Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 2 Comments

Minor update

I have finally managed to get on track with the new WIP (provisional title Through Stranger Eyes) and be as productive as I want to be.For the past couple of days, despite every distraction imaginable, I have managed to produce 2k words solidly. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me feel. Yeah, I know it’s no big deal, but I had started doubting myself and the story I was trying to write. I mean, it took me hours to put 1k words down, when for my previous book (it feels so nice to be able to say “my previous book,” doesn’t it?) I used to churn 1k words in a little over an hour and a half, maybe two, if I was distracted.

The draft (so far about 21k words) is still not as great as it could be, and chances are I’m going to have to revise and rewrite to similar extent as I did with The Darkening (honestly, I hope not), but I’ve come to accept a simple fact; I can not produce a good first draft. That’s fine. First drafts are what the phrase implies, meaning only the first step of something better. It’s like digging a hole in the ground. It’s not pretty when you’re done, but what matters is what you build afterwards. I still don’t have a good feel for the characters (which was the case with The Darkening as well), but I’m getting there. I might also need to take a step back from the tight POV I’m using at the moment (the same as I used for the previous book), probably choose a more traditional POV, one where the main character can have after their dialogue the invisible tag “s/he said.” But I’m not worried so much about that now. The transition, if I do end up making it, will not be as hard as it was for The Darkening. I think I have also figured out which of the first scenes I’ll delete or merge with others, which means the story resonates better with me now, hopefully even more as I keep going. Overall, I’m satisfied, mainly because I feel productive.

I think one of these days, I’m going to have to publicize the board I’ve been using on Pinterest with images related to cyberpunk and the setting as I imagine it. Are you using any such boards or images when writing about another world (those of you who write fantasy or sci-fi)? Perhaps Google street view when you’re writing about places in other countries? I have found this method to be very helpful.

 

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 1 Comment

Inspirational prompt 23

At the end of this post is a poll. I’d like to hear your opinion.

What do you think? A daredevil perhaps? A bet gone awfully wrong? Or perhaps a bet the stuntman is going to win and silence those who thought him/her crazy? Could it be the epitome of a professional juggler’s career where he was always bested by someone else? Could it be an illusion? Something someone else sees, perhaps a person who has always lived life in a very protected environment, snapped, and now sees things that aren’t there, things like that? Or what if this is a different version of Pennywise the Clown?

Now, the poll. What do you prefer the most, when it comes to inspirational prompts like this? A picture or a few lines of prose of one possible story to get you started? Perhaps a combination? I’d really like to know what you like.

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Outlining methods

Are you a writer who outlines or a pantser? I’m not going to go into which method is best, and certainly nowhere near things like “do this” or “try that.” Whatever method you have chosen, as long as it works for you and you and you’re productive, keep it. For those who prefer to outline (like myself) or those pantsers who would like to have a try at outlining (for whatever reasons that may be), I think this post by Now Novel may be informative and helpful. Keep in mind, these are just some of the methods. I know people who use nothing more than simple bullet points. I know others who mix two or more of these methods, like I do (7-point system and snowflake method). I also use different methods depending on the length of the story I’m dealing with. For example, I use the 7-point system for almost all my short stories, but a combination of snowflake (not all the steps) and 7-point system. I have found these two to be the most helpful when I need to get a better feel for a story. For the current novel I’m working on (Through Stranger Eyes), I have also employed the use of character sheets that allow me to delve deeper into a character and come up with answers about speech patterns, clothing, catch phrases, and even go as far as figuring out MBTI personality types, though the information on these sheets is not directly related to the plot. They do help a lot, however. So keep in mind that more than one method may serve your needs. I hope this helps you as much as it has helped me.

Plot outline creation: 7 smart methods

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 4 Comments

Lessons learned from Twitter pitch events

If you’ve been following me on twitter, or if you noticed my twitter feed to the right of this page (no, I’m not trying to make you follow me on twitter, but it doesn’t hurt to point out that I do have an account there, does it?), you probably noticed some strange things I posted. They were my pitches for the latest event, #pitmad, organised by Brenda Drake. Have you participated in any twitter pitch recently or in the past? If not, I can tell you they are fun. If you have, then you know it’s heartbreaking not to receive a heart icon (heart icon stands for “favourite,” which means the agent/editor who favoured your pitch wants to see more of your work).

BUT

Through rejection you can pinpoint some of your weaknesses, which in turn means you can improve your skills. For instance, a week or two prior to pitmad, I participated on #p2p16 for a chance to work with an editor for a month before a new round with agents would begin. Two out of the four agents I submitted my work to gave brief but very helpful feedback. They both said the same thing: my query sucked. But they also said another thing about the actual writing, which had me worked up to that moment. They said my sample pages were good. In fact, one of them called my writing “strong with great intensity.” Now, to a new writer like me, these are probably the best words any professional could ever say (yes, I did save that email for the rainy, self-doubting days). But they also pointed out my weakness, which is more important.

I’m not going to lie to you, I was angry at myself for not getting the query right after almost fifteen, if not more, rewrites. In fact, I honestly thought the last version was THE ONE.

Errmm… No! The joke was on me.

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Thanks to p2p16 I now know where I have to focus my efforts. Can you imagine what it would be like to constantly have that nagging feeling at the back of my head that maybe my writing was the one that sucked, which would mean I’d have to rewrite the whole book again? For the fourth time? As much as I don’t mind editing, I don’t think I’d be able to change the entire book again.

Thanks to pitmad I now know my twitter pitches also suck. The good thing is, I don’t fret over it much. Why? Because most people can’t pitch something nice in 140 characters, minus the characters for the hashtags. Likewise, most normal people can’t tell if something’s good or bad from 140 characters of text. I’m in the same boat as everyone. It’s also a small, albeit valuable, taste/lesson of the rejections that are bound to come once I start querying the agents on my list. It helps toughen up in ways that rejections from magazines could never do.

So even though I didn’t make it through to the next round of any of those contests, I still got to gain and learn something.

If you’re interested in participating in any twitter events like the two I mentioned above, have a look at http://carissa-taylor.blogspot.gr/2013/01/contest-madness.html for the dates of some of the upcoming pitching events. It’s not a complete list, so if you have found another one, please share with the rest of us here 🙂

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 2 Comments

Inspirational prompt 22

So what do you think happened here? An accident? An argument that led to a fight? That’s one possibility. I like fantasy and sci-fi because I can “abuse” the what if question and go beyond the bounds of our real world. So, forget the curb of the pavement for a while and imagine him in the country. What if someone’s chasing him and the kid in the picture does what we used to watch in old western movies, the hero listening for vibrations through the ground? Why would someone chase him? Did he steal something? Something valuable? OK, but what if what’s valuable to him may be life-giving for those after him? What if he has travelled to a strange land, and the ground shakes under his feet? Ominous sounds or not? Maybe, if it’s a sound he hears, it’s a voice or a scream. Maybe the land is communicating with him, so he lies down and listens. What if he has overheard a secret, a word so powerful that whoever could utter it would control and shape the world around him? A word that is in the rainwater, and is the answer to everything everyone has ever wanted to know? Does he seek that knowledge for himself? To save his town, country, loved ones? To see through a task so difficult that entire armies have failed before him?

I’m sure there are other things you can come up with. Try 🙂