Writing a First Chapter - No Problem No Pain

Although it came out two years ago, I've only finally watched Wreck-It Ralph.  I have to say, for a surreal gaming world, it had a smooth overall style which at first I didn't expect.  But that's something I might talk about more later.  In a review (if that's the right word), perhaps.

In any case, I noticed an important plot element that was established in the very first minutes of the story.  There's a problem.  A big problem.  At least for Ralph.

But that problem wasn't the inciting incident (though to be fair, it is what caused it).  In any case, my point is that there's something wrong with Ralph's state.  The inciting incident didn't create the problem - the problem already exists.

Why did I bother to bring this up?  Maybe because you, like me, have at least once made a mistake concerning this.  On my current novel, I realized I didn't have a problem - a deep problem.  Not one that comes from the inciting incident, but one that has a difficult and sometimes ugly origin.  It could either be a problem for my hero, someone or something he cares about, or for the whole setting.  But there has to be something to motivates the inciting incident.  For Ralph, he needed to find something in life besides being the bad guy.  Something to show him that, even though he's a bad guy, he's not a bad guy.

And that problem spurred the inciting incident, which in turn made its own (and more severe) problems.

In my own story, the inciting incident is the problem of the story (or at least what gets it started).  Sure, I could write a story like that, but this is one large plot tool that so many stories have it's hard to take another path.  And that's not bad - the elements of plot continue to recur in stories because that's what makes good stories.

I was never aware of this plot tool in the past, but now that I am I plan to make good use of this knowledge.  Because if there is no inherent problem that has to be fixed, right from the beginning, what kind of a story would that make it?

Robert McKee says in his book Story, a story should go to polar opposite by the end.  If it has a bad beginning, it should have a good ending.  Or if it has a happy beginning, it should have a sad ending.

I agree with this completely.  Stories are about change - as significant change.  No matter what happens by the time that last word is put down, something changes.  Even in dark stories there is total and complete change.  Change for good, whether that ending is one of joy or not.  All good stories are about transformation, all good stories are about that moment when the problem - even in a world that seems to get along well - is finally solved.

Robert

Write It

Write it.
Just write it.

It's 11:00 PM here as I write this.  I'm sniffling as I enter the frigid wasteland of another sickness.  And I'm conflicted.

There's certainly no point in stressing out over a story, am I right?  But somehow, I can't get that through my head.  There's no writer out there who would take his or her writing too lightly as they prepare to send it out to the world's bleak eyes.  And in many cases, this seriousness - the devotion to the story - is good.  When it goes too far though, it will degenerate the writer down with it.  It comes in many ruses, but it comes much of the time because of stress.

I procrastinate when I get doubts and when I'm afraid.  Yes, I'm afraid.  Fearing that this is all for nothing.  And I can't imagine that it isn't a natural feeling.  But right now, why can't I write this?  It's a minute and a half of dialogue.  A few lines, a few words.  Why can't I finish it?  I need it done by tonight.  It shouldn't be that big of a deal!

But I also procrastinate when I'm conflicted.  And I'm conflicted.  And maybe afraid too?  Afraid I could mess this up so much I'll never be able to amend it later.  And once this is done, I won't be able to amend it.  A last minute change to a project before it goes live means there's no more time for continued editing.

Just a few more lines and that's it.  But they're loaded lines.  Meaningful words.  And, as Mr. Schwbauer says, meaning is something (even something very simple) that points to something greater.  These scraps of lines are so significant to the story because they're at the very end.  And they mean something.  They're the end of character arc, they point to something far greater, and simultaneously they expose light to another, more hidden topic the story has hidden before.

And these lines specifically need to explain why.  Why.  And the Whying of any story can kill a writer.  It's telling the audience why this, or why that.  But Whying can be aggravating - because it's telling, not showing.  And that's bad, because the Whying should be the showing, and yet most of the time it's switched with the telling!

Are you confused too?

Yet I'm resolved to write this tonight.  I'm kind of obsessed with it.

Clocking in at 12:10.  I had a long distraction in writing this.  Ah, the distraction of a distraction from trying to write . . .

See you in the morning.

Robert

Top Ten Tuesday - March Fourth - Top Ten Popular Authors

Top ten popular authors . . .

That I've never read.

10.  Stephenie Meyer.

       (Thank goodness).  I can't even spell her name without looking it up.  There are a few logical reasons as to why I've never read anything of her's though - let me explain.  Vampire romance.  I think those two words work? ;)

9.  J.K. Rowling.

       As much as I would like to read Harry Potter, I haven't done it.  And watching the movies doesn't count.  Sometime or other I'll buy the series, even for the sake of just reading such an acclaimed series.  And because everyone says her plot weaving is superb.

8.  Stephen King.

       Why am I putting all the really popular authors up at the top?  Because they're the ones that matter least to me.  I've never read any of Stephen King's, and for the most part I don't plan to do so.

7.  George R.R. Martin.

       His books are hardly fit (content wise) for a teenager to read.  Enough said?

6.  William Goldman.

       For as many times as I've looked at that book on Amazon, you would have thought I'd have bought the Princess Bride by now.  But I haven't, and therefore I still haven't read any of William Goldman's work.  Have any of you read the the Princess Bride?

5.  Anne Elisabeth Stengl.

       Popular enough, right?  I would certainly like to read the Goldstone Wood series, and the first book might honestly reach my top ten to read list.  But, as always, I'm such a procrastinator from reading anything.

4.  William Shakespeare.

       While he's technically a playwright, reading his scripts seems the thing to do.  Although I did read a bit of MacBeth at one time (or rather, it was read to me).

3.  Jane Austen.

       Seeing as I don't read much Romance/Romance related books, it makes sense that I never read a Jane Austen.  Nor have I ever finished watching a movie adaption.  The movies have always brought me into a mire of boredom, about which time I hit the off button.

2.  John Green.

       I've been wanting to read the Fault In Our Stars since it came out (what, two years ago?) I've been wanting to read it.  And it's still sitting on my to-read list.

1.  Charles Dickens.

        I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!  Never once have I read a Charles Dickens.  Impossible, you say?  I guess I'm the exception.  And in this case, being the exception isn't fun.  For the sake of all that's writerly good, I must read Little Dorrit, or at least Oliver Twist!

       Truth is, I've actually read Oliver Twist, but it was abbreviated.  Talk about dumbing down society!

- Robert

Sunflower Blog Tag

I was tagged by Ryebrynn with the Sunflower Blogger tag.  Here we go.

Rules -

1.  Share 11 facts about yourself

2. Answer the 11 questions set by your nomination blogger- Nominate 11 bloggers

3.  Set questions for the nominated bloggers. 

1.  My major writing projects since I began serious writing - my first writing project ended in 45,000 words, my second, 20,000, my third, 60,000, my third, 10,000, my fourth, 10,000, my fifth I'm still writing.

2.  I write incredibly slow. D:

3.  I have dirty blonde hair.

4.  I'm an anachronist.

5.  I have an invisible mustache (according to some people).

6.  I have grey-blue eyes.

7.  I'm not a "Grammar Nazi," and I believe it's impossible to be one.  Nazis were the guys who put people in showers and then gassed them.

8.  I'm a sucker for sad books.

9.  I can't think of another one.

10.  I don't watch Doctor Who.

1. What are you currently reading?

The Bronze Bow.

2. What book coming out soon are you most excited about?

Golden Daughter.

3. Do you like Mountain Dew(if you don't, I'll still forgive you... maybe :P)

Course! :D

4. Who is your favorite author?

Maybe C.S. Lewis.

5. What is your favorite series?

The Chronicles of Narnia?  The Lord of the Rings?

6. What is your favorite stand-alone novel?

The Hobbit.

7. Do you like cats?

Sure.

8. What is your opinion of dogs?

They're good boys.

9. What is your favorite state(In America)\

Washington D.C.? :)

10. Spicy food or sweet food?

Spicy, all the way!

11. What is your favorite movie?

You can't separate the Lord of the Rings.

And now I'll tag -

MagicandWriting

Bluebelle

CrazyAndyMan

Ellron Silvertree (even though he doesn't have a blog)

Raptor Elytra

Hyperlinkzer

T. Granger

CNGoodhue
Dmitri Pendragon

Questions -

1.  If the exact opposite of you (personality wise) showed up, what would you do?

2.  What are your current writing projects (if you write)?

3.  Most depressing thing you can think of in an instant?

4.  Do you know a second language?

5.  Have you read the Count of Monte Cristo (unabridged)?

6.  Have you done the Sunflower Tag before?

7.  Eye color?

8.  Hair color?

9.  Do you want a different hair color/eye color?

10.  How are you? (this is not a rhetorical question. :P)

11.  How's your writing going?

- Robert

February 11th - The Day The Internet Revolts?

Today, February 11th, is the day the internet rises up and revolts.

If you haven't heard about it by now though, I guess the revolt didn't quite work.

Today is the day we - the internet - fight back.  Virtual protests rise up from all around the blogosphere and elsewhere.  Will the NSA hear us and comply with our demands against Mass Surveillance?

They better.

But we'll see.

(I figured I better post this for my duties to America - and finding something to post.)

Robert

Crazy Idea?

As it is with anyone in their trade, writers can relate to other writers.  Each would have different levels of experience and knowledge on all kinds of subjects.  And even without ever having met each other before, we share a connection because we've all gone through the struggles of writing.

And so, it makes sense for writers to gather and share knowledge and experience, right?  Even just to relax and talk.

And writing together, in one place, is also inspiring.  You can feel the power of creation all around you (although it's more of a subconscious feeling than anything else).  Your environment can mean the difference between 10 words a day and 10,000.

And why not?

Why not a place for writers to gather, to share, to talk, but mostly just to write?  It's a crazy idea (although potentially not the first idea of its kind), for a group of writers just to come and write in one room.  But it's also kind of empowering.  Together is always better than alone, right?

So just imagine.  A large central room of sofas, cushions, desks, beanbag chairs, etc.  Pictures line the walls, something to lighten up the walls but nothing distracting like a movie.  A speaker in the center plays music.  At one end of the room a smaller round room coffeehouse for writers taking a break to talk with others and have refreshments.  At another end of the larger room are a few smaller separate rooms, for those who would rather write in silence - these we can call the Art Rooms, or Exploration Rooms, for us to create in or draw in or just to sit in silence in.

It would be for a collection of writers to just be, well, writers.

Whaddya think?  Would you approve of a place like this, theoretically?  What would you like to see in a place like this?

Robert

Reading? What's that?

A lot of young writers read a lot.

And the simple truth is - I don't.

I used to read though.  I used to read all the time.  Virtually all the time, that is.  I read the first three books of the Inheritance Cycle, I read the Lord of the Rings, I read all of the Chronicles of Narnia books.  And then I reread them.

I used to read a lot.  But I don't anymore.  Last year I might have read ten books - and I was shooting for twenty-five.  This year (or really last - still can hardly comprehend it's 2014), I've read five at most.  Let's see if I can count them on one hand.

Prisoner of Zenda
The Cross and the Switchblade
Beyond the Cross and the Switchblade

One hand.  And that's with two fingers missing.  Am I just that lazy?  And next year I have to read twenty-five books for school.  Well, that's it for me.  I'm doomed (to borrow the colloquialism).

But why?

For one thing, my environment changed in the past three years like it never had before.

I discovered the internet. O_O (And in the process the key to the future generation of socializing - emoticons)  Which has turned out not only to be the bane of my reading time, but also my writing time, my social time, my school time, and my existence in general.  But not my thinking time, which of course is always the prime of life as a teen still trying to figure out whether the Affordable Care Act is a token of the Devil or a gift from God (after months a year of contemplation, I've discovered it's somewhere in the middle, leaning towards the former - it's a pie in the face from our government).

But this is a bit sidetracked.  Three years ago I lived in a much different environment.  One in which there was a couch.  A bookshelf.  And a fireplace.  And a library about twenty minutes away.

At the time though you must understand - this was not a cool place (actually, considering we had neither gas nor electric heat and only a fireplace, it was a cool place).  At the time I hated libraries - and yet I loved reading books.

Sound confusing?

Don't look at me.  I was the victim to that delusional state of mind.

So I read on that little couch.  And I read.  And I read.  And then we moved and I stopped reading.  About that time was when I starting writing, however.

So obviously there's a big shift in ideals during this time of my life.  I went from feeding of others' work - a consumer - to (trying) to create - a producer.

I went from living a normal life, to wanting to help others live normal lives (through books - though I was at the time still quite disillusioned, as I believed writing was for the sake of it.  As if!)

And so I can firmly come to this conclusion.  My shifting ideals actually affected my behavior subconsciously.  I don't, however, believe that I should remain this way.  Therefore, maybe 2014 will be a better year for me in terms of reading.  Maybe I shall return to those frolicking meadows (the ones I believed I was in on the stormy days of childhood).  And once again return to being that fat happy consumer.

Although I don't think choosing Alice in Wonderland was quite the book to start off with in my return to preexistence . . .

Adios and vaya con dios
Robert