Story Boarding

I'm stuck, mired, stalled. Ugh. But I refuse to get down!

So, I've signed up for Discovering Story Magic online class and I'm still referencing the books in my target line. I'm tearing them apart and seeing how they tick. The "hero's journey" is very enlightening!

Don't worry, Jenna and Duncan are still running through my mind. Just mulling over the possibilities. And I'm getting ready to try story boarding. Very excited about it! Right now there is an author of the month workshop over at Romance Divas with the fabulous Julie Leto called Plotting With Your Pants On. Check it out! Very great stuff. I'll post a pic of my story board latter.

M

The Hero's Journey

This is something that I've puzzled over for a while but I think it is becoming clear.

Here are the steps in order:

1. The Ordinary World
2. The Call to Adventure
3. Refusal of the Call
4. Meeting with the Mentor
5. Crossing the First Threshold
6. Tests, Enemies and Allies
7. Approach to the Inmost Cave
8. The Supreme Ordeal
9. Seizing the Sword
10. The Road Back
11. Resurrection
12. Return With the Elixir

Deborah M. Hale's free online workshop "The Lovers' Journey" explains these points in detail, focusing on romance. Truly eye opening!

Procrastinating... yes I know.

Okay, I blame this post on Trish Wylie. Kinda fun in a procrastinating way! LOL I really like the ring in the pic.

What do you do to procrastinate? My top 5:

1. read romance novels... for research purposes, naturally!
2. start yet another art project that somehow does not get completed. sigh.
3. go shopping for stationary supplies. I've got an addiction. sick, i know.
4. clean my house. like vaccuuming behind the stove. REALLY sick, i know.
5. painting my house. seriously.

:)

M

Procrastinating... yes I know.

You Are a Ring Finger

You are romantic, expressive, and hopeful. You see the best in everything. You are very artistic, and you see the world as your canvas. You are also drawn to the written word. Inventive and unique, you are often away in your own inner world. You get along well with: The Pinky Stay away from: The Index Finger

What Finger Are You?

Oh, the STRESS of it all!!

Yup, it's official. Chapter 4 is giving me a bald spot! Grrrrrrrr.

I took a little break from Jenna and Duncan in the form of watching five children, all under the age of four for a few days. Let me tell you, the stress from that makes my chp.4 problem look like a walk in the park.

How is it that someone who is only three feet can move so fast? And what about the herd mentality? If one runs, they all want to run. And do you think it is in the same direction? Nooooooo, it's in all different directions. It forces you to mentally calculate who has the potential to get hurt the worst the first in seconds so you can speed after that one.

All moms who have more than three children, I salute you!

Hmmm... I wonder if the bald spot really is from chp. 4...

M

Speak To Me

How do you write dialogue?

I talk out loud, acting out the lines I want my character to say. Then I write them in "screenplay" format with little tags indicating a movement, expression, thought or feeling that goes with the line. I'll read it through a few times, making sure the subtext, or the un-said items I want the reader to pick up on are there. Then, I'll flesh it out with description, actions and such. In other words, it takes me a long time. :(

I think that is why I've been procrastinating a little. I'm at a crucial scene and dialogue is paramount. Ugh.

Does writing dialogue get any easier as you write? I certainly hope so!

By the way, I'm at 15% of W.I.P. done! Yay!!!

M

"Story" by Robert McKee---- Wow

This guy knows his stuff.
Yes, it is geared towards screenwriting, but the much or most can be applied to romance writing.

I'll quote directly here:

"Story Values are the universal qualities of human experience that may shift from positive to negative, or negative to positive, from one moment to the next." p.34*

"A Story Event creates meaningful change in the life situation of a character that is expressed and experienced in terms of a value and ACHIEVED THROUGH CONFLICT." p.34*

"A SCENE is an action through conflict in more or less continuous time and space that turns the value-charged condition of a character's life on at least one value with a degree of perceptible significance. Ideally, every scene is a STORY EVENT." p.35*

"If the value-charged condition of the character's life stays unchanged from one end of a scene to the other, nothing meaningful happens. The scene has activity- talking about this, doing that- but nothing changes in value. It is a nonevent.

Why then is the scene in the story? The answer is almost certain to be "expositions." It's there to convey information about characters, world, or history to the eavesdropping audience. If exposition is a scene's sole justification, a disciplined writer will trash it and weave its information into the (book) elsewhere.

No scene that doesn't turn." p. 36*

Sooo, if the scene or even the chapter starts with hero happy, happy, happy, then he/she becomes sad, then becomes happy, happy happy, we have a nonevent. There is no progression. It might be interesting, but probably not.

If the chapter starts with character progressing from despair to elation, now that's progression! You can even but that up against the next chp... end of first, hero is happy. Start of next, hero is upset or sad. It can make the overall rhythm of the story interesting and make the reader turn pages to find out what happened.

Very interesting, indeed.

M.

* "Story" by Robert McKee. Regan Books, An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, Copyright 1997.

Angry Poker Princess

Well, maybe a little miffed. Hubby lets me play his online account for one of the summer championship games at one of the poker clients he plays at. Here I am, in #3 out of 23 players left. I've slogged my way through over 150 players to get here. 20th place to 13th place get $5.00. First is $150.00US. He says, "Honey, I'll take over from here to get us to final table. Ok, I let him. He goes out in 13th.

Hmmp.

Momma ain't gonna get no new shoes. Grrr.

But, on his behalf, I'd have played the last hand probably the same way. Just got sucked out on on the river.

M