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REC: Creative Writing Book # 2
Aug. 29th, 2003 10:54 amMy first rec was for:
You Can Write A Novel by James V. Smith Jr.
Cincinatti 1998 - 138 pages - US $12.99
ISBN 0-89879-868-X
The full rec can be found here. It's also listed among my memories.
The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing by Evan Marshall
A 16-step program guaranteed to take you from idea to completed manuscript.
Cincinatti 2001 - 242 pages - US $16.99
ISBN 1-58297-062-9
This is the second book I bought during my trip to Florida. I read it in one go, so it's not heavy reading. Did I like it? No. Did I find it useful? Yes. This book offers a Painting-by-numbers approach to writing that I find annoying. It is very focussed on teaching writers to stay within the confines of genre and cliché. The examples made me cringe because not one of the suggested plots or characters did anything for me. HOWEVER, it seems to me that Marshall's 'recipe' is VERY useful if you know how to add a certain spark to it.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. I should actually tell you what Marshall's recipe is like:
He maintains that a good story needs a crisis. Think of a crisis, then check if it captures your imagination. If it doesn't, then make it bigger, make it worse, change elements like locale or combine with another crisis. This is the idea that gets expanded into a novel. The lead character sets a goal which must meet four criteria: lead has to gain ossession or relief, suffers terrible consequences if he fails, has a worthy motivation (love, honor, justice...), and fights tremendous odds. - Pearls of wisdom? Maybe not, but there is a certain common sense in this. Most fanifc is weakly plotted because the authors rely on the characters to carry the story. So, a few lessons in other approaches to storytelling can only be beneficial.
Marshall's chapter on character development is uninspired, but Mutant Enemy taught us a lot about characterization. We have no real deficite there. Therefore it doesn't matter that Marshall's short chapter does not offer new insight.
Marshall's book becomes interesting in Part 2: Your Complete Guide to Plotting. He differentiates between action scenes (not necessarily fight scenes, just scenes in which something happens) and reaction scenes (reflection). Scenes are not to be confused with chapters. He's talking about logical segments. An action scene starts with a goal, has a small crisis in the middle, and usually ends with a (small) failure which results in a new preliminary goal for the character. A momentous failure is followed by a reaction scene, in which goals are re-evaluated, in which the character moves from emotional reaction to rational decision making. Afterwards you write another action scene. Action scenes are more frequent than reaction scenes.
The idea that a novel is like a string of failures is worth mentioning. Marshall does not mean momentous failures, just small ones, like the failure to get a certain information, or - once the info has been acquired - the realization that one answer gives rise to two new questions, or the inability to communicate. This is one of the lessons I've taken out of this book, something I will try to apply to my original fantasy novel.
Marshall explains in detail how to structure and arrange action and reaction scenes, how to weave sub-plots and where to place pivotal moments. Like I said, it's a Painting-by-numbers approach. But I find using it liberating, because it frees me from worries about plot. I can sit down, outline merrily away, write summaries for scenes and I'm forced to make decisions now, before writing, and putting these decisions on paper. For people like me, who start writing stories with only a vague destination in their mind but no detailed plan, this approach is extremely helpful.
Like I said, I don't like this book because it disenchants the process of writing, but it gives you a good set of crutches, enabling you to plan and outline a plot for a novel-length story. It's up to the author to put flesh on these solid bones and make something out of it that's prettier than the examples given in the book (*shudders at the memory*).
I'm glad I bought it and I'm using it dilligently (but not religiously). I just have to make sure it doesn't smother my creativity and instinct.
You Can Write A Novel by James V. Smith Jr.
Cincinatti 1998 - 138 pages - US $12.99
ISBN 0-89879-868-X
The full rec can be found here. It's also listed among my memories.
The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing by Evan Marshall
A 16-step program guaranteed to take you from idea to completed manuscript.
Cincinatti 2001 - 242 pages - US $16.99
ISBN 1-58297-062-9
This is the second book I bought during my trip to Florida. I read it in one go, so it's not heavy reading. Did I like it? No. Did I find it useful? Yes. This book offers a Painting-by-numbers approach to writing that I find annoying. It is very focussed on teaching writers to stay within the confines of genre and cliché. The examples made me cringe because not one of the suggested plots or characters did anything for me. HOWEVER, it seems to me that Marshall's 'recipe' is VERY useful if you know how to add a certain spark to it.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. I should actually tell you what Marshall's recipe is like:
He maintains that a good story needs a crisis. Think of a crisis, then check if it captures your imagination. If it doesn't, then make it bigger, make it worse, change elements like locale or combine with another crisis. This is the idea that gets expanded into a novel. The lead character sets a goal which must meet four criteria: lead has to gain ossession or relief, suffers terrible consequences if he fails, has a worthy motivation (love, honor, justice...), and fights tremendous odds. - Pearls of wisdom? Maybe not, but there is a certain common sense in this. Most fanifc is weakly plotted because the authors rely on the characters to carry the story. So, a few lessons in other approaches to storytelling can only be beneficial.
Marshall's chapter on character development is uninspired, but Mutant Enemy taught us a lot about characterization. We have no real deficite there. Therefore it doesn't matter that Marshall's short chapter does not offer new insight.
Marshall's book becomes interesting in Part 2: Your Complete Guide to Plotting. He differentiates between action scenes (not necessarily fight scenes, just scenes in which something happens) and reaction scenes (reflection). Scenes are not to be confused with chapters. He's talking about logical segments. An action scene starts with a goal, has a small crisis in the middle, and usually ends with a (small) failure which results in a new preliminary goal for the character. A momentous failure is followed by a reaction scene, in which goals are re-evaluated, in which the character moves from emotional reaction to rational decision making. Afterwards you write another action scene. Action scenes are more frequent than reaction scenes.
The idea that a novel is like a string of failures is worth mentioning. Marshall does not mean momentous failures, just small ones, like the failure to get a certain information, or - once the info has been acquired - the realization that one answer gives rise to two new questions, or the inability to communicate. This is one of the lessons I've taken out of this book, something I will try to apply to my original fantasy novel.
Marshall explains in detail how to structure and arrange action and reaction scenes, how to weave sub-plots and where to place pivotal moments. Like I said, it's a Painting-by-numbers approach. But I find using it liberating, because it frees me from worries about plot. I can sit down, outline merrily away, write summaries for scenes and I'm forced to make decisions now, before writing, and putting these decisions on paper. For people like me, who start writing stories with only a vague destination in their mind but no detailed plan, this approach is extremely helpful.
Like I said, I don't like this book because it disenchants the process of writing, but it gives you a good set of crutches, enabling you to plan and outline a plot for a novel-length story. It's up to the author to put flesh on these solid bones and make something out of it that's prettier than the examples given in the book (*shudders at the memory*).
I'm glad I bought it and I'm using it dilligently (but not religiously). I just have to make sure it doesn't smother my creativity and instinct.
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