NaperWriMo Wiki

• 27 in attendance
• photo gallery

Jenny Johnson / Gwen Tolios

• Slides
• Have done NaNo 10 years, pantsed all 10, finished 6 of them
• Stephen King quote
  • In my view, stories and novel consists of
    • narration (moves stories from A to B to C)
    • description (sensory)
    • dialogue (brings character to life)
  • Plot? Doesn't really belong. I distrust it
    • our lives are largely plotless
    • plotting and spontaneity of real creation aren't compatible
  • my basic belief about stories is that they make themselves; the job of the writer is to give them a place to grow and to transcribe them.

Story Drivers

• Plot
  • solve an external problem
• Character
  • drives the action, nothing external
• World
  • based on the world an dhow it works
• Example: The Croods

Exercise: Collection of Books

• Some are obvious, some are not
• The Hate You Give - Character, World
• The Martian - Plot
• The Giver
  • Plot
  • World
• Eat, Pray, Love - Character/World
• Gentlemen's Guide to Vice or Virtue - Character
• Game of Thrones - Character? World?
• Ready Player One - World
  • Plot (finding quest novel)
• Jungle Book - World
  • plot?
• Brave New World - World
• Lord of the Rings - World
• You can have a story that isn't driven by plot

For this workshop, forget about plot-driven stories

• NaNo isn't really the place to have a perfect draft, it's about getting words on paper, developing and learning about your story as you go.

Pantsing

• Flying by the seat of your pants
• also known as Discovery Writing
  • learning about characters, learning more about my world
  • what might be conflicts between groups
• To pants successfully
  • lean on tropes
  • answering questions and writing them
  • use random scenes to get the juices to go
  • switch POVs
  • use other media stories as a model (don't read a book in November)
• Figure out what you have and if you can turn it into something

Character-driven novels

• Main focus is the transformation the character goes through
  • overcoming fears, shifting opinions, gaining confidence, reversing moralities
  • e.g., Breaking Bad
  • sometimes it is about the character resisting transformation
    • e.g., Jennifer Government (satire about our capitalist society)
      • large cast of characters, some go through growth; others don't
    • succumbing to fatal flaws, being left behind as times change
• Not focusing on the growth of your character (you might know it yet) but lean on character tropes
• We consume media; tropes exist because they are
  • recognizable
  • we all know them
  • we're familiar with the functions of them
    • e.g., mentor, teacher, school outcast
  • how does the character I'm thinking of fall into a trope I understand/like and want to flesh out
• Princess in the tower
  • Rapunzel
• Smart, ditsy girl
  • Pinky Pie from My Little Pony
  • Elle from Legally Blonde
• The bad ass woman
  • Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman

Tropes

• The hero
• The outlaw
• Helper
• Jester
• Innocent
• Adventurer
• The Sage
• Smart Guy
• Party Dude
• Lancer/fighter
• How do my characters distinctively interact with each other so readers don't get lost
• Tropes are templates -- you have to make your characters unique
  • Prof. McGonagall and Dumbledoor are the same trope but very different
  • Batman and Ironman are both billionaire heroes
• Elsa - woman trying to control
• Avengers/Marvel
  • Starlord and Deadpool are similar character tropes
• Wonder Woman
• Evil sorceresses
  • White Queen, Chronicles of Narnia
  • Snow White's stepmom
  • Maleficent
  • Stepmother in Cinderella
• Make characters unique
  • backstory

Character dynamics

• Very tropey
• Confident flirt failing miserably with genuine feelings
• Expert at not taking the hing
• Bro we are rivals but I actually admire you
• Tough on the outside, soft on the inside
• Bold Optimist, Reclusive pessimist
• Best friends
• Pick up the beats of the relationships and use them
• Groups of people
  • three musketeers
  • 2 smart people and one chaotic dumb person
  • dysfunctional (found) family
  • cinnamon roll protection squad
• Bookworm nerd and demon
• Hyper-competent team (battle couple)
• Adventurous and unheeded voice of reason
• Big Hero/Figure of Six
  • main character and villain have the same path but went in different directions
  • "foils"
  • putting a mirror to reflect/highlight the different paths
  • Protection squad
• Villain redemption arcs

Character pantsing tips

• Write dialogue
• Reactions (to events or people)
• First meetings, first kisses, first deaths
• last meetings, last kisses, final deaths
• dynamics/trope scenes or plots
  • write scenes that are specific to the character dynamics or tropes
  • "I think the character will do this next"
• Pivotal moments for your character

Plot and Story

• Plot is what you are scripting
  • story mechanic
  • how things are happening that I as a writer have dictated
  • this has to happen for this to happen
  • a structured plot I've developed
• Story
  • what is the tale I'm trying to tell
  • The story of Cinderella
    • a girl who has been forced to work for her family members, she has an out and is now high above them
  • Plot: dad dies; step mother puts her in the attic; and she is oppressed by her stepsister
• readers want to see the story arc
• If you don't have the beats and dedicated scenes, don't worry about it; your character will find the story eventually.
• How a character reacts to the kiss will spark a story for you.
• You can turn a story into overcoming it and having a coming out party; or if the kiss was amazing, write a romance.
• Sarah: One year in Nano, I took my character and threw them into a cooking show. Didn't end up within the story, but helped me explore the character.
• Stephen King's On Writing
  • what if scenario: not plotted out, it naturally comes about as he discovers what his characters are going to do
• Lean on what you know
• Helpful to have a story but not necessary; you're only writing your first draft
  • you will edit it later
  • if your story isn't clear, it's okay.
  • you should have an inkling of your story by the end of the first draft.
  • you might have a number of stories (like a trilogy)
• There are separate writing markets that sell based on tropes
  • people will look for books about second chance romance
  • or doctor and patient
  • it will help you explain your story and market it later
• Character arcs happen step by step in real life and aren't plotted out.

World driven story

• They are on the way out
• Purely world driven stories have not been a thing (replaced by character driven ones)
• When a lot of the world wasn't known, world driven stories were more popular.
• Showcases a world not ours, wonder at it
• Often we compare it to our own, ironically/satirically/metaphorically
• Many are SFF
• Examples
  • Star Trek is a world-driven story
    • many worlds were driven off of our own
  • E.g., Crazy Rich Asians
  • Historical fiction is super immersed in the world/time setting
    • Very different to our current, modern world.
  • Travelogues
  • Modern travel guides
• Study and the Living History of Dragons is very travelogu-y
• Historical Mysteries
  • might be that way

Use favorite settings

• If you like SF, space ships, space stations
• Victorian London
• WW II
• Boarding school stories

Purple Prose x1000

• Drives world stories
• Purple prose = really over-the-top verbatious description
• Tolkien does this
• In a world-based story, this is what it is about; immersing the reader in the world
• Write someone walking into the room and give me all five sentences
• You will trim this down in edits but until you know the details of the world and what is important, you will need it all.
• Easy to get into (if you don't know what the plot is)

Ask why

• It has to be very visual, you have to be aware of it, it has to be very structured
• Why are the wizarding and muggle communities very different?
  • Statute of Secrecy, a government decision to separate them
  • Why?
    • Wizards and witches abused those without magic
• If the answer isn't in the book, you're missing an opportunity to develop your story.
• Go two or three levels of why
• Also ask HOW

Things to write

• The history of a world, habits of people
• Describe cities, food, clothes
• Tensions between groups of people
• Name oceans and mountains
  • differences in how people name common elements
• Create creatures
• Explain the difference between this world and ours
• Ask WHY
• Think about how things CONNECT in your world
• I want to see something that is unique, to be immersed completely in it

World building

• Government
• Geography
• Culture
• History
• Science
• You should have some inkling of all five, good understanding of perhaps two of them.
• Give your reader something to grab onto

Exercise: Build a Culture

• Culture is secluded and private
• Why?
  • Secret powers
  • Why?
    • A disease
    • How?
      • Government experiment gone wrong
• How to build a story
  • write out the rules, people breaking them
• Surround it with logical understanding of why things are the way they are

Worldbuilding pantsing tips

• History of a world, connecting past to present to future events
• Cultural/.geographical tensions
• Shifts in the world, upheavals
• How things work, be it the religion, a doo-dad, or a magical system
• These approaches can apply to characters
• World driven novels now have to have strong characters or strong plots
• YA books today vs. books for teens published 20 years ago
  • prose and styles are very different; reading habits change
• Once you go through the Why's gives you the setting for sticking in the character
• E.g.,
  • Character is really career focused
    • her father achieved the American dream and she wants to surpass it
  • you will discover characters as you write (only have to go one level deep)
• YA books existed 20-30 years ago: Silhouettes first love
• Tamora Pierce
• Considered YA today
  • Little Women
  • Hobbit but released as a children's book

Plot driven stories

• Some people need a little more structure
• It's called having a plan b but you don't know what it is
• Plots will often naturally develop as you write things.
• Plot should be built around the world you're discovering. Will your plot fix conflicting cultures or make it worse and worse? Will your plot rip apart a relationship? Or will characters grow apart naturally?
• Michael Crichton thrillers, crime/mystery shows
• You can use a classic plot
  • there are tons of these
  • star crossed lovers (Romeo and Juliet)
  • rags to riches (Cinderella)
  • hero's journey (Star Wars)
  • another thing you can lean on and customize
  • fairy tales or biopics
  • save the world
  • win a thing (competition, job, award)
  • King Arthur

MICE Quotient

• MILIEU: A milieu story concerns the world surrounding the characters you create.
• IDEA: An idea story concerns the information you intend the reader to uncover or learn as they read your story.
• CHARACTER: A character story concerns the nature of at least one of the characters in your story. Specifically, what this character does and why they do it.
• EVENT: An event story concerns what happens and why it happens.

Writing Excuses podcast

• Has its own website
• A variety of materials
• Mary Robinnette Kowal won a Hugo recently

Shipping and Handling podcast

• By two agents about industry trends, querying a novel

Chat books

• Very new
• Story being told through private messaging dialogue
• Usually suspense/drama
• Character or plot; entirely written in dialogue
• Very good distinctive character voices
• Plot through dialogue

Summary

• Lean into what you know
• Use character tropes, character dynamics, settings and worlds you know
• Instinctively you are familiar with stories
• Use that to write what you're imagining