To all of you who are in the middle of NaNoWriMo, may the wind fill your sails! If you have time or need a break, please let the rest of us know how you’re faring. And here’s the link to Kitty’s NaNoWriMo forum, which she put together particularly for this blog’s writer-participants: http://nanowrimo.org/forums/writing-groups-and-clubs/threads/260467.
On July 16, 2015 Abigail wrote, I know you did a post on this already, but it’s not so much story hopping, but losing interest. I have a story called “The Luckbringer” that currently has over 27,000 words. And I haven’t written in it since school ended (early June).
Partially, it’s because I’m in a filler/standstill part in the story. What do you do when you’re at those? I hate them, and sometimes I manage to slog through them, but usually I end up with seven different subplots I started to get it moving. Uggggh.
Also, I guess I don’t know where the story is going RIGHT NOW. I know where it’s supposed to end, and what I need to do to get there, but I’m not really sure what to write. Do you write a huge, detailed outline explaining what happens in every chapter? I have a few friends who do that, and personally I think it’s a waste of time and a restriction on your creativity, but I guess it’d also help you out during those filler chapters. What’s your thought on that?
And one more thing: When I want to sit down and write (or at least, feel like I should), sometimes I stare at my computer screen for fifteen minutes without writing anything, then go do something else. I’ve tried ‘tickling the keys’ and writing in a notebook, but it doesn’t help much.
To start with, on the subject of outlining or not, please take a look at my recent post, called “Plan or Pants,” on September 2nd, and don’t read just my words. Be sure to check out the comments, because lots of people weighed in. Everyone works differently, and there’s a long spectrum from outliner to pantser.
Onto filler scenes. I’m not sure, but we might do better if we dream up another name for them, like transition scenes or going deeper scenes, because just the word filler makes me sleepy.
However, sometimes–whatever we call them–they’re necessary, I guess. Please speak up if you disagree.
So, what to do?
At the beginning of my prequel to The Two Princesses of Bamarre, tentatively called Bamarre, MC Perry is a child in a Sparta-like culture, and she has to be trained in the arts of war. If she were awkward and weak, tension would come easily. She could fail, and she and the reader would suffer. But she’s a strong, gifted athlete. Are you yawning yet? I was, but it seemed essential to completing this world to show what its children have to go through.
I did a few things, not just to keep myself awake, but also to round out Perry’s character and to advance the plot. I made the other children, except one, dislike her, and I explored the exception.
Possibly, I could have used the enmity of the other children to create conflict, but their dislike wasn’t going to be a significant plot thread, and I kept it to a minimum. (I tend to over-complicate, so I was wary of myself.) Also, because I didn’t want to overburden this part of the story, I didn’t enlarge much on the new friendship.
Wrapped up in this example are three strategies:
∙ Truncate. Suspect every sentence. If we don’t need it, out it goes. Switching from showing to telling will help in the shortening. In my example, we can show one sort of training and tell the others, briefly. This truncating can be done both while we’re writing the scene and in revision as soon as we finish. If we’ve introduced seven subplots to get us through, we can consider each one, because there may be gold among them, and then we can ditch the dross. In fact, question your entire transition scene. Do you really need it. Can you cover it in a single sentence and move on?
∙ Reveal character. What a character does when she’s disliked may expose aspects of her not otherwise seen. Does she try harder? Withdraw? Comfort herself in other ways? Become belligerent? Whatever choice she makes will teach us and the reader more about her–and will make the pages interesting, even exciting.
∙ Advance plot. In my story, the single friendship becomes important. To come up with ways to advance the plot, think about the main conflict and how your intermediate scene can contribute to it. This has nothing to do with my manuscript, but let’s imagine that Perry’s new friend is going to die (somehow) later in the story. Well, what little thing can we drop into this scene to hint at the trouble to come. Since these pages are transitional, we don’t want it to be a big deal, just a bell that chimes softly. The reader will hear.
On Abigail’s last question, about being stuck and unable to write, I sympathize. At the moment, I’m figuring out what to write next and I’m not making much progress. But I do believe in tickling the keys. I’d suggest writing off topic about something that matters to you. Rant or obsess (in writing) or describe the latest funny thing that happened in your family or with friends. Don’t make yourself write your story or write about your story until and unless it just starts coming. And don’t do what I’ve been doing lately, an addiction, which is switching from writing to playing a solitaire game called Free Cell. Do not do that! Especially if you’re in the middle of NaNoWriMo, do not do that!
Here are three prompts:
∙ Your MC has left his old life behind. He’s on a train or in a caravan or a commercial spaceship, off to–you decide where and what. An interlude is needed for the transition. Nothing major is going to happen, but a few small things may. Write the scene. Do not let it go more than five pages, or, if it does, cut it back in revision.
∙ Use the situation I described above. Your MC is learning a new skill and has just made a friend, though no one else likes her. The new skill is the transition part, so let it be something dull, like stringing beads. Make the reader worry just the slightest bit about the safety of the new friend. Again, keep the scene short.
∙ Your MC and another character, you decide who, are in a boat in the middle of one of the Great Lakes. Think big body of water. The engine has died. Swimming to shore is not an option, and if no one realizes what’s happened, they will be in terrible trouble. But for now, the water is calm, the sky is blue. Write the scene before everything starts to fall apart.
Have fun, and save what you write!
Jillian Ponchot says:
Hello Fellow Writers and Levine Readers!
My name is Jillian Ponchot. I am a senior at Thomas Edison State College with the intent of graduating this spring with my bachelor’s degree in English. In order to complete my degree, I am conducting a capstone project on the process of writing a short story; I would love to get your feedback.
I have created a short questionnaire on Google Forms, and I would greatly appreciate you guys taking the time to fill it out. The six brief questions encompass the topics of character, voice, plot, and theme. Each question allows for you to respond in as many or as few words as you like. Your answers will be anonymous and are instrumental in the development of my project.
Thank you all so much for your time. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Jillian Ponchot
http://goo.gl/forms/9iqeHXerPG
Jillian says:
Of course, Jillians need to help each other out! Good luck!
Jillian Ponchot says:
Thanks so much! You’re the sweetest! And your name’s not bad either . . .
Gail Carson Levine says:
Just want to make clear that Jillian Ponshot didn’t clear this with me in advance and I don’t know her, but I have looked at her questionnaire, and if you’re inspired to help her, looks fine to me. Good luck with your project, Jillian!
SAPPHIRE says:
Hi again Mrs.Levine, great post!
I’ve been waiting for this post so that I have an excuse to take a break from writing. Seriously, its beggining to dominate me, I’m even dreaming about writing!
But hey, its good practice, and has definatly helped me in developing a routine for writing each and every day. It’ll benefit me later, but for now, I want to think of anything BUT words!
Jillian Ponchot says:
I sincerely apologize, Mrs. Levine. I definitely should have thought to have asked permission first, and I’m sorry I didn’t.
Thank you for your grace and well wishes though. They are greatly appreciated.
SAPPHIRE says:
for NaNoWriMo, just to make that clear 😉
Chicory says:
Wow, this post is about exactly what I’m dealing with! Thanks Gail. 🙂 I’ve been so stuck lately I’ve been avoiding my keyboard. I haven’t been playing free-cell, but I have taken up crocheting.
One thing that’s helped me is noticing that I hit a snag at roughly the same spot in the last book I tried to write. In both cases, a relationship was supposed to develop that was going to be pivotal to the plot but when I got to the part where my people were supposed to realize how much they mean to each other, I hadn’t done enough set-up. In the first story my two main characters went from suspicious strangers to desperately in love even though they only had one chapter together when the hero wasn’t delirious with fever. I had no idea what I’d done wrong- I just knew the story had serious pacing problems.
This time around when I got into trouble I was able to look at my old story to see what I’d done wrong. I realized that in my current story I needed to hint that my characters were becoming friends earlier, so I’ve been writing little snippet-scenes of friendship and finding places to slot them in. It’s harder than it sounds! I have to make sure I’m not messing stuff up with my additions, but I think its the only way I’ll be able to move forward. Sometimes being stuck is your brain trying to say you missed a step.
Of course, I don’t know yet if fixing the pacing issue will get me unstuck, but I figure it can’t hurt. 🙂
Kitty says:
Thanks for the NaNo thread mention, Gail!
I feel like this post pretty much sums up my NaNo experience right now. I’m a week in, a few thousand words behind, the shiny new project that I was so excited to start working on with the first day is looking a lot less shiny and exciting now. But I think that’s something that all writers experience, some point in their career. What ultimately counts is not who’s skilled and has a great idea (though those are important too), but who has enough discipline to get their bum in a seat and keep on writing even when it’s not super fun. I hope I’ll be able to come out victorious on that front. The recent weather isn’t helping though. Grey skies always make me tired for some reason.
Oh, and some advice on filler scenes. They may be boring, but they are necessary. You can’t just have action, action, action all the time, as that would probably kill the character with stress and probably the reader too. All books have some sort of quiet down time, a lull in the action, even if it’s just for a small moment. In order to make the action really pop, you need some un-action (is that a word?) too. Generally the way to go is either characterization or comic relief. The second is probably more fun to write, so if you’re feeling bored try that. Have a funny conversation occur between characters in their down time, crack a few jokes, or even put your characters in a funny situation (For example, I remember a NaNo writing prompt about your character chasing down a noisy squirrel in the crawl space in her home. Scenes like these are not super relevant to the main plot, but still bring a smile to the readers’ face.) It’s the details that make all the difference.
Kenzi Anne says:
Oh gosh I feel you! I got 2 1/2 days behind on my NaNo and so I forced myself for several hours to just sit and write until I was caught up. Literally, I’ve begun to hate my characters!! I never before understood how some authors got to the point they just wanted to blow up their characters. I KNOW THE PAIN NOW! But I’ve forced myself to keep my rear glued to my chair each day until I finish–and I’ve learned so much about my own writing style!
I do have to ask, though…how do you keep yourself interested in your NaNo story? I’m literally just word-vomiting onto the page now, not particularly keeping with plot or character traits–just whatever comes into my brain. How do y’all keep your story alive? I literally want to just dump my characters off a cliff! My main character has started becoming more irate–I think I’ve been subconsciously channeling my frustration through him. Help! I liked my story idea a month ago, and I’d like to fall in love with it again! 🙂
Christie Powell says:
Try switching characters. See if a different one works better for you.
I’m a planner, so I usually have something planned ahead that interests me. Even if I hit a hard spot, I’ll be willing to get through it so I can get to the more exciting bits.
Melissa Mead says:
Kitty, you’ve nailed it with “What ultimately counts is not who’s skilled and has a great idea (though those are important too), but who has enough discipline to get their bum in a seat and keep on writing even when it’s not super fun. ” This is SO true!
MisplacedPoetry says:
Feel ya Abigail and everyone else. My characters are currently journeying across the country to an unknown destination, but the thing is, they’re being forced to do this, they are literally captives, so if something happens an they get separated, they’re going to go back.
Wait, I’m digressing,
So back to the journey, its going to take a few weeks, I don’t want to skip over days but I also feel like overwriting it would be take too much time. So yeah. Feel like I’m digressing again, but the blog post is helpful.
Jordan W. says:
Is medias res ( Latin for ‘into the middle of things’ ) a good way to start a book? Many short story’s start this way and are very well written, but is it alright to start a novel with it?
Thanks!
NPennyworth says:
I think if you’re careful and provide enough backstory later on you would be able to do it. You’d need to make sure your reader has enough details to begin with, and you can gradually add more later. One good book I read that does this (kind of) is Fractured by Teri Terry. The MC has her memory wiped and is in the middle of a bunch of conflict, and gradually pieces together her past life as she works through the current situation. I say go for it, but advance carefully!
Christie Powell says:
I do that. My general pattern is to start the first three chapters with a lot of action, and just enough backstory for you to understand what’s going on. Then I use the next three chapters to get used to the world and bring in the most important characters, and then have a pivotal moment of some kind that gets the main plot going. I find the easiest ways to provide backstory are to introduce a character that’s new to the world in some way, and only include the information when it adds to the plot that’s happening right that moment (for instance, the princess is explaining why the villain is after her, while they are escaping his fortress).
Jenalyn Barton says:
I ran into this very thing very early in my NaNoWriMo novel, when my MC is forced to take a road trip from Seattle to Tennessee with the antagonist. It’s 2500+ miles, over 30 hours of driving, and boy, was it boring! But I felt I couldn’t just skip over it and say “they arrived in Tennessee two days later”, because I thought it was very interesting seeing my MC stuck in a car for long hours with the antagonist. So what I did was I skipped the most tedious (i.e. most of the driving) and showed just the few conversations between the MC and the antagonist. This way I was able to advance the plot and/or reveal things about both characters. It took several thousand words to get them to Tennessee, and I may have written a little too much in places, but I feel a lot better having it there, even if I end up cutting stuff out.
As for what to do when you don’t feel like writing…I have nothing. I’m terrible at this. Sorry.
The Florid Sword says:
I had a question. I’m not doing NaNoWriMo, but I always wonder: Why do my finished novels come out so short when everything you find at the library is so LONG? How do you get your novel to a good length without padding or unnecessary plotlines? I don’t tend to have very complex plots so maybe I just need to add more elements to the story? If anyone else knows what I’m talking about, I’d appreciate any advice!
NPennyworth says:
It depends on writing style. I like to elaborate and add in lots of little details, so I often have to refocus my writing to make sure I’m not going off topic. If you have more elements to the story or delve more into the character’s personal development, you should find it adds a bit more length to the stories.
Plus, some of the books in the library have pictures or big text or chapter breaks every three pages.
Kitty says:
It depends on what genre you’re writing in. Fantasy and Sci-Fi are notoriously longer than, say, contemporary or literary fiction (generally speaking), to allow for the word building. Also, according to some sources, middle grade is supposed to be from 20-50K words, and YA 40-60K. Of course those numbers are a bit old, and books have gotten quite a bit longer since them, but that really amounts to 80-200 pages for MG and 160-240 pages for YA. Also, you don’t have to write a full novel– novellas are just as good. Animal Farm is a great example of a awesome story told in a very brief word count.
Gail Carson Levine says:
A writer friend opined to me recently that most of us (writers) have a length that we naturally write to. Her books, she said, are always short. She wasn’t complaining or boasting, just stating a fact. No one way is right. And padding to increase length is a terrible idea.
Kitty says:
By the way, Gail, if you don’t mind me asking, what IS the industry standard in length these days for MG and YA? The only numbers I could find were a bit old, and didn’t quite match up with the books I’m reading. But then again, I read mostly fantasy, so that might be why.
Gail Carson Levine says:
I don’t know current industry standard. Does anyone out there?
In the past, I think, YA novels were shorter than MG, and fantasy longer than anything else. Of course, chapter books for kids just emerging from picture books are shortest of all, which must still be true.
BUT a book should be as long as it wants to be to tell the story. And that’s always true, true for writers, editors, and agents.
The Florid Sword says:
Great post by the way! Can’t wait for the prequel 😀
NPennyworth says:
I have a question: does a book need to have chapters? I find it easier to write without them. For NaNoWriMo, I’m writing my novel in four parts, and I’m wondering if I should divide it up further. I have spaces where a time change is made, and I usually just put a dotted line between the paragraphs to show that. If any of you understand that, I’d like some advice! Thanks!
Melissa Mead says:
Most of the Discworld books don’t have chapters.
Kitty says:
Most finished books are divided into chapters, but that doesn’t mean you have to do so while you’re writing it. I’m also doing NaNoWriMo, and instead dividing my stuff into chapters, I’m doing it by acts and scenes (like in theatre). Like Act 1 scene 1, Act 1 scene 2, etc. I find that that way is easier to keep track of what’s happening, and I don’t have to worry about whether I ended my chapter in the right place or if all the chapters are the same length. After you finish, you can then go through your manuscript and divide it into chapters during the editing phase.
Kitty says:
But of course, there are always exceptions, like Melissa mentioned. I haven’t read the Discworld series though, so I can’t attest as to how exactly they do it. I feel like a giant block of text without any breaks might be a bit hard to read though, but that’s just my opinion.
Melissa Mead says:
There are line breaks. Just no chapters.
NPennyworth says:
Thanks!
Poppie says:
Hi everyone!
I have a little problem with editing. It’s not that it’s challenging for me to do: it’s that I can’t stop!
Here’s the story:
I wrote a fan fiction book as a birthday present for one of my cousins. I went through the first draft, looked over it three to four times, and made changes. I had a cover made for the book, and my cousin read it on the day of her birthday.
Though she laughed in all the right places, and told me it “was a good book”, she still asked me some questions concerning things like clarity, and I thought to myself: “Ouch! If I had changed that, this book would’ve been much better!”
I still had the original draft on the family computer, so I went back to it, and made changes.
It’s been over a year since the book has been a birthday present. I want to show it to some more of my friends, but I still feel the book could always be made better before anyone else sees it. And better. And even more better!
I’m never satisfied anymore!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Sincerely,
Poppie
Kitty says:
The old saying goes that you know you’re done editing when you feel like you feel sick at the prospect of seeing another word of your book. Until then, keep editing! 😉
Of course, after you work on a piece for a long time, you might lose your objectivity from all that emotional investment. I suggest either have someone else read over it, post it to fanfiction.net and see what people write in the comments, are go to a critique trading site like Scribophile.
NPennyworth says:
I’ve heard of other authors who have the same problem, and they say that the only way they can ever stop editing a book is having an editor yank it out of their hands and publish it. Maybe if you show it to more of your friends you’ll see that your story is fine. If there’s something they think should change, you can edit it, but don’t try to please everyone and take a step back from the story. You could drive yourself crazy wondering if there’s something to make it better all the time!
Gail Carson Levine says:
If I could, I’d make changes in all my books. No book is perfect.
Song4myKing says:
Good to see this discussion! Now I don’t feel as weird to be continuing to edit my “finished” book before each time I send it anywhere or show it to anyone.
Butterfly Yulia says:
Hi there,
I’m writing my first dystopian novel, but the dystopia isn’t the main plot. The story is about a group of college girls who are chosen for a mission and stuff. The place they live in is very dystopian—there’s a caste system, the human rights are really bad, there are slaves, there’s no women’s suffrage, that kind of thing. But the main plot is about the mission, not the dystopia. The girls are used to the society, even though they don’t like it, so it’s not exactly a normal dystopian story. Is it okay to leave the dystopia in the background and have the story be about the mission?
(also, sorry for using the word ‘dystopia’ so many times 😀 )
NPennyworth says:
That sounds fine, as long as you make it clear that you don’t promote that sort of society. It sounds like a really interesting novel!
Jordan w says:
I have a story I used to love to work on I had completed an entire first draft of a book before I got side tracked in school and intrested in other story’s. I’m starting to get back into this story but as a I read it there are so many details and mistakes I change. Would it be better if I re wrote the story entirely or edit the entire thing drastically
Song4myKing says:
In one writing book I’ve read, the author had a general recommendation: Write the rough draft. Print it out. Delete the computer file. He said this forces you to actually rewrite everything, and doesn’t allow you to say, “oh, that might not be the best way to say it anymore, but oh well, it doesn’t conflict with the rest so I’ll just leave it.” But as we all know, every writer has his or her own process, and one can’t say theirs is the only way.
my experience – I had gone a ways beyond my first draft before I showed it to a very sensible friend. She told me she felt it would be more believable if I shortened the time frame from two years to one year. At first, I didn’t think I could, but – Well, I could. I didn’t actually delete my file, and I used large chunks as they were, but I still called it rewriting, because it was such a major overhaul. The process that worked for me was starting a new document and copying over chapters or scenes as I was ready for them or ready to work on them.
Christie Powell says:
Writing it by hand (if not the whole thing, at least a few chapters) does the same thing–it forces you to rewrite. That’s one of my favorite things to do when I get stuck. Somehow it’s easier to just write when it’s on paper.
Butterfly Yulia says:
Thanks for all the help on my questions over the past couple weeks! I haven’t been able to blog much lately because my schedule is kinda packed, but all your tips are really appreciated & good luck on your NaNoWriMos!
For my NaNoWriMo I chose to write a screenplay (which means it’s not exactly a NaNoWriMo, but close enough, I say), and I have a lot of questions about it. Sorry about the length of this and the stupidity of some of these questions; I am a real newbie!
1. How the heck do you publish a screenplay? Do you just send it to Spielberg and say “Hi, I’m a new screenplay writer, please help me turn this into a movie” or do you get an agent, or what?
2. How do you format a screenplay? Do you write only the dialogue or do you describe the settings and characters and stuff?
3. Do you tell whoever gets the screenplay what you want the characters to look like? Is it O.K. to say “I envision Anne Hathaway in the role of Nicola Raducova” or should you give no description and let Ms. Casting Director choose who she thinks works best?
4. The screenplay is based on a novel-in-progress I’m writing . Should I try to publish the screenplay first, or the novel? (Neither is quite done yet, but I’m working on them both).
Also, a side note: One of my stories is very different from anything I’ve ever heard of. So I’m having a little trouble finding something comparable. It’s a retelling of Romeo and Juliet in Sudan/South Sudan during the split, which I don’t think has been done yet. So should I just leave the “comparable books” section of my query letter empty and call it a spin on the Romeo and Juliet story? Or should I just Google a bunch of books about Sudan and a bunch of Romeo and Juliet retellings and put their titles in the letter?
Thank you!
Kitty says:
Have you checked out the Script Frenzy group forum on NaNo? They look like they have some good stuff there. I’m not really that knowledgable about the finer points of script writing, but if you have a novel of the same idea I would say go for the novel first. Simply because it’ll be easier and cheaper to publish.
Kitty says:
Amazon also has a new free screenwriting software that’s worth checking out. It’s like Google docs for screenplays, and it does all the formatting for you.
https://storywriter.amazon.com
Gail Carson Levine says:
Thanks, Kitty! So useful to know!
Kitty says:
No prob. I just saw it today, and thought it looked interesting.
Butterfly Yulia says:
Also, I am horribly addicted to FreeCell. I allow myself to play 1 game in the beginning of the hour, and for every page I type, I can play a game. But of course, little writers sometimes forget that rule… 😀
My other nemesis is probably Twitter, but yay, I haven’t tweeted since October 27.
Hypergraphia says:
As far as formatting goes, google may know more than I. However I do know that all the dialogue should have the character’s name in all caps centred with the actual line below it (left align). You would include enough details to make it followable, but not so many they drown out your story. Like a script, you include some character movement, a brief description of the setting each time you move to a new place. Any character description should be at the very beginning in your cast list. It should also be very short, ie
“Nicola Raducova-a short brunette who will do anything for her freedom and people.”
The main focus of any script/screenplay is always the dialogue.
You can also try out the free trial of a web site called ‘celtx’ which helps in formatting screenplays.
I highly recommend reading some scripts/screenplays or at least skimming them. In this case, imitation is the best resource.
Though you’ll probably have an idea in your head of your ideal cast, as the writer you will have practically 0% say in any casting (unless there are very special circumstances). Realistically, if the rights to your screenplay were bought, you would only be involved in anything further in the production if they needed revisions or continuity help or something. The director/producer and casting director would have total say in casting.
As for which you should complete first, that’s really up to you. Publishing-wise, I am inclined to say it is easier to get a novel published unless you know a producer or a director you can ask to purchase the rights to your screenplay.
I would simply say it’s a retelling of Romeo and Juliet because googling random books for your list sounds rather hit or miss. You wouldn’t necessarily be 100% sure of their similarity, thus making it possibly unreliable.
I am also not an expert on any of this, so I may be a bit off in some areas, but I hope it helps some.
Butterfly Yulia says:
Thank you! That’s very helpful!
Kitty says:
Hi guys!
I need some ideas for a way for my MC to escape a prison cell. However, I would like to avoid anything involving the following:
1. Cliches (air vents and the ol’ fake escape gambit are out).
2. Mary Sue-like abilities (so no “Oh, I just happen to know some obscure physics/chemistry fact that I can totally apply to the situation, plus I can pick locks and dangle from walls). The MC is twelve, so anything that would be obviously beyond the ability/knowledge of a 7th grader is a no-go.
3. Outside help. She has to do it alone. Her friends are in different cells, so she’s not going to get any help from them, or anyone else. And
4. Excessive violence. PG 13 is probably okay. R is probably not. I’ll let you use your best judgement on that one.
5. Deus ex machinas. No “Oh, look, somebody left the door unlocked! Lucky me!”, or “look, I happen to have a magical door unlocking device with me! I grabbed it when I got kidnapped, but I guess they didn’t notice!”
The cell is modern day with fairly heavy security (though I’m willing to make adjustments on the exact nature of the cell/security system), something that perhaps the CIA or FBI might have at their offices. There probably will be security cameras, though I’m flexible about that one. I don’t need her to escape the whole compound (I already have that planned out), just to get out of the cell she’s stuck in. If anyone can offer any ideas, I’d greatly appreciate it!
Thanks!
NPennyworth says:
It sounds like the only way she’s getting out is if someone lets her out. Maybe she can use her age to her advantage and trick a guard into taking her out, maybe something like she says she has a stomach bug and pretends to throw up, or insists she needs to go to the bathroom. Once the guard opens the door maybe she could stomp on his foot and incapacitate him, and take it from there.
Gail Carson Levine says:
I’ve added your question to my list, but most plot problems are most interestingly solved (and caused) by characters’ characters.
Poppie says:
For all those who’ve answered my question a while back, THANK YOU!! It gives me a thrill every time someone cares enough to respond.
This is for Kitty: I agree with NPennyworth about your escape scene: being let out is the only logical way to get away. I have never written about breakouts, so the only other thing I can recommend, is reading and watching some appropriate books and movies about the subject.
Melissa says:
Hey everyone!
I haven’t posted for years probably. I used to have a Tinkerbell picture if anyone remembers…I have a couple questions about the Rutger’s Conference. What age people usually do it? As in is it strange for people on the young end of the spectrum to attend? Also do you have to have a complete draft of a novel or will a couple chapters do? One last, unrelated question. I believe Gail that you said philosophy isn’t a good major for students interested in writing. What is? I might be completely wrong but I thought English was more about writing research papers. Or is minoring in creative writing helpful enough? I need advice. Thanks!
Tiffany Bills says:
Hello,
I love WRITING MAGIC, and have a question for me and some of my middle school NaNoWriMo students. In the book, you mention the dangers of publishing your work on the internet before sending it to an actual publisher. If you self-publish through NaNoWriMo, does that create a problem with a prospective publisher? They do give you an ISBN…
If you or anyone can help, I would appreciate it!
Tiffany
Gail Carson Levine says:
When you put your writing out on the internet, you’re giving it away. But a publisher will want to sell it and will reason that no on will buy it when it’s already available for free. It’s okay if you release only a small sample, but not much more than that.