A Dark Reflection

  "The Antagonist’s Arc - how do you choose one that will not only compliment your protagonist’s arc but drive it?"

Um. yeah. Let me see if I can bluff my way through this and sound reasonably intelligent. 

In a nutshell, I think every character in a story should have some sort of evolutionary arc. Maybe not on every page, but if a character of any importance to the story doesn't change as a result of the story, I tend to think something has gone wrong. 

Why? Because the stories we want to read, the ones that are interesting, inevitably involve conflict and, hopefully, resolution. There is adversity to overcome, and in the process, there is inevitable change. These aren't Saturday morning cartoons we're talking about. continuity matters.

So let's consider the aspect of the Dark reflection. In a lot of cases, not nearly all of them, but a lot, the antagonist is on a mirror image path to the hero. Here's an example for you. Luke Skywalker and his dad Anakin. Luke longs to go off o n great adventures and to be a hero. He wants too see the stars. His dad did all of that, and in the process was corrupted by the Dark Side Of The Force. He lacked the necessary discipline to use the power he had access to in the right way and he was seduced to a darker path. Te entire arc of the Luke Skywalker story is a reflection foi what his father went through and his father becomes a cautionary tale at the same time that he becomes the number one enemy of his son.  Oh, sure, the Emperor is along for the ride, but he'd not the real adversary here. He is not the foe that Luke has to fight the most often. That would be Anakin, AKA Darth Vader.

Going back to the origin of Darth, the source of so much of his story arc, we can look at Doctor Doom, nemesis of Mister Fantastic. Old Victor von Doom went to school with Reed Richards. Reed warned him about double checking his mathematical equations but Doom was arrogant and felt he could do no wrong When he managed to ign9re Reed's warnings, he blew up a significant part of the school, and was punished with expulsion refusing to believe that he could have made a mistake, he blamed Reed (Mister Cautious/Measure Twice Cut Once) for 8s troubles and went down a twisted path that led to elf mutilation and a serious case of the I'll Make Him Pays.

Both were students t the same college, both were geniuses,, but one of them was arrogant to a fault. hr is a dark Reflection of Reed Richards, and he is the number one bad guy that the Fantastic Four have to deal with. 

What is 8the point? These characters hold up ma c3rtainj ark light that the heroes 9use to examine themselves and they offer up a cautionary note that can not be ignored. They are the heroes, but they are the heroes twisted by fatal flaws that our heroes must do their best to avoid.

that's sort of an over-sim0lifiction, but the fact remains that some of the best villains are on the same path as our heroes. They are merely often following a different course to the same path. 

the antagonist should often compliment the protagonist by being driven by the same angels and demons, and sometimes they have to be the example the hero chooses not to follow. 

As always, your mileage may vary.

When Your Antagonist Is the Whole World

Our topic at the  SFF Seven this week reminds me of an AP English essay question. The question is: "The Antagonist’s Arc - how do you choose one that will not only compliment your protagonist’s arc but drive it?"

Okay, you guys know me. Or you SHOULD by now! As soon as we get to the "how do you choose" part of the question, you've lost me. I mentioned (briefly, as a drive-by remark) that Meyers-Briggs puts me pretty squarely and consistently in the INTJ category. I think, I judge, I am an introvert, and - that capital N? - that correctly identifies me as an intuitive.

People, I am an intuitive writer. I don't know what to tell you. GMC (Goal-Motivation-Conflict)? I have no idea. Character analysis? Not gonna happen. Picking out a plot ahead of time? Don't make me laugh!

How do I find out what the antagonist's arc is? I watch them when they appear on the page and follow along. Because I'm not much of a believer in black and white lines, my antagonists tend to change over time, better or worse, depending on how their lives are going. 

Now, I can tell you of something I did work up deliberately with a fair amount of mulling on top of the intuition. In DARK WIZARD, book #1 in my new Bonds of Magic dark fantasy romance series, the antagonist is not a person. Yes, there are characters making the lives of my protagonists very difficult, which will wax and wane, as is my wont. But the real antagonist of the story is the world itself.

Or, more precisely, it's a repressive political and social system. All the characters are caught up in this rigid and ancient system. Some benefit from it. Some are crushed by it. Only a very few live outside of it, and even they are impacted by its far-reaching effects. As the series progresses, everyone in this world will be affected by what happens when a few people take on the gargantuan task of changing the world they live in. 

Your Writing Personality: Blessing, Curse, or Both?

Happy Saturday, all! This week's topic on the SFF Seven Blog is how our Meyer's-Briggs assessment affects our writing, and I'm about to get real. You may not know this, but taking a close look at your personality assessment can point out behavioral issues that could be stifling your writing life. It isn't easy to face truths like this sometimes, but it can help so much when it comes to truly tackling change.

I'm an INFJ, a slightly introverted Advocate with mega intuition who listens to her silly, giant heart. Which is no surprise. Leave it me to spend most of my time cheerleading and helping others rather than focusing on my own work. I battle this constantly; it's just how I'm designed. It's the curse part of my personality.

It wasn't until a couple years ago that I began actively trying to pull the brakes on some of my extracurricular writing and editing activities and instead, turn some of that attention inward. I remember thinking--STOP TRYING TO MAKE EVERYONE ELSE SUCCESSFUL. HELP YOURSELF.

I can't say that I've done the best job at this. I'm still an editor, a job I love. Saying no to people who are Oh, so close isn't in my DNA. Literally. I have to MAKE myself send query rejections (but I can because I have to, just FYI 😉). It's built into every cell that I have to help others though, above helping myself, which is not a great trait. This behavior tendency has led to a long career of seeing other people reach dreams that I've yet to attain. I've worked with people who didn't even know what genre they were writing, and then, a few years later, watched them go on to major traditional book deals, much to my delight. I love seeing people succeed. I will never be the jealous gal in the back corner. I'll be the one screaming and cheering and beaming with pride and happiness at the foot of the stage. 

But, there came a point where I realized that I'm not just an editor, mentor, critique partner, teacher, or cheerleader. I'm a writer, first and foremost. With my personality type, I've had to face more than a few hard truths. Not only the advocate issue, which is still significant, but the idealist side of me also happened to be a weakness. I sought perfection in my own writing, my standards so high I could never be good enough. I've also always had really difficult, high-concept ideas that are doubly hard to manifest under the pressure of my self-imposed impossible standards. AND, on top of that, I struggled to feel okay with starting out anywhere than the top.

And that's ridiculous. (Thankfully, I know this now.)

Another issue I faced was that until just a few years ago, I had no idea how badly I needed organization and lists to sharpen my focus and keep me on track with my writing goals. It was like I knew I needed a plan, but knowing what manner of planning would work for me? I had no clue. Thankfully, this particular battle has been won. Now, I use a KanBan board, quarterly goals, and daily lists to get things done.

It's still a struggle, though. On top of all the above, I'm a hard worker, which means I can put in some serious hours for other people, forgetting that I need to do the same for myself. Prioritizing my own work is still hard for me. I'm that person who has to clean the whole house before they can sit down to write. If I'm not careful, my writing tasks can easily fall to the bottom of my lists. This is something I'm learning to overcome with each passing day. Psychology was my minor in college. I believe in behavior modification, y'all, but it's not easy! 🤣

There are advantages to being an INFJ Advocate, too. The blessing part. For example, INFJs tend to have vivid imaginations and loads of compassion. I'm a bit of an empath as well, so I understand emotion. One of my best talents in writing is getting to the heart of the matter, digging down to the often missing emotional layer in a story. I'm insightful and able to read motivation, feelings, and needs, and my intuition about people, if I'm able to meet someone face to face especially, is often scary accurate. This helps so much when designing characters. I can figure out what makes them tick and translate that to the page. 

Still, I'm a work in progress. But, the work is being done, and partly because I understand my strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies. Did I also mention that I'm abnormally persistent? I will get where I'm going, even if my journey takes a little more effort.

How about you? Have you examined your personality type and how it might be affecting your writing life? Is it more of a blessing or a curse? 

Thanks for reading! Do you follow me on social media? I mostly hang out on Instagram. Find me there and say hi!

~ Charissa

Myers-Briggs versus Stories

The Myers-Briggs Personality Types get used a lot in the corporate world in the US. If you ever worked for a large corporate enterprise, chances are good you've taken a version of this test. It's where I ran into it the first time many long years ago. It's interesting, but I find it lacking. I prefer the Gallup Clifton Strengths personality information.

It's strictly because the Myers-Briggs is so malleable. Depending on your mood, you can totally change your four letter descriptor. I'm INFP. The dreamy one. Until, as KAK said, I'm not. Turns out, the middle two letters are pretty interchangeable for me. Digging into further, more detailed testing, I straddle the line between INTP, ISTP, or ISFP. I test out 50% between N and S, between T and F. Finding that out explained a lot about me to me. Hooray, right? What does it mean in regard to writing? 

It means that I have a lot more personality quirks to feed before I can toddle off and produce work. I can't just be the dreamy Introverted, intuitive, feeling, perceiving personality and emotional type I default to.  I have to keep an eye out for that Sensing and Thinking part of my spectrum, too, especially thinking. If you get into the Clifton Strengths testing, you'll find your personality broken into 34 specific traits that are stack ranked. Your top 5 are your home base. Your top 10  are the neighborhood where you're comfortable walking after dark. Part of my top 5 are learner and input  - both big thinking traits. The point to this is to learn how to play to your strengths while writing. While you're working on books and producing content.

The profit of personality tests in corporate America was to help us deal with our coworkers who might operate from a different set of personality letters than we do. Theory held that once we understood that, we'd have better interaction and rapport. As if a personality test could change the fact that Al from marketing is a jerk. 

In writing, I suspect the personality types give each of us particular strengths. Because I'm INFP, I want my characters to speak to me. I want scenes to just come to me (and they usually do). I don't want to have to work too hard at writing which sounds utterly inane, but my particular strength is synthesizing at the threshold of consciousness and trusting that whatever is brewing back there will rise from the deep haunted water of my psyche. Some people have to consciously work through a story and there are times I do as well, but mostly, stories come to my head fully formed. (Except this past year where pretty much nothing has entered my head because health anxiety especially for my father.)

The biggest personality trait that affects my writing is the fact that I'm an all or nothing person. That means I'm all in or I'm all the way out. There' not in between. If I'm going to write a book, there's the door. Hush up. Don't say goodbye, just go. The sooner the better. Then I'll spend the next 72 hours doing nothing by writing and drowning in story. And making tea. INFP means I need to understand a scene emotionally. Until I do, I cannot write it.

Normally, I don't even think about personality types. I don't type my character personalities. I think more in terms of strengths and wounds and build my story arcs around that. 

I'm interested in knowing if you know which combo of letters you are and where you did your first test.

THE MARS STRAIN Cover Reveal and the topic of the week: Writing with Your Personality Type

 

A brief pause on the blog topic to officially share with you the audiobook cover for THE MARS STRAIN which will 

release next Tuesday, April 27th!!! 

Back to the topic at hand. It appears most writers fall into the INTJ category in the Myers-Briggs personality typing system, including our own Jeffe. Introverts prefer spending time in their own heads, which can lead to writing. 

In the 1920’s Jung separated people into introverts and extraverts and he also split the cognitive process into two types, perception (sensation and intuition) and judgment (thinking and feeling), making eight different categories. The key here is no one will be fully in one category all the time, but you will default to your primary type. 

I’m very curious—what type are you? And are you a writer?

 

No matter the phase of life or how many times I take the personality quiz I end up as ISFJ-Assertive. The assertive part comes as no surprise, especially to those who know me, because I am confident in my abilities and decisions. I loved managing a laboratory and cancer clinic.  And that career path makes so much sense because my personality type is Defender in the Sentinel category.

Sentinels view productivity as a superpower and plan for everything. We seek order, stability, and security and are comfortable with who we are. Sentinels prefer to work on one project until completion, no hopping from thing to thing for us. And we find inspiration from the past rather than the future. 

If you’re curious about the four types of personalities, or want to take a Myers-Briggs quiz for yourself, 

16Personalities is a fun website to check out. 

Why are we talking about this on our blog this week? Well, understanding yourself and how your brain works is a fantastic tool. I won’t tack on for writing because knowing how you work best will benefit you in everything. But alright, I’ll narrow this down to crafting books and how perception and judging impact the act. 

For me, my perception is Introverted Sensing (Si) and when I’m drafting a new book I’m looking back to what I’ve experienced before and drawing on those reactions and feelings for my characters. I work on gathering information—the time suck known as researching. 

If you’re like most writers, Introverted iNtuiting (Ni), you’re more likely to find your thrill in the conceptualization—dreaming up your characters and world building—and have a hard time moving on from that stage. 

If you know where your strengths are, then you know where your weaknesses are. Don’t get trapped in your own mind! Example, if you’re stuck in the researching/conceptualization phase how do you move onto the Extraverted Thinking phase where your story becomes organized (yes, necessary even if you’re not a plotter) and forms a beginning, middle, and end. 

For all of us introverts trying to write, what can we do? Don’t get trapped in your own mind. Yes, easy to type out, difficult to actually do and so here are some suggestions that I’m working on:

How to work those Extroverted Thinking muscles

1: Allow yourself time in your strength. My favorite part of the writing process is outlining and researching and I have my best writing days when I start my time reviewing my detailed outline or deep chapter outlines before diving into the actually act of pulling words from the air. 

DANGER: I can’t let myself spend all day there, or my word count will be a big fat zero. 

Go ahead and let yourself swim in your comfortable waters to warm up for the day, then dive into whatever deeper pool you’re aiming for. 

2: Swallow that fear. I expect you’ve had days like me where you can’t believe you’re trying to write and everything is garbage. The reality, and I can’t thank my CPs (critique partners—particularly Charissa Weaks who has been a god send) enough, is that my writing works, but I’m afraid to put it out there. Even when I’m not close to sending something out or having a book release my mind knows that the end game of all that typing is people reading my words. 

You can let the fear rule the day, or you can face it and tell yourself it’s worth the risk. Of course nothing’s ever obsolete, and there are times fear is really your gut telling you something’s wrong with the story.

3: Set Goals. Hopefully this is an easy one, but here’s a twist to it—make one accessible goal for each day. Finish the book is an excellent goal, but daunting when that’s what’s staring you in the face each morning and you’re on chapter 2. 

Break it down. Yes this is structure, but even abstract thinkers need some structure in order to put together a story, otherwise people won’t understand it. 

4: Trust your gut to guide you. I’ve got that F in my personality type and I know I rely on feeling, but I’m also a laboratorian and trained myself to view with an analytical eye. So I have experienced conflicts trusting my gut when I’m stuck wearing my lab coat. Some instances scream for me to take off the jacket and let the wind guide me. 

When writing THE MARS STRAIN I knew the timeline of both my story and the infection process, it was science. But I was stuck in the middle of the book, I knew it wasn’t working, but I forced myself to keep writing to the timeline. Once I let go and followed my gut I backed up and rewrote a few chapters with more of a character focus. Le voilà!

5: After your gut has you on the right track, time for Extroverted Thinking (Te). Break down the problem. Don’t try to tackle everything at once or you’ll overload your brain. The Te phase is the big red button, the ignitor. Once you hit it everything’s a go and you leave behind the feeling, sensing, and intuiting. I wasn’t able to look at my entire manuscript and see all the twists and tweaks that needed to be done. I started with my main character and worked from there. 

If you’re a storyteller you like living in your own head and no matter what cognitive functions you excel at, I hope some of this helps you defeat procrastination.

ISNTFJ: Myers-Briggs & My Writing

Myers-Briggs Personality Typing System (MBPTS) personalities in relation to writing. Of the four primary cognitive functions, which one are you and how does it affect your writing? Intuition, Sensing, Thinking, and Feeling.

Here's the thing about my Myers-Briggs test results, and I doubt I'm alone in this: they're different each time I take the test. The only category I'm consistent in scoring is Introverted (rather than Extroverted). When I've taken the test as a corporate wonk, I've scored as an INTJ. When I've taken the test as a creative, ISFP. Those procrastination-enhancing online quizzes when I ought to be writing instead? Taken five minutes apart? Random combos. Really, it's all about what skills are needed in the circumstance. So, how does that affect my writing? 

Introverted vs Extroverted: Simply put, being around people zaps my energy. Unlike an extrovert who is energized by being around people, being in public is a performance for me. It requires me to maintain a heightened level of outward awareness and atypical (for me) behaviors, which exacerbates my overstimulated flight response that is caused by my general anxiety. I am always looking for the exit. Whether I am running for said exit depends on how quickly I can complete the task that's demanded my public appearance. Completing the task dictates the rest of my MBPTS score. 

When it comes to character dev, writing extroverts as the protag is a fun exercise and a good reminder of why I don't do it IRL. Yes, I, sitting alone in my recliner, can feel exhausted on behalf of my character enthusiastically peopling with people. It's a classic case of, "What would I, KAK, do? The character should do the opposite of that."

Sensing vs iNtution: The "how do we gather information" category. Reality versus Imagination. Concrete vs Abstract. Hands-on Experience vs Contemplating Patterns. Scoring on this is mostly about whether I'm collaborating or working independently and what the project goal is. I learn best by doing, no doubt about it. But I am a product of public school indoctrination and higher education in the humanities, so decerning patterns and extrapolating on others' experiences is something at which I'm adept as well. 

How this plays out in my books is reflected in the story's plot. How do my characters go about gathering the information they need to progress to the next step in the journey? Protags tend to be Sensing because showing the character's experience and methods of discovery is important to character-driven plots. AKA action chapters = Sensing. Reality is happening. Introspection scenes are important to reiterate the protag connecting the dots of the plot's progression, plus the downbeat is just as necessary to pacing as the high-intensity action scenes. However, too much navel-gazing drags down the story. For my books, Intuition-driven characters usually are those who fill the mentor role in the larger cast.

Thinking vs Feeling: How I make decisions, facts vs gut reaction. In this category, I'm usually within 4 points of the other. About as close to "equal" as the test gets. Really, it comes down to the goal and what consequences of the decision will be. What is the margin for risk? Big stakes? I'm all about facts and experience. If the cost of a screw-up is going to notably impact the well-being of myself or others, then gimme facts. Unknown territory, unreliable sources, or conflicting "facts"? Medium-low impact? Ability to correct if the wrong decision is made? Sure, I'm all about the luxury of decision-making based on the feels. 

However, as an Army Brat, MAKE A COMMAND DECISION is deeply ingrained. Dear Readers, there is nothing that will send me around the bend faster than someone who won't make a decision when they are the ones with the responsibility to do so. I will either steamroll over the indecisive person or I will walk away. Pee or get off the godsdamned pot. Nope, not even remotely sorry. Need time to make a decision? Fine. Say so and stick to it. I'll respect your position as the decision-maker if you respect my time. 

When it comes to writing, this category is where the analytical side of being an author meets the creative side. Determining how I market my books and evaluate ROI, that's all Thinking. Deciding when my characters are decision-makers versus decision-receivers is heavy on Feeling.  

Judging vs Perceiving: When engaging with the outside world (aka society), do I prefer structure and organization (Judging), or am I most comfortable in fluid spontaneous situations (Perceiving)? Now, I'm not the greatest fan of the term "Judging" here because it implies "Judgemental." Contrasting that with "Perceiving" implies Judging is narrow-minded, blind to the outliers, and will side with authority over morality. Meanwhile, "perceiving" implies wide-eyed wonder and naivety. Words matter, and in the case of MBPTS, the naming convention is an epic fail. 

That said, I'm predominantly Judging because I prefer to know the expectation, the process, and the measure of success so I can complete the task and retreat into my hermitage. I am a creature of habit. I like having a plan. cough Spontaneity is fine, as long as it's scheduled. cough It goes back to managing my anxiety, if I know what to expect and what is expected of me, then I'm much more likely to not only be successful, but I also will avoid a full-blown panic attack. 

How Judging versus Perceiving shows up in my writing is that I am a skeletal plotter. I define the structure and organize the major events before I start the book. My penchant for perceiving is reflected in all that isn't defined in the outline. I do like surprises. I do like discovery. I do like an unexpected twist. To me, that's good entertainment. In fiction. Fiction. 

Do not, under any circumstance, show up at my home unexpectedly. That shit's not funny. 

Release day for THE SORCERESS QUEEN AND THE PIRATE ROGUE!

 

Today is release day for THE SORCERESS QUEEN AND THE PIRATE ROGUE!

     

“I thought I was ready for The Sorceress Queen and The Pirate Rogue but I clearly wasn’t. I eagerly anticipated it but I was in no way shape or form ready for how this book arrested me and held me captive for the duration. I loved Stella and Jak’s even though my heart took up residence in my throat for its entirety. There’s action, adventure, sexual tension, love and so much more. I loved it and can’t wait to be wrecked by the next book in the series.” ~ Timitra on Goodreads

     

A Lonely Road

Stella has always been one to count her blessings. Empath, sorceress, shapeshifter, and healer, she’s grateful for the gifts the goddess of shadows has bestowed upon her. Yes, she’s sensitive to emotions and can’t bear to be in large crowds for long. And yes, that means she’ll never be able to take a lover as she’s unable to withstand physical contact with anyone but her twin brother. Certainly now that he’s found his true love, she feels more alone than ever. None of it haunts her, however, like the vision of the lonely tower where her life path ends.

An Unrequited Love

Jakral Konyngrr is a man of simple tastes: good whiskey, some coin in his pocket, and a fine blade in his hand. Though he’s no prince, not a shapeshifter, and not blessed with any magic, he’s happy in his skin. And yet he seems doomed to live the life of a hero from a tragic ballad, because the only woman he’s ever wanted barely knows he’s alive. As much as Jak longs for Stella, he’s resigned himself to being forever in the background. At least he can guard her back.

A Quest to Stop a Monster

But now Jak and Stella have been thrown together—along with a mismatched group of shifters, warriors, and sorceress friends—chasing and attempting to avert magic rifts that release monsters into their world. Worse, the strange intelligence behind the bizarre and deadly attacks seems to have developed a fascination for Stella. Battling for their lives and the good of the realm, they must fight—and perhaps love—together to alter the course of the future before it’s too late.

     

Incidentally, our topic this week is: INTJ (Myers-Briggs personality typing system) personalities in relation to writing. Of the four primary cognitive functions, which one are you and how does it affect your writing? Intuition, Sensing, Thinking, and Feeling.

For the record, I am INTJ. I think a lot of writers are. *Mastermind fistbump*

Did I mention it's release day?? Even an INTJ gets a little giddy!

Writing Works of Varying Lengths

This week's topic at SFF Seven is the difference between writing a short story, novella, novel, and series, and if we prepare for length beforehand or edit down (or add new stuff) afterward.

My answer to the last part? All of the above. But let me dig deeper.

 

It took me a long time to learn to write more economically, to lean out my flowery prose, and tighten my work. I knew the genre standards, and I was developing a strong understanding of plot, but I still wrote too long and too cluttered. Now? Now I can cut entire paragraphs without so much as a blink because I know when I'm going overboard or adding words that aren't needed. This is a skill that often takes time, practice, and a willingness to slay your darlings--the right darlings. (I could STILL tighten this paragraph!)

How else can you control word count?

I use math. I'm drafting a historical fantasy novel, and while I know I might need to add a bit to the 2nd draft, I'm aiming for 100K. Historical fantasy can often be longer than a lot of books because historical + fantasy (and I add a little romance) = a lot of worldbuilding. That said, I know not to bloat the page, and to get from one plot point to the next in a concise fashion. How?

I divide my books into 4 acts (still based on the three-act structure), but this gives me goalposts to reach as I draft:

1. the first act turn
2. the midpoint
3. the second act turn/climax
4. the end! 

Divide 100K by 4 and that means I have 25K words to get from point to point. 

I even do this for novellas and short stories. When I first decided to write a short story in 2017, I had no idea what I was doing and was pretty sure I would suck at it. But, I did know plot, and I used those goalposts to help me craft a few shorts and novelettes. I managed to win a couple contests, get published in a book with Diana Gabaldon writing the forward, and one of my shorts was published twice, once in the US in print, and once in London in audio. One of my novellas came in 2nd place in the New England Reader's Choice Award as well, and I've edited short stories for some very talented authors who trusted me with their words. All of this after someone, back in 2017, almost had me convinced that I couldn't write a short story using my method.

So yes, I prepare for length beforehand. I know going in what type of story I'm writing thus the needed word count. However, I've certainly had a novelette become a novella as I was drafting, and I've even had a novella want to be bigger. Maybe not a full-grown novel, but more ;) I'm turning a previously published 20K word novella into a 45K word novella, and now it's book one in a trilogy. It's been a lot more work than I imagined, but thinking bigger and having an overarching plot has helped. For me, plot is integral to my process. Sometimes, a story (like this trilogy) needs more planning, and sometimes, like for my historical fantasy, I just need those goalposts or major plot points/story tent poles in my head as I work. But ultimately, my understanding of plot gets me through any story.

In this way, writing a novel vs shorter works isn't very different for me. I just have fewer words to get from point to point, so my creativity is tested, which is a challenge I find fun. 

Ultimately, every writer is different. We all have to figure out what elements of the writing process work for us and which ones don't, and then adjust accordingly. For so many writers, figuring out their writing process is a battle, but know that if that's you, you're not alone. It can take a lot of trial and error, but you'll get there.

How a Plotter Learned How to Plan the Length of a Novel

 Vivien took our topic of the week and compared it to gardening. I totally dig her explanation. You should check it out. 

But today is Thursday which means I’m supposed to provide some insight. Which is difficult for me to believe that I can offer up anything useful, a side effect of struggling mentally, though I’m going to give it a go. 

Once upon a time I was invited to write a novella for an anthology. At that time I’d only written one novel and was working on my second and I thought sure, I can write something creepy and short! Reader: I can’t write anything short. My first stab at a novella ended up exploding into the opening for what could’ve been a 95,000 word novel! 

Whoa! Let’s deconstruct that sentence because it packs a lot.

First, my novella attempt exploded meaning I failed to keep the story and pace compact enough and it ended up reading like the first few chapters of a novel. Second, this novella draft was for a thriller anthology. 95,000 words is too long for a short and it’s too long for a thriller novel! 

-No Writing Is Wasted-

You know the saying “no writing is wasted”? Well, I guess it’s actually true because from this failed attempt I did learn a few things. Yep, you’ve got that right: I can’t write anything short. I love building; building the world, building the characters and their growth slowly, building the plot. So I know if I’m ever to really write a novella I’m going to have to practice a new kind of writing craft. 

I also learned how to plan out the length of my WIP (work in progress). The first novel I wrote I penciled into a 5 subject notebook. Bad idea on so many levels, but for today’s topic—soooo bad in regards to knowing how long the book would be. And since I was in the process of drafting my second novel I decided to change my process and write each scene to match its genre: sci-fi thriller. 

Plotter (n): someone who plans things out in advance

 

I’m a plotter, so I already had a synopsis and an outline and knew what would happen in each chapter. But I had long first and second chapters and a short third chapter. How in the world was I supposed to predict the length of my completed manuscript at this rate and how long should it be?!

Problem! How long is the typical scene for a thriller?!

My solution was to read. I picked up countless science fiction, thriller, and sci-fi thriller books. I made a spreadsheet. *tip my hat to Jeffe* And after all that I determined I wanted my book to end up at 75,000 words (about a 300 page book because that was the average length for thrillers). On top of knowing how long I wanted the complete project to be I also knew I needed to keep the action tight for this genre and my goal was to have each chapter be in the 6-8 page range.

#writingtip 

to calculate book length from word count ÷ by 250 

On average there are 250 words per page. 

Armed with this knowledge I set out to work each scene to fit my page goal which led to me to reaching THE END at 76,000 words! Granted, that was the first draft and it went through a lot of revisions resulting in additional scenes. Curious about how it all turned out? Well, the WIP I’m talking about is THE MARS STRAIN which will release in audiobook on April 27th! 

Next week I’ll share a preview of the cover. Until then, let me know how you plan for the length of your WIP! If you’re a pantser how do you make it work? If you’re a plotter as well, do you outline each scene so you can control the chapter lengths?

Growing a story garden

Maybe I'm getting old or turning into my mom or something, but I've recently been gardening a lot. (Too much?) It's relaxing, low pressure, and nobody cares really if I succeed or fail. The patch of green stuff is in my back yard anyway, so who would know if every plant in it just dried up and turned to dust? Nobody. Which is what makes gardening perfect for folks who fight anxiety.

One thing I've discovered about gardening is that the phrase "you're comparing apples and oranges" is not trite. It's absolutely true. Every plant in the garden is different, requires different handling, different planning. Some want more water, some get testy when they're over-watered, some need constant sun drenching them, and others prefer a bit more shade. I tend them all every day, but I don't tend them in the same way.

Stories are kind of like that.

Over the years, I've written stories of every length: flash fiction, short stories, novelettes, novellas, and novels. I've adored each process and am not quite sure I have a favorite. They all bloom differently and brilliantly, but where they're most like plants is in the planning and expectation. I have never planted a short story and unexpectedly gotten a novel. I don't even know how that happens.

I did once start to write a novella for a submission call and about 10k words in realized that I was in fact writing a novel. The pacing is different, the feel, the ... I don't even know how to describe it. Each kind of story is unique, and you can't transmorgify one into another by simply adding or deleting words. That's not how grown things work.

Right now, I'm sitting on a novella that I wrote specifically to be a novella, but I'm told it raises some juicy worldbuilding questions and concepts, and a couple of early readers have expressed interest in knowing more. (A good thing! I think!) My first instinct was to expand on what I've already written, but the more I ponder it, the less I want to dig up and replant this guy. Better to write an actual novel in the same world to accompany the novella. Maybe?

No idea, honestly, if that's the right decision, but it feels right. And like any other organic process, writing kind of has to go on feel.

Story Prep: How Word Count Determines The Work

Differences in writing a short story, a novella, a novel, and a series: Do I prepare for length before writing or do I fatten/trim after drafting?

I absolutely have to know the target length before I begin to consider the first nugget of the story, the characters, the settings, or any part at all. For me, length determines the type of story I'm going to tell. The shorter the work, the shorter the time span covered in the story, the faster you have to get to your point, the simpler your point must be.

As Jeffe mentioned on Sunday, shorter works like a short story (~5k-10k words) don't leave room for Scooby-Gangs and elaborate world-building. The protagonist has mere minutes to maybe an hour to accomplish their goal. It's 15 min of a TV episode. Half of a pilot ep. Masters of this format can provoke emotional connections with minimal words and concise actions.

Novellas (~15k-40k words), maybe cover a day or a long weekend. Protag gets a wingman, world-building is richer but contained and limited. Plot is a straight line, no subplots (unless it's part of a series).  Think of a novella as a full TV episode. Maybe two eps if you're aiming for 40k. I don't tend to write novellas because I like to spend time in the worlds I'm creating while molding my characters. That's not a knock on the authors who do write them. There are many great novellas out there. Check out the 2021 HUGO nominated novellas (and novels) here. 

Novels, their optimal length is highly dependent on the genre. While there are always exceptions, the readers of the genre have certain expectations. Traditional publishers have established and posted word-count limits that reinforce those reader expectations. Writers guilds and associations are much more generous in what lengths they consider novels. However, there is nothing that infuriates a reader more than paying full market price for a novel in a genre where the average length is ~90k and the book they've purchased is half that long yet marketed as a novel. Something to keep in mind when deciding if your story should be a novel or novella.

That said, novels are my thing. The time span covered in a single novel can be as short as a day or longer than a decade. Single protagonist or multiple. A small cast of characters or cast of thousands. The world-building had better be rich if you're writing SFF. While there is a primary plot driving the story, the subplots abound. Yes, I plot (see previous posts for the bad things that happen when I don't). Yes, I absolutely know if the novel is a standalone or part of a series. I  prefer writing series, and I do determine how long that series will be before I write Book 1. (Four books in the Fire Born High Fantasy series. Seven in the Immortal Spy Urban Fantasy series. Unnamed trilogy currently in concept.)

So, the short answer to the week's question is: Yes, I identify the target length of the work so I know the constraints before I begin plotting the story.

size matters?

 The topic of the week is story length and how to prepare for it. 

Guys, I'm a pantser, but I'm also a sensible enough fellow. I really just start writing with a basic idea of what want to say, and edit from there. I just finished a story for Weird Tales that is supposed to cap at 7,500 words and my first draft came in at 7,532 words. I have to chop 32 words before ai send it in. Pretty sure I can do that.

I have trained myself over the years to write at various lengths. That's mostly because a lot of my earlier work was articles and essays written for magazines as well as different pieces that had to be specific lengths for role-playing games. When you get paid by the word you earn to make certain you stick to the appropriate form and length. 

Short stories and novels give you a bit more leeway, and novellas are just exactly the right length for some works. It all depends on what the project is and what the requirements of my editors and publisher are. As w3ith so many parts of writing I think a lot of it just comes with practice, but I have to say as I reached the end of this particular tale I found myself wondering if I'd reach the finish line with an extra thousand words in the way. There was a lot more i could have said, really, if I'd been given extra space. 

I always want to make the editors happy but I also always want to make myself happy with the tale I'm telling. I am the first audience I have to deal with, and if I fail to entertain myself, I have serious doub=ts about entertaining anyone else.

first readers, critics, all of them have to be put aside on the first draft, and if necessary, I will pull out the scalpels and go at a fin9shed tale like a plastic surgeon aiming to make it prettier.

But always, always, I'm willing to write more than I need and cut away the excess when it comes to a first draft.

How to Write Shorter Works Successfully

THE SORCERESS QUEEN AND THE PIRATE ROGUE comes out April 19! This is Book Two in Heirs of Magic, and you can preorder a copy at the links below or via my website. :-)

   

This week at the SFF Seven, we're examining the differences between writing a short story, novella, novel, series. We're asking each other: Do you prepare for length beforehand or edit down (or add new stuff) afterward?

So, I have Strong Opinions about this. Something that may come as a surprise to exactly none of you. 

I am primarily a novelist now and the shortest works I write are novellas that are typically no less than 25K words. (My novels range from 90K-120K.) When I first started writing, I wrote essays and short stories. My first book - Wyoming Trucks, True Love, and the Weather Channel - was an essay collection. Writing those shorter lengths came naturally to me from work in school. 

When I transitioned to writing novels, it was MUCH more difficult than I expected. I had this idea that it would be like writing a really long essay. 

Reader: it was not. 

I had to learn the rhythm and pacing of a novel, which feels like an entirely different art form than writing novellas or shorts. Because... it is. It's a common error for an author to attempt to stretch a short story concept into a novel. Readers notice that the story feels "thin," stretched out for too long, and filled with stuff that's boring because it's unnecessary. Or, sometimes, a story that's novel-length gets wedged into a shorter format. Then it feels rushed, over too soon, and never fully explored.

So, my answer is that I *always* prepare for length beforehand. The story concept MUST fit the planned length. It's a matter of choosing a story with the correct scope for that length. Shorter works have fewer secondary characters and more straightforward conflicts. Very short works should explore a single idea. One surefire way to confine a story to a shorter length is to have it take place over a much shorter span of time. For example, my novella, THE LONG NIGHT OF THE CRYSTALLINE MOON, which is the prequel to Heirs of Magic, takes place over the course of a single night. This helps to make up for the fact that I have a lot of secondary characters - more than any other novella I've written. It wasn't ideal, but I made that choice because I was introducing a new series.

Naturally, there are no actual rules. Or, if there are, they're made to be broken. But I do think that adding or deleting to winnow a novel into a short, or fattening up a short to make it a novel, almost never works. 

The Dead WIP File

 

Ah, the cemetery of dead works. The gravestones list and limp far into the distance. Some mark the resting places of stray ideas that never had a chance to mature. Others memorialize stories and characters that almost made it. Some stones stand guard over the ones that never stood a chance. 

Occasionally, in keeping with the philosophy that nothing is ever wasted, I take my shovel into the damp night and rob a grave. Metaphorically, of course, because really, it's just a question of searching some computer files. The thing is, I almost never resurrect a corpse, dress it up, and then teach it to sing 'Putting on the Ritz'. Instead, I slice the heart, guts, or brain out of the poor dead thing and transplant the organ(s) into whichever patient is on my table at the time. 

Situations. Snippets of dialogue. Whatever suits the more viable subject being stitched together. Mad scientists and evil geniuses should only ever plagiarize themselves, in my view. And then, only once. One heart cannot be sliced in half and shared between two patients if you expect either to live. 

Thining back across the stories in my files, the only time I resurrected the dead, the story was only mostly dead. With a little magic called 'a competent editor', that story didn't just walk, it grew wings. Maybe it is all dressed up and singing 'Putting on the Ritz'. 

When writers play necromancer

To my mind, stories are live things: growing, maturing, twisting, warming hearts, and chilling spines. Sometimes, sadly, they die young. Sometimes they die young for a reason. And sometimes necromancer writers try to bring them back.

I did that once: there was a submission call for an anthology of short stories that should be both high fantasy and erotica. I thought, well, I used to write a whole bunch of salacious Tolkien fanfiction, so I got this, right. I promptly dug up a fic that never quite worked and started re-jiggering it. And jiggered some more. And ditched the beginning. And the ending. Changed the protag. Changed the magic system. Rewrote the whole thing so that the brand new magic system was the central pivot. Redid the ending because of some notes from the antho editor. By that point, my story was more a Frankenstein monster of fresh bits of flesh than it was a whole zombie of that dead fic. Now when I look at the thing, I can't even see traces of the original. 

I've never tried to resurrect a dead story since then, though I've wanted to many times. I think little bits -- the good bits, I hope! -- sneak into current projects, and of course no writing is ever wasted because it is all good practice. Fail fast, as they say in corporatelandia.

But yeah, I'm not the person you want to talk to when you're thinking about re-imagining that book you gave up on years ago, 'cause I kind of failed at that.

Resurrecting the Dead WiP

Have I ever resurrected an old project? How much of the original did I keep? 

Funny you should ask. As I'm wrapping up my current WiP, I'm eyeing an old WiP whose conceit works, characters hold up,  plot...not so much. When I wrote this WiP fifteen years ago, I wasn't a plotter. I was a pantser, and the meandering of the story reflects why I no longer write without a plan. Dear reader, it is bad, so bad. While writing this WiP, I distinctly remember wondering how the big-time authors of SFF knew what scenes to leave in and what to exclude (it's called a plot, dummy). Needless to say, I wouldn't dream of publishing the WiP as-is. Currently, it's a 275k high fantasy elemental assassin story that goes too far in some aspects and not far enough in others while leaving lots of "uh, what?" moments.

Fortunately, the more I write, the better I get (at least I like to believe that). I've published seven books (soon to be eight) since then. Theoretically, I might maybe be able to salvage the settings, the magic system, the characters, and the GMC of the protagonist. The story itself? Total rewrite.

~shushes the other unpublished books locked in the trunk 

and buried in the yard, never to be seen again~

Bring Out Your dead!

 This week's subject is Resurrecting Old Projects: Do you start from scratch or work what you have?

The answer for me is: It depends on what I have. If it's a sentence or two, and it often is, I'm basically stat=rting from scratch and springboarding off of what I stat=rted with. if it's half a novel, I'm going to save as much as I can, u less it truly, epically sucks wind. 

I've done both. 

I once lost 40,000 words of a novel project to a computer crash. The entire file just vanished, never to be found again. Yeah, that particular story has stayed dead, but parts of it have been cannibalized for other projects. 

There are always challenges. the catch is deciding whether or n9t that moldering corpse in the corner of y9urmind is bugging you because you need to bring it back to life, or just because you let it die in the first place. Does it really haunt you Or is that just guilt?

Mostly I pick the meat from the bones and start from scratch.

Your mileage may vary.

Religion: Balm, Benign, or Bane

Did you ever spend the night with a friend when you were a kid and that friend's family went to church services every Sunday when yours didn't? Your friend's family just automatically assumed you'd go to church with them. Why not? You got to hang with your bestie a little longer. 

And then you walked into the alien landscape of someone else's beliefs and rituals. This worked, too, if your family went to a Baptist church and your friend was Catholic. The two traditions are vaguely similar, but the details will really catch you unaware. 

Religion is such a great way to convey stranger in a strange land in a story. I love playing with it for that reason. With a single religious scene or reference, my characters can show you that they are wholly invested in a culture, utterly alienated from that culture, or wondering what the heck is up with the culture. In science fiction, there's even more fun to be had. Religions can (and do when left to me) reflect a broad range of sentient beings - not all of which are humanoids. Humans want to look into the face of a human-looking god. Why wouldn't a species of sentient spiders want to focus all of their eyes upon the face of a spider god? I get to bend morality, too. We humans speak of morality as if it's absolute - when it's probably relative based on how your species evolved. Take food, for example. Humans are omnivores. We can, and do, eat just about anything. We attach some morality to food - animals we eat shouldn't suffer. But what if your species evolved from cats? The hunt might be a religious experience. An obligate carnivore eating a kill would probably be a high holy event. How long you could toy with your prey without killing it might be a form of prayer. Yet if your species base evolved from herbivores, predators would be demonized and plants would probably figure in the liturgy.

For most of my books, religion is a backdrop, a way of reinforcing that we're not in Kansas anymore. Most of my characters are only interested in religion from the standpoint that they use a lot of blasphemy when swearing. Edie's from a fundamentalist religious settlement (Enemy Storm) and she offers hints of cultural differences, but the religion doesn't drive the story. It does heighten conflict in that I used it in that book to draw a comparison between who Edie had been and who Edie has become. 

In book four, religion becomes a bigger thing. A much bigger thing. The heroine, Ildri Bynovan is a once in a century religious leader - think of the Pope or the Dali Lama. And while she's lost some of her personal faith, she strongly believes that religion is mostly benign, sometimes a bane, and in rare shining moments, a balm. She's in it to bring more of the balm to the members of the various churches under her care. Of course, the hero wants to use her to assassinate someone, so I'm sure they'll get along well.

Religion in my stories (and an excerpt!)

You know how polite social discussion should always avoid politics or religion? Well, we're kind of blowing that up on SFF Seven this week. We are talking about the R word. Religion. Specifically, we're talking about religion's place in story and how -- or if -- we use religion to drive story arcs.

And to that I answer, yes. Even if we don't call it religion, every good character has a moral code. One of my favorite examples of that is the character Amos in The Expanse (book series and tv show). He comes right out and says early on that there are three types of people: those you follow, those you protect, and those you kill. And then the rest of the series is how he sorts folks into those pails and what it takes to move someone from one pail to another. He never mentions gods or faith or anything like that, but his sorting system is a religion, and he's so consistent in applying it that it makes for fascinating character interactions and interior growth.

In my cyberpunk romance series that begins with Wanted and Wired, the setting is mid-21st-century, so it's close enough that the characters all have recognizable religious affiliations. Most are secularists, but a few -- notably Kellen, the animal lover and all-around good guy -- have vestigial Christianity clinging to them. This presents as his easy ability to have faith, both in people and in phenomena, and it puts him at odds with his true love Angela, who is evangelically secular and maybe even a little hostile to all religion. I tried to play with that push and pull and come out with a "see, we can all get along without anybody having to lose their individual essence" conclusion. Not sure if I succeeded, but that was definitely in my mind when I was writing.

Religion is a little trickier in the world I'm writing right now, because it's set in the far future when humanity is an interstellar civilization. Their religions, therefore, should be less recognizable, and I don't want to just set up easy analogs for the current major religions and go from there. Instead I've tried to develop religions that would, I think, make sense to these highly technological people. To do that, I've looked at historical rise and fall of religions and discovered that we tend to develop religion as a response to phenomena that we know a little bit about, are impressed by or fear, and hope will not harm us. So my starfaring folk of the future literally worship the stars and the vast, mysterious space between. I think it makes for some fun dynamics with my characters:

Just before fitting the tube to his mouth, Ash caught her gaze and smiled. Not an intimidating smile at all and quite friendly even. Also loaded with memories, all of which hit her at once. How very unfair. Memories should not make one want to weep.

“Stars’ breath to you, Hestia,” he said.

The words were an aphorism based on the fanciful notion that benevolent stars literally breathed travelers across the void on drifts of grace and interstellar radiation. That wasn’t how faster-than-light travel worked. Honestly, no human knew precisely how it worked. Only the vast computer System, which controlled travel and most everything else, really knew. Without the System, people would be unable to travel between planets, no less between stars. But people didn’t like to be reminded of their required subservience to machines, and also the species was as a whole given to poetics, so they made up these stories about stars breathing and such. People being people, she guessed, reached for comfort where they could.

Still. No one had wished her stars’ breath at the outset of a voyage in … well, a long time. She was startled by how un-alone it made her feel, but this time in a good way. Too good, drat him.

“Same to you,” she managed before the lid of her berth hissed shut.

The Religion of Character Development

Does religion change/determine the course of a story?

Uh, for the characters? Sure. Assuming religion is defined as devotion to a fixed set of beliefs, then all my stories deal with religion. It could be argued that character development is the discovery, testing, and confirmation or change in said beliefs. Whether there are greater entities involved in those belief systems and whether there are formalized mass followings varies. 

In my Fire Born series, there are five gods who are actively and visibly involved in the lives of their creations. How those gods are worshipped forms the structures of the five different societies. Naturally, the protagonist comes along to shake those beliefs to their core, sometimes shattering them and sometimes reshaping them as her own beliefs and values are tested and changed.

In my Immortal Spy series, gods, fates, angels, and dragons are the ruling class. Jokes abound about pillars of real-world mass religions. 

Now, if you're wondering if my personal beliefs prevent or permit me to write characters, plots, and settings in certain ways, I would say they permit me and never prevent me. As an author, if you can't or won't examine systems of belief through the eye of fiction, then you might need to rethink what kind of stories you're telling. Are your characters being challenged? Are they on a journey? Stuff's bound to happen that makes them question who they are, how they're doing things, why they're doing them--regardless of whether the protag realizes or admits it--it should be obvious to the reader. That's character development. That is the religion of storytelling.