Porter Anderson: “… when authors hunker together to kvetch about “writing is so hard,” they’re romancing the career in a profoundly counter-productive way.” Writer Unboxed
Disclaimer: I am not perfect and neither are my notes. If you notice anything that needs correction or clarification, please email me at melanie (dot) marttila (at) gmail (dot) com
With this session, I chose a different approach. There was a lot of discussion and insight, with examples from various editing projects, none of which I was able to capture effectively on the page. The editors focused on the three parts of a story, the beginning, middle, and end, and, interestingly enough, they discussed three main problems with each part of a story.
As a result, this is a very point-form summary of the main points of the panel.
So here’s the description of the panel from the program:
Whether it’s easy-to-correct grammatical errors or awkward sentence structure, or more complex issues related to characterization, plot, or research, in this panel you’ll hear real editors share the most common mistakes that they see new or inexperienced writers make and tips on how to avoid them. They’ll tell you the things they encounter that have a simple fix, but also the things they encounter that are warning signs of larger problems.
Problems with beginnings
Not starting in the right place. Too early (prologues/backstory) or too late (character in danger immediately/no reader investment).
Not hooking the reader. If the reader puts the book down, you’re done before you’ve even gotten started.
Not having a distinctive, crisp voice.
Mel’s note: Most of these problems can only be solved by experience, either the author’s own, gained through practice, or by leveraging the experience of others, with the help of good critique partners/beta readers/freelance editor.
Problems with middles
Solving the character’s problem too early in the narrative. The story ends when the character achieves their goal.
Not knowing the story you’re telling/theme.
Presenting event after event to get the character from point A (the beginning) to point B (the end).
Mel’s note: Points two and three are related. If you don’t have a handle on your story and its theme, you’re most often going to end up with a series of unrelated events. My recommendation: read Steven Pressfield’s blog and books, and read to Shawn Coyne’s (Steven’s editor) Story Grid book and blog (and now podcast with Tim Grahl—excellent).
Problems with endings
Not ending (!).
Setting up for a series when the novel is a standalone, or failing to set up for another book when it’s a series.
No payoff for the reader/unsatisfactory ending.
Mel’s note: Begin with the ending in mind, even if you’re a die-hard pantser. Endings are torture if you’ve given them no thought until you get there and you’ll likely finish your draft with a hefty case of post-partum depression. Also, one of your editing exercises should be to ‘reverse engineer’ your story from the ending back to the beginning. You can see where important bits of foreshadowing need to be.
And that is my final entry in Ad Astra 2016 reportage. There were readings and launches and the Guest of Honour Brunch, but I wanted to enjoy those rather than record notes on them 😉
Steven Pressfield: I can’t squeeze my theme in! My favourite bit: “This is why writing (or the pursuit of any art) is, to me, a spiritual enterprise. It’s an endeavor of the soul. The stories we write, if we’re working truly, are messages in a bottle from our Self to our self, from our Unconscious/Divine Ground/Muse to our struggling, fallible, everyday selves.”
Later in the week, Shawn Coyne posts this: the designated driver. I’ve been listening to The Story Grid podcast and Tim Grahl has just finished his first draft.
Colm Tóibín on writing. Sentences as rhythm. Sentences as brush strokes. Yummy. Louisiana Channel.
Jeanette Winterson examines Shakespeare’s take on love: bed tricks and broken women. A friend took exception to the dim view of Anne the piece presents, but y’all know not to believe everything you read, right? The Guardian.
It took us a little longer to drive to Ottawa than I thought, so I was late for this workshop. My apologies to Nina and to any of my readers who experience confusion as a result. If you think there’s something missing, you’re probably right 🙂
How do the environment, other species, diet, etc. limit population growth?
Adaptive traits:
Mimicry
Camouflage
Autotrophs (producers – species which produce their own food)
Phototrophs (produce food from light)
The Bracken Fern. Ubiquitous. Found on every continent except Antarctica. Very successful. Carcinogenic. Breaks down vitamin B. Reproduces by both spores and rhizomes.
Fiddleheads contain cyanide. Aggressive symbiosis. They attract ants which in turn defend it against other predators (peonies do this, too, though they don’t contain cyanide).
Nothing else will grow in a hemlock grove. It kills all potentially competitive species.
Some primates live with viruses that cause disease in other species because the monkey is the virus’s ‘ideal’ host. (Mel’s note: I think this was a digression into other forms of symbiosis–monkeys aren’t phototrophs.)
Chemotrophs (produce food from chemical processes)
Heterotrophs (consumers and decomposers, including us)
Parasites
Saprotrophs – fungi and bacteria
Detrivores – insects and earthworms
Lynn Margulis proposed the Gaia hypothesis and symbiogenesis (Google search for more information).
Endosymbiosis – cooperative adaptation.
Darwin’s theory of competition (survival of the fittest) is incomplete. It doesn’t explain altruism.
Symbiosis leads to happiness.
Kin selection – the choice to support the reproductive group including sacrifice for the greater good (heroism).
Group selection – the choice to limit population growth in favour of x (where x is more food, habitat, etc. for all).
Reciprocal altruism – The vampire bat, for example. All hunters may not be successful, but the successful hunters will share their food with the unsuccessful and with mothers/pups (by regurgitation) to ensure the continued strength of the community.
True altruism – Dolphins will help humans and other species for no apparent gain. (Mel’s note: they may also rape their own and other species for no apparent reason, but that’s another story.)
Communal feeding – Lions in prides.
Satellites – In some frog species, the small males will hang out with the big, noisy ones and ‘head off’ the eligible females attracted by their big, noisy brethren.
Niche partitioning – competing species that coexist in the same ecosystem by voluntarily partitioning food, habitat, etc..
Adaptation and extremophiles
The brine shrimp of Mono Lake (California) thrive in inland seas with salinity that kills potential predators. They can also survive being dried out.
There are flies that can swim and dive because they carry their own oxygen supplies in air bubbles.
There are bacteria that feed on sulphur.
The Microbes of Lake Untersee in Antarctica live in a super alkaline environment with lots of dissolved methane in the water. They create stromatolites—the largest ever found anywhere.
Bacteria in the Rio Tinto thrive in extreme acidity and high iron content in the water.
The fungi of Chernobyl feed on high levels of radioactivity.
The Atacama Salt Flats in Chile is the most arid desert in the world, yet hypolithic algae have evolved to thrive where no other plant life can.
Tardigrades (also known as water bears or moss piglets) can survive anywhere, even in space (for approximately ten days). They can be revived after a century of desiccation and endure 1000 times the lethal dose of radiation for a human. Technically, they’re not true extremophiles because they have not adapted to prefer, or thrive in these environments. They merely survive.
The rest of the workshop was taken up by an exercise in which we applied ecology to the characters of our stories. How have our protagonists adapted to thrive in adverse conditions, compete against, or mimic, other characters, to become the heroes of our stories? In what ways do they show altruism, and is it true altruism, or another form? How does the unique environment of the story world affect them?
It was a very interesting workshop and I’m sorry to have missed the beginning of it.
Unfortunately, because of my late arrival, I did not get a picture of Nina or the workshop participants.
It was a good start to a great weekend of panels, though.
Come back next Saturday when the CanCon 2015 reportage continues with advice on pitching your novel.
Always Looking Up 