I think it's about time. Maybe it is because I love research, but I tend to procrastinate with actual writing. But I think I have finally done all I can with part 1. Time to take off my writer's cap and put on an editor's cap. I'll be taking my cues from Ava Jae.
I am doing this kind of old school. I printed out my manuscript and will be looking at paper. Maybe if I had an e-reader, but still, I've been looking at a computer screen while I've been writing. This should be different.
I'm excited. The Tale of The Republic is about to take shape. It's been a long time. I shall keep you posted as I go through the process.
Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts
Monday, March 9, 2015
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Four Peas to Creating an Authentic Alternative History: Preparation
We have come to the end of our series. If you haven't been following the series from the start here are links to Premise, Probability, and Possibilities. We now move on to our fourth Pea, what I like to call:
P#4: Preparation
I can hear you scream, "what was I doing during the previous three steps?" That was preparing your premise to make a story. Now comes the fun part (at least for me) researching your characters. I have created little who's who bios for just about every fictional character I have created. I know when they were born, where, where they were educated, who they married, how many children they have, who were their classmates, etc. While this may seem an exercise in absolute tedium, there is a point. Without doing this step your Alt-Hi will become Sci-Fi. Not in the sense of the typical definition of the genre, but because your character will seem an outside "alien" observer to the events you describe instead of being able to seamlessly interact with their surroundings.
Why do you have to do this? You are changing the outcome of one premise, but your character must still be believable within the "correct" timeline. In the case of my story, the key character, John Lee Anderson, is the brother of Robert Anderson of Fort Sumter, went to West Point at the Same time as Grant, served with him in the Mexican War, and during post war assignments in the South, married a distant cousin of Jefferson Davis and retired from active service, and is the father of three sons and one daughter, all of whom have followed their father into military service, to the great disappointment of their mother. Called back into service and assigned to the "Northern reaches of the Nebraska Territory" by President Pierce, he sees his responsibility to the people of the Western States and Territories as outweighing his duty to Washington. That is the bare bones type of research that I do, and I put it into a nice bio that looks like this. (For space concerns I have not done John Lee Anderson but Kenneth Mark Bassett, a supporting character.)
I think you can see that, by creating a "life" for your character, you have also created a purpose for his existence in your story (other than a story needs a character). If you do all these steps, you are now in possession of a premise that will survive not only one story, but even being turned into a multi-novel series. You can now begin to write.
P#4: Preparation
I can hear you scream, "what was I doing during the previous three steps?" That was preparing your premise to make a story. Now comes the fun part (at least for me) researching your characters. I have created little who's who bios for just about every fictional character I have created. I know when they were born, where, where they were educated, who they married, how many children they have, who were their classmates, etc. While this may seem an exercise in absolute tedium, there is a point. Without doing this step your Alt-Hi will become Sci-Fi. Not in the sense of the typical definition of the genre, but because your character will seem an outside "alien" observer to the events you describe instead of being able to seamlessly interact with their surroundings.
Why do you have to do this? You are changing the outcome of one premise, but your character must still be believable within the "correct" timeline. In the case of my story, the key character, John Lee Anderson, is the brother of Robert Anderson of Fort Sumter, went to West Point at the Same time as Grant, served with him in the Mexican War, and during post war assignments in the South, married a distant cousin of Jefferson Davis and retired from active service, and is the father of three sons and one daughter, all of whom have followed their father into military service, to the great disappointment of their mother. Called back into service and assigned to the "Northern reaches of the Nebraska Territory" by President Pierce, he sees his responsibility to the people of the Western States and Territories as outweighing his duty to Washington. That is the bare bones type of research that I do, and I put it into a nice bio that looks like this. (For space concerns I have not done John Lee Anderson but Kenneth Mark Bassett, a supporting character.)
Bassett, Kenneth Mark
b. May 11, 1831 Portland, ME. Graduates from U.S. Military Academy, 1851. Stationed at Fort Kent, ME on Border Patrol 1851-1855. Assigned to command of Brigadier General John Lee Anderson in Nebraska, 1855. Commissioned Captain, 1855. Chief of Police, Upper Nebraska Territory, 1855-61. m. Kimberly Ann Chase, March 21, 1858. Commander Military District Number Five, Wyoming, Dakota Territory, 1861. Commander of Camp Teton (1861-63) and Fort Shoshone (1863-1889). Commissioned Major, 1862. Founder of Territorial Police, 1870. Commissioned Major, Republican Army, 1875. Second Colonel, 1878. Colonel, 1880. Governor of Wyoming (1893-1905). d. Tuesday June 13, 1922 Cheyenne, WY.
I think you can see that, by creating a "life" for your character, you have also created a purpose for his existence in your story (other than a story needs a character). If you do all these steps, you are now in possession of a premise that will survive not only one story, but even being turned into a multi-novel series. You can now begin to write.
Friday, June 21, 2013
A Writers Thoughts on Writing
They Say "Write What You Know". For me that means writing about Music and history, especially American History. For the music part I hope all of you will take a gander at my other blog, The WENC Night Beat. Platinum Vinyl Award season has just concluded and the awards have been handed out. The results page has been updated. Look for the year 2012 for each category.
I had thought of calling this post "Books I Can't Write", but then I thought better of it. That's just not it. "Won't write isn't it either". Maybe it should be Genre's I can't get my head around.
I've loved history since forever. If I scored under 92 in American History in High School I was shocked and then it was time to start studying hard. So when I first kicked around some thoughts for a story, American History was the subject, specifically America Post Civil War. Welcome to the Republic was conceived, sort of.
I also think I can do action adventure of a sort, as Falcon is a sort of hero in the vein of the Bionic Woman (I might be the only one who thought the reboot was cool).
I had thought of calling this post "Books I Can't Write", but then I thought better of it. That's just not it. "Won't write isn't it either". Maybe it should be Genre's I can't get my head around.
I've loved history since forever. If I scored under 92 in American History in High School I was shocked and then it was time to start studying hard. So when I first kicked around some thoughts for a story, American History was the subject, specifically America Post Civil War. Welcome to the Republic was conceived, sort of.
I also think I can do action adventure of a sort, as Falcon is a sort of hero in the vein of the Bionic Woman (I might be the only one who thought the reboot was cool).
Screenwriting speaking, I can't do Soap Operas. I just can't write that poorly. I am convinced that the genre is the last refuge of bad writers. And bad actors too. Now I'm no Shakespeare, but I spend time on things like plot, possibility, grammar. I know, how could you think of a career in Hollywood concerned with that?
That being said, there are a few fiction genres I cant get my pen around.
- Romantic Comedy/Chick Lit: We'll go back to that write what you know on this one. And the soap opera's too. But mostly the former. No, I don't think there's much of a market for the Moderately handsome "damaged goods" guy who has given up on love and lives as a hermit in a cabin in the woods. Kind of Like Stringfellow Hawk from Airwolf. Then maybe we could have a long lost love return and turn him into the Prince Charming that he forgot he was. Yeah, I thought so, gag city. If you want Chick Lit, might I suggest my friend +Erica Lucke Dean and her book To Katie With Love
- Science Fiction: I wish my Polish heritage could help here, but I am obviously no J.Michael Straczynski. I wouldn't have the first idea how to describe the ships, station, and aliens of Babylon 5
. I love to watch it, though. Would probably have to read it more to see if I could write it. I'll throw fantasy writing into the mix here and say to check out the works of my friend +Shannon Mayer and her character Rylee Adamson
- Erotica: I was trying to think of something witty here, but decided not to push it. Safe to say you could use the same arguments for Chick Lit here. Even if I admitted to a healthy sense of fantasy that doesn't mean I could put it to paper. Hey, I have trouble coming up with a profanity even if the character used it in real life. Through my contacts in +Triberr I have picked up friends even here. D.C. McMillen
No, I think I shall stick with what I know. A little action adventure, music writing, and my Alternative History/Speculative Fiction/Historical Fiction. I found out about a new genre lately, Realistic Fiction. Best I can decipher it is Current Event Historical Fiction. Isn't all fiction supposed to be realistic? After all, if it "Reads Fake", nobody is going to enjoy it.
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