What to do when your characters become whiny brats

I have been pondering this issue for awhile, ever since I decided to take a break from Becca's Story.  (Now awesomely titled: The End of Summers)

My main motivation behind this pause: I was running out of steam for the plot.  I had set up some crazy plot twisty things and I didn't feel ready to make decisions about the ultimate end of the book.  There are lots of them:  Does Becca actually die?  Does someone sacrifice himself?  Does Kevin get killed off?  Does Jeff kill Kevin or vice versa?  How does Elsie tie into it?

I didn't really intend for Elsie to be in the story this long, but she kind of just hopped on board.  Now, I'm stuck with her.  I could ax her, but that feels too easy.  Something has to happen that is plot pivotal to break up their little team or to get her or Kevin dead.  Or arrested.  Arrested would be alright.  Maybe she gets captured and all her power sucked out or something...hmmm...

Anyway, back to topic. The way I recognized I was having plot troubles with Becca is she suddenly became incredibly whiny.  I could sense it in the few chapters leading up to the place where I stopped.  They took a long time to write and everything got all personal and she became super annoying.  Then I wrote a bunch of short scenes that all sounded lame in which she basically regressed into a spoiled twelve year old, flopping around and complaining about everything.

I have come to realize this is my brain telling me to take a break.  This usually happens when the character in question is about to go through some sort of mental transformation.  They have reached a pivotal point where they need to make decisions and perhaps alter their way of thinking.  They can't be swept along by external events any longer.  They become the driving force behind the story, more than the circumstances that got them into this story in the first place.

Sometimes this whininess is a good thing.  In my zombie Apocalypse book, the female character is pretty much useless.  The book is partly about how she bucks up takes charge of her life, even if her life is now fleeing from cannibals.  She realizes how useless she is/was towards the end of the book and resolves to be more like the male main character.  Just in time for her to rescue her man.  Convenient?  Why, yes, yes it is...

I know it sounds crazy, but I'll say it again and again.  Many times my characters DO NOT do as I wish them to do.  They plow ahead on their own.  If I try to force them into my plot, they either baulk completely or become the aforementioned twelve year old girl.  They are indecisive, they make stupid mistakes, they sit and talk about their problems forever like an especially terrible episode of Star Trek.

I have a couple ways I have played with to break through this problem.  One is to simply take a break, as I did with Becca's story.  Give it some time to breathe.

Another is to jump ahead in the story, skip over the decision entirely.  I have had mixed results with this technique.  If I jumped ahead and write a whole bunch, I am essentially trapping myself into a plot, which as we know doesn't work very well.  But sometimes I can write the place where I want my characters to go and then bridge the gap between.

Related to this is to jump backwards.  Do some character development, especially if one of the characters has had some trauma in their past.  Write about that, then see how you can fit it into the story.  I wrote a ton of background stuff for the main male character of my zombie book and ended up using almost all of it in the book itself.  It showed why he was so capable and unwhiny, while the female was still struggling.  He had already gone through something so personally traumatic, that the reduction of humanity to roving bands of cannibals was no biggie.

Another way I've tried with some success is to keep going with the external forces aspect of the plot.  If the characters have reached a decision forced on them by events outside their control and I can't get them to do something, a final event can take the decision away from them and make them to act.  Sometimes this clears things up and sometimes it comes out sounding really stupid and I just erase it.

And sometimes nothing helps.  Sometimes it is just a bad plot.  Or bad characters.  Or even just a plot and characters I haven't thought through enough.  Why are they doing these things?  If I don't know, even subconsciously, then my characters sure as heck don't.  And if they have no motivation for saving the world or chasing down a murderer or fighting zombies, then why should they try hard at it?

It is painful, but sometimes I have to ditch a plot and start over from scratch.  It hurts.  A lot. Especially if I've put lots of time into it.  But it has to be done.  I don't usually erase a large body of words, just hide it somewhere deep in my files and let it stew until I can face beginning again.  I have several that are in that stage right now and I am avoiding looking at them.  I can feel the potential there, but I just can't face all redoing all that work just now.

Which ironically, makes me sound whiny and indecisive.  Art reflects life, I guess...

A Weird Thing

So, as I'm sure I've said a least a hundred times before, my husband is awesome.

And, no, that's not the weird thing.

It goes something like this:

Husband read my book for the second time and made all sorts of helpful notes and things in the margins, crossing out unnecessary words and scribbling little question marks where he was confused.  We sort of worked in tandem, me editing a chapter or two, then him reading some more.  It took awhile, but you know that whole day job and housework thingy...

Then all at once, he got way ahead of me, finishing it in one fell swoop.  He presented me with the manuscript binder with his usual and always heartwarming: 'It's good!"

Then it sat for several months.  Admittedly, some of those months I felt like curling into a ball and sleeping through my every-second-morning-sickness.  (Oh, wait, that's pretty much exactly what I did.)  Now, though, I have had several months where I feel great, even if there is a small life form doing jumping jacks in my lower abdomen all the time.  But I still didn't work on my edits.

I honestly, truly felt...scared of editing.  I really can't explain it.  I had a huge amount of trepidation about editing this manuscript again.  I didn't want to read it, or think about it or look at Husband's ideas.

I was convinced it was all terrible and trite and stupid and that I would hate it if I had to face it again.  Which is silly, because it is good, tooting my own horn notwithstanding.

It was weird.

Today I finally worked up enough courage to plow through the end of the book.  And contrary to my fears (duh) he only had some minor things he thought I should adjust.  Like one bit where I smooshed two different parts together and it was night in one and day in the other.  Easy fix.  Also, there were a few times I forgot a period.

Honestly?  Honestly?  I was all worked up about missing punctuation?  But I can't explain it.  I still have a vague and restless sense of disease when I look at the green binder, like I want to stuff it in my 'old scribbled-on manuscript' box I keep shoved under the couch (we have a tiny apartment and a futon with a foot of space underneath = storage!).

I am the first to admit when I write something that stinks.  Sometimes it stinks because it hasn't been thought out quite right, or the story is weak or whatever.

This is the first time I have irrationally wanted to just shred something and give up.

It is unsettling.  I don't like it.  I'm trying to blame baby-hormones, since yesterday I totally melted down despairing over my inability to make pie dough that rolls out smoothly while Husband gave me hugs and tried not to laugh.  Serious stuff, I know
So, I'm not exactly sure what to do.  Other than give birth to a baby.  However, as that is still some time away, I need some different ideas.  I like the 'suck it up' mentality, but that only gets things done and actually doesn't dispel my suddenly wavering confidence.

As I obviously don't have an answer right now, I'm simply going to congratulate myself on my bravery for editing at all and let the green binder sit once more.  I have one more chapter to work on, but it needs some tinkering and I don't think I can face that right now.

Here's the deal...

Okay, here's the deal.  I am sick to death of Becca's Story.  I've been writer's blocked for a few months now.  Most of that was because I did nothing but sleep and eat toast - Yay for two months of morning sickness.  And it was during the holidays, too.  How lame is that?

Also because I'm just kind of stuck on what to do next.  I think it needs to sit and percolate a bit before I try to revamp it.  The plot has shifted around so much, I'm not sure where I want it to go.

Which leads me to my writerly thoughts for today.

My NaNoWriMo Process

Before I embark on my novel writing escapade, I thought I might write a little about how I am organizing my thoughts.

Usually, I just start writing and plow through whatever comes my way.  I add back story and other sundries as I go.  Makes revisions hard, but it seems to work best for me.

I used to feel an inordinate amount of guilt about this approach.  I read all about how people use graphs and note cards and flow charts and nifty binders and things to structure their novels.  I tried that.  It really doesn't work for me.

And I was reading in the current issue of Writer's Digest, an article by James Lee Burke, who not only once had a string of 111 rejections (holy crap! and I thought 4 was bad) but he also doesn't outline or story board or anything.

Now, I know that there is no law declaring that an author must outline.  But the idea of being super organized to ensure success is touted and blathered about so much, it kind of gets to a mind-control level of influence.

Burke had a comment that I really like.  To paraphrase:  'If I know how it's going to end, so does the reader.'

Exactly!  If I know exactly what happens in every scene, then I feel I have no room to improvise.  I feel it becomes boring and predictable.  I like to be surprised, along with my readers.  Why does the spaceship captain not like to talk about his past?  Well, maybe he committed treason and has been disowned by his family.  Why do Kevin and Strenton hate each other?  Er...I'm still working on that one.  Get back to me.

Anyway, the point is, I can't can't can't work with a super formal structure.

Having said that, with my story for NaNo, I am doing a little preplanning.  My regular process is to start with an event, like: aliens attack and bomb the capital of the planet or most everyone gets turned in a zombie.

I have the EVENT that is going to start the novel, but this time, I also now how I want it to end.  The problem with this is my characters have to make certain decisions that lead them to this end.  Which means I have to plot a little bit.  Which means I have to have some idea of who my characters are beforehand so it will seem realistic that they make certain decisions and progress to the intended end.

This is dangerous ground.  One, because my fingers itch to start writing it NOW!!!  And also, I am falling into the pit of structure from which there is no escape.  I am making do by scribbling ideas in a notebook or adding them to my Scrivner file.  In no particular order and with no real commitment.

Flexibility is the key for me, even if the outline function is singing a siren song.

Must resist!  Only three days left!

What Do Rabbits and Novels Have In Common?

Any guesses?  Well, I'll tell you.

Yesterday, I bemoaned the fact that, even thought I had 'decided' on my NaNoWriMo plot, going so far as to actually 'plot' and get somethings organized, I was having second thoughts.

One second thought, actually, for a different - I mean completely different - plot for my novel.

Apparently, novels are like rabbits.  First there are two.  Aren't they cute and fluffy?  The lady at the pet store said they were both girls...however...

Now I have another idea.  That makes three.  With only a two weeks to go, I really wanted to be settled in my ideas.  I have lots of other stuff to do in November.  Stuff not remotely related to writing novels.  Concerts, ballet, Thanksgiving, book club, rehearsals.

Now, I know that if I don't finish the 50,000 words, nothing happens.  There is nothing serious riding on this.  I can write any day of the year, whenever I want.

However, I've got a competitive streak a mile wide.  I'll bet you five dollars it's twice as big as yours.  I want to finish this challenge.  I'll stay up all night on November 29th if I have to, going straight from Nutcracker rehearsal to typing until my eyeballs bleed.

(Husband and I never play each other on video games.  It gets ugly, real quick.  We each played sports as children and teens and are both musicians.  It's better for our marriage if we never compete at anything.  Trust me.  You should see the gloating when we play Castle Crashers and we're even on the same team.)

(I'm the orange guy, who is way cooler than the red guy, no matter what Husband says.  So he can shoot lightening.  Who cares?)

Anyway,  My three ideas are now as follows:

1.  Stick with Ghost.
2.  Use a short story I wrote for a Writer's Digest Competition as inspiration and write...duh, duh, duuuuh! What happens next!  I can't let you read the short bit itself, since its in the rules for the competition that it can't be 'published' anywhere else.
3.  This one is a little harder to explain.  One of my new favorites is Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians  (PS, the movie? LAME!) and the Heroes of Olympus series. (The next one doesn't come out until next year!  I'm going to die from impatience!)  I love love love young adult right now, which is a little pathetic, but true.  Though I hate hate hate Twilight.  Sorry, peeps.

I was watching something on TV, don't know what, but they were talking about old American currency, which used to be way cooler.  Check this out:

This is a silver certificate issued in 1896.  The, er, scantily clad lady in the center is Electricity, the most powerful force in the universe, at the time.

What if, following Mr. Riordan's example, these 'forces' actually exist, kind of like muses?  The classical portrayals of the elements of the universe?  Steam, fire, electricity, knowledge.  Here's a depiction of History, who was one of the Greek/Roman muses:

She's teaching America, by the way, showing the path to...greatness or something.

My idea is:  what if some scientists managed to 'capture' these natural forces?  Somehow trapped Electricity and drained her power.  It has all the makings of a adventure book as she and the Male Lead (duh, there's a Male Lead) search for her power so she can rescue her sisters.

I don't particularly want it to be young adult, but we'll see how it turns out.  If I even go with that idea.  Maybe I'll prove my over-acheiverness once again and do two novels.

NaNoWriMo

Alright, you may recall my post here about my two song-inspired ideas for National Novel Writing Month.  While both are supremely awesome, I am drawn more toward the Ghost Rider idea.

Here are my thoughts so far:  (the rules state you can plot and character develop all you want before 11/1, but no writing).

1. The Ghost is a cowboy who had been hanged for murder.  Whether he actually committed the crime...I haven't decided and I want it to be ambiguous anyway.
2. During a particularly nasty thunderstorm somewheres in CO/UT/NV/WY/SD/Central Plains, he gets chucked out of limbo into modern times.  (I just groaned.  Am I seriously going to write a paranormal/time travel book?  Seriously?  *sigh*)
3. He is found by some woman, who happens to be a descendant of the person he supposedly killed (?)  Or maybe the woman he loved back then or something.  Some sort of connection to make him want to hang around her while she's like...er, who are you strange dude?
4. The murder and his subsequent execution flared up an old blood feud.  The families basically killed each other off until some moved away.  A few 'old timers' still remember their grandfathers talking about.
5. Ghost has to find what really happened to set himself free.  Time limit?  I dunno...something to make it imperative.  Maybe he has from the anniversary of the murder to the anniversary of his own death to solve it.  Yay for arbitrary rules of the cosmos!
6. There needs to be a big hush up scandal about it.  Maybe the real murderer killed the victim because they caught them stealing silver or something from a mine.  The 'richest person in town' is their descendant and enjoys their ill gotten gains or something.  If this is so, maybe it needs to take place in a bigger city?  Not a CITY but a larger town.
7. But why would this descendant not want the truth to come to light?  Did the real murderer also get sent back?  Is this dude trying to take control of the city or something?  Hmmmm...motive, always a good thing to have.  Or maybe the descendant is embezzling or something as well and Ghost stumbles across it.
8. Also a good question:  What happens when Ghost solves the mystery?  Does he die?  Or does he stay and live out his life, since his was taken?

Any suggestions?  I have a notebook I'm scribbling ideas in.  We'll see if I can make some sort of coherent sense of them come November!  :)

I Am Braindead

And not because I have been turned into a zombie. Which begs the question, are zombies sentient?

Anyway, I am sitting at the airport where I have been for the past four hours. No fault of the airline or the airport or the weather. Just a late flight and an early check out time and no where to go hangout with my luggage.

Actually, it's kind of nice. Everyone around me are strangers. I have nothing to do. Absolutely nothing to do, except sit and watch planes take off and land. I can't go anywhere and I can't do anything except sit. I've read a little, knitted a little. I don't want to watch a movie or NetFlix. I did that yesterday while sitting bored in my hotel room.

Problem is, I am really brain dead right now. I have no inclination to write anything. I hemmed and hawed about writing this post for like ten minutes while I watched some ground crew peeps load and unload suitcases from a plane. For some reason, I wanted to watch them load identical black suitcases into a 747 more than I wanted to write or read or do anything.

Why the massive brain fart? Why the complete and utter lack of literary inspriation? I have no desire to entertain myself or in turn be entertained.

Mostly I think this is because I had an audition yesterday. All that stress lifted from my shoulders. I am completely braindead, as I usually am after a big musical event. I could just lie and stare at the ceiling. Or in this instance, the ground crew workers as they refuel an airplane.

So, how do I make some use of these hours I have with absolutely nothing I could do except walk laps of the concourse or write?

This leads me to another question. (I am full of questions today) How do I get inspiration in the first place? Can you even 'get' inspiration? Isn't that the whole point of 'inspiration?' That an idea comes to you without method or device, a stroke of genius. I may not be a genius, but I've had moments like those, where I'm like 'Wow! I have a great idea for a plot/story/scene/ending!'

Sometimes, they are dreams I've had. I have ridiculously detailed dreams. Last night, no doubt due to the relief of stress...and the whole pizza I devoured by myself...I had a crazy dream about a giant catastrophy that descimanted civilization.

It was just like a movie. There was even a music montage to show passing time as me and the band of people I had fallen in with planted crops and gathered food for the next winter. It went on for ever, it felt like. The dream, not the music montage.

Sometimes I watch something and I am like: I could sooooo do that better. Or I read a book and am inspried because it was so bad or so good. Other times it is just a scene, and then I ask why. Why are these people in this situation? What would happen next?

This is a dangerous question. It sometimes leads to lengthy sequels and back story that you have to adjust the first story to include/set up. Be very cautious about starting on the NEXT question if you don't really want to know what happens next.

...

I think I just subliminally answered my own question about how to use my time. I have a number of little stories that could have sequels/some backstory. But which one?

Dare I start on a sequel to Cousin of the Crown?

Oooooooooooh! I can think of soooooo many different ways that whole mess could turn out. The tension between the brothers is by no way resolved, the king and queen dislike both of their daughters-in-law for various reasons, and there is the remaining question of their relations with their neighboring countries.

Any suggestions from you peeps? If you haven't read it, please do. It's free, or should be, at scribd.com under my profile, Elisabeth Treble. If not, email me and I can send you a Word or PDF copy of the original manuscript.

Only three hours until take-off. How much can I get done before then?

PS i just spell checked this and it says i don't have any errors. I don't believe it; that's never happened to me before. So, sorry if it's just trying to trick me. :)