I slide into the seat across from a blonde girl with a sweater that stretches just tight enough over her boobs to make my imagination somersault (diction here--use of boobs, blonde girl--all very casual. Also a little pervy, but not enough that it is uncomfortable for me). More like four backflips followed by a handspring (humor here--kind of lightly sarcastic, but even though he's still talking about her, he's making fun of himself). She crosses her legs, bouncing a chunky shoe too heavy for her foot (interest in what she's wearing, but not an interest in fashion--he looks at it practically instead of fashionably). Her toenails are painted a pretty pink color that reminds me of my sister’s room when she was like six-years-old (after getting over the fact that a hot girl reminds him of his sister, the simile is very wandering and uncompact--and he brings it back to family).
We wait while everyone else gets on, me praying that no one will sit on me (first mention of anything about him physically--and it isn't a description but a strange kind of joke--suggesting an irrelevance about himself, his appearance), and then the 156 (identifying buses by number suggests that he takes a lot of them) rumbles away from the corner. She bounces her foot a little, the leather strap of her shoe cutting a raw line into her ankle (it is odd to me that he notices her possible discomfort. And he's getting a little obsessed with her feet).
And like that, I decide to follow her home.
I don’t want to sound like a creeper (slang. He is addressing the reader directly--and he's got a little drama about him. Starting a new paragraph after the sentence about following her home--he wanted to leave the reader hanging for a moment). I wouldn’t do anything to her. It’s just curiosity. I want to see where she lives and what it is like to be her. It’s not like I have anything else to do.
My wanting to follow her has nothing to do with her tight, fuzzy sweater. I swear. (odd humor again--if it is humor--making fun of himself, but also giving me a little bit of a chill by feeling the lie in his words)
From these thoughts, I usually end up with about a page of handwritten notes that go something like this:
This kid has an interesting sense of self-deprecating humor. He's a little pervy and creepy, but he wants the reader to believe that he's a good guy (as seen by the direct address). He uses short, direct sentences and paragraphs. He speaks casually--not afraid of slang. His diction is simple and not overly descriptive.
It is very possible that a reader would completely disagree with me and my notes--which is why I don't send this out for critique at all. At this point, it isn't about what the reader thinks, it is only about getting to know your character. There are a variety of other ways I could have done this--interviewing him, writing a summary of their him story, drawing him and his world, making collages that represent him. I've tried all these things in the past--but for me, writing the voice is the quickest and easiest way.
I work on this false start until I can hear the tenor and rhythm of the character's voice in my head. This used to take me thousands of words--now it usually happens in less than a thousand. My NaNo false start is 756 words, and I feel fairly confident about finding her voice on Nov. 1st.
Once I'm starting to get a solid feeling of the voice, I attempt to make a kind of catch phrase for the character--something that gets me very quickly into their voice when I sit down to write.
Examples of some catch phrases I've use for both current and past WiPs:
Apparently, I'm not bullet proof.
There are no choices, only consequences.
I will not be your answer.
It's always best to dump a girl on Friday--that way your weekend is free.
I guess after awhile, you can accept anything about yourself.
Most of these probably don't mean all that much to someone else. But for me, they spur a whole world of thoughts and allow me to jump into the character's head quickly. I often only have few minutes to write here and there, so I don't want to spend the time fumbling around to find the character's voice.
Another way to handle the catch phrase idea is to create a sentence that starts "She/he is the kind of person who..."
Examples:
She is the kind of person who uses her fork to feed her dog from the dinner table.
He is the kind of person who polishes his shoes every day.
But I don't spend loads of time doing this (maybe a few hours total--for selecting the idea, detailing the voice and writing the catch phrase). My goal at this point isn't to know every detail about my main character because I like getting to know them slowly. But--I don't want to spend the first half of a novel figuring out the voice and what my character would do in any given situation.
I have to do this before I nail down the main plot points. The reason is that it isn't about what happens in a story, but about how the character responds to what happens. Therefore, it is impossible for me to plot out a story without knowing a little about my main character.
At this point, I'm ready to begin working on the plot. Which is next time: Organizing Plot Points.
What is your first step after selecting an idea? Do you tackle the character first or the plot?
Note--I'm having huge difficulties managing the fonts when I'm copying text into blogger. I'm always having to select larger/smaller fonts and things look CRAZY in the editing screen. Does anyone else have this problem? Ways to solve it?
11 comments:
Great post! Like you said on my blog, I love seeing how other people go about getting their novels written. I like how you figure out the voice and show it, how you explain everything with the comments.
I'm not a plotter at all. I have a beginning, middle, and end. My main characters are established in the beginning and the rest I just add as I go. I enjoy the pantsing, it keeps things interesting. I tackle the plot and character at the same time because both has to agree with the other. So important for me. My MC must be able to handle the good and the bad that comes from it.
About the fonts. When you're writing a post and copying stuff into the blogger box, look at the top right corner where you usually link, bold, etc. There's a T with a red x underneath it. Select all your text and then click on the T. It should remove all the formatting. Hope this helps.
I LOVE this post. It's not the way I go about things at all, but it addresses one of my weaker points: finding the voice. I can see all the things I did to find the voice in Air Pirates, but it took me months to get to that point.
For me, the world almost always comes first, then the plot points to solve it. I get characters, but usually only in the sense of what their abilities or powers are (many of them have powers; it's what I do). The voice doesn't come until much later for me.
For the fonts, maybe you could paste into a plain text doc and then copy from there into Blogger, just like you would a query letter?
Very helpful! Thanks for the post and sharing your writing. It was probably the most insightful post I've read on voice in quite some time.
Jani--I should be better about doing character/plot at the same time, but the problem is that I'm so much better at character, I usually do that first. I need to shake up my thinking! So, so, helpful--what you said about removing the formatting. Why couldn't I find that? Oh well, now I know!
Adam--I first started reading your blog because I saw that both of us tackled writing analytically. I kept reading because you tackle plot in that way, but I struggle with plot (it doesn't seem logical to me yet) and have a good handle on voice. When I taught high school, the first semester focused on voice. I had to learn how to teach it analytically because students generally don't understand phrases like "it describes how the character is"--and I had to focus on specifics like what it is that makes up voice--diction, syntax, etc. That experience really made me understand voice systematically--by looking at each individual element and evaluating. Now, if I can only figure out plot I'd be a publishing threat.
Erin--Glad you found it helpful! That was my goal.
This is a great post. I'm a pantser trying so hard to be a plotter. Love to see how everyone tackles this!
Ashley--Thanks! I'm a pantser sometimes too--sometimes it is good to have both skills in the closet.
Awesome awesome post. I do the same thing with a "false start" - in fact, it was the disastrous kiss I sent you this summer.
Now. I wouldn't be smart enough to call it a writing strategy....that's why I'm so glad to have you on the team. :)
Leigh Ann--As always, you are too kind. By the way--this false start is the one you agreed to CP for me.
I've always wondered how YA writers choose their perspective - first person vs. third-person omniscient or limited. Do you prefer one over the other yourself?
I personally have written in first-person, but I prefer the third-person storyteller perspective lately.
Donelle--I'm a first person girl. I wrote my first novel in 3rd, but since then everything has all been first. I really enjoy getting into the head of the narrator. And first is much more prevalent in YA, which is mostly what I read--so I suppose I'm influenced by that as well.
Wow, GREAT post. I tend to skim really long posts but I read this one all the way through. :) You are so organized--I'm impressed! I do tackle the voice first, usually writing the first scene that pops up in my head when the character/story idea pops in... so I guess, kinda like what you do, but I'm not as smart about it. I'm excited to see your next post in the series.
Post a Comment