Today, highlights of what Kathy Hogan Trocheck (aka Mary Kay Andrews) said at Antioch. One of the things she said is that if you have two really “high” scenes, it’s fine to go to a “low” one. Which is why I am switching the order of my scenes at the beginning. Now I’ve got two high ones then a low. Before it was high, low, high. That’s not enough for the pace I want to set.
She also had the thing of setting goals and giving rewards, which sounds so easy, but which really works. It’s working for me still.
It helps me me as a writer to understand that this business is not easy for anyone, even published writers. Several agents turned KHT down after she’d already written 10 hardcover books.
Some of the things she said are basics: “start with a hook, complete the journey with a satisfying ending” but then she did talk about ways to get that “meaty middle”. She quoted McKee (she had recently been to one of his workshops) and also used examples from Elizabeth George’s “Write Away” which I recently bought.
Ways to start: She always does a long synopsis, which helps her get through the book. She needs to know where she’s going, although she sometimes changes things as she’s writing. What keeps her going is this “roadmap” or synopsis, the idea that the first draft will not be perfect.
She pre-writes when the story just won’t come. Pre-writing keeps the story moving when it doesn’t want to budge. Pre-writing is doing things like writing notes to yourself about your story, talking to self or character, brainstorming.
The only way to get through a flabby middle is to trudge through it. If you get stuck, prewrite. Write this on the page: “What happens next?” If you don’t know, ask your characters. If they don’t know, create a nosy neighbor who sees everything and ask her.
OR what would you secretly love to happen but you think won’t work? Write it anyway.
OR What’s the worst thing that can happen to your character next? Write that.
PLOT PLAN. Kathy says Sue Grafton meditates every morning and then journals about what she wants to do that day. Having a plot plan of some sort helps with pacing. Control your beats, peaks, valleys.
PRE PLAN — Where are your characters? Where do they need to go? Take baby steps if necessary.
Motivation a problem? Write a jornal entry in first person, have character write about her problems.
FLABBY MIDDLE–everyone faces. Keep going. Don’t go back. You can fix the crap later. OR skip to the ending. Figure out what tone you want to end with. Sketch it out. Have it reflect beginning. Plotting ending in middle is a great way to figure out what you need to do to get there. Physically, where does your story end? How will you get characters there? Where does climax take place?
IF something comes up in your writing that surprises you or makes you uncomfortable you may wonder “why is my writing taking this turn?” Don’t avoid the confrontation, the unpleasant. You need to meet it head-on. This is the juice of your wriitng.
(When she said this, Andrew looked at me very pointedly. He knows I avoid conflict in life and in my fiction.)
More on Flabby Middles:
Do the Math!
Deconstruct a novel like the one you want to write (hello Trisha 🙂
For 400 pages, K breaks it down this way:
First 100 pages: need characters and setting and to have revealed all conflicts.
Next 100 pages: bring out plots and subplots — you’re half-way thru!! Begin eliminating options, focus on the world of the characters you’ve built in beginning
At page 200, start to slowly show your hand. You still have secrets you’ll reveal to the reader.
Okay, now figure your conclusion is 50 pages. So that’s 250. You’ve got 150 left. Think in chapters, if you use 10 pages per chapter, that’s only 15 chapters. For these chapters think about what main characters need to reveal to get their stories to the reader.
STORYBOARDING w. colored index cards: blue, plot point scenes, pink, romance, yellow, dialogue, green, character. briefly describe one idea per card. arrange chronologically, if all cards are blue, that’s an information dump. you can see this visually. fix it.
The index card system is a great antidote to flabby middles. Kathy said this idea came from another writer, but I don’t remember who. She was really good about crediting people’s ideas and generous in her praise of other writers. She thinks Jennifer Crusie is a goddess. That’s not a direct quote. That’s me projecting. But anyway, she really likes Jenny.
(The index card one is similar to my post-it note system except that I am not organized or patient enough to color code anything. I write on any color I want and when I get tired of it I pick another color.)
Still Stuck? come up with 20 ideas about what could happen in your story. #16 – 20 are usually really good ideas.
Then she does McKee’s Story Arc, which I won’t repeat, except to say how good and useful it is and that if you don’t have it, you should buy McKee’s book immediately. Here’s an intriguing teaser: according to McKee much of what we call PLOT is just setting up for the “obligatory scene.”
Kathy talked some about “the climax in the climax” which Elizabeth George writes about. I’ve also heard this called the sting in the tail. It’s just a little extra surprise, an unexpected flip. You want your ending to surprise anyway. And delight. Etc.
Also from Elizabeth George: “An event alone cannot hold a story together.” Nor can a series of events. Only CHARACTERS and events affecting them can hold a story together.
That arc, that change in character, needs to be shown. Not told. (THIS is what I”M working on these days…adding stuff to Eve’s arc to make it more visible, to deepen it several ways, all those plot threads show her arc as well, this is something I didn’t really GET until this workshop with Kathy.)
As Character Dilemmas increase, scenes should be deeper, more textured.
For the “low” scenes, it’s fine to show ordinary details of life, show characters engaging in every day activities that don’t directly relate to conflict.
She talked a lot about endings and how they should mean something. She also said that if you carve characters and subplots to a minimum the ending will be easier to write.
I’ve got a ton of stuff on getting an editor/agent, but I’ll have to save that for another day!