The Dreaded Cliche

I thought it was about time I started posting on some more technical elements of writing. This post will deal with the feared cliché – some of my own opinion on that as well as what I’ve heard from writers, some of them published.        
                A story needs to start with an idea, whether it be a character, a single scene, a theme, or a plot line. Since this is the starting point of a novel, I thought it would be appropriate for this to be one of the first topics I posted on.         
                We all know what clichés are – knowing how to avoid them is the problem. But are clichés necessarily a problem? Clichés are clichés because people like them (or have in the past). But, I suppose that it’s inevitable for anything popular to grow out of fashion as people become bored with the same old. I’ve got clichés in my book – I think it’s impossible to write anything entirely original (if you can point me in the direction of something that is, great!). Whether it’s a clichéd storyline (there are only 36 according to Polti) or a clichéd character or plot element, I think the important thing is to put your own spin on it, and that’s pretty standard advice.      
                Take, for example, good versus evil – a cliché, certainly. To be avoided? Certainly not! Point me in the direction of a novel (fantasy, crime or otherwise) that doesn’t deal with that in some way shape or form. Probably general fiction might be the best chance of escape from that particular cliché, but you’d be hard-put finding a book from one of the other genres that doesn’t. My book certainly deals with Good versus Evil and I’m not about to go changing that just because it’s a typical fantasy theme.  
                The ‘Orphan with a mysterious past’ is another common fantasy theme. I happen to like this one, and the main character of my book just happens to be one. So long as I can put my own spin on it, then the fact that it’s been used a hundred times before shouldn’t matter. J.K. Rowling used it and look where it got her! It just goes to show that it’s the story you weave around these common themes that makes it interesting.
                I really like the idea of writing a book with a prophecy, but these are getting ridiculously common, in my opinion. It seems like every second book you read has a prophecy in it. I’ve still really liked the books I read, but there was just something like ‘not another prophecy’ every time I read the blurb and that word was mentioned.  I think prophecies really need to work hard to make themselves something special, but then, so does any other clichéd element.            
                How many fantasy books have you read where the hero wields some kind of sword? How often does that sword have some magical attribute? These can get pretty old, but recently I read Brandon Sanderson’s Way of Kings and yes, he had swords and yes, the swords have some kind of magic, but it all tied into the story. It wasn’t just there for the sake of it and it was something I’d never read about before, which was refreshing.
                Dark Lords, quests, elves, dwarves, swords, magic daggers, ninjas, castles, the ‘Chosen One’, the wise old stranger who seems to know everything, names with apostrophes – some of these I hate and some I don’t mind. Either way, I think the most important thing is how they are used in a story.            
                I’ve heard some people say that clichés should be avoided at all costs and any book with a cliché should be scrapped immediately – if someone said that to me, I’d ignore it. Primarily, I think we should all write because we enjoy it and that means writing about what interests us. I guess if you’re looking to be published then it pays to be original, but I still don’t agree that this is synonymous with no clichés.

Writing Software

Last post, I mentioned Mind Mapping and the free-to-download program FreeMind. This post is inspired by that. There are a range of writing programs out there – here are a few.

I won’t go into too much detail about Microsoft Word. I’m sure most of us are familiar with it. Word has all the basics required to properly format a manuscript for publication as well as handy tools for navigating a document. It’s fast, easy, and it’s what I use – most of the time.  Once, I tried something different: yWriter.

yWriter  is a program that was developed by talented science-fiction author Simon Hayes who gave us the wonderful Hal Spacejock series. What I like about that is that it’s a writing program for writers, by a writer – he knows what writers need and he’s given it to us in a very useful little package.  I tried yWriter when I was beginning an earlier novel and quite liked it. It divides your story up into individual scenes, which you can then put in the order you wish. You can also view what the story looks like in book format, which I got a kick out of. However, I found it a bit too compartmentalised, but that can be attributed to the fact that when I write it is in a very non-linear fashion.  Because I like to skip around quite erratically, typing a few words here and a few words there, the constant clicking between scenes got a bit frustrating. Now that I’ve got more of my story done, I’m thinking about going back to it, because I think it would help me sort out my chapters. I reckon a planner would find this software great from the get go and I recommend giving it a try – it’s free to download, so what is there to lose? Check out Simon’s books while you’re there!     

Scrivener: I’ve heard good reports about this, but haven’t tried it out myself.  I have had a read over the features though, and this program looks really good. If I wasn’t a poor uni student, I’d seriously consider buying it. Not that it’s expensive – check out their website for the current price (looks very reasonable).  Scrivener’s features include (to be very brief) a corkboard and outliner as well as text editing and an equation editor for those interested in non-fiction works requiring formulae. Those who prefer the Mac over the PC might like Scrivener, though I believe there is a Windows Beta version currently available. Scrivener let’s you compile your work in a very nice range of formats and file types including .ePub (ePub eBook format) and .mobi file (Kindle format). You can download a free trial from their website, too, so no need to buy before you try. Awesome name, too, Scrivener.

Snowflake Pro: I haven’t tried this software, so I can’t comment on it personally. It also comes with a price tag. It’s from the same guy who created the ‘Snowflake Method.’

Be warned: these writing software packages might look fancy, but don’t let yourself get caught up in learning how to use the software – you liable to spend hours that should have been spent writing trying to figure out how to change fonts and do this, that and the other.

I’m sure there is more writing software out there, so if you know of any others, feel free to share it with us, or let us know of your experience with any of the ones mentioned here (I’m particularly interested in the ones I haven’t tried).

Mind Mapping

Hi all! I’m bashing out posts at a pretty rapid rate at the moment, and will for a while – if only so people have something to actually read when they visit the blog. Today’s post is all about Mind Mapping.             
                MindMapping is a great brainstorming method. Done properly, it can significantly increase your creativity and cut down on planning time – it also changes the way you think.
                I tried this out once for my novel and found that the mind map just got way too convoluted to be useful. It also caused me to spend (an overly long) time planning rather than actually writing. When I got to about 70,000 words, my manuscript stalled and I decided to try mind mapping again. At that point, I didn’t have any chapters, and by mind mapping the events, I was able to work out what areas of the novel needed a bit more work, what my chapters were and I also got an idea of pacing. This helped me get back on track with my novel and I’m steaming ahead once more. 
                Mind Maps are great when done on a huge piece of butcher’s paper in colourful textas (apparently colours help us retain information better, and mind maps are better than linear lists). I quite often do mind maps on paper when I’m planning up an essay, but for my novel, I went with a great little program called FreeMind. FreeMind is one of those wonderful, open source programs created by people with programming talent and a love of sharing. This tool is a free download and is simple and easy to use – I highly recommend it.              
                While MindMapping can be used as a free flowing brainstorm tool, it can also be used for mapping information you already know. This is what I did. The central node was simply the title of my novel, and then the nodes coming off of that were labelled Main Characters, Minor Characters, Bit Players, Locations, and Chapters. Each of these nodes then branches off into as many branches as are required.          
                ‘What are nodes?’ you ask. Some fancy term for little dots connected by lines – download the software and try it out for yourself. It’s really quick to download and, I promise, you need about two minutes to get the hang of the basics. Here’s an example of what you can do using FreeMind (or good old pen and paper):

 

To keep with the current theme, my next post will cover a few different software programs geared towards writers.

Planners Versus Wingers (Plotters vs Pantsers)

                There seems to be very two different classes of writers (or three, if you count those that fall between) – people who like to plan their novel in meticulous detail, and those who like to fly by the seat of their pants.      
                Wingers (also known as pantsers) are those of you who like to wing it – start with a scene or a character or a vague idea and let things happen as they will. Let the characters lead, let the story surprise you as much as it will your readers. To put it simply, you like to go with the flow.
                What’s that you say – only dead fish go with the flow? Planners are people who like to sit down and write out a thousand (or so) pages of notes – on their characters, their world, their plot – before they get down to actually writing the story (or they might just write a skeleton outline of the whole story). The more extreme planners out there might have flowcharts and Excel spreadsheets, mindmaps and folders filled with loose pages of paper describing every single element in the story.
                I’ve seen arguments for both methods. Personally, I don’t plan too much – I don’t think I really have the ability to. My stories tend to evolve on their own and I have trouble sitting down and writing an outline for an entire story. That being said, I’ve gotten a considerable amount of my novel written now, and there came a time a few weeks ago when a bit of planning and shuffling of scenes helped me get back on track after a bit of a stall. Now I’m back to winging it.     
                Both methods have their merits, and both work. Not sure which one you are, or looking to give the other a go? Here’s some characteristics of each. I recommend giving each method of a try before settling on one for sure, but why listen to me – I haven’t really given planning a go. Perhaps on my next novel.

How can you know where the story is going if you don’t plot it out? How can you ever reach the end if you don’t know where that end is? 

• Start with a few scene that tickle your fancy, put them in some kind of logical order and fill in the gaps - dot points only.
• Prepare dossiers for every character and location that breezes across your mind - you won't be tripped up by tiny technical details later on when you're actually tring to write the story.
• Aiming for 150, 000 words? 25 chapters? That's 6000 words per chapter - no more and no less.
• Define your beginning, middle and end - knowing everything else helps, too.
• Write!

Not willing to be constrained by a rigid outline – or any outline at all? 

• Start from the beginning and GO!
• Why start at the beginning? Start at the end and work your way backwards.
• Or how about the middle - a scene here, a scene there. It's all good.
• Subplots? They work themselves out.
• Write!

    

Whether you’re one of those people who like to fly by the seat of their pants, of whether you like to write a five hundred page outline before you start writing, you’re not alone. Here’s two authors – one a plotter, one a pantser. Follow the links to their websites for some more writing advice. Both women are very well established, successful writers, which just goes to show that you should do what works for you whether plotter, pantser of somewhere in between.

Fiona McIntosh – pantser

Trudi Canavan – planner

Whichever method you tend towards, no excuses – get cracking and get that novel going!

Since we’re on the topic of planning, my next post with be in a similar vein – I’ll be relating my experience with Mind Mapping... and wherever that leads.

My Book, Our Blog

I suppose since this blog is strongly tied to my novel I should give a little more info about it. My main writing interests are fantasy and historical fiction. I have projects in both, but as I am also at uni and working, I really needed to just put one of my writing projects on hold and focus  on the other, or I was never going to get either of them done (and I’d probably crash and burn at uni, too!).  
                I decided to drop the historical fiction, since that was requiring a great deal of research more than any writing at this stage. The fantasy can just be written – no concern there for historical or contemporary fact.
                It’s developing fairly well so far. I’m not much of a planner, so I’ve jumped all over the place, writing scenes from the beginning, from the middle, from the end. Now I’m working on tying them together and since I haven’t really planned, this means that some of the scenes I wrote at the beginning of the year will no longer happen, because the story just hasn’t tended that way. Sometimes it’s disappointing, because I really liked that scene, but I just store it up in another file, waiting for the day I can insert it back into the plot, or even into my next story.
                Since I’ve gotten serious about writing I’ve picked up a lot of advice from a wide range of people. I’ve talked to fellow writers, done a workshop, attended some writing festivals and talked to published writers. Some topics I want to post on in the near future include planning techniques, clichés, characterisation, plot, dialogue, writing software and getting published.          
                Since this is a blog for all writers, I’d like to hear what you’re having trouble with, or hurdles you’ve overcome. As a community, I’m sure we can find some answers! Until I get suggestions, I’ll be posting about several topics I’ve come across in my own writing and discussion with other writers.

This was more of a second introduction – the next post will really get into it: Planners versus Wingers

The Adventure Begins!

Welcome to the beginning of my journey into the world of blogging. I’m not a blogger, by nature, but I’m writing a novel and heard that a great way to kickstart the creative juices is to keep a journal. Then I thought: why not start a blog, instead? I was a bit dubious about both journal and blog, at first, but as they say, you never know if you never go.          
                I suppose the main intention of this blog is really an experiment. If I do ever become a successful writer, I’m going to need communication skills talking to actual people and that includes communications on the web, so this could be practice. Getting ahead of myself? Maybe, maybe not.  There’s nothing wrong with being optimistic and I’m killing two birds with one stone, really – a foray into a sort of online publishing and a method of inducing creativity (hopefully!). I’m definitely keen to see if the latter is successful.
                I wouldn’t say I’m stuck with my novel, but I don’t really have a plan, either. I’m in freefall and I think at this point it’s time to gather myself and all my plotlines together and try to weave them a little more tightly. They do this fairly well, already, but the problem is that the novel is in multiple POV and I strongly focus on the main character – not unexpected. My problem is with the two minor protagonists. They’re there at the beginning and they’re there at the end – I’m all over the shop with this book – but they seem to drop off the face of the earth during the middle.  I’m slowly working them into the storyline, but sometimes I’ll sit at my computer for hours and only get a few hundred words down. I don’t have the time to be that inefficient and I’m hoping that knocking out a few hundred blog words first might loosen my tongue, so to speak.      
                When I first thought of doing this, it was going to be a recount-of-my-day sort of thing, but I eventually decided I’d be better off with a writing-themed blog where I can share the lessons I've learned and hopefully hear from people on the same journey. I know there are a lot of writing blogs out there already, but this one is for me, so there!
                More seriously though, most of the writing blogs I've read are by established writers and the content often wanders into what's going on with their latest book or where they had their last holiday - I'd like to keep this one revolving around writing techniques and novel progress.


                I hope you're keen to get involved - until next time!