Writing Advice (From an Agent!)

Nathan Bransford is one of the many agents who blog, and he's one of the better ones out there. I follow a lot of blogs and long before I started following his I was reading his work. That's because what he writes gets picked up and redistributed throughout the 'Blogosphere'.

And now it's my turn to push his stuff.
Today he has put up a pretty complete index» of his advice articles on writing.
Go now, check it out, bookmark it and follow his blog.
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Just how did we get this wasteland?

I love a good post-apocalyptic story, living by your wits, outracing death, and searching for survival. Many stories set in these fallen worlds are focused on restoring what came before. The idea is that before the 'fall' everybody was much better off. Well is that true? Or is it a mistaken assumption by the survivors or author? What if the reality is that the world that came before is the one the precipitated the fall?

There is a fascinating article over at COSMOS Magazine entitled Civilisations: why they fail». What is interesting about the article is the examination of the role of self-deception in the failure of civilizations. The ability for a group of people to ignore an obvious problem, even one that will threaten their survival.

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Somewhere in the middle of the Pacific is a small island with big heads. It's arguably one of the most famous islands in the world but the people responsible for that fame are gone. Their civilization long since failed.

As the COSMOS Article asks:
What did Easter Islanders say as they were cutting down the last palm tree? Were they saying, "Think of our jobs as loggers, not these trees?" Were they saying, "Respect my private property rights?" Surely Easter Islanders must have realised the consequences of destroying their forest. One wonders whether people of the next century – if there are still people alive – will be equally astonished about our blindness today.

I ask, do we look back on the Easter Islanders as a great civilization, one that we would aspire to recreate? How about the Mayans? The Vikings on Iceland? *Maybe* the survivors looked back on those civilizations as something to recreate? If that was the case than they were themselves practising the same self-deception that led to their respective falls to begin with.

Are your post apocalyptic characters deceiving themselves? Do they perceive the world that came before as the paradise they must regain? Civilizations fail for reasons, those reasons don't just disappear after the fall. If your computer crashes and you reboot it, is the problem *really* fixed? Are your characters wise enough to recognize this? What does that recognition do to your story?




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Where's the Basement?

Proof that children the next generation of adults can read, write, and dream is found in the NASA Space Settlement Design Contest». Eric Yam from Northern Secondary School in Toronto, Canada, was one of the Grand Prize Winners»

Eric's winning proposal was for an Orbital Habitat that he named ASTEN (Right click here to save the 12mb PDF) one of the alternate names for the Egyptian God Thoth.

I am amazed by the breadth of thought that has been put into this document. Issues ranging from immigration through to nutrition are addressed. In the context of World Building this is a great example of what can be done if you are motivated.

Congratulations Eric Yam, the First Canadian to win the Grand Prize in this contest in the 16 years that it has been run.



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Mind Meld of the Gods

I'm doing it again, I'm linking to another Mind Meld over at SF Signal. This one is about Gods in Speculative Fiction».

If you are unfamiliar with a SF Signal Mind Meld let me give you a heads up: This is not an experience for the unprepared. Brew some coffee, find a comfortable seat and settle in for an intimate look into the minds of some of the greatest SF writers out there. People like Elizabeth Bear, Gregory Frost, and L.E. Modesitt Jr.

I have some thoughts of my own as to the nature of religion in stories.

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Religion in real life (there's a mindbender) is something that comes easy for some, hard for others and not at all for the rest. In Fantasy it seems to generally be an expected and active component of the world and in Science Fiction an invisible or non-existent force. I'm not saying that those are the rules for all, in fact there are some fantastic stories that defy my above statement. And how do you really classify A Canticle for Leibowitz or The Algebraist?

In world building and writing I struggle to find the difference between a god and superhuman. What makes one divine and the other merely impressive? I don't believe there is a hard line, no simple criteria or checklist. On a bell curve I would place normal man at one end, and the monotheistic omniscient god at the other end. Then on the hump I would look for my stories. To me that space is where men can achieve greatness and where the gods can falter.

Ultimately given the role faith and religion has in the real world, and the influence it has on the lives of so many, it is a mistake not to give it some thought when world building. You don't need gods with winged horses and lightening powers, just a conscious knowledge of the role religion plays in your characters lives. Some of the most powerful stories written never show the gods, or their motives, but without the characters faith there would have been no story.


For more on the religions in the two books I mentioned check out this review of A Canticle for Leibowitz from SF Reviews.net and this article on The Algebraist from Gordon's Notes





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Ten Styling Mistakes

Over at Holt Uncensored a few days ago was a fantastic article on Ten Common Mistakes made by all writers». The beauty about these mistakes is that they are all very common, easy to spot once you know what to look for, and by fixing them the quality of your writing will improve immediately.

Moving on, I also wanted to share a link to Writtenwyrdd where today writer D. Lynn Frazier discusses the impact something as simple as Concrete can have on World Building» (puns not intentional).

On the home front, I'm busy working on my next story for my writing group. We have a simple system: 1 short story a month, 3 to 5 thousand words in length. Ideally in a few months each member should be starting to build a collection of short stories that have been peer reviewed and would be suitable for submission to editors and magazines.

See that's ultimately the goal of this group. To write and submit our stories in pursuit of publication. To some writers it's about finding personal meaning in stories, and developing their craft or art. All very literary, and a great use of 6 years of university. I get it,and I could spend years at my desk writing things that make me happy. Of course by ignoring the current markets desires then I would have little chance of being published. Happy, but unpublished, and that's not for me.

So back on the topic of mistakes, here are three common mistakes made by members of a writing group:
(I have made all of these mistakes!!)

* Didn't Finish the Story. Members with an incomplete story that drags on for months (with edits, additions, rewrites and changes) will bore the other members of the group and have nothing of value to use for submission. Finish the story and move on. If you want to edit, fine, but don't resubmit the edited piece the next month and the next month, ad nauseam. The converse of this is the member who submits the first part of a different story each meeting without ever submitting the second parts (or even finishing the second parts oftentimes). They likewise short change themselves. There is no market for half written stories, nobody publishes a book of chapter ones. In the meantime what value is the critique of half a story?

* Didn't Edit the Story. It should be as obvious as the nose on your face that if you write something for publication that commas, periods, paragraphs, and other correct uses of punctuation are expected. To submit unformatted stories, riddled with punctuation errors, to the writing group is a waste of time. Nobody can effectively critique the work because they have to struggle to read it. The writing group isn't there to fix errors that should have stopped in Grade School.

* Submits Story Late. Deadlines are hardly deadly in an informal writing group, and the story may be better for the extra time spent on it, but a late story is less likely to be read and critiqued. Not everybody has a schedule that allows them to read late stories in the hours before the meeting. Which is exactly why many writing groups have stories due days or even a week before the meeting. This allows everyone time to read the story and prepare a critique.

The nice thing about these mistakes is that they are easy to avoid. Just write and finish what you write. Don't delay, don't dwaddle, just DO IT. And on that note: Time to get back to my own writing.


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Advice fail? Me? Never.

So I open my mouth and make a silly statement.
I find Worldbuilding for short stories effortless.
And I get called on it (twice).

Hee hee.
And here I thought nobody paid any attention.
I think that my statement (which was meant as a joke on my laziness when worldbuilding) also illustrates one view of writing fiction. Write first, fix later and only if it needs fixing. I'm not saying that it is a superior view over others, just that it exists.

A few weeks ago I read an interesting Mind Meld Discussion over at SFSignal (seems all I do is read their Mind Melds) where they asked authors for the best advice they've received on writing.

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I've actually linked to this Mind Meld before. Proving just how full of info those Mind Melds are.

One of the answers came from Author John C. Wright and he discussed advice given by Robert Heinlein. I really want to include John C. Wright's answer in full but I don't think that's fair to SFSignal - so go there and read the whole Mind Meld. In the meantime here's a couple of the important bits from Wright:

Heinlein's rules for writing were professional and simple. "1) You must write. 2) You must finish what you write. 3) You must not rewrite unless to editorial demand. 4) You must mail your story to an editor who will pay you money. 5) You must keep it in the mail until someone buys it."

Rule number 1 and 2 are paramount and cannot be over-praised. The Dean of SF is exactly right. Rule 4 and 5 are paramount and cannot be over-emphasized. The Dean of SF speaks words of wisdom more precious than gold, more to be treasured than refined gold.

Rule 3 is just bad advice.

--snip--

Now, on the other hand, Heinlein not only sold these books, but won plaudits and awards for them, so take my caution with a grain of salt. On the gripping hand, A.E. van Vogt wrote tightly-plotting thrillers of cosmic wonder without a wasted scene and barely a wasted word; J.R.R. Tolkien rewrote and rewrote until magic shines from his pages.

Obey Heinlein's rule number 3 if and only if you have Heinlein's knack at charming characterization and if and only if you find a market for meandering, plotless, charm-driven stories.

Don't fall into the trap of rewriting if it means you cannot finish your work. That is a fine rule.

I like John C. Wrights reinterpretation of the Heinlein Rule 3. I edited out a chunk of his answer and again I encourage you to read the complete answer and see his justification for disagreeing with Heinlein. (Wright's is the 8th down the page)

The reality is that Heinlein was writing in a different time and what worked for him doesn't work in a more mature Speculative Fiction Market. I say more mature because our expectations are higher, we've been raised on a solid foundation of character and plot driven stories that make sense (worldbuilding!) and push the boundaries of literature even. Do I need to make a list ? (Simmons' "Hyperion", Atwood's "Handmaids Tale", Brin's "Earth", to start)

My personal opinion of Heinlein (formed when I was a judgemental youth) was that his early work was fantastic and he went crazy later when he was writing the big stuff ("Number of the Beast", "Cat Who Walks Through Walls"). Now I know that he just didn't edit.

Lesson learnt - bad editing and world building can make people think you are crazy. (Perhaps that explains the failure of my writing group to meet last week. ;)




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World Building

Yesterday's ramblings lead to a more focused look at World Building today. I have always found world building difficult. Well, let me rephrase that. In the context of a short story it's almost effortless, for a longer work though I really struggle.

To me the less of the world you reveal in a short story the more room there is for the actual story. And if I need something, I just throw it in. Of course the problem with that philosophy is revealed when a piece starts to get beyond the short story range. It becomes hard or even impossible to just throw something in without breaking the world. This means that if I want to write more than just short stories I need to get a handle on world building (also plotting, characterization, outlining, etc...).

First I want to point out a great blog dedicated to World Building:
WorldBuildingRules!.
It's an informative and insightful blog that tracks resources and provides information to help writers design the reality in which their characters live. For example, the recent discussion on "Write what you know" was useful in allowing me to get my story together for my upcoming Writers Group meeting.

Continuing on with World Building here is an interesting article and other resources over at author S. Andrew Swann's blog Genrewonk.

He breaks world building down to Clarity, Conciseness and Consistency. These are the elements that will allow the 'World' to be an effective supporting part of a story. As long as an author maintains an awareness of these elements without losing their story to them (spending days on huge infodumps) then they should be on the right track. Obviously if the world is consistently crap, it doesn't matter how concise or clear the description is, but none of my worlds are crap, really! :)

And finally for those interested in a technological way of tracking the details of their worlds I would suggest a Writing Wiki. Using a writing wiki it's easy to organize and relate notes on characters, locations and more to each other. Much like in Wikipedia, the wiki about the Real World.


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Coffee and Cigarettes

I'm a hedonist at heart. If it wasn't for the adverse effect alcohol has on my health I imagine I would be comfortable in France. Probably not real France, real France is likely full of normal people, but Hedonist France. Where it's like a Roman Orgy with better food and clothing. Perhaps Pre-Katrina New Orleans fits the bill (maybe even post, I certainly hope so).

Cigarettes. There's something for a hedonist to enjoy. I don't smoke them, I did once, but again that whole health thing. A few years ago I was in New Orleans, or 'NuhOrLens' as I was taught to say it, during Mardi Gras. I remember drinking coffee in the streets of the French Quarter, looking at the aftermath of the night's festivities and nursing a hangover. The air was so thick with moisture that with each exhale I had to push the smoke away from me. Long thick ropes of smoke that I directed toward objects of interest, watching as the smoke curled around another victim. I was no Gandolf, but I did managed to spear a ring or two even.

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I got a number of free meals in New Orleans. Not because the food was bad, but because it was fantastic! And I told the wonderful people that were serving me how much I enjoyed their food, city and atmosphere. I also made a point of bringing my friends back to those places and dropping some coin, repaying their generosity in multiples. That's the beauty of the Hedonist Life, share and share alike. There is nothing more satisfying than introducing someone to a new pleasure for a hedonist.

That's part of what makes New Orleans tick I think. The people I met there were warm and welcoming. They wanted to share their culture and history with visitors. I would have happily stayed forever in the warm fragrant embrace of that city had it been possible. What a contrast from where I lived at a time. The almost sterile mix of steel, water, and mountains that makes up Vancouver. A city where women in business suits and Nikes powerwalk the Stanley Park Seawall during their lunch hour. Holding a Starbucks latte with one hand, and a bottle of water with the other.

What does this have to do with Speculative Fiction? Very little other than colour, but colour is what gives a story texture and depth. Where do your characters come from? What is the nature of the place that they are? Do they have cravings? or passions? These details, perhaps never fully explained in an infodump, will influence your story in every area. Each interaction your characters have beyond their brain will be based in the details of the world around them. Being able to visualize that world, to understand what motivates the characters in that world, will lead to more believable fiction.



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