Fun Ideas and Tips #2: Index That Novel!

This works best for writers of traditional fantasy, epic fantasy, science-fiction, and anyone writing a series.

A simple way to keep and maintain all the names, places, and even basic information or backstory is to create an index for your novel or series. It’s usually best to begin sooner rather than later in the writing process. If you wait too long it’s a pain to have to comb through your manuscript(s) to jot down the information and make sure you’ve been consistent with things like spelling or description.

Things to keep track of:

1)   Character names, titles, basic description, and background. All of this is mostly for your benefit, but for writers of larger tomes or complex series, you might be asked to include a character list as part of your submission in order to help the reader keep things straight. Put these in alphabetical order for easiest accessibility.

2)   Places. We’re world-building writers and unless your story takes place in a handful of settings or has a narrow world-view, you’ll need a list to keep track of the places you come up with. Things to include are what the place is, what is its significance in the story, and if it’s part of a larger place, eg.: village of _____, in the country of _____. Maps, charts, and such are also good to include. Having all of your place info in one spot makes it easy to find and to double-check.

3)   Your world attributes. Whether it’s a list of the deities involved, special bits of language used (and that you want to share the translation of), how your magic system works, the social/political levels involved, or the scientific info dumps you wisely left out of the narration but still want to share with inquisitive readers.

I keep these kinds of files for my stories, even the simple ones, and I can attest to how valuable a novel index is when I need to quickly check a reference or make sure something’s working right in the plot. I even go a step further and have a master name file for all the characters and places I’ve ever come up with in all my stories. I’ve made up a lot of names over the years and I want to make sure I’m not duplicating myself.

If you’re like me and have constructed more than a few simple language words or grammar rules for your story, you may want to create your own language dictionary. I put the words in alphabetical order, note how to pronounce them, any changes in spelling due to grammar, what they mean, and in my most complex case I also list the way the words evolve from one dialect to another. It’s a lot of work sometimes but the payoff has been rewarding.

When submitting your story to agents/editors, and you have complex world-building, be sure to include the maps you’ve drawn and the basic lists you’ve needed to keep things straight. If unsure what to send, take a look at what other authors have included in their books and how.

I'm sure some of you are good at keeping track of the details in your stories. If you have a method other than the one I've written about, please share in the comments.

Villainy Part 3: Guts and Innovation

Wanted: A non-clichéd antagonist for novel. Must have conviction, guts, and brains. Special skills or knowledge a plus. Motivational, innovative, and charismatic individuals need only apply.

A good antagonist isn't passive, even if they use the illusion of being so. They are active. They are also not active in ways that are easily predictable. And if they do show a predictable route, you can bet it's a red herring meant to throw the protagonist and the reader off.

Innovation: (from Dictionary.com) 1. something new or different introduced 2. the act of innovating; introduction of new things or methods.

So an innovative villain uses new means to achieve their desired outcome. They have to think outside-the-box and deliver a wow factor (big or small.) Brains come into play here, as does their own special skills and knowledge pools. Connections with others is also a plus if your villain is a good manipulator.

This is one way you can make your story different from others that are similar or in the same genre. Write down the first antagonist plot outline or plan you can think of. Then write a handful of other possibilities. You'll find that the harder you push yourself to come up with a new idea, the better the ideas will get and the unpredictability factor will rise.

Guts: (from Dictionary.com) courage; bravado.

An antagonist must have what it takes to see their plans reach fruition. Even overcoming their own weaknesses or moral codes. If they have a strong motivation for what they want/do they also need to have the guts to carry out the means. In most good villain cases, they have more guts than the protagonist does up until the climactic end. Maybe it won't be an obvious part of your story but does your antagonist's inner journey climax at this point as well? Not worth the effort? You'd be surprised what a difference it makes in tension and plot around the climax and ending of the book if there are signs of a peak in the antag's inner journey.

If you struggle with this aspect of villainy, I recommend reading a few good mysteries. Mystery writers do these kind of villains well, since innovative and gutsy antagonists are a staple in that genre. I wish more speculative fiction writers employed antagonists with this combination.

If you know of some MG,YA, or speculative fiction books that have great examples of innovative and gutsy antags, please share in the comments. Likewise if you read mysteries and can share some great reading recommendations, please do.

Saturday Link Special #10

I did start collecting great links for you all last week but ran out of time to put them together. So...I'm compiling two weeks worth of links and again apologize for not having time to read through all of the blogs I normally do. I'm sure I've missed some great stuff. For what it's worth, and if you have some time for perusal, here we go.

Agent alerts for those who are querying:
GLA has an agent interview with Deirdre Knight of The Knight Agency. She's looking for: "romance, nonfiction, literary fiction, young adult and middle grade lists with debut or established authors."

Bookends has a new agent, Lauren Roth and she's looking for: Literary fiction, romance (all subgenres), women's fiction, chick-lit, YA, MG, mystery, SF & fantasy, historical fiction, and steampunk.

Literary Rambles has a spotlight on Mandy Hubbard of D4E0 Literary. She's looking for: MG and YA in all genres.
And L.R. has a spotlight on Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency. She's looking for: "Science Fiction, Mystery, Commercial Fiction, Fantasy, Women's Fiction, Romance, Young Adult, Thrillers/Suspense, Erotica."

On the topicsof writing:
Writer's Digest shares 4 Ways to Make Every Word Count and 8 Ways to Write Better Characters.
Adventures in Children's Publishing has a post on Building a Better Novel Premise.
Write it Sideways: How Cliched is Your Writing? Take the Test
In the Jungle confronts trends as she discusses Fashionable Writing.
On a similar note (and if you still care after reading the link right before this), there's a post by Karen McCoy: YA Books in Libraries--What's Popular? Some interesting facts and figures in this one.
Agent Kristin points out the most Groan Worthy openings to novels. Nathan Bransford also blogs about Five Openings to Avoid and why. And if you need some more examples pop on over to Kidlit.com where she dissects the openings of volunteer submissions in a series of workshops.
Jessica from Bookends brings up the subject of Word Count in an Epub World.
Patricia Wrede blogs about the difference between Surprise and Suspense in a novel and the problems that go with Rewriting the Past.

When it comes to critiquing: (Which is a topic close to me right now--Go Posting Marathon!!)
Sarah LaPolla posts about The Beta & Omega (all things beta reader.) And she also posts What I Talk About When I Talk About Revisions, her process when requesting manuscripts for possible representation.
Courtney Miller-Callihan reveals not only what kind of editing/non-editing agent she is but also the different kinds of editors that see an accepted novel through the publishing process: On Criticsm and Critiques. But Mostly Editing.

If you suffer from writing discouragment and need a picker-upper:
T.K. Richardson writes about Why We (Don't) Quit Writing.
Jane Friedman blogs about 5 Things More Important Than Talent.

And if you are bored, have time on your hands, or want to procrastinate yet feel like you're doing something writing related, you'll find more linkage here.

Have a great weekend!

Villainy Part 2: Motivation

Wanted: A non-clichéd antagonist for novel. Must have conviction, guts, and brains. Special skills or knowledge a plus. Motivational, innovative, and charismatic individuals need only apply.

Motivation may seem like an easy ingredient when making an antagonist, but putting some thought into the antagonist of your story can have an enormous payoff. Why does that bully at school like to pick on your protagonist in particular? Why has the serial killer honed in on the protag or someone the protagonist knows? What drives the quiet woman to become a murderer? Why must the antagonist win that competition no matter what? Why is this ruler bent on destroying his neighbors and conquering the world? What does the antagonist have to gain? Was it easy for them to make the decision to follow this path or do they struggle with it? Is someone else forcing their hand? Is there another antagonist behind the main antagonist of the novel?

Why does the antagonist see themselves as the protagonist, especially if their ways-to-a-means is illegal or ethically wrong? What redeeming or good points are there to the antagonist's plan? How do they see their path as helping themselves or others?

To really get to the heart of a villain's motivation is to dig deep as a writer and get to know your antagonist as well as your protagonist. Maybe their motivations are rooted from something in their backstory. Maybe they've had an inciting event before your protagonist which gets everything in motion. Maybe the antagonist is ready for a change and opportunity has come knocking. Maybe they've been planning this for a long time and feel ready to make their move.

All kinds of things can be used as a motivation: religion, politics, social behaviors, abuse, neglect, wealth, power, love, hate, rejection, justice, acceptance, insanity, obsession, etc. Figuring out what that core motivation is will help develop a good antagonist in all writing elements: plot, character, dialogue, quirks, and conflict.

An antagonist's motivation also needs to be realistic. Here the writer needs to graduate from the motivations seen in their childhood, such as in cartoons and comic books (not that all villains in these are clichéd or canned) and really check to make sure readers aren’t going to close the book with a frown or a sarcastic “yeah, right.” Yes, it does mean more work and time on the part of the writer. Plots and conflict become so much stronger when you take that time. Nothing kills a story like a bad or generalized motivation on the part of the antagonist. Their job is to be a genuine challenge for the protagonist. The greater the challenge, the stronger the protagonist becomes (and so does the story.)

So if you haven't invested time in your antagonist yet, take a few minutes and really look at their motivation(s) for what they do, say, and feel. It's a great way to crack writer's block, ramp up a boring scene, and identify key turning points in the manuscript.

Question for you: What sorts of poor motivations will make you close a book or hate a movie? Either for the antagonist or the protagonist. Are there any motivations you feel are overdone these days? Any specific motivations you'd like to see more of?

Fun Ideas and Tips #1: A Private Table of Contents

Whether a story will officially have an actual Table of Contents (TOC) or not, keeping one to yourself while writing can help you keep tabs on quite a few things.

1. Give a title to each chapter or major section of your story. That way it's easy to reference back to it instead of trying to remember page numbers or which numerical chapter heading each scene occurs in. These titles don't have to be fantastic or permanent, just something to hit your memory buttons for optimum organization.

2. Make note of the number of pages or word count next to the chapter titles to give you an idea of how large or small your chapters/sections are. This comes in handy when you need to combine or sever chapters or when you're looking for chunky places to reduce word count.

3. Put a one or two-line summary beneath the chapter titles. This acts like a mini outline of sorts, helps with remember what happened where, and can show you where the key beats of the story are taking place. It'll reveal where flat chapters are too.

4. Switching POVs throughout the book? Your private TOC can showcase whose POV each chapter is in and how often you switch them around. Maybe you've stayed too long in one POV and neglected another. Maybe you intended to switch every other chapter and this will help you stay on top of that.

5. A private TOC is also a great place to mark demolition and completion. Need to work on Chpt. 10 but haven't figured out how yet? Put a note next to it in the TOC so you don't forget the where. Have Chpts. 1-5 polished to a glow? Celebrate by checking them off in your private TOC.

A private TOC is like a master sheet for the book. You don't have to use all five of the above suggestions. You may find other uses that will help you achieve your writing goals. Have other great ideas for a private TOC? Please share in the comments.