Charlotte Rains Dixon

The Detail Draft

I've been thinking a lot about details lately.  Because, as we all know, all good writing is full of details--sensory details, the telling detail, details.  And, it has occurred to me that a worthy approach to details is to devote one complete draft to them.

Details are something that can easily added in during a second-to-last run through of your manuscript (the last draft being devoted to grammar and spelling and tinkering with every word).  In my experience, both in my own writing and the work of others, the first few drafts are sketchy, sometimes even outline-ish.  More and more gets added on as we go, and thus the world of the story gets developed and shown to the reader.

The writing becomes fully mounted on the page.

(It is painfully obvious when work is not fully mounted on the page.  I just read a book in which this was the case--I couldn't see the characters because there was no description of them, couldn't envision the room in which the scene was set because no details were given.  And, I didn't believe the character's emotional arc because it went from zero to 90 in one second--no details in between.)

In the story I've been working on, I inadvertently did a detail draft.  As mentioned in my blog post earlier this week, I got inspired to go back through my story and juice it up a bit while reading Jess Walter.  I admired his style, the way he layered on details and decided I better go back and look at what I had done.  Because, as I mentioned, my story felt a bit flat to me.  So I went back through looking for places in which I could make the story better and more alive by adding details.

Here's a couple of examples:

Before

What had previously made her happy was her life the way it had been, when she and Michael and Molly lived together in northeast Portland.

After

What had previously made her happy was her life the way it had been, when she and Michael and Molly lived in a northeast Portland bungalow with a door painted red for good luck, and Nell woke up every morning with a deep sense of the rightness of things.

Before

Dana fitted the key into the gallery door.

After

 A huge cottonwood towered over the entrance to the courtyard off which the gallery was located.   Pots of yellow, white, and sky blue flowers flanked the door, which Dana fitted her key into.

Too many details?

I don't know about you, but I think those details jazz things up considerably.  In truth, I didn't add that many details overall, but the ones I did add made a difference.  And that brings up another point, as a reader (thanks, Don) mentioned in the comment section of the last post--you can do too many details as well.  The idea is to find the details that will bring the scene to life in the reader's mind.  One trick here is to think sensory details--sights (which we all mostly do well), sounds, touch and, especially smell--writers forget to add in smells all the time.

I learned a way to approach the adding of details from a lecture by Sena Jeter Naslund when I was in Louisville in May.  She advocates making your sentences work harder, and one way to do this is randomly point to a sentence in your manuscript and study it.  Can you make it work harder?  Does it need more details?  This is a fine approach for a detail draft, I think.

How do you approach getting the proper amount of detail into your work?  Please leave a comment.

The Benefits of Reading

Now, I know you read a lot.  Because, you're a writer.  And writers not only write, they read.  It's the way of the world.  Reading is why most of us got into this game in the first place. 

(Brief aside: you'd be surprised how many wannabe writers I've run into who don't read.  When someone comes to me and says, "I've always wanted to be a writer," I say, "What do you like to read?" And then, ahem, when they say "Oh, I don't read, I like to watch TV and movies," I know they are not going to make it as a writer--unless they want to write scripts.)

But there's reading and there's reading, as in reading as a writer.  Once you start doing that, reading is never the same, by the way.   Because, you're constantly looking at how the author handled plot, character, setting, dialogue, theme, style--all the things we strive to add to our stories.  (I've heard some writers complain about this, saying reading is no longer the light, relaxing activity it once was for them, but I like it--I think this way of reading adds a depth that contributes to my enjoyment.)

My approach to reading got rejuvenated when I was in Louisville for the Spalding MFA residency, because that's part of what you do in workshop--pull apart stories and see how they were put together, studying each element.  I was re-inspired to approach reading this way, which happened to coincide with my own work on a couple of short stories. 

I am here to report that my recent reading has had a real, direct impact on my writing, and I want to share that in order to explain how it happens.  (You no doubt already know this.  But being reminded of it, as I was in Louisville, can be a helpful thing.)

Example #1

Before I left Louisville, I downloaded the Best American Short Stories of 2012 and then read it on the plane on the way home.  (I liked having it on my Kindle, because it forced me to read the stories straight through, whereas my usual style would be to pick and choose.  But in picking and choosing, I would miss some gems.) One of the stories was called M&M World.  (That link takes you right to the story--cool.)

I'm not going to ruin the story for you by deconstructing it, but there's a part of the story that looks to an incident in the protagonist's marriage that happened long ago.  And as I read that, I had an epiphany: this is what my story needs, too.  I needed to go briefly (for one paragraph) into the past to show an aspect of my character's marriage.  I added this and presented the rewrite to my writing group--and they loved it.  Said it added a depth and insight that had previously been lacking. Which was my intention.  So, yay.

Example #2

I recently started reading Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter.  Wonderful novel, I recommend it.  Love the story line and I adore his style of writing--the way he puts words together.  He's one of those writers who pulls you into the character's head with the use of the telliing detail, actually, lots of them.  And this got me to thinking--perhaps this was what was missing from my story?  I liked so much of what I had written, but overall, it seemed a bit flat to me.  And so I've been going back through and looking for places I can add more details and it is making a huge difference.  (I have a whole post on this planned for later this week.)

Both of these epiphanies have added a lot to my story (which I'm just about read to send out, by the way). And I never would have gotten them without reading.

So, what about you?  What are you currently reading?  How is it affecting your writing?

The New Short Story Market

I used Grammarly to grammar check this post, because even though I'm a writer, I don't always get my grammar correct!

I am submitting a short story to Amazon Kindle Singles sometime this weekend, after I get the query letter perfected and go through it one more time.   It's a story I originally wrote when I was working on my MFA, one I've always liked, but was never quite sure what to do with.  It's over 7,000 words long, longish for many journals, and it seems to be a cross between literary and popular fiction (like much of my work).  I pulled it out, updated it, and have been playing with rewriting it for the last couple of months.  I'm much happier with it now than I was when I first wrote it.  And I'm pleased to at long last have a place to submit it.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Amazon Kindle Single program, here's a blurb from their Submissions Policy:

Anyone can submit original work to Kindle Singles. We've showcased writing from both new and established voices--from bestselling novelists to previously unpublished writers.

We're looking for compelling ideas expressed at their natural length--writing that doesn't easily fall into the conventional space limitations of magazines or print books. Kindle Singles are typically between 5,000 and 30,000 words.

A Kindle Single can be on any topic. So far we've posted fiction, essays, memoirs, reporting, personal narratives, and profiles, and we're expanding our selection every week. We're looking for high-quality writing, fresh and original ideas, and well-executed stories in all genres and subjects.

I'm excited about this program.  I love the idea that Amazon is publishing short stories, articles, and novellas, and allowing the authors of these shorter pieces to actually make money on them.  When I wrote my MFA lecture years ago, my topic was the linked short-story and one of the ideas into which I delved was, why aren't short stories more popular?  You would think they might be the perfect reading material for our crazy-busy, over-booked age.  They are short (duh), and you can read one or two while on the treadmill at the gym or taking light rail home from work. But short stories have recently been notoriously unpopular and published mostly in literary journals, many of them obscure (and God love 'em, I mean no disrespect).  Now, thanks to Amazon, they seem actually to be selling and selling well.

I've been interested in this program for awhile now, and done some research on it.  Here are some links that explain more about it and the thinking behind it:

A profile of Singles editor David Blum that gives insight into Amazon's strategies

How Much Do Kindle Singles Authors Make?

The Author's Guild weighs in (positively)

Amazon's Kindle Singles Submission Page

Bear in mind, you can also put your own short works up through the Kindle Direct program.  I thought I'd try the submission route first, just for fun.  I'll keep you posted on the process!

What do you think about writing shorter pieces?  Are you on board with this new publishing opportunity?  Leave a comment and let's discuss.

A First Look at Eric Maisel's Making Your Creative Mark

Eric Maisel is practically a one-man industry.  Well, he invented an industry--that of creativity coaching.  In his own creativity coaching practice, he's worked with MacArthur fellows, best-selling authors, Academy Award winners, painters, musicians, all kinds of creators.  And not only that, he's written books--tons of 'em, several of which I have read and enjoyed.

So when his publicist at New World Library offered me his latest book, Making Your Creative Mark: Nine Keys to Achieving Your Artistic Goals to review, I enthusiastically said yes.

But I have a confession to make.  I've not gotten past the first few pages of the first chapter, which is titled, The Mind Key.

And this is not because the book is bad and boring.  It's quite the opposite, in fact.  He's got a list of nine tips for mastering your mind I found so helpful that I go back and re-read them every time I pick up the book.  Which is why I'm still on chapter one.

Why is mind mastery so important?  I'll let Maisel tell you:

"Creating depends on having a mind quiet enough to allow ideas to bubble up.  Living a successful, healthy life as an artist requires that your self-talk align with  your goals and your aspirations.  Your job is to quiet your mind and extinguish negative self-talk.  These are your two most important tasks if you want a shot at your best life in the arts."  (emphasis mine)

How about that, huh?  Huh?  Wouldn't you agree with him?  I would.  Here are a couple of the tips he shares:

--Recognize you are the only one who can get a grip on your mind

--Listen to what you say to yourself

--Decide if what you are telling yourself serves you

--When you decide that a thought doesn't serve you, dispute it and dismiss it

And so on (each tip is followed with more information on it that I didn't include here).

I love this stuff.  I love reading about mastering the mind and mindset because it is at the basis of everything we do and create.  But too often, the only recommendation people give is to try positive thinking, which doesn't work when it's just covering up negative thinking. The reason I keep going back to Maisel's tips are because they are specific and actionable (I know, I sort like a productivity expert).

So, anyway, I thought I'd go ahead and give you a heads up about the book in case you want to check it out.  I am planning to write more about the rest of the book, once I can manage to pull myself out of chapter one.

What are your thoughts on mindset?  How do you train your mind for the work you need to do?

New World Library sent me a review copy of the book, but the thoughts expressed are mine.

Creating Characters: Compassion and Conflict

I was quite taken with this post from Sandra Pawula on compassion when I read it last weekend. (I'm actually quite often taken with admiration for Sandra's posts.  If you haven't discovered her blog, go read it now.)

In the post, Sandra writes about how compassion is linked to boundless, deep love and then, and this is what really blew me away,  she defines love. "This is one truth I have come to know with certainty: When you love completely from the depth of your heart, your wish for another person’s happiness becomes greater than your own perceived needs, wants, and desires."

So, because anything I read or think about eventually gets connected to my writing, I started to think about how we authors feel deep compassion for our characters.  We fall in love with them, and want the best for them.  We want them to be happy.

But, then we have the other C word.  You know what I'm going to say: conflict.

The basis of all story is conflict (or tension, if you prefer).  In order to create a story, be it short story, memoir, or novel, there must be conflict.  And lots of it.  The more the better.

But we love our characters!  How can we show them the compassion they deserve (and in my mind, need if we're going to write them) and still create the conflict the story requires?

There's actually conflict in that there dilemma, which is a bit of a starting point.  And, I think for me it helps to remind myself that conflict is the crucible through which we deepen ourselves, our lives, and our capacity to love.  And if it's true for humans, it's true for the human characters about which we write.

In order to write multi-dimensional characters (and I just finished a novel with one-dimensional characters that ultimately disappointed me) we, their creators, must approach them with equal thought given to both conflict and compassion.

As always, I'm feeling my way through this topic as I write it, and the really juicy development of it will happen in the comments.  So, please chime in!  Do you feel compassion for your characters?  How do you bring yourself to torture them with conflict?

Photo by MeHere.