Then the optimism faded away.
I don't know what is for everyone else, but for me, writing is a habit. And in that holiday, I lost it.
It took a long time to come back. I've only done eight blog posts in the more or less month since I wrote the first holiday post. Maybe I needed that holiday. Maybe it did more harm than good. Maybe I've been reluctant to come back. This story's been feeling dull, uninspired, not something I want to work on. The plan I've had felt needlessly complicated. I'd like to talk about how I'm going to hack my way out of that only once I can see a path opening up though.
In the mean time, let's talk about some of what I did. I re-read ferociously - I've got seven Deverry books to review and a whole Lackey trilogy (I think that'll be done as one). I played more computer games, although that one hasn't gone totally smooth as the X-Com 2 Long War mod isn't working right. But there's a browser game called Retro Bowl that's very addictive.
In the last week or so, I've started getting the hockey bug bad again. I've dropped way too much money on books about understanding the game for want of actual hockey to watch and conversations to have. The best resource though has been free - Jack Han's website.
And there's a couple of ideas there that I've found interesting from a storytelling point of view.
The first is his first principle of hockey - Create a small advantage, then connect them in sequence to create a larger advantage.
It's pretty obvious, isn't it? It's a game played over a 200ft area. There's five opposition skaters to get through. If you're by your net, 200ft away, and all five skaters are between you and the opposition net and its goaltender, you're not scoring right away. Trying to will result in disaster. But if you can create a small advantage - say you elude an opposition skater so its 5 v 4 for a precious five seconds - opportunities will open up. You might be able to turn it into 3 v 2 with the next pass.
This is how writers need to think most of the time. It's easy to get caught up in the concept of a goal but it's not always helpful, particularly in the first draft. I'm trying to thread perfect passes through five big guys with sticks over 200 ft. It ain't happening. But by creating interesting scenes, I can build my interest in the book and get momentum going. I can create interesting opportunities from those scenes, more scenes I'm excited to write. And when someone comes to read it? They won't know everything from the get go. That's the point. They'll just have one scene after another, and I need to use each other to build curiousity and emotional attachment a little more.
Let's pick another one, a coaching idea he stole from chefs - Respect Your Ingredients.
It's super obvious, isn't it? Play to the strengths of what you have in the book (that should be really easy, we all put it there). Don't boil meat that should have crispy skin. Don't serve that meat with a vanilla cream sauce. Don't mix overpowering flavours.
If you have a character who wants to do the right thing but doesn't know what it is, you need to keep waving the (maybe) right thing at them. If you have a character whose need to survive and thrive wars with their friendships, test it.
And that's it for now.
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