I've Been Thinking About...Random Writing Bits and Bobs

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Because of the “bob” in the post title, I did a search for bobbing, which shortened itself to bob and this came up. So why not?Photo by quentin touvard on Unsplash

My goal with this Substack is to help you to create and sustain a writing practice that will ultimately result in that most wondrous of things called a novel. To do that, I offer (I hope) inspiration and motivation through my Sunday Love Letters, and one post that delves more into craft during the week. This week’s post is craft-ish. It’s a collection of thoughts I’ve had as I engage in my own writing practice. Since I’ve been busy with the Artist’s Way class this week, I thought it a good time to corral some bits and bobs. I hope one or more of them land with you.

1. Make a note where you left off. I’m a knitter and just like with my writing, I love the process more than the finishing. Which means I have a zillion WIPs in progress. I never know when I’m going to get bored and wander away from a sweater or a shawl on the needles. But I just about always do. And then I return to it and have no idea where I was in the pattern or how to get back into it.

Same same with writing. Always, always make a note where you left off. You may think you’ll get right back to it but life has a way of happening. If you’ve made a note as to where you plan to go next, future you will thank past you.

2. Root in place. By this I mean to give the reader a sense of where they are in the scene. I often read chapters in manuscripts and several pages in I have no idea where the scene is taking place. Is it outside? Is it sunny or raining? Is it inside, and if so where? In a kitchen or a bathroom? Where? You can easily do this with subtle physical beats: She turned the faucet on and filled the kettle. He unlocked the bathroom door. The storm began as she stepped out of the car. Readers need to feel grounded in a story. You do this by showing details of the setting the characters are in.

3. No talking heads! Closely paired with the above, please no long stretches of dialogue with no tags or beats. If you love dialogue that much, write screenplays. I often read manuscripts where I imagine the characters talking as two balloons floating in air. You can use physical beats, as above, to anchor them, or go on the body (I hate that phrase, but there’s no better way to say it), to connect us with the character’s current way of being in their space. You can also use interiority here, giving a glimpse into your character’s thoughts and feelings in the moment.

I just found this post from last spring that I forgot I wrote. It speaks to both #2 and #3 above.)

4. Surround your characters with their own ecosystem. I read a great newsletter this week and now of course I can’t find it or remember the author’s name. (If I recover it I’ll add it to my Sunday Love Letter.) The writer talked about how characters do not live in a vacuum. But too often it seems as if they do. Where are their friends? Family members? Acquaintances, even? Perhaps your character is a confirmed introvert. Well, even so, they have to fetch groceries, go to the post office, get in a car and drive somewhere. The point is, no man or woman is an island. There will be other humans in her life. They are handy for things like creating conflict for your proto, getting in the way of her goals. Use them.

5. Write a logline for your novel to guide you as you plot. (Thank you, Camille Pagan.) I have heard this advice from here and smiled and nodded at her brilliance but, um, never actually done it. But recently Courtney Maum had a post on writing query letters (it’s for paid subscribers, of which I am not one, but the relevant part is before the paywall) and in it she offered this pithy phrase for a logline. Who needs to accomplish what by when, where, and why? (And why am I the person to write it?) Further, she says:

“…if you can’t apply this formula to your project, it’s often because your project has no stakes, timeliness, or plot. You need one of these three things to get past the red rope of publishing. Life will be easier for you if you have all three, but you can get by with one.”

This phrase broke two novels open for me and gave me a starting point on a logline for a client. And while her post was aimed at publishing and specifically queries, knowing the answer to this formula is useful for a whole lot more, too. Such as a touchstone to refer back to as you draft. Which was Camille’s point all along.

6. Seriously? The button chair¹ is more important than talent, voice, style, character arc, structure, anything. Without the button chair the rest of it does not exist. Which is why so many of my posts deal with motivation and inspiration.

7. Planning and plotting is great. I’m a believer. And because of that, I spend way too much time in the planning to the point where I sometimes sit up and realize I’m spinning my wheels. So lately I’ve been reminding myself that But sometimes you need to just trust the story and let it lead you. Place your faith in the larger story. Allow yourself to follow the words on the page and let them guide your hand.

8. A pug lying on your feet as you write is mega motivation to stay in the chair and stick with the page.

9. A pro tip for journaling. Write only on the right-hand side of the notebook. The facing page is then open for notes. I write morning pages and do a lot of side writing on my novels. (Probably too much—see #7.). I also have lousy handwriting and in the heat of the moment, I write fast and dirty. When I go back to mine my ideas, I can’t find anything. In France last year I needed a new journal and the only ones that did not have graph pages (the French love graph notebooks, god only knows why) had blank pages on the left and lined paper on the right. That is when I hit on the plan of only writing on one side and leaving the other for notes. This is life-changing magic. I can access my ideas now!

10. Writing chapters non-sequentially can smash blocks. I used to be a confirmed write-everything-in-order person. And there’s logic to that. There is. It makes sense to write your story in order because scenes build upon one another in a upward arc. Thinking about writing out of order gave me the willies. But then one day last year I realized I was well and truly stuck. I didn’t know what was going to happen in the next scene, but I did have ideas about a scene a bit farther forward in the story. So I allowed myself to write it. I ended up writing the entire second half of the novel that way. And when I went back to the first half it felt dead in comparison. (Still trying to make that first half work better, but that’s another story.)

Okay, that’s it, that’s all I’ve got for now. I’ll be back on Sunday with a Love Letter. And Artist’s Way-ers, I’ll see you tomorrow!

1. The button chair=your butt in your writing chair.