Just Write

When looking for writing advice you may run into this one: Just write.

In fact, you probably will. That's because it works. Here's a few reasons why, and then a few places it might not work.

1. Last week I talked about disequilibrium and the psychological tendency we have to try fixing the dis. Well, you can put that to use. If you are struggling to write something good, then write something. If it's good you'll want to keep going, if not you'll probably try to fix it. I can't tell you how many ideas that have turned from a little spark into a roaring flame just because I put down something crappy. This is useful in brainstorming ideas for your book, fixing plot holes, or just getting your ideas out so you can fix them.
2. Writing itself is a chore. It's not easy. It is easy to put it off. On Monday morning I have to go into work. It's a rare Monday that I wouldn't rather be spending as an extra Sunday. But I often find that when I go in it's not as bad as I thought. Forcing yourself to write can often get you in the mood, and sometimes you'll even like it.
3. Writing is a skill. It takes practice. If you don't keep up on it you will lose some of the things you have learned.

When won't it work? One time that just writing doesn't work for me is when I'm completely burnt out. Emotionally, physically, spiritually. Sometimes I need to sleep. But even in those times if I write I usually find that I have a bit more energy than I thought.

So that's it for today. It's not much, it is a Monday post after all.

Disequilibrium

I'm responding to a comment on In Defense of Plot. It is perhaps a bit unfair for me to post my response as a blog instead of as a comment for a few reasons:

1. Because of the format of blogs the comments tend to be presented below the post which gives the post an implied position of false authority over comments.
2. Because I have a free forum to write whatever I want without limit.

There are more, I'm sure, but I want to throw it out there. This is unfair of me, but I'm doing it anyway...I'm that kind of person. But there's one other reason. This comment deserves discussion. If you want to see the comment then click the link and read away or just scroll down to it....then come back here.

Part 1

First thing I should address is primal reaction. To help explain I'd like to use an example. I will define plot simply as the events in a story that introduce and resolve a conflict.

A child walks into the kitchen and sees a pot on top of the stove. The mother sees the child and tells them, "Don't touch that. Hot." As soon as the mother turns around the child heads toward the pot and reaches out toward it. The mother again catches the child and says, "Hot! Don't touch!" The mother puts the child in the next room and continues cooking. The doorbell rings and the mother goes to answer the door. The child sees their mother leaving the kitchen heads back toward the pot. The child looks at the pot and then toward the front door. The front door is out of view. The child looks back at the pot and takes a step forward. The child checks again, no mom. The steam from the boiling water rises. The child reaches up to the handle.

In this story the plot is straighforward. There is a simple conflict. What happens? That's where we fill in the blank. We can't help it. The stronger the plot the more we are compelled to fill in the blank. It's what prompts a child to ask, "What happens next?"

In an educational psycology course I had a professor use this term: Disequilibrium. The plot of a story begins when disequilibrium is introduced. Something in the world is set off balance. When we recognize this our brains start ticking. In education we can use this heightened mental state to engage our students. Our primal reaction is to resolve this disequilibrium. Our connection to the story is what determines the level of our reaction.

When a competent writer leaves out a part of the plot, then we subconsciously try to fill in the blank. A strong plot will keep us until the conflict is resolved, despite poor characterization or language.

But like a bad joke, once we hear it we don't need or want to hear it again.

Character without plot & setting is a journal entry or a profile. This can be interesting, but it's not a story.

Setting without character & plot is description.

Now bear with me for Part 2

alyssajlewis's comment hits on the weakness of my original post and the first part of this post. Plot alone is never enough to suffice. Alyssa says, "It's the difference between a synopsis and the actual story."

 

So to follow my earlier pattern: Plot without character and setting is synopses or outline.

 

This is where wording gets tricky. Plot, story, narrative, etc. Each one of these could mean the same thing or something different. So, for the sake of discussion let's make the division thus: plot is the events and story is the sum of plot, character, and setting.

 

Alyssa is absolutely correct. A plot without character is weak. And this is the flaw in my original post, there is no real way to disconnect character, setting, and plot in a story.

 

Even in my example above I have two characters (and possibly a third at the door). I have a setting. And you may even say that the only reason the story is at all interesting (if it is) is because of the characterization of the child. We have set a precedence. The pot is on the stove and the child wants to touch it. There is a pattern in the child's behavior. The child wants to touch the pot and will keep trying to despite the mother's instruction. And the stronger connection we feel to the child or the mother(character development), or the more we know about outside pressures (setting), the more intense our reaction.

 

The kitchen with a pot of boiling water itself is not a story (though you could write it so). The characters, a mother and child, are not a story. But the events could not happen without the setting or the characters**. There is no conflict to be resolved. You could even argue that there is no "man vs. nature" without the characters of man and nature (in those stories nature is often treated as a character).

 

More than claiming that plot is the only essential part of story, I should be saying that it is important to learn how to use plot, character, setting, and language together to create a powerful story. In studying it is easier to critique and practice character, descriptions, and language in short form. But story is harder because it can't be propterly critiqued until it is finished.

 

My point here is reactionary. Perhaps in the same way that our study of charcter is reactionary to the classical emphasis on plot or the abundance of plot heavy stories in popular culture. I don't want to detract from the importance of character or setting. I mostly wanted to point out that plot is another important part of writing a story (especially if we want to sell it) that I feel is neglected in some writers. I think that is a detriment for those writers who want to sell their work.

 

Now, plot driven vs. character driven stories. That is a different and important discussion. (both have a plot, but they are different in how they use it)

 

I'd like to end with a quote from Alyssa that sums this all up.

I think plot has its strengths. It allows the reader to get excited for and anticipate events to come. But unless there's a good character to care about, there's not going to be any anticipation because the reader isn't going to care what happens.

 

**I imagine that there are a number of people that could describe water boiling or a pot falling with as much power as any interpersonal conflict. This is usually done by imbuing inanimate objects, such as atoms or pots with human characteristics. If you want to write this I'd love to read it.

E-publishing and Leaving the Traditional Publishing Track

I'd like to get this off my chest. I've heard a lot of people talking about the easy way to get published: E-publishing on Amazon, self publishing with Kickstarter, e-publishing on Smashwords, self publising through __________, e-publishing through _________. You get the picture.

I am not opposed to any of these methods. They might work. They might be great. I've heard anecdotal evidence supporting each one of these routes to a writing career.

But what I am a bit agitated about is the attitude I'm seeing about this kind of publishing. We're vilifying the traditional publishing industry and trying to pretend like we have found out how to turn lead into gold. Some things may need to change in the publishing industry. Your route to being published may be different than those of a writer 30, 20, or even 10 years ago.

But don't eat the crap with the cupcake.

There is no EASY way to publishing.

The traditional publishing market rose up by a bunch of people working hard to make money in publishing. Can you trust them? I don't know. Are they just up there trying to steal all of your money and make an easy profit from your work? Maybe.

But they've been around a while and some of the things they're doing is because they gets results. Lets take a look at what does work.**

• Starting with a good book - No amount of hype will cover up for a terrible book. If people don't like it now, they won't like it just because it's in a pretty dust jacket. Trad-publishers don't always get it right, but the best thing you can do to get lots of people to read and buy your book is to write something they will enjoy.
• Editing - Get your book edited professionally. 
• Lots of books - Look at all your favorite authors. If they make a living from their works they have a lot of them. In Sci-fi/Fantasy you won't likely make a living off of one book, and you won't have a big following until you've got a few books out. You can make money off the first book, but if you want to make a living you've got to keep writing. J.K. Rowling was popular, but did you hear about her after book 1? Book 2? Book 3? How many books until you break out?
• Advertising - No matter who you are you've got to let people know about your book. Even if you want to be successful on Kickstarter or Amazon you'll need to tell people about your book. Marketing is important.
• It takes time - You might get picked up by 10 billion people the day after you upload your text to Amazon. But be realistic. How many books do you buy a day? How many books do you read a day? If you give a copy of your manuscript to your best friend and it takes him three months to get through it, it might take that long for other people to read it too. It will take time to get your book around. Advertising will help, but it will still take time. Don't be afraid of it, just be ready for it.
• It takes money - No matter what you think about Traditional Publishing, they've been the ones to front the cash for many years. It takes money to advertise, edit, design a cover, get the layout done, market, and more. There are many ways to get this done with less money now, but don't dream. It will take some money to publish a book. If you can use someone else's money that's better, but then you'll need to find someone to give you that money (here's where kickstarter and the sort come in).

I'm not talking bad about any route to successful publishing. I have my preferences, but if you found a different route that you prefer then take it. But don't imagine it will be easy. Learn from the old ways, and take what the did learn. Put in the work, get lucky where you can, have fun, live the dream, and don't give up. Be in it for the long haul. Get rich quick schemes are bad news. Keep your eye on the prize, and put in the work. I'll see you on the other side.

**I'm talking about Sci-fi/Fantasy. If you are a motivational speaker, if you are writing poetry, children's books, or if you're writing non-fiction it still takes work, but you may have other routes open to you. Research what has worked in the past and then decide how to put that to work for you.