Lazy, Good-for-Nothing People

Hi,

Some of you may have noticed I didn't post an article in January. I intended to, but must have forgotten. I did write one, honest! Here it is:

I read an article recently about how a lot of the problems authors have with characters is them not being realistic enough. A lot of authors would put the blame on the dialect or certain reactions and will add to the story to fix the issue. However, in many cases adding will make things worse, perhaps to the point of the piece being abandoned.

The truth is when writing about people you need to remember a key fact about human nature:  Humans will do as little as possible to achieve a desired result.

Put another way if your character, Bob let’s say, has to stop the bad guy, let’s call him Joe, from going to a party he is unlikely to plan meticulously for days with no sleep. What is more likely is that he’ll just go up to Joe and do either of the following:

1.     “Hey, Joe,” Bob called.

“Yes?” Joe replied.“Don’t go to the party next Saturday.”“Why?” 

“Nobody wants you there.” 

“Oh, that’s a shame; I was really looking forward to it.” 

2.    “Hey, Joe,” Bob called. 

“Yes?” Joe replied.“The party’s been cancelled, sorry.” 

“Oh, that’s a shame; I was really looking forward to it.”

OK, so perhaps they were over-simplified, but the point still stands. Bob is not going to try to manipulate Joe with hypnosis, or go to the effort of getting a gun and shooting him.

If you want your character to do something more complex you can either make a more complicated scenario, maybe Bob wants to go instead of Joe and has to persuade him to give his ticket over; or make the other character respond unexpectedly:

“Hey, Joe,” Bob called. 

“Yes?” Joe replied.“The party’s been cancelled, sorry.” 

“No it’s not. I’ve spoken to the host just now; she’s asked me to bring a friend.” 

“Ah!” 

“Why don’t you want me to go?” Joe thought and suddenly said, “You fancy Claire, you know I like her.”

As you can see that introduces another element, lust and fancy, both human characteristics. What would be unrealistic is this scenario:

“Hey, Joe,” Bob called. 

“Yes?” Joe replied.“The party’s been cancelled, sorry.” 

“No it’s not. I’ve spoken to the host just now; she’s asked me to bring a friend.” 

“Ah!” 

“Why don’t you want me to go?” Joe thought and suddenly said, “You fancy Claire, you know I like her.” Joe got out a gun he had been carrying around for moments like this and shot Bob stone dead in broad daylight. Bob, however was wearing a bullet proof vest, he had planned for this unexpected turn of events. A helicopter landed across the street and a law enforcement squad arrested Joe.

At first glance an author may think that’s fantastic it’s got a love affair, guns, helicopters, the lot. But anything more than a glance will tell the reader that the plot is unrealistic. The only case something like that would work is if you had a character like Sherlock Holmes who’s main character trait is connecting more dots than everyone else and working out the consequences to his actions ahead of time. The reason Holmes works as a character is because those traits are the story. Holmes is not an old gut off the streets – he is a detective who is great at what he does.

But why does Holmes work as a character? Firstly, people like to fantasise that they are like him, but most importantly is that Holmes has flaws. His abilities do mean he isn’t as adept at social encounters unless he wants information. It enflames his ego and causes him to seem like a popinjay a lot of the time.

What does that have to do with the main rule I’ve covered in this article? Well, every rule has its exceptions and that is one example.

Thanks

Matt B

Continuous Rewriting

Every person has a favourite aspect when writing. For me it is the development of an interesting plot and strong characters. Most of this happens during the first draft, at least for me anyway. So how do you maintain enjoyment in writing once your favourite bit is done and you’re left with the grammar and the dreaded rewrite?

Well, there are, as always, many ways to do this, but this article will focus on one:  Continuous Rewriting.

As the name suggests, this is where you rewrite your piece continually throughout the writing process. I don’t promise that it will always involve your favourite aspect of writing, but that isn’t what the method is for. The intention is through continuous rewriting you never have to go too long without being able to go back to your favourite aspect of writing.

I know I’m famous for plugging my work in these articles, but in this case I have to. Yesterday I completed a five-day tidy up on my novel. In the past this would have consisted of me going through sorting out the commas and referring to the reviews I have received. But this time it was different. I did more than just correct my mistakes, I added bits in. I did a proper rewrite of the chapters. Normally rewrites happen after the first draft is complete, but I know that once I complete the first draft I am going to be reluctant to go through and rewrite it.

The beauty of continuous rewriting is that consistency errors are a thing of the past. You write something in chapter five and you can go back and hint at it in chapter three. Or perhaps you add something in chapter one and you develop it in chapter four. Had you been forcing yourself to plod onwards with a plot you knew you were going to change then your rewrite would be a long and arduous process. Now your first draft will be the plot you want and the write will mainly be making what you have written clearer and more engaging.

Perhaps it shouldn’t be called a first draft anymore; after all a first draft is often said to be the basic shape and outline of your story. With continuous rewriting your ‘first draft’ will be a filled out, full story that’s a bit rough around the edges. You could view the traditional first draft as a photo of a squiggly circle and a continuously rewritten first draft as a fuzzy photo of a complete statue – complete, just not very clear.

OK, some people may still not get what I’m saying, I don’t know, so I’ll use a real life example:

I was writing the start of chapter five of The Magician’s Tattoo when I realised that gagging and tying one of the main characters to a chair was not the best way to go about things. I could’ve continued and worked my way out of the mess by having him escape, but why bother? So I re-wrote the start of the chapter to a new, less awkward of containment. This gave me an additional issue; I had to get the character to identify where he was and who had taken him there. I put some initials on one of the walls that he would recognise but then yet another issue occurred. It was important that the reader knew what those initials were, so I went back to chapter three and added them in there.

Whilst over at chapter three I noticed a few consistency errors so I read through the chapter and corrected them. Half way through the chapter I realised I was no longer correcting anything and I had actually added two-hundred words to the story introducing two new plot elements and a twist. At this point I thought that it would be fun for the reader if they could pick up on a few of these things in the first two chapters without realising their significance.

Guess what? I went to chapter one and added a few bits in and started correcting the consistency errors my chapter three edit had made. Then I rewrote a whole page’s worth of story, adding depth to the characters. It was this point I realised what I was doing. I was rewriting my novel before I’d even reached the end.

After five days’ worth of work I had edited, rewritten and improved the first four chapters, added depth to the plot and filled in that shell of a story I originally had. Now, I’m on chapter five and am constantly editing and rewriting on the fly.

The best bit about this method is that the rewriting consists of both editing my work and developing the plot creatively. Another fantastic thing is that it works perfectly with my organic plotting method outlined in a previous article. I don’t have a plan in written form when I write as it prevents me working creatively, so being able to go back and add bits on the fly is really useful.

My guess is that most people do this method to some extent, but only when you realise that you are doing it can you maximise its full potential. Say goodbye to long rewrites and hello to fun writing all the to the very end.

Hope this helps,

Matt B

The Magician's Tattoo Update, and Vocab

Hi,

As some of you will know, I am writing a fantasy novel. Until recently this had been on hold for various reasons and hadn't been worked on properly for about a year. Now, I am just getting back into writing it and have decided before continuing chapter 5 it might be worthwhile just thinking about where I am actually going with the story.

Just because I haven't written much for it in a while doesn't mean I don't think about it. Characters are forming in my mind and I am thinking about moving what was going to be the ending to the middle and making the story a bit longer.

And, to prove I am keeping up with learning new words here is a paragraph with a sample of new words:

This paragraph is being written holus-bolus with no fore thinking, hence the fact the spurious quality compared to my normal writing. I do plan that learning new words will fructify for my writing, whose vocabulary is currently verging on entering an inane. What is nice about writing, and specifically writing on WDC are the random douceurs I get for doing different activities. I, like many people, know of troglodytes who have no regard for quality writing, but my ripostes are normally enough to stop it happening again as I often use periphrasis in them.
I was in Skyrim admiring the many sastrugi, but then I took an  arrow to the knee!

In normal lingo this reads:


This paragraph is being written all-at-once with no fore thinking, hence the fact the non-genuine quality compared to my normal writing. I do plan that learning new words will benefit for my writing, whose vocabulary is currently verging on entering an empty void. What is nice about writing, and specifically writing on WDC are the random pleasant gifts I get for doing different activities. I, like many people, know of recluses, who probably dwell in caves, who have no regard for quality writing, but my quick responses are normally enough to stop it happening again as I often use a longer phrasing in place of a possible shorter phrasein them.
I was in Skyrim admiring the many wave like ridges of hard snow, but then I took an  arrow to the knee!

Thanks
Matt B

Exams nearly over

Hi,


My January exams are nearly over. In fact all my AS exams are over; I only have my A2 ICT exam to do on the 26th.


The biology exam went better than I was expecting. It was easier than many of the practise papers, but still relatively challenging. The physics exam couldn't have gone any better. The questions asked were generally all ones in my best areas and only one or two stumped me for longer than the time allowed. However due to the quick speed I answered other questions I had time to spare. The chemistry exam was by far the hardest exam I have ever done. Ironically it is also the only exam with the first 20 marks being multiple choice. Some of the questions were really hard and there were no 'wow, that's easy' questions. I thought chemistry would be the best exam then physics, then biology, yet it seems that the order was completely different.


I have a bit of time before the ICT exam and there is little I can do in the way of revising as it's one of those subjects where you need to revise as close to the exam as you can whilst still getting it all in. I'm going to use this time to catch up on some writing, reading, and Skyrim playing.


Thanks
Matt

Doctor to be?

Hi,


As all of you who have read my profile or the blog description will know, I aspire to go to medical school and then become a doctor. However, I've been thinking about the future, as you do when a new year starts, and started asking my self some probing questions. Why do I want to be a doctor? Well, the honest answer is that I want a job that challenges me daily and will push my academic abilities to their limits. The thing that shocked me was that money came (all be it low down) on the list above wanting to help people. I hadn't realised that wanting to help people wasn't actually very high on my list. Money is not going to be what I base my future career on as I want to be happy in my job more than I want to be paid for a job I'm not happy in. The fact was that I needed to rethink.


So, I got out my 'Getting into medical school 2012 entry' book and flicked through the pages until I found a page titled 'Commitment' on page 30. On the page was a list of things I should have done or be in the process of doing if I seriously want to become a doctor or go to medical school. Granted the first 3 questions I answered yes. The fourth question 'have you attended a first-aid course?' I answered 'only if one I did when I was 10 counts'. The fifth question 'have you arranged a visit to your local GP?' I could answer yes, but I only did so because I had to to have any chance of getting into medical school. The next questions 'Have you arranged a visit to your local hospital to see the work of doctors first hand?', 'What day of the week does your favourite newspaper publish a health section?', 'Do you know what the main causes of death are in this country?', my answer to those were No, Don't know, I only know because I studied them in school respectively. Doesn't bode well, does it.


By this point I realised that I seriously needed to think about my future career, so I sat down and asked 'What is my favourite subject?' Answer:  Chemistry. 'What am I most interested in out of all the subjects I've ever studied?' Answer:  Chemistry. 'What subject am I best at?' Answer:  Chemistry. 'What subject do I really want  to take further?' Answer:  Chemistry. 'What subject should, therefore I be thinking about taking at  uni?' Answer:  Chemistry.


Well, I think that little session was fairly conclusive in where my interests actually lie. So, I dug out some old (well, 2010/2011) university prospectuses and looked up Chemistry. To my surprise there were actually a number of different Chemistry courses including one that immediately caught my eye. MChem Chemistry with Pharmaceutical Chemistry including 1 year in industry. Well, that is pretty much exactly what I would love to study at university. It has my passion for Chemistry, my interest in chemical side of medicine and a years placement to help get into a career at the end of it. I did a bit of digging on the university website and found that the requirements were AAB, so it wasn't going to be a course people did because they had bad grades. I also found that the final year is actually a big research project within a real research group. Perfect!


Of course, finding this out is all well and good, but I am not going to get ahead of myself yet. I couldn't clearly find out what the university wanted on top of the grades. What work experience is expected? What external interests are they looking for?


There are certain ideas for answers to those question I came up with my self. I know that I read around science out of school so if they need someone interested and knowledgeable about Chemistry I would fit the bill. I also know that online collaboration in science is becoming increasingly popular with projects such as PolyMath being so successful and  other fields becoming increasingly interested. So, how does this help me? Well, although completely different in so many ways, I do run an online fantasy writing group with around 95 members. I delegate responsibility to certain members, I keep others in check and on the whole I keep the whole thing running. The reason this is good is that I am no stranger to online communication and organisation. It shows leadership skills in both an online environment and of a large number of people.


Ever since I first started enjoying science at an early age, I knew I wanted to 'be a scientist when I grow up'. Well, now I am at the stage where I need to make the decisions which will very likely dictate what I will be. Medicine may have sounded a good option for a while, but when I got down to thinking seriously I knew where I wanted to go. I know I want to research and hold an academic position. I also know I want a PhD and, although you need one to specialise in certain areas of medicine, that I want one in an area I am interested in. A four year Chemistry degree including industrial experience followed by a 2-3 year PhD in something Chemistry related all ending with me getting a job in Pharmaceutical/Chemical research would be my dream future.




And, also to prove that I am keeping to my new year's resolution of learning new words here is a paragraph including all the new words I have learned so far:


Ab ovo of 2012 I have been striving to improve myself without turning into a bit of a popinjay. Of course if I improve myself to the point of getting a high paid job then I will need to ensure my relation with the bank remains a professional, fiduciary one, without causeries becoming unheard of. I can assure that any bank manager wishing to steal my money can expect to be keelhauled. In a way this blog has become an omnium-gatherum of random, somewhat connected things.


In easier speak this translates to:


From the beginning of 2012 I have been striving to improve myself without turning into a bit of an arrogant, vain person who struts about. Of course if I improve myself to the point of getting a high paid job then I will need to ensure my relation with the bank remains a professional, trusting one, without informal chats becoming unheard of. I can assure that any bank manager wishing to steal my money can expect to be severely rebuked (or hauled under the keel of a ship). In a way this blog has become an miscellaneous collection of random, somewhat connected things.


I'm well on the way to becoming a literary master of words no one uses any more!


Thanks


Matt B

New Year's Resolutions

Hi,

I hope you are all enjoying your first day of 2012.

The bad thing about a new year, other than spending the first few months of it writing 2011 instead of 2012, is that you need to make a resolution or two. Normally I set one which I fail. Last year I think I resolved to finish The Magician's Tattoo. Ha! In the whole of 2012 I think I wrote a chapter and half and edited the other chapters a little. There is too much other stuff going on. I did, however write 3 short stories and 12 articles which is good. Sadly that was not my resolution.

This year, I'm going to make things easier for myself and set realistic resolutions.

1. I resolve to upload 52 posts to this blog in 2012. The aim is one a week, but by saying 52 I can allow myself to catch up on weeks I miss and still succeed.

2. I resolve to write more than 2011. I have not quantified this so that I don't get bogged down in numbers. If I continue with my article a month and an annual halloween and christmas story plus a contest story I will succeed on the grounds that I write 2 chapter this year.

3. I resolve to revise more than in 2011. Simply by revising for the January exams will let me tick this one off. GCSE allowed me to get good grades with minimal revision... A Levels don't!

4. I resolve to learn over 150 new words this year. This one will be easy. For Christmas I got a page-a-day calendar called 365 new words a year. The calendar ab ovo has taught me a new word. Ab ovo, by the way is the first 'word' in the calendar and means 'from the beginning'. Its current meaning came in the 16th century when Sir Philip Sidney adapted it to mean 'from the beginning'. Originally 'Ab ovo' meant 'from the' and was followed by any suitable word. For example Horace, the roman poet, wrote 'Ab ovo usque ad mala' which translates to 'From the egg to the apple'. You can see in that sense 'ab ovo' means from the. OK, I'm going off on a tangent here, but you get my drift.

5. To get an A in all of my AS levels and an A or above in Fast Track A2 ICT. This is more of a requirement for the rest of my life as med schools need those As

I will be emailing this list to myself through 'futureme' and I will receive it next year.

Thanks for reading

Matt B

New year

Happy New Year!!!

When Santa Got Stuck Up The Chimney

Hi,

Merry Christmas to you all. I finished the Christmas story last night at fifteen minutes to Christmas. I successfully completed my challenge!

Enjoy!

When Santa Got Stuck Up The Chimney

Thanks

Matt

Christmas Eve

Hi,

It's Christmas Eve! Need I say more?

Well, I guess I can. If I get my Christmas Piece online today I will be thrilled and I'm sure all you readers (well, looking at the stats not many are visitors, more just bots from some money-scam site visiting for less than 10 seconds 5 times a day) will be thrilled too.

If I'm successful it means I have been able to write a story in a week. Now, you're all thinking 'liar' you started 2 weeks ago. True... but, apart from the opening paragraph I didn't write anything until last Sunday so it all adds up to make a week.

Thanks
Matt

Ill

Hi,

I'm ill. I have a bloody awful cold and a sore throat. This is impacting everything! In college today and yesterday I've been sniffling and sneezing. In my piano lesson I had to keep stopping mid-flow to blow my nose. I've not written since Sunday. My personal Deadline is Saturday. I've only written 488 words. My target is 2500 minimum. I can't even be bothered to write this blog with anything other than simple sentences with 1 clause.

I'm ill.

Thanks
Matt B