10 Things I Learned From Watching Armageddon

As some of you know, I'm on the road writing this. Instead of enjoying a day of hiking in The Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, the bone chilling temperatures inspired me to enjoy the hotel's hot tub and exercise room. While taking a time out in my room, I turned on the TV for a weather update and found Armageddon playing on HBO. The adventure movie inspired my blog today.

The movie hits all the marks I try for in my fantasy and science fiction novels. Even though I've seen this movie numerous times, once I tune it in, I want to watch it until the end. It spins its story the way I want mine to go, heroic tales that people have always and hopefully will always love. I picked out ten bullets from the movie and held them up against my WIP. I have some fix ups to do. Here is my list.

1) A great evil (an asteroid) threatens the entire world and provides the external conflict.
2) The powers that be turn to a group of 'every man' types who step up to take on the dangerous mission.
3) Within that group of heroes, a boy loves a girl. The girl's father, leader of the group disapproves of the young man. Feels the young man who is exactly like him isn't good enough for his perfect little girl, creating this relationship conflict.
4) This sets up two parent/child conflicts. The first between the young woman and her father. The second between the father and the young man who loves his daughter. The young man always thought of the older man as his father. Perfect.
5) Despite the differences between the military, scientists and our heroes, they all come together to try and save the world.
6) Of course, everything goes wrong.
7)The secondary characters are well rounded, important and colorful, adding to the story and not distracting from the main characters.
8) The setting is beautiful, frightening and imaginative. If only I could write as well as a movie can show.
9) There is heroic sacrifice, emotional deaths, and tears mixed in with desperate actions. It breaks your heart as the story courageous kills people the viewer doesn't want to die.
10) The world is saved. Boy and girl live happily ever after.

Did I miss any steps in the classic adventure story? Of course there will be character growth by the end of the story and Armageddon does a lot of that though not as much as a novel must.  Are you familiar with this movie? What would you add to my list? Home later today. Yippee!

P: Plotters versus Pantsters

If you've talked to other writers you've probably heard from fans of the plotting method or creating a novel and proponents of the pantsters method. 

Plotters outline their story, chapter by chapter and scene by scene.  When they sit down to write, they have a fully designed path to follow from beginning to end.  It's not that they don't let their story meander off that pathway when it decides to take a turn but they plot for a purpose.  To get their story from point A to the predetermined point B.

Pantsters on the other hand usually have a general plan, a big picture so to speak, before they start.  Then they sit down at the keyboard and start typing away.  They fill in all those pesky details as they go.  Often people who write by the seat of their pants will use a 'go-edit, go-edit, go-edit' method where they write a bit and then go back and do some fix up before going forward.

I'm a bit of a combination, light plotting and then filling in most of it as I go.  Talk to a gathering of authors and you'll find both types of writers and receive pros and cons of each.  Many will be a bit of both like me.  How about you?  Plotter or pantsters? Why do you think one method is better than the other?

Working out or Working it Out?

I blogged over at The Susquehanna Writers yesterday about my time management during the summer months and how it stinks. One thing I do manage better in the warm months is working out. I love to be outside. When I have to be on the treadmill instead of on the road or the track, I have to have music or the TV on to keep my going.
Not so outside. All I need is one sticky plot point. Today it took me fifty minutes to work it out. Not only did I figure out the dialogue, but I put some scenes in order in my head. Now I know exactly what happens next. So my heart and legs got maxed out and I'm ready to pound out more mileage on the keyboard.
Is there an activity you do when you're stuck? What mindless activity provides the distraction you need for your creative side to start producing?

My Process

All writers have their own process that carries them from idea to finished manuscript. I've read many blogs and sat through conference workshops about plotting or writing on the fly(pantsters) and I think I don't fit into either category. I used to write an outline but found I seldom followed it beyond the first two or three chapters. Now I guess I'm mostly a pantster. I roll the idea for a book around in my head for a while, usually coming up with the conflict and the resolution before I even figure out my characters. Then when I have that figured out, I sit down with my book bible.
My book bible is an inexpensive journal that I buy at a discount store. I usually have a few blank ones on hand. If a book is part of a series or set in the same world as another book, it goes in the same bible as the previous book. That book will have facts about the fantasy world, things like money, climate, politics, religious beliefs and even a map. It can be very important to keep east and west straight as well as keeping perspective on distances and other geographic items.
In the bible, I'll give each of my main characters their own page and jot down physical details as well as some emotional and historical things of interest. Then I'm use another few pages for secondary characters and antagonists. If the world is magic, I might use a page to describe those elements so I don't confuse them with a previous book. The bible stays beside my keyboard whenever I'm working on that book for reference and in case I need to add something.
Now I'm ready to write. I always know where to start and I know the ending. It's a matter of filling in that middle and making sure it doesn't sag anywhere along the way.
I write that first draft as quickly as ideas and time allows, and it IS rough. Often I find I needed to add something to chapter three to set up what happens in chapter ten. Or I decide I don't want to give away a plot point in chapter five so I can create more suspense until more is revealed in chapter fifteen. I jot down notes of changes as I go. So I type the mess up and print it off. Viola, I have a very detailed outline.
My next step may sound like it takes a long time but it goes quicker than that first rough draft. Using that first mess as a guide, I completely retype the book. All the big things, plot holes, loose ends, etc, get the attention they need. It's also the time I can check for all those dang words I tend to overuse as well as find ways to vary my sentence structure. Since I already know what I want to say, I find the words to show the action instead of telling it.
All this may sound time consuming, but it works for me. I can usually do my final draft of a 100,000 word novel in about eight weeks using this method. The first draft is likely to take up to 12 weeks. With each book I polish this way I get a little faster.
The point of this blog is not to convince people to write my way. I only want to explain one way that happens to work for me. I actually started this method after reading something Judith McNaughton had written about her method. Again not comparing my work to hers, LOL. I know many of us get frustrated when doing edits or trying to polish the same book several times. My advice is to experiment with different processes and find the one that is comfortable and works for you. I know some writers who spew out a first draft that is nearly error free. I envy them but I don't try to write like them. This works for me. What works for you? And have you tried different methods?