Fill In The Blanks

When I get a great story idea, I have a tendency to right it down in a rush before I forget it. I'm very forgetful and the best ideas always come to me at the worst times: right before I fall asleep, in the shower, when I'm driving. So I have to try to remember everything so I can get all the 'greatness' down quickly before it's gone. Because my memory is that wonderful.

I've written entire chapters this way. I throw down what happens with who and where. I slap in the dialogue as it comes to me. I might even chunk in a few clever pop culture references here and there. Then I move on. There is a great and terrible flaw with this method: the story sucks.

Anyone can just tell what happened to some characters. It's all about how you tell it. I'm in such a hurry to get it all down before it's gone that when you read it, you don't get a feel for the characters and situations like you need to. It's too rushed. I'm one of those authors that when it comes time to go back and edit the first draft, I have to add entire pages, even chapters. Not much cutting out extra crap for me, no sir. I need MORE.

So when I go back and reread the mess I've written, I have to ask myself some important questions:
1. What was this character thinking or feeling?
2. Is this relevant to the story itself and does it give insight to a character/situation?
3. Do I explain the situation clearly?
4. Why do we care?

These may seem like pretty obvious things to have in your writing, kind of 'duh' questions. The thing is, when a writer reads their story, they have an intimate knowledge of their characters, setting, and story line. It's all in their head so it's easy to assume that they explained themselves well enough. Not always so.

I have a tendency to tell what my characters are thinking. I like getting the reader in their heads. But I often forget to describe how they feel. Are they angry, sad, confused, delighted? Forgetting these details makes for crap writing because feelings and emotions affect every action and thought. Rage may be the entire reason the man slits his friend's throat. Joy may cause the woman to express her love for someone. Clearly expressing a characters emotions is vital to a story.

The second question just asks if this scene or chapter has an action or event that affects the story line or if it is merely there to help a reader relate to a specific character or setting. I've read books where entire chapters are dedicated to describing how a town looks or the layout of a bedroom. I've read books with pages and pages of details about a certain character down to every article of clothing and flaw on thier skin. Definitely not how I roll but you get the idea. You need to be clear about what you're trying to say and why so you won't start talking in circles, or writing in circles, whichever.

This rolls right into the next question about explaining things clearly. Remember to step out of your head and look at the story from the reader's POV. Does your wording make sense? Are you jumping around from person to person or scene to scene too quickly for the reader to be able to keep up? Maybe, like me, excessive scenery detail isn't your thing but how about we make sure that someone doesn't fall into a dumpster that wasn't there five minutes ago, okay?

And the last question which is the most important. Why do we care? I can't get into a story, no matter how interesting the situation, if I don't like any of the characters at all. I love putting some characters in my stories that are very unrelatable because sometimes you just need someone that you love to hate. It makes for fun times. But you've got to be able to relate to somebody on some level at one point. If the characters are all little clones that have no depth, who cares what happens to them?
This is the question that ties all of the others together. If I don't know what the hell is going on half the time, why would I care to continue reading? If I have no idea what the characters are thinking or feeling and therefore no insight as to why they do what they do and say what they say, what do I care if one moves away suddenly? If they don't have human qualities like depression or worry about bills or issues with their siblings, why would it bother me if you killed one off?
Because let's face it folks, it's all about drawing the reader in and keeping them there. I'd much rather have a reader say "This is trash!" because something offended them or their favorite character did something horrible than have them put the book aside because it bored them to death and they just didn't get the characters. 

If only I could take my time when I write everything out the first time. But life just isn't that simple and creativity comes and goes as it pleases. Not to mention my muse is a sadistic little thing who loves to watch me suffer before flitting away to hide for weeks and months on end. The little...

So, this is my painstakingly long process that probably needs improving but I thought I'd share just in case it helps another fellow novice writer out there. So there you go, some nuggets of wisdom from the chick who has only published a short erotica. He he.