Category: Writing

I Just Spilled the Secret Ingredient All Over Myself

by Lindsey Loucks, posted in Cooking, Writing

In Donald Maass’s Writing the Breakout Novel, he says the secret ingredient in setting description is detail. I would be a fool to disagree. Stories that describe the coffee percolating, the knife smeared with strawberry jam on an otherwise empty counter, and the woman running back and forth to the refrigerator in her rainbow toe socks draw you in. You see everything! While every single detail isn’t necessary and would bog down the story, picking three to five tiny details that stand out in the room will help the reader get a crystal clear visual.

So, I’m trying to do this in my own writing. Just yesterday, I wrote a scene in a room with one slanted bookshelf, an office chair with wheels, and a buzzing overhead light with a moth flitting around inside it. Hopefully those specific items will paint a clear picture for the reader. I’ll find out when it gets critiqued. 😉

On a slightly unrelated note, I have clam chowder cooking in the crock pot right now. I came home from work to add the not-so-secret ingredient (milk) and managed to spill most of it all over myself. Ah, Mondays…

My Characters Won’t Tell Me Everything – What Do I Do?!?

by Lindsey Loucks, posted in Characters, Writing

Here’s an excerpt from an actual conversation I had with one of my characters:

Me: What’s PL?
Tram: It’s the PL.
Me: Oooookay. Where is the PL?
Tram: I can’t tell you. You’re human.
Me: (sighs) I kind of need to know what PL is. I’m the writer. Why are those two letters in your head?
Tram: (silence)
Me: Are they someone’s initials?
Tram: (blinks)
Me: An acronym for… post lick?
Tram: (looks at me like I have a horn for a nose)
Me: Fine. I’ll get it out of you. (gives him the evil eye) Somehow, I’ll get it out of you.

I’m still not sure what PL means. If I try to kick his butt, I’ll lose. Bad. I could threaten or bribe him, but honestly, he’s kind of scary and intense. I guess he’ll tell me when he’s ready. Maybe?

What can I do to get him to tell me what PL is? Any guesses as to what PL is?

I’ll Have Mine Medium Rare With a Dash of ‘Why Should I Care’

by Lindsey Loucks, posted in Reading, Writing

I just finished reading Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass. Just typing that made me feel like an egotistical ickypants, but yes, I would like to write a book that makes me millions. Who doesn’t?  Maass analyzes why certain books hit the bestseller lists while others don’t, and what those books have in common.

One of those things is steaks. Gah! I mean stakes. Darn empty stomach. Maass says breakout books need to have both personal and public stakes. In other words, what happens if the main character doesn’t achieve their goal, both personally and publicly? Will the main character lose a loved one? Will a loved one come back? Will the world erupt into chaos if the main character fails?

To raise personal stakes, Maass recommends asking yourself, “How can this matter more?” Why should we care about the main character? Hopefully the author will show you why by creating someone you want to root for.

Maass says to raise the public stakes, ask, “How could things get worse?” This makes sense. In really good books, don’t things usually go from bad to worse? That keeps us riveted! We have to know if the main character, whom we are now rooting for because of the personal stakes, succeeds with his/her nearly unattainable goal.

Great advice, Mr. Maass! So, how does everyone like your steaks? Better yet, how do you like your stakes?

An Ode to Critters

by Lindsey Loucks, posted in Critiquing, Writing

No, not the movies (see funny photo above). I mean the super-intelligent, highly dedicated group of other writers I’ve been fortunate enough to find who critique my story(ies). Yesterday (at least I think it was yesterday; the weekend went by in a blur), a critter pointed out yet another plot hole. Yay Joe! I grabbed my shovel to fill in the hole, and something wacky happened. My MC came up with a great come-back line to some kids on the bus who noticed her yard was… different. That line did two things – 1. it provided a moment of comic relief (which is good, because things get seriously unfunny in the second half) and 2. it was major foreshadowing. I held my shovel like an idiot, blinking at the computer screen, trying to understand the awesomeness that had just happened.

Now I know why Novel Number One wasn’t published – becuase I didn’t put it through the ringer at Critique Circle.

So to all my critters, everyone who has ever given me a critique, thank you. You’ve all provided different perspectives and made me truly think about how the story needed to be told. And a giant thank you to Mysti who’s read and critiqued the whole story almost twice and Joe who keeps throwing me that shovel. Like I told Mysti – the leprechaun told me there are Godiva chocolates in the magic pot for all of you at the end of the story. : )

Setting the Mood With Weather

by Lindsey Loucks, posted in Mood, Writing

The weather in Kansas can change dramatically in ten minutes. I timed it once. My moods reflect the weather, which means I have bipolar disorder. Not really, I’m just making a point.

I was thinking about the weather in my current work in progress the other day. The story takes place in Kansas. It’s spring time (almost in real life too. Yay!), which means the weather is even stranger than normal. Since I’m the author, aka Mother Nature, I can call up a hurricane to blow through Krapper, Kansas if I wanted to. But a hurricane doesn’t fit the story. And no, a tornado doesn’t either. My characters already have too much to worry about. But weather can really add to the mood of the story. During a particular dramatic moment, it’s pouring rain, flashes of lightning are parting the sky, and thunder is shaking the ground. To switch it up a bit, I have another panicked moment later in the story where the sun is too bright, the air is too still, and my main character sees death surrounding her.

Weather sets a certain mood. If you’re going for intensity and creepy, rain could work in the scene. If you want contrast, scary events on a perfect day could work too. Look out the window of your imagination and see what it’s doing outside.

So what’s your weather like, real or imagined?

Feeling Human

by Lindsey Loucks, posted in Movies, Writing

I feel like a human bean, I mean being, again. Last week, not so much. The flu dragged me by the heels into the cluttered basement, where I marked time into the closed door with my fingernails. Yikes! I’ve been watching too much Paranormal Activity 2! But anyway, I was trapped for a whole week with the flu. No fun.

Between moans and complaints to Gabe, I thought about writing. My characters gave me sly smiles and beckoned me closer. I thought they were going to eat me (did I mention I had a fever?), but then they comforted me.

I thought about the different plots taking shape in my head, the ideas that could melt away if I didn’t get better soon. At the urging of my characters and those plots waiting to be written down, I finally did get better.

And it occurred to me during my upward climb: I’m addicted. To my characters, to those ideas taking root in my brain, to writing a word, a sentence, a paragraph that makes me smile. I’m addicted, and that addiction helped me get better faster. The drugs helped too, though.

Anyone else addicted? Have you taken your temperature today? Have you seen Paranormal Activity 1 or 2?

10 Ways to Make Your Head Explode With Story Ideas

by Lindsey Loucks, posted in Writing

Earlier this year, I was asked to speak to the high school fiction writing class. I spoke while the class looked at me through half-closed eyes, their mouths slack. Gotta love those high school students. They perked up a bit when my computer screamed. It does that on occasion.

Anyway, one of the things I talked about was how to come up with story ideas. I came up with ten:

1. The What-If Game – What if the football hero injured his leg… and it hurt him so much he tried to cut it off? What if people had three ears? What if Germany had won World War II?

2. Think of a title first. I did this with my current novel, The Grave Winner. It just jumped into my head. Then I thought: why would anyone win a grave? Eventually the story came to me. This same thing happened again, and now I have another idea for a novel floating around in my brain based on just a title.

3. Think of a catchy first line. In my first novel, Pause, the first line is “Are you ready to faint today?”

4. Make your dreams a reality on paper. It worked for Stephenie Meyer with Twilight. It worked for me too. The idea for Pause came from a chase dream and my increasing age.

5. See it – watch the story play out in your head like a movie.

6. Hear it – listen to music, close your eyes, then write down what you see in your head.

7. Read the newspaper – especially the Weird News part.

8. Real life – enough said.

9. Start with an interesting character.

10. Start with an interesting place.

Where do your story ideas come from?

I Lust Verbs

by Lindsey Loucks, posted in Writing

Maybe it’s just me. It wouldn’t be the first time I lusted after something/someone no one else gave two shakes about. But every time I read a strong, creative verb in a sentence, I drool a little. Yes, it’s gross. But while I dribble down my chin, I reread the entire sentence to experience that lust again. And again and again.

No need to question my sanity – I checked out of reality long ago. But my lust has stirred in me the need to make a list of my favorite verbs since lists also make me lust. The following are just a few of my favorites in present tense. Some of them look like nouns, but could be used as verbs.

lance
lick (no, I don’t write erotica!)
arc
echo
loll (not to be confused with LOL)
scar
prick
sheet
slice

That’s all I can think of at the moment. What are some of your favorite verbs?

A Shower Won’t Help

by Lindsey Loucks, posted in Writing

Let’s be realistic: no one has a sparkly clean mind. They’re messy and complicated, kind of like the directions for my new crock pot. Bits of information are scattered all over the place. But a scattered mind is what makes us human, so at least we have that as an excuse.

A critique partner asked me once how I make my stories so polished. I’m still not exactly sure what he meant, but I answered back by saying, “They sure don’t start out that way.” Maybe that’s because I start writing the first draft on notebook paper, not computer. In that initial shotgun blast, I have to keep up with the story by writing in shorthand. My typing fingers are too slow. Below is an example of how dirty/messy/complicated and unpolished my writing is:

Lines and whole sentences are crossed out. Phrases are scribbled in the margins. Eventual destinations are marked with stars. It’s crazy! But that’s what fell out of my messy head.

Of course, this word vomit winds up on my computer so that I can sort it out, but still. Writing is messy, and showers won’t help.

So, writers, what do your first drafts look like?
Anyone, what’s on your dirty minds? Wait, do I want to know?
Anyone, do you have any good recipes for my new crock pot?

Shooting From the Hip, Lindsey Style

by Lindsey Loucks, posted in Westerns, Writing

I like cowboy movies. Maybe it’s the swagger and the scuffed boots, or the squinting into the sunset with a toothpick jutting out of a parched mouth. Whatever the reason, I like them. Maybe that’s why I live in a certain famous historically rich cowboy town. Actually, there’s no ‘maybe’ about it. The thought of squinting into the sunset like Wyatt Earp, maybe even standing in the exact place he once did, thrills me. I’m kind of a nerd like that.

Is there a point to all this, you ask? Chill. I’m swaggering and my spurs are jingle-jangling. I’m caught up in the moment.

There’s a saying in the writing community, “Shoot from the hip.” My guns are out and pointed at my computer screen, but in a friendly howdy-do way. Because sometimes I do shoot from the hip. This means I don’t plan what I write, it just comes. When this happens, I try to keep up with my brain. That’s what happened last summer when I sat down to write The Grave Winner. I got as far as chapter four with no idea where I was going to go next. Then I twirled my guns out of their holsters and started shooting. But the ideas came so fast as to what would happen next, I had to write them down. No way was I going to forget them. After a third of the book was written, I shot my guns again. Here’s a picture of the bullet holes:

It’s messy and hardly legible, but you can kind of make out the chapter numbers on the left. So I wrote the second third of the book based on these bullet holes, though some of the tiny details changed. My momentum carried into the last third, but soon I had to get my guns out again.

My point, and I do have one, is that I don’t know what’s going to happen next until the smoke clears from my blazing guns, and an outline appears in my little notebook like the above picture. I do both – shoot from the hip and outline.

What do other writers out there do? If you’re not a writer, what’s your favorite western movie? While I await responses, I’m going to YouTube the preview for True Grit and squint at the computer screen while I watch it.