To plan, or not to plan?

In writing, there comes a time where planning can be good or bad. It depends on the person. Some people can freely write, while others need to write down everything for the story. I tend to do both.

Most of my projects are planned out, just because most of them end up in the "To work on" file on my laptop. There's only one project I'm writing that isn't planned out, but that's because it seems to work the best for the story.

Otherwise, I plan out the character, plot, and chapter events.

Character
What do I do for characters? I write down their full name. Then the age. Then appearance. And finally a summary of their life. The latter generally helps plan out the story, which is why I plan out the characters first.

Here's an example:

• Everette 'Ever'
• Age
• 16
• Appearance
• Light brunette, pale green eyes due to experiments, pale skin, 5'2", 
• Summary of life
• Ever lived with her parents until she was 10, which was when Mr. Richards came to her family, offering her a better education. Her family thought this would be a good idea, even though Ever didn't like it, and she went to the lab. After two weeks, Mr. Richards lied to her parents and ...

That's just an brief example. Just getting the first two things also help so you know the general age and what they look like so Suzy don't have brown hair in the first paragraph and blond hair in the third paragraph in the next chapter.

Plot

This one is basically: write a paragraph for the plot, or do a detailed gazillion pages that describe every major event along with back story and other things. I do both. The first is what I do (with pitches instead of a paragraph), while the other ends up being over a thousand pages due to the back story and major events detailed, and a little summary of the beginning of the story.

There are also ways that include a very detailed paragraph-by-paragraph thing. I have never attempted this one, due to the fact that it takes a long time and can get really boring.

Chapter Events

Instead of a plot paragraph-type thing, this can be used to replace it. It's just brief notes on every chapter, from 4 (for me) to 8 lines. Real easy.

An example:

• Ch1
• wakes up to music
• gets ready for school
• brief chat with mom
• almost late to school
• takes test in English
• ditches after class and hangs out with friends a beach

Pretty silly example (in my opinion), but it gives you the gist of what to do. 

I hope this helps those of you who don't really know what to do when it comes to planning!

Do you have an Active or Passive Voice?

Do you know the difference between a passive or active voice in writing?

Well, you might know more than you think.

Why, you ask, is this important?

It’s rather important to writing style. Many writers write in the passive voice—at least, they do when they first start out. A better voice may be the active—it holds the reader’s attention better and, in a way, pulls the reader closer to the story. Like taking up the narrator’s shoes.

The voice of the story can remove excessive words and, like I said, hold the reader’s attention better. There is a lovely counterexample, of course: If I Stay by Gayle Foreman. That story is filled with passive voice, yet it is one of the best books I have ever read.

Do I have a good example for active voice? No, because most stories are written in the active voice, so it’s a normal thing to read.

I will, rather, show to excerpts: one written in passive voice, the other active. You can be the judge and pick which one sounds better to you. (Another excerpt from Rush, but altered.)

The guard is picking me up, turning around, and releasing me. I am catching myself from falling to my knees, my legs shaking from the drop. Once I am able to stand, I am looking Dr. Reed in the eye, trying hard to keep glaring at him. His face is lacking emotions, his usual smile not there. I am staring up at him, then looking away, not liking how his smile isn’t there.

The guard picks me up, turns around, and releases me. I catch myself from falling to my knees, my legs shaky from the drop. Once I’m able to stand, I look Dr. Reed in the eye, trying hard to keep glaring at him. His face lacks emotions, his usual smile not there. I stare up at him, then look away, not liking how his smile isn’t there.

Of course, I always write in the active voice, and the whole passive voice doesn’t sound natural to me—nothing passive sounds good to me. It is a style preference, but it is generally frowned upon, unless the writing is fantastic. (In reality, I can probably write a more natural, past tense, passive voice rather than present—past tense is foreign to me.)

How do you change a sentence from passive to active voice? I’d show you, but my mind runs on active voice, so unless you give me an example, I’m not much help.

Now, if you’d like me to help with writing in the active voice, I’d be glad to help (just keep in mind that school starts on August 22^nd, and I’ll be busy with homework and going to bed before 9:30pm. I absolutely love editing. Just ask me and I might help.

-Dylan

What makes a Hook?

Sorry it’s been a while since I last blogged. I’m pretty bad at it.

Anyways, one thing making writers have problems with is that first sentence at the beginning of the story. I’ve been told a few times that my hooks are really good—including Rush’s first sentence.

The first thing to know when writing a hook is what turns off readers at the start of a story—some things seen quite a few times.

The story’s first scene…

Wake up

Going to/at school

Background

Middle of action

Those are the first four things I think of that tend to start a story—most of the time, they don’t hook the reader, because they tend to be too overused. I, personally, start my very first novel waking up, the second being going to school. These things tend to turn the reader, which means it’d be best to start elsewhere.

Then, the first line is…

Dialogue

“My name is Mary Su, and this is my story.”

Descriptions upon descriptions

Those are the three things that come to mind. They, too, can be very annoying—the middle one the worst—and hard to get right.

So, what makes a good hook?

The first would be to avoid waking up. This tends to lead to a “Mary-Su, wake up!” thing from the mother, or a smashing of an alarm clock and groan. Both are seen quite often, and will put me off. (Course, I’m very picky when it comes to picking up a book and reading the first line.)

The second would be on the way to school. This could be paired up with descriptions, or a “My name is Mary-Su, and my story starts with my on the way to school.” (Hey, that rhymed!) But, either way, if it starts at school, especially the beginning of the school day, it may be best to stay away. Anything that has to do with school, really, because school is a popular topic in YA fiction. (Hint: if you want the story to be real unique (for YA), avoid school entirely, but make sure there’s some sort of reason, and have things that the reader can relate to.)

The third is a whole page on background information. This is where the reader learns everything about the main character’s past, like when (s)he fell, when his/her father died, etc. Personally, I don’t want to read about the character’s past. I want to dive into the story and read something entertaining, not learn that the character’s dad passed away in a car accident when she was a baby.

Which, in a way, leads me to the middle-of-action type of start. Most of the time, the reader is left completely confused on what’s happening, but if done right, this could be an amazing start. And when I stay starting in the middle of action, I also mean starting with some sort of action. Starting with action in general (for the first chapter) isn’t the greatest way to hook the reader, because they don’t know who the main character is, and then this crazed event happens, which makes the character change drastically.

But what about the very first sentence—the real hook? You ask.

Let me give an example of four different starts:

• “Tally, get up!” my mom calls from the door. I groan, rolling over, and throw a pillow at her, which she avoids.
• My name is Tally. The following events may be scary, and the faint of heart should put this book down and walk away.
• The sun rises, a bright orange ball hidden by green trees. Violet lights surround the glowing ball as it rises, the trees creating a strange sort of line in front of it. It inches higher in the sky with every second, growing closer and closer to sitting high in the sky, ready to provide warmth for everything.
• In my mind, two worlds have begun to blend together: the real and my dreams.

See the different between those? The very last one takes thought—the one can stand out among the rest. A good first line make take a lot of thought.

What I do with my first lines is think about the story. What’s a major element to the story? I.e. death, life, pastimes, etc. These things can stand out, and once done, write a few lines afterwards, and the story can get going.

Here’s an example from Rush:

Life lost all meaning the moment I killed another living being. Now I live in this gray, stony cell with no one else, my only contact with any person is when they need me—but not because I killed someone.

I shudder at the thought. Those very people will come for me any minute. Twenty-four hours has passed since the blond scientist in a lab coat pulled me out of this cell, his guard following just a bit behind.

Not the greatest example of a good start, but it’s a start that I’m proud of. Now, these are my opinions of a good hook. Many readers may agree, while some might not.

I hope this answer some people’s questions on what can make a good start!

-Dylan

It is done!

Sorry that it's been so long since I last posted. Been quite a while....

Anyways, I have great news! I completed the 1st draft of Rush at 81300 words. Which means I get to now read over everything and fix up as much as I can before posting it next week on inkpop.

Great news, I know. Other than that, though, there isn't anything else that's happened, besides the fact that I wrote a short story. It can be found here. It's pretty short--only a thousand words. Hope you enjoy if you read it

.

And I don't really have anything else to say. I need to figure out what exactly to start talking about. Oh well, I'll manage to find something else to blog about. Maybe some editing tips....

Ta-ta!

-Dylan