Posts Tagged ‘writing process’
writing a novel – being consistent
As I work on the Forth Draft of my novel ‘Crossing at a Walk’, I need to consult reference material. I check the correct spelling and meaning of words, odd bits like ‘is Tim Hortons coffee spelled with an apostrophe?’ (no, it’s Tim Hortons coffee), and technical information such as the correct name for the shape of the windows of the Landing Church (‘Gothic with extended legs!’).
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The windows in the Landing Church are referred to as ‘Gothic with extended legs’. This is an old church in Upper Canada Village in Ontario.
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I also keep a project-specific ‘guidance document’ (a ‘concordance’ or ‘style guide’) to make certain I am consistent about how I deal with people, objects and conversations within the text.
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One of my main characters is Oliver, the former minister of the Landing Church. My ‘guidance document’ reminds me that Oliver always says ‘graveyard’ rather than ‘cemetery’.
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A ‘guidance document’ is a useful tool to prepare from the beginning of writing a longer piece of fiction. It provides a set of rules to follow, to help me remember how I have previously dealt with many aspects of the book. In dialogue, it tells me if a particular character uses the word ‘dinner’ or ‘supper’. It reminds me that I put all business names in italics. It tells me to use ‘towards’ instead of ‘toward’ (the words are interchangeable and I often can’t remember which of the two I have typically used). It means I don’t have to remember the title of Sadie’s university thesis: ‘Consideration of the Contribution of Writers to the Field of Cinematography’. It also tells me details about the characters: Pat has a brother; Minnie has bright red hair; Reid’s best seller was titled ‘No Small Truck’.
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Some of the items I will only ever use once. Often I have to look up information again and again, so I keep my ‘guidance document’ file open whenever I am working on the novel.
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Matt Cromwell is a theatre student participating in the first writing weekend at Sadie’s writing retreat. The ‘guidance document’ reminds me Matt’s eyes are blue, he is 24 and he is a star-gazer in his spare time.
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You may wonder why I would forget these things. Some items ensure consistency between my two books. In dealing with 70,000 words and 33 characters, I don’t need to keep everything in my head if I keep my ‘guidance document’ up to date.
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Copyright 2015 Jane Tims
writing a novel – words, day by day
I have reached Draft Four of my novel ‘Crossing at a Walk’ and the story is all told. I want to see how I reached my current word count of 78,598 words, so I have created some graphs showing my progress. I began in 2013 with 8 days of writing. I did a little more on one day in 2014. And this year I have worked steadily since early March.
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My daily writing goal was 2000 words, as Stephen King recommends in his book On Writing (Scribner, 2000). I was quite variable in the number of words written each day. Early in the writing, in 2013, I had three very productive days when I wrote more than 3000 words.
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A graph of the cumulative number of words shows I was steady in my progress. Now, with editing, the total number of words should stay steady, or decrease.
If I compare this to my progress during the writing of ‘Open to the Skies’ (‘Saving the Landing Church’), my progress was similar. You can see below where I began editing, at about 25 days. For this book, it took 27 days to reach this point.
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Keeping track of the number of words I write has three purposes:
- the daily number of words is a tangible record of progress and for me, a reward at the end of the writing day.
- the cumulative number of words shows me how long the book is getting; may aim is for less than 90,000 words, usual for books of the type I am writing.
- I report the number of words I have written to my husband, keeping him ‘involved’ and making him extra joyous as the day comes when I will read my book to him.
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For your writing, do you have an aim for your daily number of words?
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Copyright 2015 Jane Tims
writing a novel – pulling out the weeds
I have completed Draft Three of my novel ‘Crossing at a Walk’. The entire story is there. If I add more ‘story’ now, I will only confuse my plot and my readers. Next I have to concentrate on honing every sentence, including dealing with the oddities I allow to creep into my writing. As if I am growing a garden, I have to find and pull out the weeds.
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I think these are different for every writer and writers have to learn these for themselves. For me, the culprits are:
writing in the passive voice.
using the word ‘that’. I never use ‘which’.
using adverbs, although I (quickly) drilled this one out of my system.
repeating the same word in adjacent lines or adjacent paragraphs.
using phrases like ‘she stood and … ‘, ‘I opened the door and …’ , ‘I looked at her and …’ – I sometimes tend to breathe for my characters!
using colorless words like ‘felt’, ‘drove’, ‘went’, ‘wondered’, ‘just’ and so on.
putting two spaces after every period – I learned to type on a typewriter!
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I also have to do careful editing with respect to tense and person. I tell Sadie’s story in the third person and past tense. Tom speaks in the first person and present tense. I also have an angler who likes to fish just below the covered bridge and always speaks in the second person (something new I am trying).
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my husband when he was a boy, fishing on the North Branch of the Rusagonis River, under the covered bridge … this covered bridge is now gone from our community
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My husband is not looking forward to the completion of Draft Four. It ends with me reading him the entire novel, chapter by chapter, every evening, an hour before ‘Coronation Street’ on TV. Until we finish. Poor fellow.
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Copyright 2015 Jane Tims
writing a novel – getting to know your characters
The Whisper Wind Writers’ Retreat – the setting for my novel
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Working on the drafts of a novel is like combing hair. You start at the top/beginning and comb through the words and sentences, paragraphs and chapters, over and over. Eventually the tangles comb out and the hair becomes smooth and shiny.
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I find the best way to do the ‘combing’ is to work at specific components of the story. Developing symbols within the story is one. Developing characters in the story is another.
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I have a lot of characters in my books. In ‘Open to the Skies’ there are 44 characters, major, minor and dead. This is probably too many, but it is a book about a community.
So far, in ‘Crossing at a Walk’, I have 33 characters. These include Sadie and Tom, members of the community, and the six ‘retreaters’ (the writers enjoying a weekend at the Writers’ Retreat).
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A difficulty with writing a sequel, I feel responsible for all these characters. Leaving one of them out of book #2 seems wrong to me. But by book # 25 (!) I’ll have a whole planet to contend with. So I have to make choices.
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Each of my characters has a character sketch, a background story and a story arc. As I’ve said before, I try to include three ‘bumps’ in each story line.
One of the ‘combings’ I do is to look at each character as he or she appears in the book. I want to make sure the character is consistent with respect to appearance, back story, way of speaking, relationships, and so on.
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1. Character sketch and background
As an example, let me introduce you to Ruby Milton. She is the fourth character from the left in the sketches above. She is a minor character, a constant companion to one of the major characters. Ruby is 64 and married (she was a Brunelle before she was married). She is a retired librarian and now runs a U-Pick with her husband Lars. Ruby, as a result of her name, loves all things red. She wears red and she bids on a lamp at an auction because it has a red glass finial. A quilter, she works a red patch into every quilt she makes. She was also one of the characters who opposed the sale and relocation of the Landing Church in ‘Open to the Skies’. Ruby snubs Sadie at every opportunity.
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Ruby would love my lamp with the red finial – it once belonged to my mother-in-law Mary
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It’s hard to have to keep checking on a character sketch as I write, so I prepare a chart of my characters. I keep the chart file open so I can check on it as often as I want.
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| Name | Occupation | Characteristics | Age | Vocabulary |
| Ruby Milton | Librarian; runs a U-Pick | Wears red; thin; a quilter; maiden name Brunelle; lived in community all her life | 62 | Cemetery; uses lots of contractions |
| Lars Milton | Retired Teacher; runs a U-Pick | Tall; Full head of snowy hair | 65 | Graveyard |
| Marjory Alworth | Shop owner | Nicknamed Margie; Ruby Milton’s daughter | 41 | |
| Betsy Alworth | Waitress | Ruby Milton’s grand-daughter | 24 |
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2. Story arc
Ruby occurs three times in ‘Crossing at a Walk’. She occurs because she is a friend to Pat, a major character; she runs a local U-Pick and food from the U-Pick is used at the Retreat; she represents the community’s continued interest in its landmarks. She wants to continue to use the Landing Church for her quilting group and she participates in celebrations of the history of the covered bridge. Ruby also represents the part of the community that Sadie hasn’t quite won over in her efforts to fit in.
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As I read my draft so far, I realise Ruby needs to change in some small way during the book. So, in keeping with her importance as a representative of community, I add some elements to Ruby’s story. At the auction, she won’t even acknowledge Sadie. But during the book, Sadie allows Ruby’s quilters to use the church and treats Ruby as knowledgeable about community history. By the end of the book, Ruby greets Sadie as a friend and contributes a story about her memories of the covered bridge.
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inside a covered bridge
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I keep a table of story arcs for each of my characters, to help me build the story, be consistent and make sure that I find the story for each character.
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| Name | First occurrence | Second occurrence | Third occurrence | Story |
| Ruby Milton | Ignores Sadie at auction (page 35) | Asks to use hall for quilting group (page 146) | Greets Sadie as a friend at a community gathering; tells a story about bridge (page 232) | Pat’s friend; represents community; changes her attitude about Sadie |
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Ruby is a relatively minor character in the book. However, I treat her with the same respect I give my major characters. And she gives back to me. She suggests turnings for the story. And she helps make the community I have created for these characters more realistic.
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Ruby puts a bit of red in every quilt she makes
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Copyright 2015 Jane Tims
writing a novel – expressing the story in a single sentence
Title: unknown
Working Title: ‘Crossing at a Walk’
Setting: a writers’ retreat – the renovated Landing Church, the hall and the rectory now used as a Learning Center, a Sleeping Hall and a home and base of operations for Sadie and Tom
Characters: main character Sadie, a writer; her husband Tom, a retired welder; Alexandra, a young woman who works at the retreat; other people from the community; writers participating in the first weekend of the writers’ retreat
Plot: The ongoing history of an old covered bridge keeps getting in the way of discovering the story of a woman who once lived in the community.
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one of the 59 covered bridges remaining in New Brunswick
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When I think about the story I want to tell in my book, I quickly get in a tangle of characters and subplots and action. All of this can be quite confusing to the writer and end up befuddling the story and taking the writing in the wrong direction.
To avoid this tangle, it is a good idea to try to express the plot and story in single sentences as soon as possible in the writing process.
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The plot is the cause-and-effect relationship between events in a story.
A story is a series of events, related in their chronological order.
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I am currently taking a course from Deborah Carr, an excellent writing coach (her website ‘Nature of Words’ is at http://www.natureofwords.com/). She puts it this way: a story follows the pattern of Desire, Struggle, and Resolution. Every good story is about someone who wants something, how the someone sets about achieving the goal, and the consequences of achieving the goal.
The earlier in the process I can write my story in a single sentence that includes these three elements, the less ‘wheel-spinning’ I will do.
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My novel will be the story of how a young staff member at a writers’ retreat discovers the name of a woman carved on the beams of a covered bridge, sets out to discover the woman’s story by asking questions and learning the history of the bridge, and reveals truths about love and loss.
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names and initials are often carved on the wood beams within a covered bridge
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The story is different from the plot in that it expresses a series of actions in time. A plot expresses the logical relationship between elements of the story. The story and plot complement one another.
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Before you get much further in your novel, try writing the story as a simple sentence describing Desire, Struggle, and Resolution.
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Copyright 2015 Jane Tims
writing a novel – sub-plots
In every story, sub-plots help with the story telling and contribute their own dynamic to the action, characters, and the relationships between characters.
sub-plot : a smaller, separate story strand that provides support for and adds complexity to the main plot
The courses I have taken have taught me that often subplots contain a minimum of three re-occurrences or ‘beats’ in a story. A sub-plot is introduced, more is learned and the sub-plot is resolved.
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To help me identify the subplots, I have used my ‘story board.’ I identified some key subplots and put stickers on the scenes on my ‘story board’. Here you can see the subplots ‘A’ and ‘P’.
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This mapping of subplots can help me decide if some of the story is missing. In the ‘story board’ below, sub-plot ‘P’ could be improved by a mention on Day 3 and 4 (the vertical rows of green trees indicate a day in the action). Major inclusions of the subplot P on Days 1, 5, and 8 will be my three subplot ‘beats’.
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Copyright 2015 Jane Tims
writing a novel – character arcs
Title: unknown
Working Title: ‘Crossing at a Walk’
Setting: a writers’ retreat – the renovated Landing Church, the hall and the rectory now used as a Learning Center, a Sleeping Hall and a home/base of operations for Sadie and Tom
Characters: main character Sadie, a writer; her husband Tom, a retired welder; people from the community; writers participating in the first weekend of the writers’ retreat
Plot: Sadie wants the first writers’ retreat to go smoothly, but the history of an old covered bridge keeps getting in the way
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I have finished the first draft of my novel. Still lots of holes to fill and editing to do. But I am now certain of the basic story-line.
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For the next while I will be spending some time with each of my characters. I know a bit about them, because I have a character sketch and a drawing for each character. Now I want to make sure each person has their own story arc. I would like each character to grow in some way during the novel.
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some of the characters in my novel
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My first step is to print a copy of the draft ‘Table of Contents’ for my book.
On a separate page, I also list the events (or scenes) in each chapter and the characters involved in each event.
Then I use the initial of the character’s first name to show on the ‘Table of Contents’ where the character occurs in the story. For example, my characters include Patricia and her brother Rob … marked P/R on the extreme right hand side of the ‘Table of Contents’.
Right away, I can see if a character falls off the radar. I can also make certain the characters are distributed through the action so my reader doesn’t forget they exist. For example, one of my main characters, Alexandra (marked A) doesn’t occur in four chapters … this may be OK but I want to think it through.
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Once I have completed this step, I have a list of additions to make to the manuscript (written up and down along the bottom of the page).
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I also write, in a simple sentence, the story arc of each character. I write the arc in the format of: what the character wants, the obstacles he or she encounters, and the resolution.
Patricia (the rather sour-looking woman on the far left of my drawing above) wants to feel connected with her brother who left home and died years before – she reconnects with him by learning some of the details of his story.
Tom (below) retired from his career as a welder due to ill health. He is surrounded by writers attending the writer’s retreat. He is at loose ends and tries to find his purpose, discovering it embedded in his daily routine.
Matt (third from the left in the drawing above) is a theatre student who wants to attract a fellow writer. In spite of repeated rebuffs, they find a common interest, the basis of a friendship.
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Tom, Sadie’s husband, doesn’t always feel comfortable around writers.
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I have learned from various courses that story arcs are often expressed as sub-plots. The story arcs often occur in three ‘bumps’ in the action. Although most of my characters occur several times in the book, this is a good minimum guide to follow for the significant events in their stories.
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Back to work …
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Copyright 2015 Jane Tims
writing a novel – next in the series !
Having sent my first novel ‘Open to the Skies’ (aka ‘Saving the Landing Church’) out to three publishers, I have begun my next novel in the series. I intend for the series to focus on the adventures of running a writers’ retreat. Same characters, same setting, same struggle to be a part of the community.
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Title: unknown
Working Title: ‘Crossing at a Walk’
Setting: a writers’ retreat – the renovated Landing Church, the hall and the rectory now used as a Learning Center, a Sleeping Hall and a home and base of operations for Sadie and Tom
Characters: main character Sadie, a writer; her husband Tom, a retired welder; people from the community; writers participating in the first weekend of the writers’ retreat
Plot: Sadie wants the first writers’ retreat to go smoothly, but the history of an old covered bridge keeps getting in the way
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My first novel was about an abandoned church. The subject of this book will be yet another feature of our built landscape, one also having a difficult time … the covered bridge. In the 1940s there were 340 covered bridges in New Brunswick. Today there are only 60.
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I chuckle all the time about my ‘Saving The …’ series. Lots of buildings to save out there! However, I have no intention of sinking into the formulaic (Sadie falls in love with the … and takes steps to save the …). Instead, each story will take a unique approach to honoring the bit of built landscape it portrays!
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As I have said, in New Brunswick, we have 60 remaining covered bridges. Their numbers are dwindling, the losses due to flooding, fire and vandalism. For a look at the covered bridges in New Brunswick, see the map and photos at http://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/dti/bridges_ferries/content/covered_bridges.html
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So how does a covered bridge get in the way of a well planned writers’ retreat?
- Sadie includes a local tour during the retreat, to introduce the writers to the community and give them new experiences to write about. The covered bridge is outside the tour loop, but a couple of the writers would love to go there.
- the covered bridge is part of the community’s history. Inside the bridge are the carved initials of some of the many people who have lingered there. The writers want to know ‘who was Phoebe?’ a girl whose name is carved in the bridge and imprinted on the memories of some of the members of the community.
- after the retreat is over, heavy rains and flooding threaten the bridge to its very foundations. Can the bridge be saved and will Sadie be willing to take on the cause of another community icon?
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Sadie … my main character … a writer and weaver … she wants the first weekend of the writers’ retreat to go smoothly … I still think she needs an afternoon at the hairdressers
Sadie’s husband Tom … a welder with a fatal case of welder’s lung … a likeable fellow, he refused to die in the first novel … I wonder what will happen to him in ‘Crossing at a Walk’?
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Copyright 2015 Jane Tims
writing a novel … next (brave) step
For the past two years, I have been working on a novel. The working title of the book is ‘Saving the Landing Church’ – the actual title is ‘Open to the Skies’. For more information about the process of writing ‘Open to the Skies’, have a look at the category ‘writing a novel’. https://nichepoetryandprose.wordpress.com/2012/12/03/writing-a-novel-telling-a-story/
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The book is about a woman who falls in love with an old church and decides to save it from demolition, in spite of active resistance from members of the community.
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the setting for my novel … an old church and its hall and rectory are moved to a new location along the St. John River to create a writers’ retreat …
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After taking my book through nine drafts, numerous readings of bits with my writing groups, and a third-party edit, I have taken the next (brave) step. I am sending my novel to three publishing companies. I chose the publishers based on their dedication to Canadian authors and subjects, their willingness to read unsolicited manuscripts, and their current book lists.
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It will be a long wait. I know from past experience that I may not hear from them for six to eight months, and then it will likely be ‘no’. This is not lack of confidence or uncertainty about my skill. It is reality – most book publishers get up to a thousand submissions per year and, of course, can only choose a few of these to publish. However, on my side is the characteristic of doggedness.
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I will be sure and let you know what happens next with ‘Open to the Skies’. Meanwhile, I’ll be busy working on a sequel to the first book and, of course, on my poetry.
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Copyright 2015 Jane Tims
a preface for a poetry manuscript
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As followers of my Blog will know, I am working during these first months of 2015 to finalise, for eventual publication, a manuscript of the poetry I wrote for my ‘growing and gathering’ project (see the Category ‘growing and gathering’ for more information).
Now that the poetry is ordered within the manuscript, I have to pay attention to the ‘Front Matter’. This includes:
title: ‘within easy reach’
dedication: the manuscript is dedicated to my husband
table of contents: a listing of the poems
acknowledgements: all the people I want to thank and the support of artsnb and the Creations Grant
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The above four items are straightforward. I needed some information about the next three:
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foreword
preface
introduction
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Foreword: written by someone other than the author of the book, usually an authority – celebrates the work and provides credibility.
Preface: written by the author of the book – includes the purpose and scope of the work, explains the origins of the central idea in the book, and may acknowledge those the author wants to thank.
Introduction: written by the author or an editor – includes information on the contents of the book, the author, and the audience.
Source: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/foreword-versus-forward#sthash.No5DaWpu.dpuf
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Many of the poetry books I have in my library do not include a Foreword or Preface, and Acknowledgements are often placed in the back of the book. I find this is true of collections where the theme of the poems is not immediately obvious. But collections about a particular subject, such as those about history, often have a Preface or Introduction.
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For example, Jack’s Letters Home (Cynthia Fuller (2006) Stable Cottage, U.K., Flambard Press) includes an Introduction. The book is a collection of gritty poems based on real letters written by a British soldier in the First World War. The Introduction tells the soldier’s history, the story of how the letters were found and a little about the characters in the poems.
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I have two poetry collections by Shari Andrews. Both focus on history. Crucible (Shari Andrews (2004) Canada, Oberon Press) is an insightful collection of poems depicting characters and events in the life of Saint Catherine of Sienna. It includes a Foreword by the poet. The Foreword includes background on Saint Catherine of Sienna, information about the inspiration for the book, and acknowledgements.
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The Stone Cloak (Shari Andrews (1999) Canada, Oberon Press) is a collection of tactile, sometimes fierce, poems about the lives of settlers of New Denmark in New Brunswick. The Foreword includes information about the poet’s connection to the community and briefly describes the history of New Denmark. It includes acknowledgements.
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Although it is not a book of poetry, in an 1843 edition of A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens includes a brief Preface, consistent with the spirit (!) of his story:
I have endeavoured, in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each
other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it!Their faithful friend and Servant,
CD.
December 1843.(Source: http://www.themorgan.org/collections/works/dickens/ChristmasCarol/3, accessed February 23, 2015)
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a ‘grown and gathered’ salad – leaves and flowers of violet, leaves of mint and dandelion, bean sprouts and green onions
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My poetry manuscript has a very specific theme – the ‘growing and gathering’ of local foods. Since all of the poems are about a particular topic, I think including a Preface is appropriate. I want the Preface for my manuscript to:
- be short (less than a page)
- inspire my audience
- include the purpose of my poems
- provide an overview of the contents
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When I was young, I always skipped the Preface of any book I read. Now, I read the Preface first, eager to find information about the process the author followed in conceiving of or writing the book.
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Copyright 2015 Jane Tims
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