Thanks again to all of you who offered congratulations for yesterday’s deal news. It’s exciting to be a part of something different and challenging (and trust me, if you could be a fly on the wall while those of us involved hash this out, you’d see just how challenging it’s going to be, but OH so much FUN). This will definitely have me buckling down and dusting off the bunny feet since I’ve gotten into the tortoise way of doing things this year. Not that slow and steady is bad, but sometimes there’s a need for speed built into a project, and this is definitely one of those times. Can’t wait to start!
Since I won’t be starting the VOWS story till January, I’m working on other things, and while waiting to have lunch yesterday with my ex-coworker downtown, I jotted synopsis notes on one of my WIPs. Here’s the thing. I have no problem putting together the relationships that form the heart of a story, but coming up with the external events that “happen” along the way is what gives me grief. This isn’t such a big deal when writing action adventure or suspense as with my SG-5 books, but when the story is not driven by action OR suspense, and is instead a story of character, this is harder for me to do.
There are masters at this. LaVyrle Spencer was the best ever. BITTERSWEET is my favorite contemporary of hers, and my favorite Susan Elizabeth Phillips is AIN’T SHE SWEET? Yes, external things happen, but they are about the characters and their choices and where said choices take them. They are not events that will change the world, and it would be a stretch to call them high concept. Two movies that did this beautifully are DAN IN REAL LIFE and THE FAMILY STONE. I LOVE Steve Carell as the widowed father of three daughters blindsided by his attraction to a woman who should be off limits. You could say nothing much happens in these movies. There are family scenes, revelations of secrets and feelings, but there are no guns or escaped convicts and the only thing that gets murdered, at least per Dan’s daughter, is LOVE!
The key to keeping readers glued to these stories is, of course, character. That’s the part I have no problem with. It’s moving the characters from page to page with more than internalization and dialogue and navel gazing that is hard to do in a synopsis. Especially because so much of the movement develops as the characters come to life in the author’s mind. How do you guys who write handle synopsizing external events in character driven tortoise stories? I mean, there’s the heroine’s journey, the hero’s journey, the journeys of any antagonists in the way of their goals . . . it’s enough to drive an author to drink! Good thing UPS just dropped off a box from Wine.com!
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Sorry I missed yesterday……….congrats on the wonderful news!! :)
I’m not a writer but I have to say that I have such an appreciation for those of you that do write! I can’t even begin to imagine the work that goes into writing a story! When I’m reading a book it seems so simple but I know it isn’t always that way! Making it all fit and make sense, for me, is a true sign of an amazing story teller!! I applaud you all who do this, lucky lucky us, the reader/fans!!!
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And we’re lucky to have all of you guys as readers to write for! Writing in a vacuum wouldn’t be much fun – at least not for me!