Writing Excuses

This month's Master Class episodes focus on pacing, and we're dividing the concept of pacing into two parts: the first is the sense of progress within the story, and the second is the sense of the passage of time. In this episode we tackle that first bit, and discuss how we communicate progress to the readers.

We talk a bit about the concept of "promises made to the reader," which we covered in more detail during episode 10.14. You may want to refer back to that at some point.

Marie Brennan joins us again, this time to help us field your questions about middles. Here are the questions we collected from the various social media feeds:

* How do you maintain interest without having something explode every other chapter?

* In short fiction, how do you prevent try-fail cycles from bloating the story?

* How do you prevent the introduction of POVs during the middle of the story from being jarring?

* How do you keep subplots from turning into side quests?

* In longer stories, how important are "breather" chapters that ease the tension?

* Do you have methods for weaving plot and subplot threads together? Do you outline this, or keep it in your head?

Fifty-Cent Word: Proprioception, which serves as an excellent metaphor for what expertise with a set of tools feels like. Thank you, Marie, for simplifying the whole "the tool should be an extension of your hand" thing.

We're past the middle of the Season 10 Master Class, but we're still in the middle of our month on middles. Perhaps some spectacular failures will help us all enjoy the middle a bit more as we write our way past it.

(Filed under: "I see what you did there.")

(Filed also under: "spectacular failure.")

Character failure is a big part of making the middle of a story work. We talk about why, and we provide some tips about how to make this work well for you.

Marie Brennan took a break from her book tour and joined us for this discussion of Polytheism in fiction. (Note: Marie recorded several episodes with us, and we're posting them out of order.)

We begin by looking at the pitfalls and common mistakes that people make, and then dive into how we can make a polytheistic setting work well in support of our stories.

Liner Notes: The Belief System Generator, by Kate Hamilton

Lots of people struggle with the middles of their books. One way to look at the middle is that it's the point where you're no longer working on that new project that has you excited, but haven't yet gotten to the cool ending that has you excited.

We talk about why the middle is important, and how you can make it enjoyable not just for the reader, but for you.

We close June's Master Class episodes in the usual manner, with a Q&A from our listeners and followers on Twitter.

* How do you "Show, don't tell" a character's thoughts?

* How do you describe a character's appearance when they're in their own POV?

* What's the difference between scene and setting?

* How does your writing environment affect the scene you're writing?

* Can an evocative fantasy setting be described effectively in a short story?

 

What defines a scene? How do we, as writers, structure things using scenes? When does a scene begin, when does it end, and when has it gone on too long?

We each do this a little differently, and obviously the definitions and processes will vary widely across mediums. In this episode we talk about how we do this, and we make reference to Scene/Sequel format, the MICE quotient, and pacing.

 

We are often asked questions about the young reader markets, and while there are numerous professionals writing, editing, and publishing for that demographic, we haven't yet had an in-depth discussion with someone who really has their finger on the actual pulse of a group of those readers: a school librarian.

Kiley Snyder, Media Specialist at Discovery Middle School in Indiana, joins us to talk about hooking younger readers. Five days a week she hands books to the very people for whom you're trying to write (sometimes she even gets those books back from them.) We ask her about reluctant readers, about the common elements she sees in the books that hook her students, and about the power of shelving.

Per the syllabus for the Season 10 Master Class, June is for painting a scene, and in this episode we're going to talk about that paint.

We have all heard the "show, don't tell" rule. In this episode we'll discuss showing—how to do it well, how to do it consistently, and how to use it to accomplish things that telling just can't get across.

Liner Notes: We make several references to Episode 3.14, in which Mary (in her first guest-hosting on the show) told us about the four rules of puppetry, as they apply to her writing. That was almost six years ago, so it's probably been a while since you listened to it.

If you haven't read Mary's latest novel, Of Noble Family, this episode contains many spoilers, and you'll get a lot more out of the discussion if you read the book (or listen to the book) before listening.

So... spoilers.

Of Noble Family is set in Mary's Glamourist Histories universe, an alternate history setting, on the island of Antigua. Our discussion focuses primarily upon the research that Mary did, and the way she tested and then applied that research to the story. This includes how the research touched on the magic system of  the Glamourist Histories, and how linguistic and cultural differences might affect the use of Glamour.

Liner Notes

* The sailing scene that puts Glamour on a ship — Word docx file OR online at Mary's webpage

* The reference book Mary made note of during the episode: Slave Women in Caribbean Society, 1650-1838, by Barbara Bush