Big Questions

On the comments trail of the last post, someone asked:

how do you know what your story is going to be about? how do you know as your writing what is supposed to happen? is it that you know the whole story or it just happens as your writing? how do you know if its right? are there any tricks or shortcuts to getting the story right?

Um, Wow. I just do, I don’t always, some of each, I don’t, and man, if you learn them, could you let the rest of us know? Just kidding.

The fact of the matter is, these are very very tough questions that get to the core of what makes a person a storyteller. I’ve written on this blog before about the whole writer vs. storyteller conundrum, but when we are talking about story, not craft or writing or whatever, but story, I really and truly believe that its bred in the bone. Some people have characters or situations that call to them. They play “what if?” all day long, even if it’s only to themselves, about themselves, about the couple arguing in low whispers at the coffee table across the way… I think that if you’re missing that gene, that storytelling gene, then that’s it. I think if you have that gene, then you need to work your ass off to develop it. You need to play creativity games and practice your Poisoned Nipple Theory equations, and memorize the Rule of Six, and in general, try every trick in the book to come up with a story. Some that I like:

1. Look at a piece of artwork (illustration, snapshot in a newspaper, masterwork in a museum) and pick a minor figure in the piece. Try to figure out what brought them to that place at that time, and what they are thinking. Imagine another day in their life and what happened then (either before or after the point in the picture).

2. (Works best for a romance) Think up two people who would never ever ever ever ever fall in love. Make them fall in love. Adjust as necessary.

3. Think of the most outlandish thing that could happen to you in the next five minutes. Think of someone who would deal with that thing in a very interesting way.

4. Think of a movie or a book you hate. Think of why. Make it work the way you like, then change all of the details that make it recognizably similar to the movie you hate.

Of course, a lot of these aren’t going to make a book. Some will make a short story at best, or perhaps a vignette, or just a cool writing exercise. But that’s what this is. Exercising. Once you’ve forged those neural pathways for a few years or decades or whatever, you brain just starts thinking up stories all the time. Even while you sleep.

Now, the other way to interpret that question is about themes. On one level, Secret Society Girl is about this college co-ed who joins a notorious campus secret society and causes havoc. On another level it’s a story about the battle of the sexes and the different forms that friendship can take and determining self-worth and accepting irreconcilable differences and whether or not we should all like Tolstoy. I didn’t know all of these things while I was writing the book. Some of them I didn’t know until several months later. There are some thing that the story is about that I don’t even know yet.

That’s okay. You don’t have to. It kind of comes out while you’re writing it, the way you think you’re doing knit one purl two knit two purl one and then, magically, a hundred rows later, you have a pattern. Once you notice it, though, you can start knitting tighter or looser to make the pattern look prettier or more pronounced or whatever.

Regarding the other questions….. I know (mostly) what happens in my story before I start writing it. Soemthings still come as a surprise, or I might plan for something to happen in a given way and then when I get to that point in the writing I realize it doesn’t work out so well as I’d thought it would, and so I change it. But these changes and adjustments and additions are relatively minor. I consider myself “a plotter.” Some of my friends haven’t the slightest clue what happens in their story before they write it. Some people, not me because I hate this term and think it sounds like people who try to pull your shorts down in front of the whole school (sorry, childhood trauma), but some people, call this being “a pantser” as in “fly by the seat of their pants.”

Both ways appear to work fine for different people. I think that it might behoove an individual to try a variety of methods while starting out, until they hit on the one that works best for them. Every time I’ve tried to write without knowing where I’m going, I get trapped, so I know that method doesn’t work for me. I like to know where I’m going ahead of time, so that when I’m actually writing, I get to delve into the scenery and stuff, rather than watching out for every single street sign to make sure I haven’t missed it. I’ve got friends that feel exactly the opposite. Whatever works for you is the best way to do something.

How do I know it’s right? Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. Usually I have a pretty good clue that it’s working if one or more of the following things happen: 1) I read it over later, and get lost in it, 2) it says what I was planning on it saying, and 3) my critique partner, agent and/or editor says she likes it. Yes, other people’s opinions matter.

Any tricks or shortcuts? No. Sorry. If this were easy, everyone would do it. But seriously, if you ever do find the tricks, I would love to hear them!

What do you all think? How would you answer these questions?

P.S. I love what Julie said in the previous post about how being a writer is all about the choices.