Finding Your Writing Niche

I don't know why I did it, but today I purchased William Zinsser's On Writing Well from a gift shop bookstore. It was a little pricey, but the impulse, arising from boredom, put me in a curious mood. The front cover of this book clearly warns it is a "Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction."


Did you see that? The color of the operative word is red.

I've been trying to produce a fictional novel for the past several years. I've written fourteen chapters in my third attempt. Why would I gravitate toward such an extreme as nonfiction? I had to ask myself this because my appetite for fiction seems to have taken a dive. I leave my manuscript at various stages and in multiple locations: Dropbox folder, flash drive, external hard drive, etc. Sometimes I wonder when I'll actually hunker down and go looking for the most current version. Sad?!

So now I ask myself. What "nonfiction" subject would appeal to me? I've pampered my blog for 5 years now and I've never once treated it like I do my manuscripts. I haven't ignored it for months at a time. I check the health of my blog with Google Analytics to ensure she's getting the proper attention. I post articles with keywords resulting in promised and predictable results. So why don't I allot the same attention to my manuscript?

After I read the first 3 chapters of Zinsser's book, a revelation struck me. I'm not a storyteller. I don't have a story I can jot down in a set number of words to make a novel. I'm a writer who wants to tell you about what I know and believe. That's why I return here so much. I'm not wired to tell stories. I'm wired to give an opinion about things I care about, namely writing and the crap that happens to me.

This is sort of about writing, but it's more about crap that happens to me. It's about the purchase of a writing book which may have changed my writer path. Whether that's for the better or not, we shall see.

Maybe I should look into memoir writing...

Topics available:

1. The Magic Closet - the story of my son who has A.D.D. and the number of times I found naked girls in his bedroom closet.

2. Hi, I Don't Belong Here - my week long stay in the hospital because I lost it, really lost it.

3. I'm Glad I Wasn't Aborted, Too - a candid discussion with my mother who revealed the fact she couldn't afford to abort me and the relief she felt afterward.

Trust me, all three are nonfiction titles! Please vote and let me know which story I should tell. I appreciate your input. You all have been with me through the years. You SHOULD be the ones I listen to when making these major decisions with my writing journey. I trust you. Write your votes in the comments below.



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Gage Thomas on Diane Carlisle, His Creator

This month's prompt at Absolute Write:
Characters Writing About Authors

Have your character write about you, the author, their creator. You may choose any character so long as you created them, and may write in any format.

Gage Thomas

My name is Gage and I live at C:\Documents and Settings\dcarlisl\My Documents\Dropbox\Writing\Novels\Summer In Buddyville\

That's where She put me and has kept me for the past year and a half. She being Diane, my creator. I used to live in a town called Buddyville before she decided to shelve me in my current location. So why did she shelve me? I wish I could say something mean like maybe she's a selfish bitch, cold and uncaring about my situation.

I'm a nineteen year old kid, left behind to care for my younger sister after mother died of cancer a year ago. It's not a big deal to care for my sister. She's fourteen and practically takes care of herself. Only, I need to get a better job so I can get us out of this run-down trailer park before it's condemned by the city.

Last summer, many of the empty units were taken over by the homeless people. The city folk call them squatters. I think mainly because at night they gather at the opening of the trailer park where the dumpsters sit, start their fire pits, and squat to cook whatever communal road kill they'd managed to gather. You'd be surprised how good that shit smells.

But, I think Diane got bored writing my story. Either that or it became too depressing to continue on with such a run-down setting. Plus, she's not a pantser by any means and she didn't know where to take us after having described our pathetic surroundings. She just gave up on me.

I heard she started a new story, something about a cop unraveling a cold case at a new precinct. Diane purchased a butt load of writing software she claims will help her plot out a story she can finally write. She's kidding herself though. Her problems:

1. She's a procrastinator
2. She cares more about her blog than her manuscripts
3. When she has down time, she volunteers to do other things
4. She claims she wants to write fiction
5. What she really wants is to have written

One day, maybe she'll realize it's time to get serious about finishing a manuscript, whichever story she decides to write. I'm just hoping it's mine.

Take care,
Gage


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When Introducing New Characters

When introducing a new character into my stories, I ask myself 3 questions and if any of these cannot be answered, I make the decision either to omit the character or to provide scenes which have these areas covered. The answers to my questions are fully explained using the addition of Benjamin, the Belgian shepherd in Precinct 9.

 Will the character be instrumental in moving the plot forward?

When adding Benjamin, a.k.a. Benny, to my novel, I didn't have any plot elements set up to justify him, but I really wanted him in it because he's an awesome dog. So I created two plot elements. I had to make sure he will have purpose, he will be responsible for moving the plot along, and his actions will cause a change in my protagonist's journey. They are simple cause and effect elements.

Will the character provide a means to further develop my protagonist?

The relationship a character has with the protagonist is important to me and the more intimate the relationship, the more depth I can bring to both even if the relationship is a negative one. Remember Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs? 

Benny doesn’t share a negative relationship with Kelly, but I use him to show how much control she has over such a ferocious animal. He's a disciplined police dog and could bring down any 200 pound man who poses a threat. I consider his role to be the sidekick rather than protector. It's one of many roles I considered in the Writer's Dream Kit.

Will the character remain unchanged at the outcome of my story? 

Absolutely not!

Lots of things happen to characters during the course of a story. Even if I don't make a change for the character, the character changes. They have to for me. Why else have this character come along for the ride? It can't be merely as a form of entertainment. 

Things happen. Relationships end. People die. Others fall in love. Something has to happen to every character I introduce or I simply cannot get excited about writing their journey. In my stories, every character has a journey, no matter how minor compared to the protagonist’s.

Conclusion:

Why do I do this? 

Because I want my stories to feel as if everything I introduce is fully integrated. I don't want to make that mistake of introducing someone for the sake of having a really cool character in my story. I don't want to create any babies, if you know what I mean.

Do you have a process you use to keep your stories tight from the beginning? Maybe you have guidelines and/or standards you pursue. Care to share them? Comments are welcome, as always!

N is for Narration

10 Signs Your Narration is Failing

1. You're writing in 1st person POV and every sentence starts with an "I" or "My".
2. There is no white space on the first page of your manuscript.
3. It takes you 3 sentences to describe what should only take you a few choice words.
4. The first page of your manuscript reminds you of the Star Wars opening crawl.
5. Your manuscript contains a mixture of past and present tense verbs...everywhere.
6. A scan for the word "that" in the first two chapters of your manuscript retrieves a count of 89. Likewise for the linking verb "was".
7. The first page of your manuscript makes you think been there, done that.
8. There exists a typographical error on the first page of your manuscript, worse...it's in the first paragraph.
9. You haven't mastered the use of there, their, and they're.
10. Your narrator herd a noise instead of heard it.

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M is for a Manuscript Snippet

I had a hard time coming up with a topic for the letter M, so I thought I'd share some of my work with you instead. I feel like I'm always sharing things I learn from various workshops and online writing courses, but I don't really share much of what I've been working on in the realm of fiction writing.

Here's a snippet from chapter eight of my current WIP, Precinct 9.

Lyle snapped a photo of the wound against a retractable tape measure.

Kelly quickly wrote down the findings. The mixture in the air of death and ammonia invaded suddenly. She un-wrapped her Peppermint gum and folded it into her mouth. 

The doctor covered the top portion of the subject’s body and lifted the bottom of the tarp. The subject’s legs, placed at an angle 20 degrees from one another, exposed the horror of what had happened to Jennifer Whorley. Kelly looked away, but the rips and lacerations on the young woman’s body would remain with her forever. Corpse. It’s a corpse. She straightened her shoulders and looked back at the injuries. 

Lyle made his way to the other side of the table. His unaffected, emotionless expression and his professional demeanor made him a monster for the moment and Kelly felt tears but forced them away. Is this what she’d become? 

Dr. Stinson paused. “The tissue in the walls of the vaginal canal and the tears and lacerations to the Labias Minora and Majora are indicative of violation after the onset of rigor mortis.”

The nausea in the pit of Kelly’s stomach spread quickly and a slow, warming prickle crept up her spine.

Again, the camera. Flash.

Who does this? Who takes someone away from this world and then violates their body like this? How does one explain this to a parent?

Flash.

The numbness in her heart seemed to create a warp speed for the rest of the autopsy - the various swabs, bone fragment extractions, organ slicing, and cut up parts placed discreetly into a plastic trash bag and dumped into the victim's gaping body cavity.

Kelly excused herself when the doctor pulled out a Hagedorn needle and heavy twine. There would be nothing to gain by witnessing the sewing of the body. Not after the damage had been done.

Would you want to read more of this manuscript? Let me know why or why not.

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