A Brief Look at Now Write! Science Fiction, Fantasy, And Horror

As promised a few Wednesday Weigh-ins ago, here is a brief synopsis of the most recent writing book I've read - "Now Write! Science Fiction, Fantasy, And Horror".

This is a collection of articles on various areas of the writing process, along with a recommended writing exercise, each written by a different author, screenwriter or teacher of Speculative Genre fiction.  Most of the articles are only a few pages long, so it's easy to just pick one that deals with a writing topic you're interested in and read it along with the accompanying exercise, if you don't have time to attempt to read the book from cover to cover.

(As a side note, one of the group writing exercises we did at last year's Preptober Workshop was adapted from an exercise in this book.)

The book is divided into the following sections:

• Understand Your Speculative Genre
• Ideas and Inspiration
• Story Development and Plotting
• High Stakes and Terror
• Building Worlds
• Theme and Meaning
• Memorable Heroes, Villains and Monsters
• Communication and Relationships
• Scene Construction and Style
• Practicing Your Craft

There are also a few pages at the back of the book listing websites or the main online presence for each of the contributing authors or teachers, in case you'd like to learn more about them (or from them, I suppose).

Not a writer of Fantasy, Sci-Fi or Horror?

Well, it would seem this is part of a series of Now Write books:

Now Write! Fiction Writing Exercises from Today's Best Writers and Teachers

Now Write! Nonfiction - Memoir, Journalism, and Creative Nonfiction from Today's Best Writers and Teachers

Now Write! Screenwriting - Screenwriting Exercises from Today's Best Writers and Teachers

Now Write! Mysteries - Suspense, Crime, Thriller, and other Mystery Fiction Exercises from Today's Best Writers and Teachers

But, I think you could learn a number of general writing tips from the articles and exercises in this edition as well.

So, Sockmonkeys, tell me, have you read any good writing craft books recently?  Do you have a favorite book of writing exercises you like to refer to when you're stuck (or just for fun)?

Please, tell us about it in the comments.  Feel free to link to it elsewhere for other Sockmonkeys to look at.  If you're willing, please, submit an email to pcsockmonkeywriters@gmail.com with your summary of the book (it doesn't have to be formal or very long) along with a link to it or a picture of the cover and what name you'd like credited in the post and it can be posted on the blog and shared with other local writers in the future.

Belatedly Posting Links from our Preptober Workshop Event 2019

Okay, I know, the graphic is old, but it is the one I used to announce the Preptober Workshop in the first place, so it seemed like the logical choice to start the post with.  There were 13 people present, many of them faces I hadn't seen at NaNo events in the past (and some who mentioned it was their first time participating in NaNoWriMo).  It was also great to see some writers who are regulars at regional events.

The Welcome PowerPoint Slide

Polly Esther Socks & Pierson at the Welcome Table

Prior to the event, I had put out a survey asking people what they might like covered at a workshop like this one.  I also asked if any other writers might be willing to present a small part of the workshop on a topic of interest to them.  While we couldn't cover everything that was requested in the survey, we touched on a number of topics and many in the room shared their own tips or resources with us as the workshop proceeded.

If you're at all interested in seeing the slides from the overall presentation, you can view them on our Sockmonkey Google Drive by clicking this link.   To read my stream of consciousness explanations of each of the sections I presented (though I went off script many times), you can click here and read them - be aware they're raw and unedited (and a bit rambly).

Thank you to XwordslingerX for presenting some information on Worldbuilding and on Character Creation!  The Character sheet she shared last year (and again this year) can be viewed on our Google Drive if you click here.

Some of the tips given by other writers at the workshop when it comes to Character creation included: An Established Character Mash-up; Fancasting; Asking "What is the change that will happen to the character?" and, as a way of avoiding unnecessary characters or getting bogged down creating too many details for minor characters, "Don't give a minor character a name until they have a motivation/reason for being in the story."

(I apologize, I guess my photo of this section turned out blurry.)  Some of the ideas people shared during our worldbuilding discussion were: "Write so people can see the world without a map" (especially if you don't draw maps...); Use Seasons; Storyboard; Create Promo videos for the lands and remember "Land isn't stagnant, things do change" (so they likely will during the course of your story).

Our discussion of Plot happened in two phases.  The first part was lead by Optimouse (who, I guess I did not get any pictures of during her presentation... sorry!) and was accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation that included humor (and memes).  If you'd like to look through those slides, you can find them on our Google Drive by clicking here.  Also shared was a half sheet sized Plot Mountain worksheet, which you can find on our Google Drive (or if you can't view that or get it to load, a search for Plot Mountain worksheet will likely pull up many options). 

An Example of How to Fill out the Plot Mountain by NurseAngela of Canada

The other part of the discussion dealt with some special types of plotting that were asked about in the survey and covered a bit in my slides and notes (linked above).  And the suggestion given by one of our writers about plot (shown on the picture of the white board) was to ask "Where is the Knife?".  Which is just a way of saying "I put said plot item in, where is it now?" to help you keep track of important plot details as you move through the story.

In discussing making sure your writing and notes are backed up so you don't lose anything during NaNo, especially if you use a typewriter or hand write, the two programs/apps shown above (Scannable and Camscanner) were mentioned.  I don't know if anyone else has any they prefer, but if you do, please share them in the comments for others to try!

Finally, one of the many handouts that was ready at the workshop is one that listed links and resources, some which were mentioned during the presentation and others that were added for additional clarification.  If you'd like to check those links out, you can find them in this document on our Google Drive.

Thank you to everyone who attended!  Your input and participation made this a fun event.  Polly Esther and Pierson were also happy when they were allowed to become temporary members of the typewriter brigade at the end of the Workshop.

Did you enjoy the workshop, if you attended?  Would you like us to hold more Preptober workshops in the future?  Please, let us know in the comments.

Another Graham Writing Update

Free Vector design by Vecteezy

It's time for a quick update on the Graham Writer's Group.  Their last meeting was on July 22nd, 2019 at the Graham branch of the Pierce County Public Library.

The white board prompts from this meeting, which you can work on whether you plan to attend the next meeting on August 12th or not, are as follows:

• 3 word story: Yearn, upend, hoop.
• Scenario: After winning a bet, a wise garbage collector is swindled by a family friend.
• Proverb: Be prepared!
• Either/Or: Seek/Argue

As a brief reminder, the 3 word story is one that contains all three of the words listed.  Either/Or is where you choose one of the words.  For more information, click the tag for "Graham Writers Group" in the sidebar or at the bottom of this post - the first post in this series has more details.

Thank you to Jexx3030 for keeping the group updated and posting the prompts and the events for our group!

If you attend another writing group in the area, please comment and let us know about it or send an email with the website and details to pcsockmonkeywriters (at) gmail.com so we can get the word out to other local writers. 

Some Writerly Resources

For those of you who weren't able to attend last year's NaNo Kickoff and Preptober Workshop, this post will house some of the writing related links that were shared during the event.  (It also serves as a way of saving them for future reference, since the NaNo Forums are wiped each year.)  I also decided it would be a good thing to share as part of the ongoing Tuesday link roundup posts that were originally on this blog.

Something writers often hear about when preparing to publish a novel is that they need a logline.  What is a logline?  A very short description of the plot of your story that is meant to help hook an editor or reader as part of your elevator pitch.  This exercise was adapted from one on www.bryndonovan.com - and for more information on writing loglines, please see the link at the bottom of the exercises.  Click here if you'd like to view the exercise and/or download and print it. We all attempted the exercise and some of us shared our rewritten loglines out loud at the workshop.

The picture at the top of the post was contributed to by people who attended the workshop. It shows a list of some sites related to planning and/or brainstorming.  They are:

• Coggle.it - This is an online mindmapping site. It is free and can be used for collaborative projects. You can brainstorm characters, character relationships, plot ideas, settings, it's really up to you - and the Coggles you create can be printed out, so you can refer to them when you're offline or lose internet access.
• Idea Engine Worksheet by EA Deverell
• How to Write a Book Now's Plot Outline
• Well-storied
• World Building June on Tumblr

Feel free to use whatever works for you and don't worry about the rest.  Adapt as needed to find whatever helps you tell the story you want to tell.

Also from Bryndonovan.com was a printed version of her "One Index Card" plotting method.  This can be used by those who don't like to plot or as a starting springboard to more in-depth plotting.  The group had fun creating a number of these cooperatively and hearing the strange plots that resulted.

This double-sided Character profile sheet was shared by xwordslingerx as she talked about creating characters.  It is simple, has doodle boxes, and you are free to fill it out as much or as little as you like for any of your characters. (It's also good to have one on hand to write down any details you come up with AS you write - so you don't forget about them later!)

Do any of you use any of these sites or resources already?  Do you have similar links you'd like to share with us?  We will have more posts like this one, but please, feel free to comment and leave some of your favorite writing resource sites and they can be added to a future post.

July 8th Graham Writers Group Update

Here's the first update on the Graham Writer's Group since the original post on July 3rd.

The group met on July 8th and went through the exercises that had been set for them at the previous meeting.  They were then assigned the following prompts for the next meeting, which will be held on July 22, 2019 at the Graham branch of the Pierce County Library:

For easier reference, the board reads as follows:

• 3 word stories: Whine, Thorn, Granite.
• Funny Scenario:  A carpenter discovers something between the walls of an old home he's been renovating.
• Proverb/Quote/Saying: "Haste makes waste."
• Either/Or: Jest/Scone.

The directions for these prompts can be found in the inaugural post about the group, but I will restate that there is no time limit or minimum/maximum word count, although if you hope to be able to share them with the group, it's best to be relatively brief.

As more of these are posted, if you ever want to go back and revisit earlier prompts for ideas, (whether you're planning to attend the group or not), please click the tag "graham writers group" at the bottom of the post and it will list all of the posts for you.

Still hoping to hear from other Sockmonkey Writers about workshops or writing groups in their area that we might pass along to the rest of the group.  Please, if you find out about any, send the information via the Questions? Ideas? box at the bottom of the blog or send an email with links to the Sockmonkey email: PCSockmonkeyWriters (at) gmail.com.

Writer's Group/Workshop in Graham

There is a writer's group that meets at the Graham Library twice a month on the 2nd and 4th Mondays from Noon - 2 PM.

The group facilitator leads the writers in attendance in various writing exercises and leaves them with prompts to work on for the next meeting.  This group is not necessarily for works-in-progress and they don't critique those, either, although you could use the exercises to explore facets of your WIP.  It is for all levels of writer and is a great way to meet other local writers while working on your writing.

Here is a picture of the prompts on the board from their meeting on June 10th:

Which, I guess, turned out to be difficult to read.  Sorry.  Left column first, it reads:

3 word stories: Obsolete, larva, zone; Funny Scenario: While dog-sitting, a computer hacker becomes obsessed w/his neighbor; Quote: "It takes 2 to make a quarrel."  Either/Or: Provide & Yo-Yo; Pick 3 stories.

Here is a picture of the prompts on the board from the meeting on June 24th:

And, for ease of reference, starting with the left column, it reads:

3 word stories: Permission, mystique, allergy; Funny scenario: Your Amazon order arrived - but it was not what you ordered.  It's something very different.; Either/Or: Reckless/Zero; Quotes/Proverbs: "The folly of one man is the fortune of another." - Bacon; Pick 3 stories.

To explain these prompts a little, in case you'd like to work on the exercises for the July 8th meeting: 

• In 3 word stories, you work all three words into the story you're writing
• In either/or you use at least one of the words.
• Funny scenario is self-explanatory.

There is no time limit or minimum/maximum word count, you just write until you're done, although, I'm told that stories are shared with the group, so if you'd like to be able to share, it's best to keep things on the shorter side.  And you have to attend the meeting to learn what the Pick 3 stories are - apparently that's a group rule.

I'll try to post the weekly prompts as they're shared, in case anyone misses the meeting but might be able to attend the next one and would like to work on them in between.

Any Sockmonkey writers reading this that have attended this group?  Are you interested in attending?  If you're not close enough to Graham, are there any writing groups in your area of Pierce County you'd be willing to let the group know about?