Next Time, A Map!
Whenever you finish a long piece, it's a good idea to write a kind of postscript, at least for yourself, about how it went.
Did it work out the way you thought it would? Did you do what you meant to do? How did it change on the way? What lessons did you learn?
With Short Chapters, I learned two big ones:
- Never start writing a story until you know how it ends.
- Don't be overly sensitive to comments!
When I first started posting at BCTS, I'd already written Rules Are Rules and was posting a chapter a day.
I was uncertain about whether my story really belonged on the site... whether I fit in with the other authors, and so I was a little vulnerable, and much more sensitive to comments and demands that I should have been.
Lucky for me, Rules Are Rules was already complete, and I had already begun the sequel. So I wasn't in the mood to make revisions, although I did fix a few things. Small things.
In any case, a lot of the comments on the story, on my blog, and in private messages complained that the chapters were too short. It was distressing. And when I replied, "The whole thing's already written, and this is how long the chapters are!" People said, "Post the whole thing, then!"
It was deflating.
Someone began insisting that I make Marcie's medical status clear.
Others had the mistaken impression that Mark was being forced to be a girl, and that really bothered me.
In a word, I was overwhelmed. I was confused. But then, one person pushed me too far. It was the last straw, and I went from feeling lost to feeling angry. It was a good thing in the end, because if you're writing, you need to make the decisions, regardless of what anyone says. If you're cooking, you have decide what goes into the pot. If you're driving, you have to drive.
The next time I saw a complaint that my chapters were too short, I said to myself, "I'll show them! I'll write a story in which all the chapters are at least 3000 words," and without further ado (and without any more thought than that) I launched into Short Chapters.
The thing is, it's pretty easy to start almost anything, and it will run along fine for a little while. But soon, if you don't know what you're doing, or you aren't willing to put some energy in, it will stop.
And so, the story rolled along fine for nine chapters, but then it got into such a tangle that I had no idea how it could possibly continue. In the next two chapters I pretty much talked out the contradictions, and after three weeks I managed to find a way to get Victor to Boston with a suitcase full of girls clothes.
After that, every chapter became a problem to solve, and by chapter 19 there seemed no way to get Victor to the hospital in a skirt. It took seven months before I got over THAT hump, and in the end I had absolutely no idea what would happen between him and Auralee at the funeral.
It wasn't writer's block. It was just logistical problems. Plot.
I almost came to hate the story. I often wondered if I'd EVER finish. I decided to not go on with anything else until I *did* finish, but Lord, what a chore!
So... lesson learned. Never again. Maps, calendars... the end point... the whole story in mind before I start.
Moving on...
Comments
You can tell.
Reading the last chapter of "Short Chapters," it's pretty obvious you were frustrated and just wanted to finish the story. Like I said in my comment on the chapter, the entire ending was very sad and downbeat for how most of the story initially felt when I read it.
I can understand your frustration. I have a bit of a problem with doing the exact same thing, as is obvious to anybody who reads my stuff, the only big difference is that usually my stories already have an ending in mind -- it's just a question of how to get there from the beginning that's a problem for me. However, I still dislike the idea of laying out every event before I begin writing, largely because I prefer to get a grasp on my characters and write what they do as opposed to fitting what my characters do to the events I want in the story. I've tried to do that before, and it never works out as well as when I just go with the flow. I guess that's the difference between author's writing styles, though, and if mapping all the events out before hand helps you, then by all means, do it.
I hope that that frustration doesn't turn you off to the idea of writing in general, though. Losing you permanently as an author on the site would be a terrible loss.
Melanie E.
no no no
Yeah, I'm sorry for the ending being that way.
But no, I wrote the second and third Marcie stories knowing the ending ahead of time. There are still surprises when you do that; you can't foresee everything.
But if you look at the posting history of Short Chapters, you'll see it took three years to write. Three years!
I don't get writer's block. I just couldn't figure out how to make things work. There was a very telling comment from Geoff at the end of chapter ten: "I think Kaleigh may be writing herself out of a story..." He was right! The natural course of events was for Victor to say, "The hell with this, I'm not wearing a skirt."
I'm definitely not soured on writing. Writing is fun. This one was fun too, but it went on too long.
Grasping characters
"I prefer to get a grasp on my characters and write what they do."
I wish! Sometimes my characters attack me with a whip and a chair and I have to threaten them with something serious in order to get them to co-operate.
Most times I have a general idea of how the story is supposed to end up, and I just have to discover the bit in the middle. Sometimes my characters have other ideas. On one or two occasions I have just run with the original idea and let it find it's own resolution.
There are always a number of different ways to achieve one's final objective. Don't tie yourself down by ignoring other methods, even if those may have given you trouble in the past. What works for one story may not work for another.
- I always try and lay down a timeline as the story goes along. It helps me make a smaller number of goofs. I can look back and reference it if I need to know what characters did, and when. Useful if the story starts to get big. Very occasionally I'll make a map as well, but I don't often need one.
- 3000 words? I don't think any of my chapters are less than 4000 (except for the short-shorts, that is). I generally break mine into 6000 to 9000 chunks because (a) they are enough story to get one's teeth into at any one sitting and (b) they are not so long as to put one off reading them at all.
Hope this helps,
Penny
I don't think...
mapping out every event, in order they will happen is really needed. Yes, you need to know how the story will end, and the important milestones that have to be navigated.
Will side trips happen? Yes, and in and of themselves, they're not problems... Occasionally, you may find a side trip is actually your subconscious telling you that there was something else that had to happen to get where you were going. Other times, the side trip is just plane fun to write. (Been there, done that.) Go ahead and write them... Yet other times, the side trip turns out to be distracting, or actually may try to take the story in a way you didn't intend.
With each side trip, you need to determine whether it contributes to the story, is neutral, or detracts from it. Readers can't tell this (well, they can and will...). Only the author can say whether it helps the story or not.
Occasionally, a character, intended as a throw-away, turns out to have something important to do or say, and then you need to flesh it out more, and ... Yeah, it builds. Can it be distracting? Most definitely. Sometimes, as painful as it may seem, we need to put a muzzle on some of our characters, at least for a while. Yes, they all want to be the centers of the story and take on a personality of their own. But, they're not the author, and they don't know where the story's going.
Heck, it's possible for the "side stories" to actually BE the story - or to provide most of the action in the story... Take a look at the longest running serial on the site. There have been so many side stories woven in and out that it just amazes me at how the authoring team (not to forget the senior member of the team) keeps it all straight. Those of us following the "Calamities of Cathy" seem to enjoy it bunches and bunches. :-)
Not everything I've written has had a known end point - when I started. Nor have I kept the planned ending fixed in stone in every case. See, I can't keep to my own rules! That said, I find that my stories seem to flow better, when I know where they're ending up, and the milestones or checkpoints I need to go through. Sometimes, I have short term - detailed - outlines between the major milestones. Sometimes, it's just a series of things I want to have happen, in some order.
Now, if only RL would let me write more.
Annette
What's the Fun in That?
While it is true readers comments are helpful and always welcomed, (well, almost always), the idea that a writer has to adhere to the suggestions, often put forth as a complaint is rubbish. Writers write according to their style and personal fashion. Each has his or her way of telling a story. There is no perfect way or set formula. e.e. cummings is proof that you can defy every convention and be a smashing success.
As a serving officer, I was taught that a sentence should be no longer that 25 words and a paragraph six lines. We were also told we needed to keep the manuals were we writing at a fifth grade level. Thank God I said, 'to hell with that.' And while I'll be the first to admit I do tend to get carried away with some run away sentences, I never allow convention to interfere with my story telling. After all, that's why it's called 'creative writing.'
As to the length of a chapter, well, another writer of note once told me a chapter is as long as it needs to be.
My advise is not to get yourself all wrapped up in the sprockets or permit reader comments to dictate how you do things. After all, you can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but whatever you do, there'll always be some miscreant out there who thinks he and/or she has a better idea. Ignore 'em is my advice and have fun at your own pace and in your own way.
Nancy Cole
"You may be what you resolve to be."
T.J. Jackson
A chapter is as long as it needs to be...
Yes... But, if one looks at a lot of professionally published (or at least of authors you like) literature, one can get a feeling for how long others appear to think a chapter should be... And, if you are writing something that is substantially different from what you like, it's worth looking at your writing to see if maybe your demarcations are not appropriate.
That's one reason I didn't use the word "chapter" with some of my postings. Chapterization is an art that I'm not good at. LOL... What I've been doing with "Hidden Gifts" is target about 6,000 words a post. Then, I look forward / backward from that point to find the most "logical" point to break the text - some break in action, a period of time passing, etc. It seems to work, but it's also made for less frequent postings (before RL got in the way of writing) than the other authors in the Universe (I tried to match initially - but, happened to pick two long segments to count - to find the average... LOL so, now I'm "stuck" with it, or I become inconsistent.)
So, yes, the author should decide how long a chapter should be. However, I think the author should think about what the length means. If you're posting daily, one length may be appropriate. Weekly, you may have another answer. If you post when able, you may have a third answer, or it may match one of the others.
My personal preference - if it's not something posted daily, is toward slightly longer postings (probably in the 3-5000 word range - yes, shorter than HG!)... But, this is based on my reading speed and the time I make available to read stuff here. I KNOW others have other preferences. One serial I started following had segments so short - I wasn't getting enough in one posting to get me really pulled in. At first, I just pulled back - and read every other or every third post, but I found the page changes distracting, and finally even gave up. Others persevered, and appeared to really enjoy the whole thing. So, I take it as just a "me" ism. I've heard others on the site say they PREFER lots of little postings, because they can't read long posts in one sitting, and can't recall where they were, when they came back.
So, there's no one right answer - for everyone.
I've even seen some authors separate chapters from posts - a single post may be more than a single chapter.
Enough rambling...
Annette
P.S. One more comment - I don't think you meant to say "ignore" rules... Just to be aware of where you break them. Break them ON PURPOSE, not by accident.
Then again...
...you could throw out the rule book entirely and let the characters guide you until their story reaches a natural endpoint...
...which may take some time, if "Bike" is anything to go by...
From 16th July 2007 to now, Angharad's epic opus works out at 863 episodes over 903 days, an average of nearly 6.7 episodes a week or 349 per year...
--Ben
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
For What It's Worth
I thought you ended it fine. Not every story ends in flowers and violin symphonies. Yeah, it had its problems along the way, but you toughed through them and got to an ending. I think your post-analysis is probably spot on, but not every story lends itself to that, and I don't think the world is any poorer for you just winging it with this one.
You've penned some better works, but there's a lot worse stuff than Short Chapters around and I don't regret reading it one iota.
I love your writing, what ever you write.
I think some people here need to realize that once in a while boys try out girls clothes and the magic does not happen. I this case, the poor kid asked a question, then got stampeded into it. Later he found out it was not a good fit and was happy to have it over.
Will he one day dig the box out and try it again? Maybe he won't.
I've seen other detransitions, and one day I might be one of them. For me it will be harder to pull off with the boobs I have now, but for me, if I decide to do something, I do it.
I'm really happy in my life now, but if there was sufficent cause, I could live as a pony, or a rabbit. :)
Khadihah
Take your time
To me, one of the most enjoyable part of writing any story is the period after completing the first draft and putting it on ice for a month or so.
Then you start to re-read it and find all kinds of things wrong with the text that earlier you thought was almost perfect. And you start working towards making it as good as you can. This is the time when you can make changes to your story to make it slicker, and fit together better. I like to think this is where the most devious embroidery takes place. You can put a little thread here, and then make it re-appear somewhere else, stitching together your story in a way you never thought of before. And you can carry on at your own pace until it's as good as you can make it.
But all this is only possible if you complete your story before any part of it is published. If at the end of this process you have made it as good as it's going to get, then comment is nice if it's positive, but you can always pay scant regard to negative comment. Sure if there is something simple you can do, such as combining chapters to make them longer, then fine, but don't be driven by comments. They can drive an author mad!
Get on with your writing as you like to write. Do what comes naturally, take your time, and ENJOY!