[Prompt] May 16 – Love Story

One of the nine plot patterns highlighted in James Scott Bell’s Plot & Structure is:

The love story.

(A billion romance readers can’t be wrong!)

You don’t have to write a traditional romance to be writing a love story. There’s a love story embedded in almost every story you read or watch. From Homer’s Odyssey to Homer and Marge Simpson, love is in the air.

All that is required for a love story is for two protagonists who are in love, and an obstacle to that love. Resolving the obstacle, one way or another, is the plot of your story.

To avoid writing a schlocky, saccharine formulaic romance, “one or other of your lovers [should] grow as a result of the pattern,” says Bell.

Write A Love Story

Go!

Host a Writing Sprint

Having trouble getting started with your writing today? Why not host a writing sprint?

WHAT IS A WRITING SPRINT?

A writing sprint is a focussed block of writing time. Ideally you announce it to the world and invite others to join.

It’s usually pretty spontaneous. A writer announces that they’re doing a writing sprint at :15, for example (meaning ’15 minutes past the hour wherever you are’), and says ‘join me?’

I see writing sprints mostly on Twitter, because that’s where I hang out, but there’s no reason you can’t host one on your favourite social media network: Twitter, Facebook, Livejournal, LinkedIn, even the StoryADay activity stream.

WHY HOST A WRITING SPRINT?

You’ll inspire other people to join you in real time, as you write.
You’ll feel like you’re not in this alone.
You’ll be accountable to the other people taking part and less likely to abandon your own efforts.

HOW TO HOST A WRITING SPRINT

Start It

All it takes is a simple announcement. You can give people some notice (if you know you’ll be writing at 7 AM EST, say so) or you can just say “Go”.

Here are some sample messages you can send

About to write my storyaday story. Want to write with me? #WritingSpring at 0:15.

I’m #writing RIGHT NOW. Join me?

The hashtags are a Twitter thing: they let people easily find other people who are interested in the same things. the ‘Writing Sprint at 0:15’ part lets people know you’re starting at fifteen minutes after whatever hour it is now, wherever they are. (Obviously you can make it 0:00 or 0:23 or any time you like).

Set A Time Limit (optional)

Some people say they’re going to ‘sprint’ for 30 minutes or an hour or 15 minutes. That lets people know how long you’ll all be writing together (though anyone should feel free to write for more or less time). This is optional, though it increases the sense that you’re all in it together for at least that amount of time.

Write

This is important: get offline and write.

No, you won’t actually know if anyone is writing along with you because you’re not checking your messages (right?!). But just imagining a squad of other writers out there writing along with you is kind of fun.

End The Sprint

When your story is finished (or your time is up), send another quick message to let your followers know you are done, and invite them to check in. Sample messages:

#WritingSprint finished! I got a lot done! How about you?

That #WritingSprint was bit of a slog, but I did get 523 words written. How did you do?

Enjoy The Feedback

Sometimes you’ll hear nothing (especially if your network is small and not populated by writers) but sometimes you’ll hear from people you don’t even know, who just saw your hashtag, or message, and jumped in because you gave them the motivation they needed to get going today. And even if you don’t hear from them, there mayl be writers out there who saw your ‘writing sprint’ announcement and buckled down to write a story that would not otherwise have been told.

And trust me, it’s a pretty warm and fuzzy feeling, knowing you’re helping motivate people to write.

[Prompt] May 15 – Fairy Story

Whether you like the Disnified Happily Ever After versions or the grim Grimm originals, fairy stories are a great source of inspiration for a writer.

You can rewrite the tales with a modern twist, or a funny one, or you can simply take the morality-play form and use it for your own story.

I come back to this prompt idea again and again because it is such fertile ground and because EVERYONE knows a fairy story or folk tale (if you need a reminder of some, go here).

Alternatively, you could choose to write an allegory (think: Narnia, or Animal Farm). If you do write an allegorical story, however, bear in mind this advice from James Scott Bell’s book Plot & Structure:

“Allegory is difficult to do well, since it may just come off as merely preaching in the guise of an imaginative tale…Make the characters real and not just stand-ins for your ideas.”

Rewrite a fairytale/folk story or Get Allegorical

Go!

You’re A Writer, It’s What You Do – An Interview With Author James Scott Bell

This week we have an exclusive interview at StoryADay.org with James Scott Bell, the #1 bestselling author of the writing book Plot & Structure, and thrillers like Deceived, Try Dying, Watch Your Back, One More Lie and many more.

He stopped by StoryADay.org to talk about the importance of writing routines and practice — a topic dear to our hearts, and the subject of his book Writing Fiction for All You’re Worth: Strategies and Techniques for Taking Your Fiction to the Next Level.

StADa: Do you consider it important for aspiring writers to have a regular writing routine?

JSB: Boy, do I. In fact, that is the single most important piece of advice I ever got, and I’m glad I got it at the beginning. I do a weekly quota of words and break that down into 6 days (I usually take Sunday off from writing, to recharge my batteries). I keep track of all the new words I write and usually work on two projects or more during any given day. If I happen to miss my daily count I know I can make it up on other days.

The really nice thing is that, at some point, you look up and you have a completed book. It’s done. You did it. It’s a tremendous feeling. Then you have something to edit. And you just keep doing that, over and over again.

StADa: One look online tells you that there is a lot of competition out there. How can a writer keep his/her motivation up, without becoming discouraged by or envious of other writers who seem to be doing ‘better’?

JSB: There are lots of ways for writers to make themselves miserable. Comparison is one surefire method. Because there is ALWAYS someone else doing better than you are. Always. You don’t even realize that there are lots of people not doing as well as you, either. But either view is wrong. It doesn’t help you to compare with someone selling more, and it doesn’t help you to feel superior to someone who isn’t.

Enough writers, like Ann Lamott and Elizabeth Berg, have written about envy and the like to know that it can sneak up on a writer. If it does you should immediately get lost in your own project. Get to the keyboard. Write your heart out. Soon enough you’ll be into that and the other stuff fades away.

Also, remember this is just one aspect of life. There is a lot more to living well than selling books. First, figure out how to live well. Then write.

StADa: It’s easy to ‘publish’ a work quickly today. What advice would you give the StoryADay community about what to do with the 31 first drafts they’re going to end up with on June 1?

JSB: Congratulations! A first draft is wonderful thing to have. It means a completed work, and that’s always a good thing. Robert A. Heinlein, the famous science fiction writer, once said there are two rules for writing:

1. You must write
2. You must finish what you write

Also, don’t think that a finished draft is ready to go out without a strong revision strategy. I wrote a whole book, Revision & Self-Editing, to help writers think that through in a systematic way. It’s important to know what you’re doing at every stage.

I’d also add, be working on your next book. And thinking up ideas for the one after that. And keep this up as long as you live.

You’re a writer, after all. It’s what you do.

000OOOooo

Thanks, Jim!

James Scott Bell has been called a writer of “heart-whamming” fiction (Publisher’s Weekly) “a master of suspense” (Library Journal) and a fresh voice in the “territory of Hammett and Chandler.” (Booklist).A former trial lawyer, Jim now writes and speaks full time. He lives in Los Angeles. He blogs every Sunday at The Kill Zone.

[Prompt] May 14 – Fish Out Of Water

After last week’s character focus, this week’s prompts are going to focus on different plot archetypes.

First up: the fish out of water story.

This ties in nicely with the focus on character, since the fish out of water story lays a great emphasis on the characters – either the alien character, or the ones who are trying to deal with having him in their lives. Think: Mork and Mindy, The Wizard of Oz, Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy… It also allows you scope to have fun with descriptions, point of view, dialogue, belief systems, you name it.

Write A Fish Out Of Water Story

Go!

[Prompt] May 13 – What Your Character Wants

Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.

-Kurt Vonnegut

A concrete way to ensure that you are writing a story — not a scene or a character sketch — is to make sure your character wants something. Give your hero a want or a need, then move them towards or away from that thing. Et voilà! You have a story.

There isn’t much room in a short story. You can’t afford to give your main character two or three things she wants (unless it’s two things that are diametrically opposed). She will have other things that matter to her, of course. It’s just that now — at this moment in her life, the one we’re spying on — she has one overriding want or need that she must resolve.

Secondary characters have wants and needs too, but you don’t have much room to talk about them. If your secondary character is the antagonist (or villain) you can spend more time on their ‘wants’ since exploring them is probably part of explaining why your hero isn’t getting what she wants yet. Otherwise, mentioning their dream in one sentence can be a great way to flesh out secondary characters.

Make Your Characters Want Something

Today, write a story in which you give a character a very specific want or need (you don’t have to spell it out at the start). Move them towards their goal, put rocks in their path, grant or deny their wish.

Give every secondary character a specific need too – even if it never makes it into the story, be sure you know what that person’s dearest wish is.

For more inspiration on this subject, check out Nathan Bransford’s post on the subject.