{"id":79,"date":"2017-02-05T11:55:51","date_gmt":"2017-02-05T16:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/dremadeoraich\/?p=79"},"modified":"2017-02-05T11:55:51","modified_gmt":"2017-02-05T16:55:51","slug":"going-with-the-flow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/02\/05\/going-with-the-flow\/","title":{"rendered":"Going with the Flow"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I said last week, my initial foray into writing fiction was flawed. In the science fiction market, the genre for my first novel, acceptable manuscript word count tops out at around 120K as a maximum for a first-time author; mine was greater than 800K and still going with no signs of ending any time soon. But I\u2019m pretty sure it was a launch problem, not <\/em>a design problem. I\u2019m still convinced the story itself has real potential.<\/p>\n

See, writing fiction has power\u2014power over its audience, surely (hopefully!), but also over its writer<\/em>. The ability to design my own world(s), plots, character-driven and plot-driven crises and resolutions or lacks thereof, even the research I did to make the scenarios realistic, as well as the opportunity to say something worthwhile within my storyline, rooted in me so deeply I didn\u2019t give the rules much thought, if I even knew what they were. I just wrote.<\/p>\n

And wrote.<\/p>\n

And wrote.<\/p>\n

At the time, I told people, \u201cI hear voices in my head. They\u2019re going to make me rich.\u201d (Yeah, experienced writers. Laugh. You know you want to.)<\/p>\n

Apparently, in the world of professional fiction writing, there are \u201cplotters\u201d and \u201cpantsers.\u201d Plotters map out their entire story from beginning to end, knowing where every detail will happen and how it will affect the scenes to follow, as well as where the crisis points will take place and how it will all end. Pantsers sit at the other end of the spectrum, winging every single scene, handing the reins over to their characters and their plot and the worlds they\u2019ve built and saying to themselves (and their agents), \u201cLet\u2019s see where this goes.\u201d I was (past tense) definitely in the second camp, so far to that end that I had no idea how or even if<\/em> the darn thing would end. My characters would dictate story so loud that I sometimes had trouble sleeping, and so fast that my fingers could barely keep up. I was as surprised by what they did as anyone who read my work. Every time I finished a chapter, a small crew would gather to hear it read aloud, then offer their critiques and comments. It was great fun, and a wild ride, but that was only the beginning.<\/p>\n

Most writers, I\u2019m told, fall somewhere in the middle of those extremes, plotting the major points while allowing some degree of creative flexibility in the plan; their characters are given some leeway to drive the engine along controlled segues and side-streets, as long as the whole train ends up at a reasonable and believable juncture in the end. I think that\u2019s where I\u2019ve landed, at least so far. I have no illusions about coming to rest on any particular process this early in my writing career. My education continues.<\/p>\n

I still hear the characters in my head, just not all at once. The crowd has thinned, so to speak. Those other characters, the ones I don\u2019t hear so often any more, haven\u2019t left the building. They\u2019re just in another room, waiting their turn. The secret I had to discover is that one book should be about one protagonist, two at most, and the prevailing conflict that separates her from what she wants. I started working with an editor (hi Paula!), whose brutal guidance assured me that I had to cut out 75% of my content, and focus what was left. Two years and four drafts later, she finally e-mailed the words that prompted my happy-dance: \u201cIt\u2019s ready to pitch.\u201d My current draft sits at 119K words, and is awaiting an agent\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not perfect, not yet. But I think it\u2019s ready for representation. Books two and three (that\u2019s where some of those other characters will get their shot) are in the planning stage; if book one takes off and my agent thinks it would make a good series, I can move forward on them. Otherwise, they can become stories in their own rights for later books. In any event, I continue to learn and grow into this craft. Because yes\u2014writing is a craft<\/em>. It takes guidance, education and practice, practice, practice to get it right (or is that \u201cwrite\u201d?).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I said last week, my initial foray into writing fiction was flawed. In the science fiction market, the genre for my first novel, acceptable manuscript word count tops out at around 120K as a maximum for a first-time author; mine was greater than 800K and still going with no signs of ending any time…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-posts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8n0kX-1h","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/01\/29\/letting-my-inside-voice-out\/","url_meta":{"origin":79,"position":0},"title":"Letting My Inside Voice Out","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"January 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Nobody takes fiction writers seriously. That\u2019s what I used to think. As a volunteer journalist and editor on a small non-profit press for more than ten years, I snorted at the suggestion I should write fiction. Why, if I wrote something as superficial as a novel, no one would ever\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1136,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/05\/a-surprising-truth-subtlety-makes-fiction-stronger\/","url_meta":{"origin":79,"position":1},"title":"A Surprising Truth\u2014Subtlety Makes Fiction Stronger","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"November 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I recently critiqued an excellent short story for a fellow Critter, a soft sci-fi piece with some hard sci-fi elements, which takes place on a distant world and has a \u2026 unique twist. From the moment I started reading it, I was hooked. The author doled out hints and clues\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/action-brutal-coerce-40721.jpg?fit=1200%2C999&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/action-brutal-coerce-40721.jpg?fit=1200%2C999&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/action-brutal-coerce-40721.jpg?fit=1200%2C999&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/action-brutal-coerce-40721.jpg?fit=1200%2C999&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/action-brutal-coerce-40721.jpg?fit=1200%2C999&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1169,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/26\/one-challenge-to-inclusive-fiction-in-a-diverse-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":79,"position":2},"title":"One Challenge to Inclusive Fiction in a Diverse World","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"November 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In September of 2017, I blogged here about an idea for a transgender character, and how my initial inquiries to trans or genderfluid friends and contacts led me to reconsider that story as too stereotyped. Since then, I\u2019ve danced around the inclusion of non-binary characters in my fictional works. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/FacePaint.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/FacePaint.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/FacePaint.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/FacePaint.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/FacePaint.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":905,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/07\/09\/puzzling\/","url_meta":{"origin":79,"position":3},"title":"Puzzling","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"July 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I am a huge jigsaw puzzle fan. 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Worldbuilding, working out plot, defining and enlivening characters who you then \u201cput up a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Puzzling-300x200.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5054,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/30\/the-object\/","url_meta":{"origin":79,"position":4},"title":"The Object","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"October 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"By Joshua Calvert ASIN: B0CRQ9ZLDN \u00a9 February 1, 2024 Kindle: File size 892 KB Print: 380 pages This was an interesting tale that wove hard science fiction with an individual's determination and persistence, and the shadows that politics sometimes cast over our greatest endeavors. I loved how the astronauts on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Cover depicts a dark, deep-space background with two suited astronauts and a comet-like object streaking past. Words \"The Object,\" \"Hard Science Fiction,\" and \"Jushua T. Calvert\" appear in white.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/TheObject-192x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":480,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/27\/nailing-the-target\/","url_meta":{"origin":79,"position":5},"title":"Nailing the Target","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"November 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Bobby and I watched (finally) the 2014 movie Lucy last weekend. I saw the teaser online and thought, \u201cWhat the heck?\u201d The snippet blew me away so much I texted Bobby at once and said, \u201cWe have to watch this movie.\u201d Ever the obliging husband, he brought it home from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions\/80"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}