Hook - THEN info dump

I'm reading chapter one of a Jeffery Deaver novel.

A security guard at a music school hears a scream. Instead of investigating the noise by himself, he looks for assistance. On the sidewalk he finds 2 young female police officers on their morning watch. The police women normally deal with shoplifters or traffic offences and aren't experienced with murder victims.

Deaver wants the reader to know how the 2 police officers came to be there. And I see how the tension is raised if the reader worries about their lack of experience, but he avoids opening the section with an info dump. He starts with the anxious guard talking to the police. Then he shows how they got to be standing together discussing a suspicious noise.

'You're sure it was screaming?'
   'Yeah . . . . No,' the security guard said. 'Maybe not 
screaming, you know. Shouting. Upset. For just a second or two.
Then it stopped.'
   Officer Diane Franciscovich, a portable working out of the
Twentieth Precinct, continued, 'Anybody else hear anything?'
   The heavy guard, breathing hard, glanced at the tall brunette
policewoman, shook his head and flexed and opened his huge 
hands. He wiped his dark palms on his blue slacks.
   'Call for backup?' asked Nancy Ausonio, another young patrol
officer, shorter than her partner, blonde.
   Franciscovich didn't think so, though she wasn't sure. Portables
walking the beat in this part of the Upper West Side dealt mostly
with traffic accidents, shoplifting and car theft (as well as holding
the hands of distraught muggees). This was a first for them - the
two women officers, on their Saturday morning watch, had been
spotted on the sidewalk and motioned urgently inside by the guard
to help check out the screaming. Well, upset shouting.

   

I can see how the info about the officers' background and the fact the guard has asked them for assistance would be dull writing without the tense exchange planted before it.

I hadn't fully realised until now that the device of 'first the hook, then the info dump' can used continually. Good writers always make sure the reader will be ready to absorb the info dump - even a small info dump. 

The 19 Most Popular Articles on Writing of 2012 | WritersDigest.com

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Writing in a private diary is easy

Just posted in my private diary. As usual the words flowed easily. There was no self consciousness, no nervous editing while I was doing the writing. I listened to music and just let words flow out, enjoying myself. The finished post was rough but OK. I like the raw energy that comes out in this diary. I'm surprised when I go back and find sentences that are direct, simple, full of colour. The writing still stands after coming out in a rush, without any neurotic editing and re-editing. 

I always go back to the diary posts later and do some edits. I do this as part of the fiction writing process. Learning to create sentences that are tight and clear. But the original out pour is always easy.

Of course the diary posts will never be made public. 

When I write fiction I know it won't be sent into the public arena until I'm ready. I can always press the delete button. But still, for some reason, I tighten up and worry when I sit to do the 'serious' writing. 

As a fiction experiment this afternoon I'm going to write out the alien story I've been stuck on. I'm going to pretend to be each of the characters and quickly jot down their journal entries. I'll think about how that person/alien is feeling. Try to get right inside their heads (or whatever some aliens have). See if a story outline suggests itself. 

How To Write A Novel Using The Snowflake Method

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The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter

The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter - by Trent Hergenrader

This tale about the daughter of a selkie made me cry. I loved the exquisite writing.

Why was I moved to tears? Because Trent Hergenrader made me feel the huge gap left by the mother's absence. I felt the daughter's sadness and need for love, her isolation. 

On the first reading I thought the ending showed the girl left stranded between 2 worlds. But on the second reading I'm not so sure. The last sentence - In my hand, the shimmering auburn coat felt warm and dry. Maybe this means she chooses her mother's world?

The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter:

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Writing and yoga - and small daily steps

Well.  SOME progress.

I've gone back to free writing. I'm just enjoying writing out small scenes and not worrying too much about where I'm going plot wise. Trying to tap more into sensory detail and capture images or bits of dialogue. 

There are 2 routines I want to establish. Daily yoga practice. And daily writing practice.

When I do a yoga stretch, I accept that my body is weak and stiff. I know I'm on a giant learning curve. I understand that I won't be able to stretch all the way into a pose. That I'll be wobbly and unbalanced. But I know if I just keep gently stretching, keep working at it, always pushing out, there'll be improvements. 

I'm kind to myself when it comes to learning yoga.

But I'm hard and impatient when it comes to writing. I know that most of the work is in the revision. I know that a finished draft is only the first step in the process. That it's insane to expect flowing writing that is tight and clear in the first scribble. And I know that most ideas won't result in a finished story line.

So maybe when I write I should think of the writing as a series of yoga asanas. I need to remember I'm only a student and just keep stretching.

Why am I so stupid ?

I've come to a total STOP with the writing. I haven't even been doing free writing, which is crazy. How hard can it be to sit there and happily scribble away for 20 minutes? You know, "Free Writing' where the goal is to just fill a page with any dreck you want. 

I start reading novels but don't finish them. Maybe I miss the tightness and vividness I've found in the short form? Or am I just getting more critical, more demanding when it comes to novels? 

I've only been doing critiques. Because crits draw on logic and analysis. And my problem is that I can't tap into the weird and fantastic. Or rather I can't find the creative links between all the stuff in my head - scenes, ideas, characters, themes, images. 

This morning I was reading some-one's critique about a character in a story. And I suddenly got an insight into why I've stayed blocked on the 'Enlightenment' story. The MC is in denial that her boyfriend doesn't love her. And BF is in denial that his obsession with meditation is really a way to avoid emotional conflict. I couldn't find the words these 2 people will say to each other. I only had one scene - in an ashram. I've had all these fragments and endless 'maybes' I keep throwing away.

But this morning I realised that my MC is boring. She just watches him, desperately wishing the relationship will go back to the way it was. She's just waiting for the joy and romance to come back. I couldn't work out what she's DOING while she's waiting. What are the interactions and dialogue that happens between these 2 characters? My MC felt boring, so I felt bored and stuck in the writing.

But what if the MC isn't a sad introvert who pines away in silence? What if she's extroverted and even a bit bossy. How about flipping it around so that she's the more dominant personality? Now that I see the BF as the wishy washy and ineffective character it feels right. Well yeah . . . if the focus is on the woman, maybe it should have been obvious that she needs to be the one DOING stuff. Whereas a BF who wants to meditate all day works ok as the passive one who just waits for stuff to happen. DUH. 

My stupidity, my inability to get out of a thinking rut, still amazes me.

All this time I was thinking that the story would finish with the woman having an insight and realising that he doesn't love her. 

Now I'm thinking the story could end with them staying stuck. She doesn't understand why he can't see that the guru is clearly a fake. But she can't see their relationship is fake - while it's obvious to the reader.

This feels a lot more like a humorous piece now. The new problem is how to make the woman a sympathetic character. I don't want a shrill control freak. 

So - the goal for today - write out what these 2 characters each need and how their conflicted needs could be shown in the way they interact.