writing fiction with the 1-3-1 method

In the spirit of edits, here's a blast from the past for you. It's an old post that I wrote for a writing blog I used to run. I hope you enjoy it:

English classes use the 1-3-1 method to teach students how to write five paragraph essays, but I’ve found the philosophy behind the 1-3-1 to be just as useful with writing fiction. With an essay, the writer attempts to convince a reader of a specific viewpoint. Fiction is really no different in that the writer is trying to make the reader believe in a world or person that doesn’t exist in order to illustrate a theme. Both forms of writing are about communicating viewpoints and facts to influence a reader’s thinking.

Why bother using the 1-3-1 for fiction? I’ve found that by applying a variation of the 1-3-1 method for fiction, I’ve been able to work more efficiently.

If you’ve never heard of 1-3-1 before, here’s how it works for essays:

1 – The introductory paragraph. This paragraph outlines the three points the writer intends to discuss.

3 – Generally speaking, in an essay, the writer wants to cover three points (hence the three) with one paragraph devoted to each point. The writer is by no means restricted to three points; however, more than three points can sometimes be a lot for most casual readers to remember.

1 – The concluding paragraph. This is where the writer summarizes the three points and essentially draws his or her opinion on the subject to a close.

Easy, huh?

So how do you apply it to fiction? First, don’t look at 1-3-1 as each number representing a specific paragraph like a writer would for an essay. With fiction, each number represents a technique for moving the story forward.

Chapters

Let’s look at the chapter:

1 – In every chapter, a writer needs to set the stage with setting, characterization, and conflict. Think of these three things as your introductory paragraph.

3 – Choose one, two, or three points that will move the story forward and make those points the focal issues of the chapter. For example: the first chapter should answer these questions: Who is your protagonist or antagonist? What is the conflict? What circumstances change to move the protagonist or antagonist toward their goal?

1 – The hook that will lead the reader into the next chapter. This can be one or more paragraphs that will lead your reader into wanting to immediately flip the page and see what happens next. Stephen King is the master of the end-chapter hook.

But that’s too restrictive!

Not really. If you like writing by the seat of your pants, you can make this work for you too. Write just as you normally would, then when you’re doing your edits, re-examine the chapter, and ask yourself these questions:

• Are my setting, characterization, and conflicts clear?
• Did I bombard my reader by utilizing too many plot developments?
• Do my last few paragraphs lead into my next chapter?

Outlines

I ain’t doing no stinking outline . . .

Now, now, contempt prior to investigation can cheat you if you’re not careful. Also, you may have to do a chapter-by-chapter outline as part of a submission package. It’s perfectly acceptable to go back and write a detailed outline after the novel is written. Either way you approach a chapter-by-chapter outline, the 1-3-1 can be helpful.

Here’s where you strip your chapter down to its very essence by using the same method as I listed above for chapters. Use the 1-3-1 to focus on those plot developments that move the story forward.

I’ve read several writers who advise reducing each page of the manuscript to one sentence. For example: if the chapter is ten pages, the outline of that chapter should be roughly ten sentences.

Synopsis

I ain’t doing no stinking synopsis . . .

Ahem.

Like the chapter-by-chapter outline, you may very well have to produce a synopsis for your query package. A writer can follow the same guidelines whether the synopsis is written before or after the novel is completed.

I use the three-act method for my novels, but there are many other techniques for constructing a story. No matter which method you choose, the 1-3-1 really comes in handy for the synopsis.

1 – World-building (if you write fantasy/science fiction) and introduce your main characters.

3 – The major issues that propel the plot forward. This is another place where the number three might be larger or smaller.

1 – The conclusion where the writer touches on the novel’s theme.

Here’s the beauty of the 1-3-1: if you successfully apply the 1-3-1 to your chapter, the distillation process of reducing your seventy-plus-thousand word novel into a chapter-by-chapter outline, then into a synopsis becomes easier. With the chapter-by-chapter outline and synopsis, you strip away dialogue and setting to reduce the novel to the very core of your story. By using a version of the 1-3-1 method, I’ve found that I’ve diminished the difficulty of siphoning the extraneous matter away from my story.

So what am I doing? Editing The Garden and recalling techniques that I used during my editing process with Miserere.

Be safe and for those in the neighborhood, I'll see you at ConCarolinas!

ConCarolinas and other goings on ...

The tentative schedule for ConCarolinas (June 1-3, 2012) is at their web site. Keep in mind all of this is subject to change, but for now, I will be at the Book Launch on Friday at 3:00 p.m. and on Saturday at 2:00, I will be joining authors Terry W Ervin II, A.J. Hartley, James Maxey, John G. Hartness, and David B. Coe on a panel to talk about Bringing Life to Your Characters. That's a topic I'm looking forward to discussing, because the characters are always my favorite part of storytelling.

I'll be watching ConCarolina's web site and making adjustments on my Events page if anything changes. If you're in the area and want to check out a fun Con, I hope you'll stop in and say hi! I'd be delighted to meet you.

What's happening in The Garden and why am I am so MIA?

My agent made some excellent recommendations to the manuscript I sent her, and I am currently working through her editorial notes. I'm also working through the suggestions of my beta readers who so graciously gave me their time and input.

There you have it: where I'm at and where I'm going! I'll be around but until I finish weeding, I'll be keeping a low profile online.

Don't forget me.

Special Needs in Strange Worlds & The Lightning Tree

Today I am visiting with Sarah at BookWorm Blues for an extraordinary event at her blog called Special Needs in Strange Worlds. I talk about how I handled Lucian's and Rachael's disabilities in Miserere. Sarah is hosting an entire month of authors and book bloggers, who are all talking about special needs in the strange worlds they inhabit. It's a super month of guest posts, don't miss any of them.

If you're curious about Miserere, you can check out Miserere's most recent review at The Lightning Tree where Jess Hyslop has some wonderful things to say about Miserere.

ebook pricing

I have wanted to write this post for a while but simply have not had the time. Either at cons or online, I've heard a lot of authors say the following: "Amazon is for authors."*

Amazon is a business. They are trying to do to publishing what they tried to do to independent bookstores and eliminate the competition. Period.

I am so sorry to be the one to break this to you, but Amazon (and in all fairness: Apple, Google, etc.) doesn't give a monkey's ass about authors.

Likewise, Amazon is not the Great Satan. They are a company operating on the business model to perform at a loss until they have amassed enough content to require a subscription service. For authors publishing through Amazon: it's all right to be used as long as you're using Amazon back and do not allow Amazon to take unfair advantage of authors or their works.

You must also realize that Amazon's business model is unsustainable on a long-term basis. Amazon can offer cheap ebooks because: 1) Amazon doesn't have to pay taxes like other companies; and 2) Amazon is intentionally undercutting everyone else the same way Wal-Mart undercut the competition to rise to the top.

Now if you want to see the Wal-Martization of books, keep going on the current track, because here is how a little company called Westlaw rose to the top in much the same way:

Back in the eighties and nineties, Westlaw digitalized case law and court opinions. They created a searchable database, and unlike Amazon, they charged a lot of money for it, probably nowhere near the amount that it took to run the system and have qualified attorneys online to answer questions, but they stayed with it even when others said it would never work. Then Thompson West started buying the competition (kind of like Amazon is doing now). The DOJ blocked a couple of purchases to prevent Westlaw from acquiring a monopoly and to maintain some market competition; however, Westlaw remains the leader and the most expensive of the lot.

Ring in Amazon (and just for the record, the Google Book Project worked the same way). Same business model, different content. Amazon isn't worried about offering $0.99 ebooks, because once they've demolished the competition, they can clean up their database and jack the prices as high as they want.

Authors will be forced to deal with Amazon and if authors don't like Amazon's terms, then Amazon will treat authors like they are currently treating the publishers--Amazon's way or the highway.

In terms of people who think ebooks should be cheaper because of lower overhead ... I want you to think about a few things:

1. A well-written ebook is going to have all of the costs of print book in terms of editing, good cover art, which includes licenses to replicate images, and formatting.
2. Ebooks aren't just floating around out there on the ether. Ebooks are on servers (factor in costs in terms of equipment, electricity, cooling expenses--those servers generate a lot of heat, and personnel to run that equipment, including benefits for any full-time personnel).
3. Marketing costs
4. Royalties to the author

Now you take that $0.99 and divide the pennies between the recipients as outlined above.

Finally, and this is really all I have to say on the subject, if you, like me, have a problem spending $13.00 or more for a LICENSE, which is what you are purchasing when you purchase an ebook, then buy the hard copy. That is what I do.

Now if you want to discuss, discuss, but I've said all I have to say.

_________________

*John Scalzi did an excellent write-up on this topic at his blog and you can read it here.

your comfort zone and where the magic happens

I don't normally repost these silly things, but I found this one on Facebook and I love it.

That is all. Have a nice Saturday.

Women in SF&F at Fantasy Cafe

I have a guest post up today over at the book blog Fantasy Cafe. Kristen has made the entire month of April Women in SF&F month and today is my turn. I talk about honoring your demons and why dark sides are important.

Check out Women in SF&F Month at Fantasy Cafe.

There are Tootsie Rolls ...

i wrote a book and a blog post and here they are ...

The Garden is officially off to the first round of beta readers. I am relieved/sad/anxious/all-of-the-above. This was a hard novel to write for a variety of reasons. I had originally intended to write something that was more like a lot of the published genre fiction people tend to enjoy. Somehow Guillermo and my boys wound up taking me in an unforeseen direction, and I followed my heart and the story.

Given that writing something different can be a real kiss of death to an author in genre fiction, we'll have to wait and see if the novel sells.

I will say this: I love this story and the guys in it.

That is all.

it's not about sex, it's about love ... and why all this matters

I know I said I would be quiet this week, working on The Garden, but a couple of things have surfaced that have me thinking, both about SFF in general and within the context of my own novel.

Last night Doug Hulick tweeted a link to Ari Marmell's blog where Ari talks about some of the reactions to Saladin Ahmed's Salon article on race in Game of Thrones (if you haven't read Saladin's post, you can find the link in Ari's post--both articles make for worthwhile reading). Then this morning, we were chatting on Twitter about the sexposition scenes in Game of Thrones and the strange reasoning that Hollywood seems to entertain--to wit: we must have sex scenes to engage our eyes while the characters divulge the boring bits of exposition.

One thing Ari talked about was stepping outside our comfort zones as authors to portray people of different races and cultures and sexual orientations. I think we should. I can only speak from my own experience in writing The Garden.

You see two of my characters of in The Garden are gay, and when I first started this novel, one of those characters was a very minor character and a very stereotypical gay man. I'm almost ashamed to admit that now, but if I don't tell you where I began, you won't truly understand how I reached this point.

This brings me to why all this chatter about race and gender is so important. While I was working on my character sketches for these characters, I happened upon some blog posts about the lack of competently rendered gay characters in novels, especially in SFF. The more I read, the more I realized that my character was exactly what these people hated to see, and they very clearly articulated why they found a lot of the gay characters offensive.

Sometime around this same period, Dark Scribe magazine did an interview with several gay horror authors (The Fear of Gay Men: A Roundtable Discussion on the New Queer), one of whom I had met online and whose work I greatly admire. I emailed Robert Dunbar, explained the situation, and Rob set up a place for me to ask questions. Then he did the most generous thing of all and asked some of the fine gentlemen who participated in the Dark Scribe interview to answer my questions.

Other members of the online gay community showed up and were very generous with both their time and their honesty. One thing they said, over and over, was that they were tired of seeing gay characters being all about sex. They said (and rightly so) that gay people are whole, complex people with many passions and many loves--that there was more to being gay than sex.

In short, they taught me many things and directed me to some wonderful resources. My character Diago went from being a frivolous stereotype to being a much darker character, but he has reason to be dark, and in that darkness, he will eventually find his light.

I don't know anything about being a gay man in the 14th century, but I do understand what it means to have people treat you badly because of who and what you are. I know what it means to be shut out of "polite" society, and all I can do is translate those feelings of loss to Diago and Miquel.

To honor all those people who took the time to answer my questions, there will be no sex in this novel. This is a story about love, and sex is not always about love. Love is about acceptance and thinking beyond yourself, and those are the themes of The Garden.

Writing The Garden has taken me way outside my comfort zone, but it's been a worthwhile journey. I've seen things and understood love from an entirely different viewpoint. Hopefully, I've translated all these things accurately, and if I haven't, I hope people will at least appreciate the fact that I tried.

Of course, if I hadn't read those posts on gay characters a few years ago, I never would have undertaken my journey the way I have, and that brings me back to why Ari and Saladin's discussions on race are important. If just one author reads these articles and takes a moment to redefine a character or situation in their own novel, then those posts are a success.

And if one author stretches his or her boundaries, then maybe more will try, and maybe, just maybe ... before you know it ... we can translate that beautiful world of acceptance into a reality.

And that is why all this matters.

lucky 7 -- page 7, 7 lines -- The Garden

I don't normally do these things, but a friend of mine, who I like very much tagged me, and I have a hard time saying no to her. The only part of this game that I'm not going to do now is tag 7 more writers without asking them first if their contracts allow them to post a snippet.

I can play since it's a low word count. Here's how it works:

The Lucky 7 Game

This one is called The Lucky 7 Game, and it’s a game of writerly tag. If you’re tagged, you have to do the following:

1. Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next seven lines/sentences as they are – no cheating
4. Tag 7 other authors (I'll be omitting this step until I have more time. I'll come back and update the post when I have my seven vict--, volunteers)

The rules come from the lovely lady who tagged me, Kendra Highley.

My seven lines come from The Garden, page 7, line 7. This is the PG-13 version for the squeamish-you'll have to wait for the book if you want the R version which gives lots more gory description ... yum:

The Iberian Peninsula

Epila, Aragon

July 21, 1348

"Hush," she said. "It's the moon."

The story thus far:

The town of Epila smolders like the setting sun. The Union's army of laborers could not withstand the experienced caballeros of King Pedro's Aragonese nobles and the Castilian mercenaries who rode with them. The battle is barely over before the King's caballeros are ordered to search for survivors and plunder. Guillermo Ramirez (our hero), a caballero in the King's army, is in an alley to search for plunder. On his right, two hovels smoulder, twin charnel houses; one is burned to cinders, the other miraculously retains three walls. The smoke in the alley clears to reveal a burned arm stretched across the hut's threshold. The hand is small, probably that of a woman. A scorched silver bracelet encircles her blackened wrist.

The love of Guillermo's life, Christina, has asked him to bring her back a treasure from the war. Too poor to buy her a gift, Guillermo decides to take the bracelet for his own. The penalties for stealing from the plunder are grave, but Guillermo is willing to risk his life to prove his love to Christina.

When Guillermo goes to take the bracelet, he finds the burned woman is still alive. She grabs his wrist.

Here is where my seven lines begin:

A chill passed over Guillermo. Clouds churned in the woman’s eye and became a black abyss drenched in darkness thick as velvet. He tasted ashes on his tongue. His chest tightened with anxiety and sweat stung his eyes. He cut the woman’s throat to silence the endless night in that terrible eye. He snatched the bracelet from her wrist and rubbed his thumb along the warm metal; the bracelet solid in his hands. Without looking down at the woman again, he stood and ducked into the street so he could better focus on the delicate scrolled lines that emerged beneath the soot.

I'm still in the editing stages so some or all of that might change. That was fun. Who wants to be next?

dead air and other goings on ...

I used to work as DJ, long ago and far away in the days when we still spun records for the world to hear. The one thing every DJ avoided was something called dead air. It happened when one song ended and the next wasn't cued properly or your power went down.

Dead air.

It is the sound of nothing.

White noise, dead air.

There is going to be some of that around here soon.

I'm finishing up The Garden, and in order to do that, I'm going to be unplugging for the next two weeks. I'll be around, popping in for quick bursts, but if I'm delayed in answering emails or tweets, this is why.

Next week, I'll have a week off from my day job. During that week, I'll have that rare ability to work on the manuscript during large chunks of time and not in nibbles and bits. I will be editing and almost entirely offline. I'll also be slow to answer emails, just so you know.

Beginning April 9, I'll be back up to running speed again.

Dead air begins now ...