While the Cats are Away, Martin's Gonna Play

Failing takes a lot more work than not trying in the first place.

Failing is a lot more frightening than not trying in the first place. You get your hopes up, and then they crash down and shatter.

These are understandable reasons why some people would rather not try.

This is the point where you might expect me to add an inspirational counterpoint to make you try anyway... but I can't. No one can make that decision for you. Only you can know whether you have the drive to try, to create, despite the risks.

There's no shame in deciding that you don't need the work and the heartache. There's no shame in deciding to create only for yourself, or not at all. There are plenty of other worthwhile pursuits in life.

But if you have that drive, then I hope you find that courage as well. Because there's no shame in choosing a different path, but there can be regrets. "If only" are two of the saddest words I know.

Writers... If you lose some work, you can be like Coleridge: moan about your lost brilliance, get depressed, walk away, and console yourself with opium.

Or you can put your ass back in the chair and write it again. Write it better. Write so great, you forget the version you loss.

Coleridge was a wimp. You're better than that.

"Our hands shake roughly every third of a second. If you can draw your line in under that time, you won't shake." -- William Messner-Loeb

Be bold! Don't hesitate! Practice until it's natural.

At some point, you have to stop worrying and start doing something to worry about!

Chekov's Arsenal: When you put so many pistols up on the wall, the audience can't guess which one you're going to use.

If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

The Dribbler: A character who dribbles out information a little at a time to drive the plot, while if the information were revealed all at once, the story would be over too quickly.

The Dribbler can have good reasons. In mysteries, often the full truth would incriminate the Dribbler or someone else (in the central crime or a different crime). The Dribbler might not realize that the information is relevant until someone draws the connections. The information may be confidential for many reasons. Maybe the Dribbler is a manipulative jerk who's using the information to control the protagonist. Maybe the Dribbler is Glinda the Good Witch who knows Dorothy has to learn a lesson before she's ready to go home.

But sometimes a Dribbler is just a lazy plot gimmick. The only reason the Dribbler holds back information is so the author can keep secrets and stretch out the plot. There's no CHARACTER reason not to tell the whole story right up front. Often this is a mysterious character who shows up at odd moments to drop a clue, then disappears before the protagonist can ask questions. This is a trap for writers. It's so bloody convenient! A writer recently used the metaphor of moving characters around like chess pieces, not people; but this isn't even chess, it's checkers. It's patching a hole in the story, not mending it.

And you might get away with it, if you can carry the mood and distract the reader. "It's an omen! Omens are supposed to be mysterious!"

But you run the risk of readers asking "Why didn't she just tell him the whole thing?" Omens are tea leaves and bird entrails. They have no motivations, they just are. Characters aren't omens. They have reasons for what they do. And what they don't do.

I have a character in this book who is at risk of becoming a Dribbler. A lazy Dribbler. I have to nail down the reasons why she doesn't just tell the whole story.

"I wanna tell you something, this writing is not as easy as it looks." -- Lt. Columbo

If it sells, learn from it.

If you think you can do better, prove it.

Time you spend laughing at it could be time you spend writing.

WIBBOW?

My research standard for a story might be summarized as "Not provably wrong."

In Agile Software Development, we describe the Value of Courage: being willing to try something challenging because you know your practices will let you take a chance and recover if it doesn't work out.

I think that Courage is a Value for authors as well. What could go wrong if you try? Honestly, what can you lose? Your time and emotional investment, yes, but nothing more. Back up your work and then try another approach if it interests you. Do something you never thought you could.

But Courage is hard. When your work consists of listening to the voices in your head and trying to find a story in there, there's always one voice you have to watch out for: Doubt. He's out there, and he wants to stop you from trying. Don't let him. Have Courage. Try something. If it doesn't work, try something else.

What you hear depends on how you listen.

Posted by: @martin-l-shoemaker

Chekov's Arsenal: When you put so many pistols up on the wall, the audience can't guess which one you're going to use.

As a longtime GM for various tabletop RPGs, I'm a big fan of this one. (Although, in an RPG, the players get to pick which guns you use!)

All very enlightening stuff Martin. I have to ask; what is WIBBOW?

@storysinger Would I Be Better Off Writing? It's a question to help guide you whether a task is a productive use of your time. The answer isn't always yes, but it often is. Coined by Scott William Carter. A New Edition of The Dinosaur Diaries (and Some Thoughts About WIBBOW) – Scott William Carter

That's so cool Martin. I never would have guessed what those letters stood for.

I'm on top of the fence when it comes to answering that question.

I love the high word count of digital typing, but misunderstood words kills the zone feeling.

Now that I've learned to type, my count is much lower but staying in the moment is easier.

I'm going to upgrade to the pro version and keep practicing until that sucker understands what I say. Hyah!  

I'm late to the party, but I've saved (and shared with attribution) a bunch of these. Thanks, Martin!

Posted by: @martin-l-shoemaker

There's an important lesson that some readers never learn: the author is not the characters. An author may write characters that do, say, and believe things that the author never would. That the author vehemently disagrees with. Never assume the character speaks for the author. That's a juvenile way to read.

 

But it works the other way. The character is not the author. The character may say or do things the author would never even consider. I know that sounds weird, but it's true.

 

Yesterday during dictation, my protagonist wrote of another character's insouciance. I didn't plan it, it's just the word that came into her head and out of my mouth. AND IT WAS THE CORRECT WORD, THE PERFECT WORD.

 

It's not like I don't KNOW the word. I have a pretty good vocabulary. But I am convinced that I never wrote it nor spoke it.

 

I still haven't. She did.

I was going through the online workshop here and I got to OSC talking about how he hears accents sometimes when he is writing dialogue. But he types; you dictate. So, do you do accents when you dictate? Do you hear them in your head but filter them out when you dictate? Just curious.

Posted by: @martin-l-shoemaker

@storysinger Would I Be Better Off Writing? 

I was going to mention that I just heard this recently!
I then realized it was Martin who was talking about it.