Author: ransomnoble

Published Writer: young adult and science fiction

Back to School

I’ve been teaching a writing class at Des Moines Area Community Education. “Basics of Writing Speculative Fiction” doesn’t always attract the crowd that is interested in writing speculative fiction, probably because the term isn’t used a lot outside the genre. That misunderstanding hasn’t always been welcomed by students; however, I like to teach basics of writing stories. Parts are focused to the genre, but most of what I cover in the class is applicable for any story.

What is important to learn? I know ideas come from within, and that the inspiration and motivation to write cannot be taught. What else is there? Beginning to learn about voice and style. Thinking about characters and what makes them special. Digging deeper into plot. Figuring out how to build a world. Not everyone needs to build a world much different from the one we live in, but the farther a writer delves into either fantasy or science fiction, the more changes from what the readers know, and the more details the writer needs to provide to make it real.

Another big part of the class is listening and responding to the others in the class and the ideas they bring. I’m looking forward to meeting new people and helping them out for a few weeks.

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A Question of When

When do you do your writing? Priorities scream at everyone, and we choose what we’ll do every day. And we put in as much as we can…

So there’s a job. And a family. And all that other stuff we think has to be done, whether we get paid for it or not. At the end, we’re exhausted. Yet we still find time to write.

Sure, some don’t. What’s a writer who doesn’t write? Just an r?

I’m just curious when the rest of you find time. We do. There are 24 hours in a day, and the most important things get done. At least, until there are too many top-list priorities. But that’s another problem to be tackled separately.

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Is Blogging Writing?

On one hand, of course it is. A blogger strings words together just like a fiction writer does. The words add up if you’re writing in a blog or a story or a novel.

But if you’re counting words toward a goal, I always wonder if I should have blogging in a different category as those other projects. One thousand words toward my blog, especially like I’ve been posting lately, could give me over a week’s worth of small blurbs. Usually it’s only two if I write them ahead, but it gets away from me.

So if it doesn’t count, how do we keep track of it? One of my friends is really good at quantifying goals: she’s always commenting about how you should make a goal and know how you’ll attain it with specifics. IT’s not enough to lose weight as a goal; there should be a target weight, a date when you think you’ll get to that target, and some sort of tracking so you can see your progress.

Seems a little hard core, right? Except that when I try her methods, I get things done. The mental list in my head that nags me about the dishes and stops when they’re clean isn’t as satisfying as crossing that item off my written (on paper) list. It’s a similar feeling with a digital list, but I haven’t found the handy device to cart with me around the house in orer to house this list. Sure, I have a laptop and a netbook and my husband’s iPod Touch is hanging around, but I generally eschew those distractions when I get to my house cleaning.

I find it best especially because a blank piece of paper is inviting enough to put notes for a story on, or even little snippets. An entire digital device? Too tempting to quit my thoughts of tidying the house and get lost in a book.

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Protagonists

Do you ever wonder why so many main characters we see on TV and read about in books seem to be writers or artists or something people-related?

If you’re waiting for that engineer to become the star of the show, you’d probably better stick to Dilbert. Though Big Bang Theory might make it seem dorky in a good way. Both of those are outside the norm, and both of them poke fun at the profession.

It’s hard to imagine pages of someone working by himself in an office with a computer all day, who prefers not to converse or interact with others most of the time. Isn’t it? Yet that’s the stereotype. As a writer, we dramatize it as much as possible and try to connect with the emotions. The reader has to related to the character or she’ll stop reading.

Maybe the problem is so many people don’t connect to math. Logic and emotion don’t mix well.  You can call our society math-phobic, so it’d likely be a bad idea to write random equations in a fiction book.

That might be an idea for a short story. The target audience would be fairly small, but it might work. Coming soon for engineers, scientists, and math geeks only!

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Careers

See my interview with Mike Manno today!

What do you say when someone asks what you do? I’m sure for some people it’s easy. Some people go to work and go home and stop working.

They’re not writers.

Not many of us can stay at home full time and crank out the stories, even if we’d prefer to do just that. So we work more, during the day at our regular jobs and during the evenings typing by the light of silver screens.

Sometimes we’re lucky and get in print. Then the marketing fun begins. It’s interesting that so many writers are introverts, but the few who aren’t seem to be the ones who are successful at  marketing.

And still, they all have their day jobs. At least, the ones at the Book Event did. We all mention our other activities, like we’re finding things in common. We write books on so many subjects we have something for everyone who reads.

It’s hard to write a book for people who don’t read.

So sometimes I mention the stay-at-home mother thing. Other times I don’t know what to say. I tutor and teach. And all the time, I write. It’s a career if that’s what I put my time and passion into, no matter how much money it makes. Right?

Artists work not for fame or fortune.

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The Great Iowa Book Event

Yesterday I spent the day at Merle Hay Mall in Des Moines. There were definitely over 20 authors with their books. I’m not sure if we had the full 42 expected, but wow, what a crowd!

Many of the authors present were at their first signing type event with their books. I’m hardly a veteran, but there were a few who could be called that.

One of the neat things is to connect with others and trade tips. One of the hard things is that a lot of the mall-goers weren’t looking for or expecting us. I think most of them were just headed about their shopping business, though a few decided to buy books. Yay!

Now if only some more of them would buy my book when I’m there today…

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Time Flies

The old saying is when you’re having fun, but I’m sure it’s more accurate to say when you’re not paying attention to it.

So I haven’t been paying much attention to it lately. And it’s really hard to keep track of. My daughter’s running around the house; she gets into everything. Just because she didn’t bother it yesterday doesn’t mean it isn’t the most intriguing thing in the room today.

I think she’s also stolen away my muse to play with. So I’ve been taking a lot of notes and placing them in files and bound books. Perhaps soon they’ll gel together better than they have been running rampant through my head.

There’s no guarantee, though. Now I just won’t forget them since I have the reference.

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Writing…

In my critique group, one of my fellow writers talked about a workshop he attended. He said the proper way to write was in composition notebooks. Or, so he learned in his workshop.

That tidbit sparked a small debate about whether it was a different experience to write by hand versus by computer. Something about people who type directly into the computer are wordier than those who don’t.

I never like broad generalizations, but it’s an interesting theory.

I still don’t understand why the composition notebook. What’s wrong with looseleaf paper in a binder or blank books or spiral notebooks? Isn’t paper, well, paper?

In the interest of the experiment, I bought a couple composition notebooks. Luckily, they’re for sale for a quarter at Target. I love back-to-school sales! Yesterday I wrote in one for awhile while my daughter slept.

Okay, I’ll admit at this moment I’m just happy to be writing. So in the purposes of science, how long would I have to write to make a good determination? What variables should I keep track of?

You might be able to tell I’m a recovering engineer. Recovering because I no longer go to meetings.

That statement might not be totally true, since those critique groups run at specific times and places. Ah well, it’s very difficult to get away from all meetings. I should just be happy I’ve cut down.

A writing experiment on paper versus computer makes me wonder what things to track. What do writers look for in their sessions? Well, words for one thing. Good words are a bonus. The only problem is, whether the words are good or not is extremely difficult to tell.

I mean, if it were easy to know what the best part of the story was, we wouldn’t have pieces of advice like ‘kill your darlings,’ would we?

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The Book or the Movie: My Sister’s Keeper

I finally got a chance to see the movie. I read the book by Jodi Picoult a few years ago. Both are good, and both have different endings. I’m a little disappointed by Hollywood’s changing of the end, but it’s good to know that the author has nothing to do with it.

I must remind myself to read that again if I ever have a book that gets made into a movie. Or the next time I go see a movie after reading the book.

My husband told me the new ending made the movie open to a larger audience. I’m still wondering why. He didn’t read the book; he had only my explanation of the differences.

One thing I really enjoyed from a writer’s perspective about this book was that each chapter has a different point of view – and all of it is written in first person. Sometimes, especially during the first chapter of a character we haven’t read, it takes a moment to adjust. I found it intriguing, and it kept me hooked throughout the book.

The central theme is devoted to Anna’s medical emancipation. Her sister Kate had a rare form of leukemia and their parents created Anna as a medical match. What began as a reach for cord blood became a seemingly endless list of other procedures until Anna begins a lawsuit to take control of her body.

I imagined someone very different from Alec Baldwin as the attorney. Not to say he didn’t do a good job- the entire cast sparkled.

Then my husband’s comments come back to me, and I wonder why Hollywood wouldn’t keep the original ending. Who knows what they really want? Both endings were happy and bittersweet in their own ways. And in both of them, Anna wins her lawsuit.

The differences don’t stop me from recommending them, though. They’re thought-provoking and touching.

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What makes a cliche?

Today’s witticisms can be tomorrow’s cliches.

The definition of a cliche is “a saying, expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect.”

But does that mean it shouldn’t be used in writing? Much of the current wisdom says you can use a cliche in dialogue, but not narrative. The reasoning behind this is that people speak in cliches all the time. We squeal like stuck pigs and go green with envy. We see red when we’re mad and we always get our man.

The words have a lot of power. It’s all about what you choose and what you want to say. What can the writer say instead?

Well, anything we please.

A writer can show you the difference between red and dark pink and vermilion, cranberry, burgundy, maroon… or anywhere else on the endless red color palette. Don’t get me started on the greens. My mother taught me chartreuse before I went to first grade.

So why the ban on cliches in narrative? Writers can do better. What can you say that makes people stand up and pay attention because they’ve never seen/heard/read something like that before?

Let’s look at it a different way, what did you read that made you laugh out loud? Cry for the character’s pain? Repeat the line at a later date? I’m betting it wasn’t when the writer exclaimed the main character hit the ball out of the park.

In dialogue, they allow it because so often we do throw out those tired old phrases. It makes it realistic. That’s not to say you have to use cliches in dialogue. You can make them say, well, not what the writers wants them to say, but what the character really wants to say.

I’m enough of a writer to admit I’m not always in control of what my characters say or do. They pretty much steer their own lives into print.

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