Thursday, July 23, 2009

BUILDING YOUR BLOCKBUSTER NOVEL--PART I: WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT AND GETTING ORGANIZED TO DO IT

We’ve talked about how to get an idea. Simple enough, you say—but not always. Writing is a process—we’ve all heard that before, but let’s think about what the “process” actually is.

First of all, we have to come up with the idea that we want to write about. For many of us, the stories start with just one idea, one scene that we’ve thought of, or even dreamed of—the germ of the story that we want to tell. There are many ways that writers get the beginning seed of what their tale will become, but how to make it be “the best that it can be?” Regardless of how an idea comes to you, it’s what you do with it that counts, in the end.

Some stories are uniquely your own to tell. An autobiography, such as Elie Wiesel’s “Night”, or a fictionalization of an autobiography, such as Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”, could not be told by anyone else in the same way.

Other ideas are out there for the taking—but it’s up to each writer to put their own spin on a “generic idea” that others have used before. One of the examples I like to use in class about this is the retelling of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” in many different formats through the years. It’s a basic story; “star-crossed lovers” that can only be together in death. Who would believe a successful musical could be made of that theme in “West Side Story”? The twist on the ending was that Juliet’s counterpart, Maria, didn’t die, but the other parallels remain constant. There have been several movie versions, but a few years ago, Leonardo DeCaprio starred in a modern remake of Romeo and Juliet, his men using semi-automatic weapons rather than swords. Oddly enough, the director chose to let the characters keep the original dialogue that Shakespeare wrote. There was a message in that: no matter what the time, no matter what the weapons, or the clothing, the love between the hero and heroine remained as constant now as it was then. Although the medium that relays the message has changed—written word translated to stage then to screen in various “takes”—the point of the story never changes, only the telling of it.

So you’ve decided what to write about, and you have a basic idea of what the story will be. Has it been done before? More than likely. What will YOU bring to the table? How can you tell the story that will make it “the one” that everyone will want to read? Putting your own tone and “self” into the story will be what makes it different and unique, even if it has been “done before.”

The next question you must ask is, who are you writing this story for? What audience are you aiming at? Most people have a pretty clear idea of what group they are targeting, but if this is something you haven’t thought about, give it some careful consideration. If you’re writing YA, remember it’s going to have to be a bit “edgier” than what publishers were looking for when you were “that age.” The romance genre has changed, too. Some things that were acceptable, such as heroes who took what they wanted regardless of the consequences, (forced sex) are frowned upon in today’s mainstream romance market. However, there is a huge range of venues in other genres that are more accepting of that type of behavior for their heroes. Just be aware of your target audience. This will help you not only in completing your writing project by giving it direction, but also in finding an agent and/or publisher when you’re finished.

Getting organized is the final preparatory step. Whether you’re a “planner” or a “pantser”, you need to have some general direction of where you’re headed with your book. I don’t generally recommend forcing pantsers to become planners. But in the beginning, sometimes it’s good just to make some kind of a general outline about what you want out of the story. There’s one question that must be answered of any story you want to tell:

“This is a story about __________________ who wants to do ________________.”

Easy enough, right? Sometimes, that’s harder to answer than it seems it will be. It’s not always cut and dried. And there may be more that one simplistic answer as to what your main character(s) want.

To recap, decide what you want to write about—something you love or are interested in telling about. Start with an idea, and don’t be discouraged about not knowing where to put it in your story. Many times, the idea we think is the “beginning” of the story turns out to be something nearer the middle. Has it been done before? Yes, but you’re going to make it different than anyone has ever told it before by bringing your own writing style and personality to it. In other words, you are bringing YOURSELF to the writing table, pouring your thoughts and beliefs and skills into your work to make it different and interesting. Who are you writing for? Give it some very careful thought. Some people write for themselves, while others hope to be on the NYT bestseller list in 6 months. Targeting your audience is important, either way. Getting organized is the next step to preparation. Getting your thoughts together and making an outline or even a general “guide sheet” to go by loosely will help, no matter what you’re writing.

Next, it’s time to start building your characters!

8 comments:

  1. I think I hit a dead spot. My comment got wiped out. Great cover, Cheryl. Also, a very helpful post.

    I usually know what happens at the beginning and how I want my story to end, but the middle is a revelation to me and the readers.

    Morgan Mandel
    http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
    http://www.morganmandel.com

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  2. Everything I am posting today is vaporizing. I know I was here earlier. I don't understand what happened to my comment. Who knew the gap between my fingertips and cyberspace could be so deadly?

    Great post!

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  3. Hi, Cheryl. Great blog. I think the sentence, “This is a story about __________________ who wants to do ________________,” is the core of every story. Whenever I tell a story to my nephew, I always begin with "there was a little boy who wants..." He fills in the blank, and away we go.

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  4. Cheryl, when I find time to update my website, I'm adding this blog as a writer's reference site.

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  5. Hi Morgan,

    Don't feel like the "Lone Ranger"--something really weird happened to my blog post. I KNEW I put it on there but it wasn't there when I checked! I felt like such a total dumbass, but I am not sure that's the case, because other things have disappeared today, and not just from my stuff, but others', too.

    I'm kind of a pantser, and it sounds as if you are, too. Kinda scary sometimes, when you get to the middle and go, OK, how is this going to get around to where I want it to end? But it always does, somehow.LOL

    Thanks for coming over and commenting, especially since you had to do it twice!

    Cheryl

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  6. Hi Maggie,

    I was telling Morgan, weird things have been happening with my stuff today, too! Glad you could make it AGAIN and thanks for commenting!!!

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  7. KEENA!!!

    How are you, girl??? So you survived the DC trip? Glad you are back and were able to pop over and read and comment. I think that's such a cool way to get a kid's imagination going. And what a neat way to get to know your nephew better and better--because he'll tell you all kinds of things that he really wants if he thinks you are just talking about "a little boy." LOL But you're right--that IS the core of every story, no matter what genre you are writing. It always boils down to THAT ONE SENTENCE and if you can figure it out, that's the place to start!

    Thanks for stopping by.
    Cheryl

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  8. Loraine,

    Thanks! I wish I knew more about what I was doing. I'd love to list other blogs on mine and do a writers' reference list, and so on, but I am not sure where to even begin.

    Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting, and that would be just fantastic if you want to put my blog up on your site. We'll have to talk more about this, because I want you to tell me how to do it so I can list other peoples' blogs on mine, too.

    Cheryl

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