castleficmentors

[castleficmentors]

“We sometimes get the false sense as creatives that, if this thing we do does not come naturally, then it is not worth doing — or worse, that we are somehow not meant to do it at all.”

[castleficmentors]

(Source: aeort)

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“You will always be a little incomplete. This is the beautiful frustration of being human. And it’s where all the best art comes from.”

[castleficmentors]

So, I've been working on a few long term projects, but I just can't seem to make progress on them because they are so long term that to remember the details, I need to reread the parts I've already written before I continue writing and by the time I finish rereading, I've either run out of time in my day or I've forgotten how I wanted to continue the story. This happens everytime I get an idea because they seem to be few and far between sometimes. Any advice? Does anyone else have this problem?

Oh, yes, definitely. My problem usually arises in the editing process, once it’s already written, because as I go back (to the first draft), things as mundane as how old the main character is or how many years it’s been since X happened or what color his eyes are... those things totally leave me, or I’ve already mixed them up in the writing process. It’s why I edit all at once, and why I spend massive amounts of time shut up just editing/writing. Because if I don’t plow through it, I’ll forget, I’ll lose those details.

An editor once told me to get a notebook and jot down those details as you come across them/write them out. So if you’ve given your main character this fantastic back story, write it down somewhere in note-taking form. Fill this notebook with pages of descriptors. What color the car is they’re driving, how many children under the age of three and what are their ages, (hell, what are their names?!). Write down how old they were when they had sex for the first time. Explain to yourself all those things that might crop back up again, so that you can just check the notebook. I wind up doing a couple pages per character. And sometimes I make up details in the character sketch that don’t work in the novel, and I’ve crossed out a detail or bit of data like a thousand times. (Michael, dark hair, latino: age 32, strikethrough, 22, strikethrough, 37, strikethrough, 28.) So it’s a mess really, but it helps me keep those details in order.

It works not just for character sketch but for plot. Give yourself a plot graph, and plot (haha pun intended) each point of the plot on the graph. Rising action: our hero feels isolated from his community. Climax: he saves a woman’s life! Falling action: she falls in love with him. Resolution: he discovers his community is judgmental and the woman is too and he disappears to live his life blissfully alone. Whatever. Just write it down. 

Another thing for keeping it straight - don’t. Did you notice I said on my second go around? During my editing process, I work on those things. I keep track. Don’t let yourself get in the way of the story. Even your shoddy memory. So what if you can’t remember what color car or how many people he goes to school with or if he’s wearing a trench coat. Put in a place holder, use the wrong color, misremember the backstory. It’s fine. That’s what the editing process is for. You don’t have to be perfect first time out of the gate.

Now if you’re worried about threads of meaning, about continuing motifs, about deeper literary techniques that you might be missing out on doing because you’re forgetting that you keep using roses to symbolize death and decay, then I understand that too, and it does make it more frustrating. But again, you *can* make post-it notes and stick them to your computer screen that say: DON’T FORGET, IDIOT: ROSES. I mean, that’s simplistic, but if you’re attempting to pull together a theme for your novel or short fiction, and you keep losing track of those threads (oh duh, forgot, I’m making birds crop up every now and again to show the ominous nature of this character), then put that in your notebook too. Put that back in when you edit. 

Ultimately, my advice is: get the story down first. Don’t try to be perfect, don’t aim for literary genius. Just get the words down somewhere. Go back the second time and make it clever and factually consistent. Go back the third time and use correct verb tense. Etc.

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“After the ten minutes was up, I did not want to stop. It turned out that picking up that book and writing that first line was the hardest part. Too often I had put off my reading and writing due to laziness, or in the case of my fiction, a lack of confidence. I rediscovered that these are activities THAT I LOVE, and that it was ridiculous that I had not been including them as a part of my life up until now.”

[castleficmentors]

are you planning a Castle#30 for april?

oh boy, we hadn’t thought of that! maybe something for Rick Castle’s birthday? we’ll try to get that together, or at least create a new challenge.

[castleficmentors]

Though it tends to confuse my readers from time to time, I try not to make even the even the known Castle bad guys entirely evil. Less Iago (from Othello) and more relatable as people. Thoughts?

Depends on what your intentions are, of course, but every character ought to reflect some kind of truth of the world around us. Often, that means paradoxes abound. No person is entirely one way. Motivations are complex, and personalities are even more so. The real villains of the world start out as babies, are five year olds and teenagers, and that means they have a story too. 

I don’t think that would confuse readers, if well done. I think readers are intelligent enough to see the real world in the stories they read. 

On the other hand, straight up evil mad scientists or psychotic serial killers have their place in a story too. With those, they may simply be foils for the actions of the main characters. Maybe you just want to get Beckett and Castle to really see each other for once - and so the serial killer provides that vehicle to get them there. No one really cares about those characters because they’re not exactly characters, are they? They’re pieces of the set dressing, or they’re plot devices, and in that function, there is no need to give them backstories.

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Hey Fic Mentors, I wanted to say Thank you for all the great ideas and words of encouragement you've had for me when I needed advice. I apologize that it took me so long to come back! I realized once I asked that I timed my request awfully, as I was up to my neck in a large work project that gave me no opportunity to even access tumblr, let alone try some of your suggestions. I've not had any success writing yet but I will try to implement some of your ideas. Thank you again for your support!!

you are absolutely welcome! keep us posted on the writing. you got this!

[castleficmentors]

Writing Challenges

hey mentees! we wanted to encourage you to continue writing - every day or once a week, whatever works for you. so in that vein, we’d like to hear from you: answer this with your most frustrating seasons of writers’ block, tell us a story about a time you just couldn’t get the words out, or give us a list of the ways in which you really don’t get it done.

sounds crazy, I know, but sometimes we just need to hear we’re not alone. 

have you had issues with getting the story down? let us know!

[castleficmentors]

Creative Works About Being A Writer

I was going to make this a list of books about the writing life, but instead it flowed into a couple different genres, and I think that’s a really good thing. We don’t all learn the same way, and sometimes we need those lessons learned across multiples platforms.

So here’s a list of things which inspire us to write, or teach us how to write, even if maybe that’s not their main purpose.

Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird Stephen King’s On Writing Ann Patchett’s essay ‘The Getaway Car’ (inside Happy Marriage, or as an single ebook) Magic Lessons Podcast by Elizabeth Gilbert (of Eat Pray Love fame) Madeleine L’Engle’s A Circle of Quiet Rainer M. Rilke Letters to a Young Poet (pdf) Chaim Potok’s My Name is Asher Lev (fiction) Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life  Noah Lukeman’s The First Five Pages (how to fine-tune your query to keep it out of the rejection pile, but mostly it just gives really tight advice on writing itself) Poets & Writers (website with resources for writers, contests, agents, etc) Elements of Style Strunk & White’s classic grammar guide, available online Ruby Sparks, Stranger Than Fiction, The Words (movies about writers, writing, and point of view/perspective)