I'm taking today off to bond with my new book, to look it in the eyes and ask it about what it wants in life, and woo it with chocolate in the hopes it gives me many words...Anyway, I thought I'd give a teaser!
"I hear a sound, a song, none of the words but the melody, wandering up from the valley. I sit up and look down at the Arch, and see a girl in blue with two dark braids, dancing alone by the falling walls.
Emily has this crown of flowers in her hair that loses petals as she spins, and she looks for all the world like the queen of the wild. Except for the smile. I don’t imagine queens have such foolish grins. It pales only to Edgar’s, as if he turned and kissed her, and left part of his smile behind, an echo."
Showing posts with label new book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new book. Show all posts
Friday, April 16, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Getting Your MC/Narrator to TALK.
So, over the past few days I took a course to get my scooter/motorcycle license,got hit by a motorcycle, and then proceeded to crash my own scooter during a drill on a very, very rainy Sunday. Front wheel locked and went straight over the handle bars.
I also started writing a new book (yay, new book, but won't be saying word 1 about WHAT it is).
The thing about a new book is it means a new MC, and in the case of a first person narration, a new VOICE.
I have a few tactics for starting books, one of my favorite being to create a list of shots, essentially vivid still frames from the book. But no matter how much info I know about plot, or how many vivid moments I've got jotted down, I can't really get into a rhythm until my MC decides to TALK, to tell me the story in his/her own words. Once that happens, the book finally begins.
THANKFULLY, my new MC took pity on me.
If your MC won't start chatting, here are two things that work for me:
-Think about how your MC would describe the other characters in the book. This tells you about their voice, but also about relationships and dynamics and other things that tend to come in handy when building a story.
-Sometimes you can "interview" your MC, or any character in your book, but I prefer to take a walk with mine. As I walk and let my eyes wander onto different things, paying attention to the way thoughts trickle in, that is when I start to make progress. I start to think of where my MC's mind goes when they wander. And the seemingly innocuous thoughts are often very telling. I recommend not confining your MC to a list of questions, but letting them ramble.
I'm sure there are many more ways, but these are the two that seem to work for me. Do you have any techniques?
I also started writing a new book (yay, new book, but won't be saying word 1 about WHAT it is).
The thing about a new book is it means a new MC, and in the case of a first person narration, a new VOICE.
I have a few tactics for starting books, one of my favorite being to create a list of shots, essentially vivid still frames from the book. But no matter how much info I know about plot, or how many vivid moments I've got jotted down, I can't really get into a rhythm until my MC decides to TALK, to tell me the story in his/her own words. Once that happens, the book finally begins.
THANKFULLY, my new MC took pity on me.
If your MC won't start chatting, here are two things that work for me:
-Think about how your MC would describe the other characters in the book. This tells you about their voice, but also about relationships and dynamics and other things that tend to come in handy when building a story.
-Sometimes you can "interview" your MC, or any character in your book, but I prefer to take a walk with mine. As I walk and let my eyes wander onto different things, paying attention to the way thoughts trickle in, that is when I start to make progress. I start to think of where my MC's mind goes when they wander. And the seemingly innocuous thoughts are often very telling. I recommend not confining your MC to a list of questions, but letting them ramble.
I'm sure there are many more ways, but these are the two that seem to work for me. Do you have any techniques?
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