I'm Tired...

...but I did 1.3 pages in about an hour.

Back to "The 38" tomorrow.

Slam Dunc

In the Bickham book ("The 38..." - see introduction to right) he talks a lot about a story being a record of a strong character's action to overcome obstacles to his goals. In a book that I read recently with Ian, the author provides a lot of conflict and a lot of positive action. Keep in mind as you look at the outline below that the chapters are quite short (3 1/2 to 5 1/2 pages).

Summary of Dunc's Dump by Gary Paulsen

1 trouble: mixing chemicals
threat: Amos's low grades in science
threat: will Melissa notice him (Amos)?
looking forward: speculation of how things will be with Melissa
trouble: chem explosion
strong character: Dunc takes action, gets out of bedroom
trouble: Amos's mother calls him downstairs

2 trouble: cleaning up mess
strong character: Dunc is loyal, helps clean mess
strong character: Dunc decides on a course of action-project find out what's
going on at the dump
threat: what if they wind up in trouble like before? Will they find what's in garbage?
strong character: Dunc knows things
trouble: pail disaster (Amos)

3 strong character: Dunc has a plan, resolve against Amos's objections, equipment
threat: will they be successful at the dump?

4 threat: Amos feels sick, scared
trouble: it's dark
strong character: Amos keeps going
trouble: they might be discovered
trouble: the mannequin “grabs” Amos's leg
strong character: Dunc reassures Amos of the plan, calms him, moves on
trouble: Amos feels lost
strong character: Dunc gets on with collecting samples, is prepared with gloves
trouble: something wiggles and squeaks as Amos picks it up

5 threat: what if Amos's parents come home?
Strong character: Dunc is prepared, reasons with Amos
Strong character: Dunc finds something from his research

Rereading the outline (and after having read more from this series) I see that Amos is used as a contrast to Dunc and, of course, for comic relief. Dunc is obviously the duo's confident leader.

I am surprised at the amount of movement and action. That's compact writing. It's no wonder that it's fun to read!

Today's writing: 1.0 pages (editing, new writing, and a bit of blogging)

Editing

Did some rearranging, read through more free writes, wrote.

Today's writing: .8 hours/1 page

Go For a Drive!

Today I plotted a short I've been working on for a while. I had been free writing on a list of potential conflicts and background info. I felt it was time to review, pull together, do some editing.

I focused on creating a sensible timeline for events, then rearranging stuff logically. This helped me view the story as a continuous whole and sort out the action and motivations.

I think the free writes helped me explore some possibilities and see what might work and what wouldn't fit. I guess that's why sometimes you just have to keep writing. You don't always know where you're going. You have to keep driving around until you find something. Not writing is like idling in the driveway. You don't get anywhere.

Go for a drive!

Today's writing: 1.2 hrs/1.4 pages

*** The 38 ***

10 DON'T HAVE THINGS HAPPEN FOR NO REASON...

...when you can use background and motivation to instill logic and credibility in your fiction.

* story logic leads to believability
* character needs background for action but an immediate cause for the action,too
* coincidence in fiction is deadly; the character must seek out the desired event, then work for it


Today's writing: 1.5 hours/1.2 pages

*** The 38 ***

9 DON'T DUCK TROUBLE...

...when you can fill your writing with true conflict.

* conflict is the tension between characters with opposing goals
* chance, coincidence (adversity) can also create sympathy but deny character the opportunity to understand, plot, confront
* To set up conflict: put two characters with opposing goals onstage to struggle now





Today's writing: .75 hours/1.2 pages

Yesternight

I fell asleep before doing my entry...but not before doing 1.1 pages!