it does.
This is really brief, Kathy, but I hope it helps a little.
LikeLike
I can’t wait to get to that stage! I have to admit, I’m one of those folks struggling with wanting to jump in, get the plot planned out, and start writing already. This process is going SO slowly. I’m sticking with it, and I hope I get there soon!
LikeLike
Kathy, the first ones are always slow going because you are still learning. Trust me. Stick with it. I promise that once your first book is written, all future work will move along much quicker.
LikeLike
It’s a remarkably successful way to write a book! =)
LikeLike
And from what I hear, yours is really good, too 🙂
LikeLike
Love the post again! You make it all look so easy…
LikeLike
Tameri, I think most people fail because they just want to ‘write’. The prep work can take weeks, if not months. But if you stick at it, the end result is amazing. I reckon you would stick at it 😀
LikeLike
Great advice there Delta Team leader ~salute~
Now that I’m through my NaNo project I’ll be going back to apply this and all the other great advice of WWBC in making it work. Thanks so much for sharing this and for all the time you put in helping us grow into better more productive writers.
LikeLike
I have excellent soldiers! *salutes you right back*
LikeLike
Yep. Let me put it this way. Piper before WWBC = Piper playing with her dolls. Piper after WWBC = solid, kick ass book. Any questions?
Great post, Donna. You explain it so well. And just in case anyone is wondering, that picture really does illustrate Kristen’s method of inspiring our best work. 🙂
LikeLike
Now Piper, I can’t every imagine you playing with dolls……unless they are the Action Man (G.I. Joe) kind :p
LikeLike
Lol. No. That would be playing with hunks.
LikeLike
My kind of playtime 🙂
LikeLike
I never write myself into a corner, because I start writing in a field.
LikeLike
A comedian. Very good, Edward. 😀
LikeLike
[…] Warrior Writer Boot Camp teammate, Donna Newton, give an accurate account of Learning to Write the WWBC Way. It’s made all the difference in my own fiction […]
LikeLike
[…] post by Donna Newton is the impetus for restructuring the book, […]
LikeLike