NaNoWriMo is a siege against the stronghold known as “Novel Writing”. With any long protracted war it’s a matter of perseverance and tenacity. Each encounter is a battle of inches (or word count in this case), slowly getting you closer to your end goal, a completed 50,000 word manuscript. The proper supplies are essential in order to endure the grueling task ahead. To prepare myself, here are some of the tomes I look to for inspiration when things are bleak.
For Story
When it comes to breaking down story elements, plot “moments” and the three act structure, this book does it incredibly well. Written in a conversational tone with plenty of asides, I found it to be the easiest story structure book I’ve ever read. Yes it focuses on screenplays, but every single tip, hint and suggestion applies just as well to short stories and novels.
The terms used are far from academic with Monster in the House, Dude with a Problem and Buddy Love as examples of movie genre definitions. At first you may turn your head wondering why the standards wouldn’t apply (Western, Comedy, etc), but as Snyder reveals the method behind his madness, they make perfect sense and force you to reanalyze some of your favorite flicks.
There are two sections of this book that make the entire purchase worth every cent, The Board and The Blake Snyder Beat Sheet. The Beat Sheet is an outline based on the structure elements discussed in the book. In essence, it’s an emotional road map for any good story, highlighting the “beats” that need to be hit in order to keep the story cohesive, engaging and flowing. The first time I read the beat sheet I immediately saw the glaring holes in a novel idea I was working on, finally explaining why it had stalled halfway thru.
The Board is a visual representation of the three act structure tied into the aforementioned Beat Sheet sequence. For the visually inclined its a fantastic way to outline the scenes in your tale while allowing you to manipulate the story flow from another perspective. If you’re struggling with story structure this book is a lifesaver.
For Character
Political and religious views aside, Orson Scott Card is a fantastic creator of characters. This book was written for the “Elements of Fiction Writing” series by Writer’s Digest Books. One of the better books in the series (they’re NOT all winners), it is a step by step manual on every aspect of character creation and the different viewpoints with which to tell their tales.
The character portion of the book is an in-depth study into the thorough development of characters. From internal motivations to different methods of revealing them to the reader, he covers every manner in which they can be crafted. He also goes into how they best can be used depending on the type of story told; 1 dimensional characters to guide us through a setting which is a character in itself (i.e. Lord of the Rings), how a villain should be the “hero” of his own story leading to a richer portrayal and how understanding the character hierarchy will let you know who is needed to move the story forward. The viewpoint section weighs the pros and cons of the various approaches, helping you understand what limitations are inherent to each along with how to leverage them correctly.
Orson Scott Card runs a boot camp, personally taught by him, that has helped produce some rock solid authors, such as Mary Robinette Kowal. I scoured the ‘Net for feedback on this boot camp from previous attendees and from what I could gather, the core teachings are the same as the material covered in this book. Which means if you don’t have the scratch to make it out to his neck of the woods, this little book will give you much of that same wisdom for under 15 dollars.
For Everything Else
This is one of my favorite writing books. A compilation of Block’s writing column for Writer’s Digest, he’s woven them nicely into a solid little book. I find myself constantly re-reading it, pulling yet another nugget of wisdom from its pages with each time.
It’s a soup to nuts “manual” for those wanting to become fiction writers. All topics are covered; short stories vs. novels, collaborations, pen names, a writer’s schedule and much, much more. It’s all over the place, going into subjects you might have never even thought of when considering writing as a career. Just enough substance is given to each segment, smoothly moving onto the next piece while you’re still chewing on the last one.
His style is very easy to read without coming across as dry or lecturing. What I especially like is that his main type of fiction writing is mystery, something I’ve never even gone near, which gives a different perspective on advice you might have seen in other books.
This book is always within arm’s reach for me. There’s just something about it that gives me inspiration whenever I crack it open.
When the writing gets tough what books do you reach for? Are their other ways you prefer to stay motivated?
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
The Save the Cat book was pure gold. Not only did it teach me a lot about story structure, damnit, it made me want to write a screenplay (and really believe in my gut that I can!). One of my favorite parts was when he broke up the genres. The book I just finished was a “golden fleece” story. The novel a “buddy love” book. Good luck on Nanowrimo. I’ll see you there.
I am in serious need of that beat sheet right now. Just this AM I was having the hardest time choosing the emotional direction in this one scene for me hero. Blake Snyder owes you a little commission today!