ieva melgalve » middle

the middle game

ieva — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 07:20:04 +0000

I just hit a slow few days in my NaNo novel (normally, I would have stopped writing altogether at this point, but not with NaNo). So at first I tried some tricks and then realized what it was really about.
So the tips part.
1. Figure out whether everything is too easy, then change it (backtrack a scene if you want).
2. Focus on what’s important for you to tell in the story (let the theme drag you out).
3. If something must happen by the rules of the story and not by your plans, follow the story, not the plan.
4. Sometimes, you want to hold back. Sometimes, you want to spill the beans. See whether revealing that dark secret now could help.
5. What’s the thing your characters would be most uncomfortable about? Dump it on them.
And the conclusion part:
it seems that I write this novel (and probably all novels) like chess game, with the opening, middle and endgame. In the opening, there are lots of bold moves and lots of seemingly less important moves, but what happens is that all the characters must be developed to the point where they can act on their own in unexpected situations, and in the right places (“looking at” something, either friend or foe). Revealing the game plan in the opening is not necessary, and sometimes you don’t have the plan. But you must develop the main pieces anyway, and the more potential they have, the better.
Now I’d reached middle game, where there is no more stalling. Every piece moves steadily to its goal, and if I have to reveal its secret on the way, so be it. If I have to sacrifice a figure, that’s fine as well. But the necessity to put something new on the table means, mostly, that I’ve developed the game too poorly.

So I hope that this will help me in the next few days, unless a hit another snag.

holding back

ieva — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:21:57 +0000

My strategy on beginnings vs middles is like this:
(and a word of caution here, it doesn’t give for the best structure or story arc or whatever, but it does make writing interesting throughout the novel)
on beginnings, I hold back as much as I can, giving the minimum of what I know to readers and my characters. I lure them in, I let them reveal themselves in what they think are normal, everyday situations when they’re really not; I listen to their voices, I let them tell who they are, I give them a last-moment opportunity to become something more than they were scheduled for me.
Then, when things get a bit boring, I hurl everything I remember I had on them, I bomb them with information, disasters, problems, horrible dreams, and all-the-things-I-thought-sequel-should-cover. I believe firmly that you never can run out of disasters, not when you get in the spree. That’s the middles.
Oh, and then there’s endings when I carefully pick up the threads and tie them, careful as not to mess them up by brutality OR by being too respectful of the novel world as it is now.
But I have a long time till the ending.

december plans

ieva — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:17:35 +0000

Since I don’t want to dwelve on NOW, here are my plans of December:
- edit a couple of short stories (I mean come on, even *I* get bored at rotating three pieces around) and send them out,
- if How To Revise Your Novel course kickstarts by then, I’m planning to be an early bird,
- read some darn books!,
- maybe (maybe!) read Vega for edits, and even less likely, work on another idea (unless my Muse throws me something absolutely brilliant to distract me from Urchin).

Regarding NaNo, my headlights have blanked out again. Or it’s blizzard out there. Anyhow, I can hardly see past the next sentence, and consider myself lucky to see even this far.