Today the mother/daughter writing duo known as HL Carpenter is here to tell us about how they approach writing different characters. Welcome!
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Writing by the Pair
Have you ever wondered why shoes come in identical pairs? Wouldn’t it be more interesting to mix things up a bit? Granted, heel height has to match to avoid that annoying monster-lurch as you walk, but why must your right foot be clad in the same color, style, and material as your left?
We’re HL Carpenter, the mother/daughter writing duo of Helen and Lorri, and no, we don’t generally think about shoes much, unless they pinch. We do think about writing quite a bit, and that’s what led to the question of shoes. Specifically, we were tiptoeing around the topic of this post, which was supposed to be about our experience writing as a team. While we were thinking on our feet, we started contemplating the characters we create, and how to keep them from wearing our shoes - that is, from being too much like us.
You know where we’re going with this metaphor, of course, so here it is: As writers, we get to cobble shoes for our characters. Within the metaphor, there’s also the rub - who do the shoes fit? Our character? Or us, the writers?
For example, in our young adult novel, The SkyHorse, there are two pairs of mother/daughter characters in the forefront and one in the background. Of the main characters, Gramma wears pink socks, Mom favors sandals, and the young heroine, Tovi, likes sneakers. We can easily step into in any of those, and have.
Yet if the shoes fit us too well, different characters end up in identical footwear, figuratively speaking. The characters become interchangeable because they’re all like us. Conformity is okay for shoes, but not so much for the people who populate books.
Fortunately, we found a solution we think is a shoe-in. In our opinion, part of the pleasure of writing fiction is the opportunity to learn about our characters by walking in their shoes. So we slide into those puppies, and set off, merrily hopping, skipping, and jumping through the twists and turns of the story. The goal is not to make the shoes our own, but to understand the people who actually wear them.
By the final page, our feet are sore, the shoes are scuffed, and we’re where we want to be - in step with our characters.
So far, none of our characters have taken a walk on the wild side and donned mismatched shoes. Still, they all dance to their own tune. We’re comfortable with that. You know what they say. If the shoe fits...let your character wear it.
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About the authors:
HL Carpenter is the pen name of a Florida-based mother/daughter duo who writes of flying horses and other fabulous creatures from their home in Carpenter Country, a magical place that’s unreal but not untrue. When they’re not writing, the Carpenters enjoy exploring the Land of What-If and practicing the fine art of Curiosity.
The SkyHorse is their debut novel.
About The SkyHorse:
When fourteen year-old Tovi Taggert moves to Honeysuckle Hollow to take care of her grandmother, she has a hard time fitting in. For one thing, she’s been tagged with the hated nickname Too-Tall Tovi. For another, everyone at Honeysuckle Hollow High believes Tovi played the Choking Game with someone else’s boyfriend – and made out with him besides. As if she doesn’t have enough problems, after the latest stand-off in the school hallway, Tovi finds a gorgeous speckled egg nestled in a feather lined nest. She takes the egg home – and mysterious visitors begin appearing almost immediately. Even more worrisome, whatever is inside the egg starts chipping its way out. When the egg hatches, revealing a winged horse, Tovi’s troubles multiply. As she struggles to return the horse to the magical land where he belongs, Tovi must make a courageous decision – and accept what that decision will cost her.
Thanks for following the Labyrinth edition of Breaking Down Story Structure this month. We're down to our final post! Previous posts are HERE, HERE, and HERE.
When we left Sarah at the Act Three break, she'd just made a firm vocal decision to leave her selfish desires behind and do whatever it takes to save Toby from the Goblin King. Now it's time to put her words into action.
Act Three is nothing but go go go until the story resolution is attained at the peak of the climax. Pacing and tension start high and stay high.
Sarah and her entourage have finally reached the goblin city. Jareth's castle is in the center of the city, so they still have some obstacles to overcome before she can achieve her main story goal.
First, they battle this giant metal robot thing. While doing so, lo and behold! Hoggle returns to help. He is obviously different now, having gone through a change of heart during Sarah's hallucination phase. No more Mr. Wishy Washy here--he's ready to fight for Sarah, just in time.
When Jareth discovers Sarah is so close to rescuing Toby, he sends out all the goblin forces to stop her. He didn't think she would get this far. He really underestimated her. Most antagonists will, on some level.
Now the battle is on. And the battle goes on for a while. Pretty much all that happens for the next (almost) 10 minutes is a fight between Sarah & Co. and Jareth's goblins.
This is expected. The audience has been anticipating this showdown since the beginning, and now it's time to deliver. This is a big scene, but the bigness of it must fit the story. Don't go over the top simply because you're at the end. Different story types call for different climactic showdowns. The tone of Act Three has to match the tone of the rest of the book. I've discussed this previously, in more detail, HERE.
(Aside: That link has some great tips for endings in general, too.)
In the first part of Act Three of Labyrinth, every character and every potential conflict hinted at up to this point is utilized, save one.
Which one? The BIG one between the single protagonist and the single antagonist. The head-to-head showdown between Sarah and Jareth comes last because it's the most important.
Sarah follows Jareth into the staircase maze. Some of the best cinema tricks of the entire movie are in the following scene.
The journey through the crazy stairs is a good way of showing just what Sarah is up against. Jareth has magic on his side, and we're in his territory. He seems to have the upper hand. It seems like he might actually win.
This is exactly what you want your audience to fear, that the antagonist still has a chance of winning. Without that fear, all the tension leading up to this point is lost. When you lose your tension prematurely, you also lose your audience. They have to think that the protagonist might fail... until she assuredly does not fail, at the very end.
After Sarah takes a leap towards Toby, only to have the staircase maze disintegrate around her, she is now face-to-face with Jareth and must use everything she's learned so far to defeat him. This scene is kind of a throwback to their first meeting at the debate period of Act One. But Sarah is different now, so things play out much differently than they did before.
Jareth once again tries to talk her into doing what he wants. Sarah keeps her head. And remember those lines she was reciting at the beginning that I told you were an important hint? They've finally come back into the story.
But wait, didn't Sarah always forget that final line? So we're still worried for her, silently pleading, "Remember the line, Sarah! Dig it out of your head and say it!" Because even though we still don't know exactly what will happen when she says that final line, we do understand that it's important.
And we know this because it was properly set up in the beginning.
(Aside: This is why the first half of a first draft, for me, has the most revisions applied once I've written the complete draft. I have to go back to the beginning and make sure everything was effectively set up for the ending to work.)
Jareth's final push at the climax (get your mind out of the gutter) is arrogant and humorous, just as he's been all along. So it fits. But now he's also desperate. He realizes how close he is to possible defeat. Jareth again tries to offer Sarah a deal, as he did in the beginning. She ignores him, still trying to remember her lines.
"Just fear me, love me, do as I say, and I will be your slave." ahahahaha! Love it.
Then Sarah remembers the line. And it literally blows Jareth away.
Sarah had the power within her all along. She just had to go on this epic journey to realize it, and now she is forever changed.
A quick denouement follows this peak. We see Toby safe and asleep in his crib, and Sarah returns to her room. Then there's some odd celebrating with the good guys from the labyrinth, but for the most part, we're done when we see that Sarah is home, and Toby is safe, and Sarah is a better person now.
The most important thing to remember about denouements, especially in novels, is to keep it brief. There really shouldn't be much to wrap up after the climax, because the climax resolves the main story question. So if you find yourself going on and on about other things after the climax, see if you can find an earlier point in the story to tie up those loose ends. The best place I've found for wrapping up subplots is in the later parts of Act Two and the early parts of Act Two (as appropriate)--aka, before the climax. The climax is reserved for the main story resolution.
Here's the breakdown of Act Three:
protagonist has a firm determination to end what she started, and devises a clear and focused plan to accomplish that goal
antagonist throws everything he has left against her
the final showdown starts with smaller obstacles that must be overcome before the protagonist reaches the head-to-head showdown with the antagonist
the bigness of the events in Act Three fit the overall tone of the story; nothing should feel over-the-top or underwhelming
at the climax the protagonist and antagonist face-off; only one will come away victorious
the audience must have reason to worry that the antagonist can still win, even this close to the end
protagonist uses everything she's learned from her experience thus far to defeat the antagonist
after the main story question is resolved at the peak of the climax, a brief denouement immediately follows; this circles back to the beginning to show a complete story arc and how the protagonist and/or her world have changed
Now for a disclaimer I should have set out in the first post, but better late than never. Just because I found this movie worthy of a breakdown doesn't mean I think it is absolutely perfect in every way. Far from it. There are actually quite a few issues I have with this movie.
But.
I still love it. I've loved it from the first time I saw it, and I've watched it so many times I've lost count.
And really, if a story can have flaws and still be considered a favorite by so many, there is likely more right with it than there is wrong. So. Keep that in mind before you go bashing a bestseller and ranting on and on about how you can't understand why it's so popular. Please.
Now for the bad news...
I'm taking the month of September off from this series (due to a combination of personal and professional obligations that are somewhat heavy in the coming month). But this hiatus is not forever. I plan to pick it up again in October. And I'm not withdrawing posts from the blog completely, as I've done in the past. I'll still be here, just with different topics. Ones that don't take quite so much time to compile as these do.
This has been fun, though, and I'm glad so many of you expressed your appreciation for the work I've put into these posts. It's because of you that this blog continues to be one of my favorite parts of my weekly routine.
One of the things I love about WriteOnCon every year, is query crits. I love giving critiques, but I also like to see what other people are saying about the same piece. (aside: I also do query crits in the Absolute Write forums from time to time)
While I agree with a good majority of other critiquers' advice, something I noticed especially this year was that people kept asking for more more more story info in a writer's query letter. And I usually disagreed with that sentiment.
If you're unclear on something, the answer is not more words. The answer is: say the same thing more effectively. Change your words, don't just add to them.
The reason boils down to the fact that the basic job of a query letter is NOT to tell the whole story and give away all the juicy details, but to get someone intrigued enough by your premise to read your manuscript.
That's it.
No really. That's IT (without factoring in the individual person's tastes and/or the current market trends).
Which is why my top responses to query letters in a crit forum are:
Your premise/concept/main plot isn't clear.
This is too wordy.
I'm lost.
This essentially tells me nothing.
This doesn't feel vital to the pitch.
How is this different from what's already out there?
Etc, etc, etc.
A query letter is a means to present your basic premise. Yes, you have to do it in a certain way--it must entice, it must show how your MC is unique, etc.--but more often than not, writers don't seem to understand how far into the story they should go in their query letter.
The answer? Not very far at all.
If you're just giving us your hook, your premise, your unique concept... you really shouldn't have to go much further than the second major turning point, and ideally, the first major turning point should be clear by the end of paragraph one.
Not two. One. GET TO THE POINT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
You have literally seconds to grab a reader's attention. Keeping your pitch succinct is an effective way to do so.
Ask yourself,
How much backstory is in my first paragraph?
If the answer is anything other than "none", I think you need to rewrite your query (just my opinion, of course).
I like query letters the same way I like novels--they start in the here and now and continue forward from there, never backwards. (okay, okay, almost never backwards in a novel. But definitely never backwards in a query letter)
Let me repeat: NEVER BACKWARDS. Because that's where you get into trouble in the middle, even if you wrote paragraph one just fine. I can't even count how many query letters I've seen that get the "start in the here and now" part right, but then use paragraph two to take a step back and explain things.
NO.
Stop it.
If you need to explain that much for your reader to understand just your basic premise, then I'm sorry but it isn't the query letter you should be revising. It's the novel.
Go back to square one. Whittle down your novel's premise to a single sentence. (this is called a logline, which is not the same as a tagline, but that's another topic for another day) You are obviously going to have to leave some things out, things that feel vital to you.
They may be vital to the story, but they aren't really that vital for the pitch. Not surprisingly, this is also why people have such a hard time writing synopses--you think you have to include more than you really do.
All you need in a query letter are the 3 Cs:
Character, Conflict, Choice
If you have that, you have a premise. And if you have a unique premise, then I'll read the novel.
But you have to get your point across quickly and efficiently. The shorter the pitch, the more work your words have to do. They must be punchy and clear, never wandering.
Think of yourself as a sniper and your query letter is a sniper rifle. The reader/agent/editor is the target. Focus focus focus. You have only one shot. Make it count.
Still not sure about something? Ask in the comments section. This is honestly one of my favorite topics of discussion.
For details, click HERE. And HERE.
(It isn't YA or MG, it's adult. But I suppose beggars can't be choosers.)
I don't have access to the SyFy channel, so when I found the first season of Alphas streaming on Netflix yesterday, I wasn't sure what to expect. I'd never heard of the show before (why are people not talking about this?!). Based on the little blurb box from Netflix, I thought it might interest me.
And it delivered. Beautifully.
I watched the pilot episode at my sister's house while the Baby Niece was taking a nap. Anytime you have a story that revolves around a group of people like this, the initial startup has to effectively, and quickly, introduce why each character is unique. I thought they did this very well. I was immediately hooked by each of their unique abilities and personalities.
Once the first episode's story got moving, my sister said, "It's like X-Men."
"How do you mean?" I asked (and I didn't know until I looked up the trailer on YouTube, linked above, that this series was created by the same people who made one of the X-Men movies, haha)
"Well, it's a group of humans who have superhuman abilities, and they're led by this doctor guy who keeps them all in line, and they work together to solve crimes. So he's kind of like Professor Xavier and the rest of them are the X-Men and they're all fighting evil."
For the record, my younger sister and I were total-obsessed fangirls of X-Men when we were kids.
I thought this over for a minute. And realized she was exactly right. Alphas is a remake of X-Men, but more scientifically inclined and less cartoonish, and therefore, more awesome. One might argue that X-Men is scientific, but Alphas is more about brain science than anything else, which makes it feel more realistic and intelligent. This also makes it feel like a new idea when it really isn't.
I'm always amazed by this. There truly are "no new ideas, only new ways of presenting them." Also amazing? My sister's brain. She is crazy-smart when it comes to identifying patterns. But that's another story for another day.
If you haven't yet seen the series, catch it on Netflix before they take it down. Or watch it on SyFy. In addition to being a fantastically clever rendition of the superhero concept, each individual episode (of what I've seen so far) is a stellar example of well-crafted storytelling.
I dare any fiction writer to not learn something from it.
I didn't really have a post planned for today. I'm balls deep in a new Secret Project (so secret that my CPs don't even know what it's about yet) while working on my Not-So-Secret Projects, and (this is the first time I've made public mention of it) I'm also querying agents for a YA novel.
This is all in addition to preparing for an ebook release in November. My posting schedule for Fridays sometimes falls by the wayside. This is my Free For All day. I have guest posts planned on Fridays in the coming weeks, but not for every Friday. So on a day like today, when I have no guest, whether or not I publish a post is entirely dependent on how I happen to feel that day.
Today I feel like talking about agents and queries. So here it is.
This is my fourth serious ride on the Query-Go-Round inside of two years. Not all rides are created equal. My experiences with querying are going to be similar-yet-different than anyone else's. And each time I query, my own experience changes.
Part of the reason for this is because I've learned from each "failure" and each "success" and applied those things to improve my next ride. For example, quite a few of the agents I queried on my first ride have since been removed from my to-query list, and some of the agents I've recently queried were not on my to-query list a couple years ago.
Why? Because I've had time to watch and learn.
Publishing has gone through some wild transitions. In fact, we're still in transition. But I can say with confidence that epublishing is a much stronger market now than it was a few years ago. Epublishing is no longer just for self-publishers, and that has made it a bigger contender, a more viable option than it previously was for authors who don't want to self-publish.
(Aside: I have nothing against self-publishing, it just isn't for me. This is not a self-publishing vs non-self-publishing debate, and please don't make it one.)
So over the course of the last four years (from the time I started writing for publication, not from the time I first queried - don't wait until you're ready to query to start researching agents) I've been watching people in the industry. Some might call this cyber-stalking, but I call it career research.
Here are just a few examples of what I see.
When an agent bounces around from agency to agency, this makes me worry. They usually don't state specific reasons for doing so unless they are entirely positive.
Switching agencies is not always a bad thing, so you have to take each case by its own merit and objectively weigh all the factors involved.
That being said, if there aren't a lot of details made with the announcement, or the "details" are vague, such as "it was an amicable decision between all parties", or there is no official announcement made, and/or this is the second or third agency move I've seen this same agent make inside of a couple years... maybe I'm wrong, but that is a HUGE red flag to me.
Again, maybe I'm wrong, but this makes me think the agent is hard to work with, is hard to please, is not happy with their job and they're trying to fix it by switching employers, etc, etc. This is exacerbated by the fact that sometimes the agent's clients do not follow them to the new agency. I've seen clients that do follow their agents wherever they go. The ones that don't... again, maybe I'm wrong, but I'm seeing more red flags.
That is just one example of how watching someone over a period time can change your opinion of them. You won't see that kind of thing when you take 10 minutes to read a few blog interviews of an agent you've never heard of and then query them spit-spot.
Another important thing for me is watching an agent's record of sales. This one can be tricky. An agent's sales history has so many different things that factor into it that you can't go solely on this as a way of deciding whether or not a certain agent is best for you.
On the other hand, if you're watching over a period of time, there are some things that will jump out at you as either a red flag or a green light.
Some things to watch for regarding sales:
How often does this agent make a sale? Are those sales in the genre/type of novel you write?
Remember that Publisher's Marketplace is not always an accurate representation of sales. Look on the agent's website, the agency's website, follow them on Twitter (most agents tweet their new sales because it's exciting for them and the author), follow their clients on Twitter or blogs, etc. Newer agents will have a higher number of clients than sales when they're just getting started. This is okay. But not forever.
Watching the type of books sold is crucial, in my opinion. For example, an agent may state in their guidelines that they rep YA contemp... but that alone includes SO many different things. There are issue books, there is YA romance - ranging from sweet to sensual, there are mystery/thrillers, etc.
If an agent has a wishlist on their site, that's a good start but not necessarily the bottom line. I like to know their reading interests - but are they able to sell it? That's the tougher question. A good agent will answer it honestly.
Are those sales for debut authors, established clients, or both?
I look for a nice mix of both. As someone who is querying, I want to know that this agent has a good eye for what type of books have what it takes to breakout in publishing. I also want to know that they'll be with me for the long haul, that they can keep making sales for me book after book after book. I want a career partner.
That's just me, though. Not everyone feels the same way on that point. Some authors only have one book in them, and they know this, and they're okay with this, and this affects how they choose an agent that's best for them.
What publishers does the agent sell to?
Eh. This is a touchy one. Not sure if I want to expound on it with regards to me personally, so I'll just say that you, as an author, need to know which publishing houses you think your book might be a good fit for so you can discuss this intelligently with your agent before you go on sub. Or, more accurately, you should know which ones you definitely do NOT want to sub to, and have solid reasons for that viewpoint. If you don't, you could end up very disappointed in the long run, even if your agent brokers a deal for you.
Especially with how many small press publishers have cropped up lately, most of which accept agented and unagented submissions... do your research. Not all small press pubs are bad, or even close to bad. They are also not all good.
How many foreign rights deals have been made for their clients? In what countries?
I see this talked about so infrequently when people talk about queries and agents that I think it's quite possibly the most overlooked aspect of agenting. Foreign rights deals are important. Keep an eye on them as closely as you do domestic sales.
In fact, foreign rights deals are more important to me than film options. But that's just me.
Okay, I think I've pounded on that subject enough. There is more to sales than that, of course, but let's move on.
The final point I want to make is about feeling out an agent's personality. The best way to do this? In my experience, Twitter. Agents who tweet (and editors, too, for that matter) have a way of either winning me over completely, head over heels in love, or... turning me off to querying them for *anything*, even if they were the last agent on earth still open to queries for my particular project.
Not even close to kidding with that statement. And unfortunately, the latter happens more often than the former. Agents who snark it up on Twitter, to the point of going overboard (in my opinion), are not anyone I want to work with. Period.
Agents who seem to tweet all day long, yet have an 8 week response time for queries also make me wary. Why are they focusing more on Twitter than their own slushpile? It gives me the impression that, even as one of their clients, I won't be more important to them than tweeting about their family vacations. Maybe that isn't really the case, but that's the impression it gives.
And again, this is not something you can make a judgment on in just a few minutes, or even a full day of Twitter-stalking. Follow them for a period of months, at the very least. You will see patterns emerge, for better or worse.
And one final thing that is somewhat related,
Just because an agent has rejected you before doesn't mean they won't fall in love with something you send them later. And vice versa. Just because an agent has requested your manuscript in the past doesn't mean they will request the next thing you send them. I have experienced both scenarios. The first one, obviously, is sweeter.
No matter what stage of this process you're in, no matter how many times you've ridden the Query-Go-Round, a rejection of your manuscript or query letter is not necessarily a rejection of you. Keep writing. Keep being you. That is the only way to achieve your dreams.
Welcome to the third of four posts about the structure used in the movie Labyrinth. The first two posts are HERE and HERE.
Last week we left off at the midpoint of the story, when Sarah has had a clear shift in viewpoint, whether she realizes it herself or not--the journey is starting to change her. Now we're officially into the second half of Act Two and the beginning of the second half of the story overall. Between the midpoint and the break into Act Three, our protagonist has to go through a lot of sh-- *ahem* bad stuff. Even worse than what she has experienced so far.
Immediately after her moment of reflection, we hear roaring in the distance. Oh for the love of-- WHAT NOW? Can't this girl get a break? No, no she can't. Rapid-fire conflict keeps the story moving. And before we even know what the source of that roaring is, her fair-weather friend Hoggle bails on her.
So now she has to face whatever this is on her own. She's made it this far, so she believes she can do it. She also emphasizes the theme again when she tells herself, "Things aren't always what they seem in this place." Confidence, loyalty to her mission, and a that slight air of cockiness (although it is starting to dwindle)... these things push her forward when logic tells her to run the other way with Hoggle.
And the tension pushes us, the audience, forward with her.
When Sarah rounds the next corner, she finds that the roaring is coming from something in distress, not something that is ready to attack. Enter another new character, Ludo.
Ludo has a very special gift. He can call rocks to do his bidding. It's weird, I know, but it's crucial to the outworking of the plot, both now and later (we are still setting things up for Act Three! yes, even this late in the story). In their first meeting, Ludo calls a rock to Sarah so she can help him out of his bind. From then on, they are forever friends.
The warm-fuzzy feeling doesn't last long, however, before Sarah and Ludo are facing more dangers. The next part of the labyrinth is clearly different from where she's already been. In fact, it doesn't look like a labyrinth at all, it looks more like a forest.
Which is also something people tend to get lost in, so it works as an effective parallel. Ludo and Sarah are soon separated. We don't know exactly where Ludo disappears to until later, but for now all we need to know is that Sarah is alone. And calling for help.
Hoggle hears her calling, and just as he turns to help her, lo and behold! Jareth appears. Yes, we're back to our antagonist. We have to keep him active in the story, too. Just knowing that he is the one who put Sarah into this situation in the first place isn't enough. Don't go for too long without your antagonist giving the protagonist another hard push.
Which is exactly what happens here. Jareth, still using Hoggle as the double agent, changes his game. Ups the stakes. He tells Hoggle that if he doesn't give Sarah this peach-fruit-thing that is most likely laced with poison (an homage to Snow White's apple, perhaps?), that he'll throw him into the Bog of Eternal Stench. There is also a huge foreshadow (almost too obvious, in my opinion) that if Sarah ever kisses Hoggle, he'll receive that same fate--Prince of the Land of Stench.
This is now the second time Hoggle has been threatened with such a punishment. Now you're expecting it to happen, even though you don't want it to. Because if it doesn't happen, you'll feel let down.
So as a writer, be aware of what you're promising the reader with hints and foreshadow, and make sure you fulfill those promises.
This dark push from the antagonist is made lighter by another emphasis on the running gag--Jareth flubs up Hoggle's name a few times. Personally, I like comedic relief in any story, but it's especially important when writing for a younger audience.
Back to Sarah in the forest, we go into this funky psychedelic acid trip musical number.
It's actually quite scary. Seriously, guys. This is the part I always skipped as a kid because it gave me nightmares. They're trying to RIP OFF HER HEAD.
And it's entirely appropriate that this happens in the second half of Act Two. Not only is it more scary than what she's already encountered, but we also worry for Sarah in the backs of our heads that she is being delayed by this nonsense. She's running out of time.
Also noteworthy in that clip is that Sarah is literally cornered, and then Hoggle appears to save her. Rather than be releived, however, we're even more worried for Sarah. Again, we know something she doesn't. We know that Hoggle is only pretending to help her.
But it doesn't matter. Within seconds of her rescue, she thanks him with *gasp* A KISS. Exactly what Jareth said would send him into the Bog of Eternal Stench.
True to Jareth's promise, that's where they go. And we along with them. They also reunite with Ludo here, and this whole segment is quite hilarious for the younger audience, full of fart noises and stink.
While searching for a way to escape, they meet another new character with his own set of skills who joins their entourage. We also see, again, how Ludo can call rocks to his aid. This is all more setup for Act Three, while keeping the story active and moving forward.
Just as they're safely leaving the stink factory, we see more evidence of Hoggle's internal struggle. He likes Sarah now. He doesn't want to give her the fruit, but he's also afraid of what Jareth might do if he doesn't give it to her. This is killing him inside.
This is where Hoggle hits his lowest point, and we're officially into the All Is Lost moment of the story. As soon as Sarah mentions she's hungry, Hoggle offers her the peach. And immediately regrets it.
She takes a bite. She gets all woozy. Time for funky psychedelic acid trip musical number #2, but this one has a much different tone. Sarah is obviously drugged and in some kind of dreamworld meant to make her forget where she is and what she's doing, so she'll run out of time and Jareth wins.
This is my favorite scene of the whole movie.
The bad guy, the one we've done nothing but hate so far, shows a new side of his personality and tries to seduce her. In these few moments it almost seems possible that they could live a happy, satisfying life together. It's so twisted and creepy, yet... oddly romantic. We know it's wrong, but damn. He's almost convinced us that it's right.
I just love that kind of conflict. I love that kind of antagonist. A story that makes you think, and think hard, about the opposing viewpoint and bring you to the point of almost believing that what's bad for the protagonist is actually good... that's amazing storytelling.
If you watch that clip all the way through you'll see that Sarah does come to her senses and break free from the glass bubble of dreams that will never be.
But she isn't entirely free of Jareth's spell yet. She's still kind of fuzzy about where she is and what she's doing, and now she's in a junk heap. This serves as the Dark Night of the Soul portion of the story. Sarah has hit the bottom, and now she must think her way back up again.
The junk lady tries her darnedest to get Sarah to forget everything, but it doesn't work. As soon as Sarah starts remembering little bits here and there, her gumption returns along with her memory. Then Sarah has a major internal revelation, even bigger than the one she had at the midpoint.
None of her things matter. She doesn't matter. Her happiness doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is saving her brother. All the selfishness she had in the beginning? Gone.
As soon as she verbalizes this-- "I have to save Toby!" --we break into Act Three.
So here's the breakdown of the second half of Act Two:
bolstered by her viewpoint shift at the midpoint, the protagonist moves forward, toward more danger, with confidence
setup and foreshadowing for Act Three continues, in a way that keeps the story active and moving forward
continued emphasis on theme and running gags
antagonist changes his game, raises the stakes
protagonist hits her lowest point; the audience believes (if only for a moment) that she will fail her main goal
protagonist thinks her way back up from the bottom and has a strong moment of internal realization
protagonist makes a firm, selfless resolve to move ahead toward her goal no matter what
I hope you've all been enjoying (and learning from) this series for Labyrinth! We only have one more section left after this, so if you have any suggestions for which movie we should break down next month, please let me know in the comments.
The other day my husband was on his way out for a quick grocery run and asked if there was anything I wanted him to pick up while he was there.
I said, "Yeah, can you get more lemonade?"
"Sure," he said. "The same kind we had before?"
"The same exact kind, please. It's the best lemonade I've ever had and it has ruined me to all other lemonades."
"Okay. Anything else?"
After a moment of thinking, I said, "We need some fruit, like... strawberries or grapes or something. Whatever you see that looks good."
He said okay again, then off he went. When he returned, he had bought a pack of strawberries, but wasn't happy with their quality. "They're almost all bruised," he said. "And I was going to get grapes but they were too expensive."
(Side point: grapes are never worth buying unless they're on sale. I don't know why, but the regular price of grapes is an-arm-and-a-leg-and-the-rights-to-your-firstborn per pound. You'd think they were some kind of wildly exotic fruit for that price, when really, anyone could grow them in their backyard.)
I looked at the strawberries and they were, indeed, pathetic. "Why did you buy these?" I said.
"Because you said you wanted strawberries."
"No," I said between sips of lemonade. "I said I wanted fruit. You could have bought something else, like nectarines or plums or whatever, if the strawberries were no good and the grapes were too expensive."
He shrugged. And that was the end of it.
The point of all this? There is a difference between a suggestion and a specific direction. I had given my husband one of each. I specifically asked for a certain type of lemonade, and specifically asked for fruit.
But!
I only suggested that strawberries (or cheap grapes) would qualify as an acceptable fruit choice. I never said, specifically, that I must have strawberries.
The same goes for critiques. Sometimes you will receive specific direction to change something. This is usually the case in technical errors, like misspelled words, grammar flubs, and comma abuse.
But the bulk of a critique is usually suggestions from that particular reader. They may suggest you add something specific, or they may suggest you remove something specific, but that doesn't mean that what they're telling you is specific direction to be followed to the letter. It is still only a suggestion.
And when you are given a suggestion, the final choice on the matter is up to YOU, not the other person.
The better you understand this, the easier it will become for you to both give and receive feedback on writing.
Today I have some very special news to share. Musa Publishing is giving away THREE of their books to ONE lucky person. All you have to do to enter this giveaway is follow their main blog, HERE. Once they reach 300 followers they will select one of those followers to receive three Musa books of their choice.
If you don't win this time around, don't worry! They will be doing another giveaway (of three books to one person) at the 400 and 500 follower marks. The more people who know about this and follow the blog, the higher your chances of winning, so please spread the word!
What kind of books does Musa have to offer? Something for every reader! Check out their imprints below--I dare you to not find anything that piques your interest. (please note: there is more than one page for each link; be sure to browse all pages)
Follow Musa on Twitter and Facebook for updates. When they reach their 500-follower mark on the blog, I may also be inclined to give something away. Stay tuned!
Continuing our discussion of Labyrinth's story structure and how it applies to fiction writing. For the breakdown of Act One, click HERE.
Act Two officially starts after Jareth disappears and Sarah faces the consequences of her latest decision, saying, "The labyrinth. Doesn't look that hard. Well, come on, feet." And then she trots off toward her fate.
That line of dialogue is a perfect example of how your protagonist should feel as the story breaks into the second act. She should think she's doing the right thing, and she has convinced herself that it won't be "that hard."
If she thought it was too hard, she wouldn't do it at this early point (the decision to do the hard stuff no matter what comes later). She would, instead, seek out an easier way. So after the debate period in Act One, the protagonist should have some cockiness to her. She thinks she has a plan--the best plan--and she is certain she will succeed.
Without that attitude, her actions to move forward will come across as unrealistic.
The first half of Act Two is prime real estate to introduce what makes your story world unique (or continue to emphasize what you already introduced in Act One). This applies to both real-world and other-world settings. Blake Snyder calls this section "the promise of your premise." Meaning, this is the place to make your premise shine.
In order to do that, however, you must know what your premise is. That sounds almost insulting, it's so basic. But the main reason I see that writers have so much trouble later when they try to write a query or jacket copy, is that they didn't figure out their premise before they sat down to write the story.
So what is the premise of Labyrinth? Easy. It's about a girl who must travel through a magical labyrinth to save her baby brother from the Goblin King. If your premise can be summed up in a single sentence, you're on the right track.
Keeping that one-liner in mind, then, how do we make the premise shine in the first half of Act Two? We introduce Sarah (and thus the viewer) to this magical labyrinth and emphasize the dangers she must face in order to reach her goal. That's the first half of Labyrinth's Act Two in a nutshell.
I could leave it at that, but I'll go on with some details.
The first thing Sarah finds is a new character. Hoggle. It's a simple way to clearly show she's entered new, strange territory. And since this is a kid's movie, his introduction is somewhat humorous--she catches him peeing into a fountain. But even with this little chuckle, we are uncertain about this character. He seems to be helpful... but in a very unhelpful way.
After some back-and-forth and frustrating wordplay, Hoggle finally shows Sarah how to enter the labyrinth, and we're on the edge of our seats now with anticipation. What's IN there?
But we have also subconsciously banked that little kerfuffle with Hoggle. It wouldn't have been part of the story if it wasn't important. So, in that way, even though we are officially inside the meat of our premise now, we are still finding clues, hints, and foreshadow that are meant to setup later situations and conflict.
This is also where our B Story starts. I believe the B Story in this movie is about how to navigate the ups and downs of friendship, which is a nice parallel to the A Story of effectively navigating a physical maze. It starts with Hoggle, and just before he abandons Sarah to face the labyrinth alone (even though he could help her--he obviously knows more about it than she does), we also see the start of,
an emphasized theme -- "You know what your problem is, you take too many things for granted."
and a running gag -- "Thanks for nothing, Hogwart." / Groan. "It's Hoggle!"
Phew! All of that and we haven't actually gotten into the labyrinth yet.
The first half of any story, which includes this section and the section we discussed last week, are vitally important in setting up the second half. Without proper setup here, the second half will fail. That's a lot of pressure.
No sooner does Sarah step inside the labyrinth and she's already facing her first big hurdle. It doesn't seem like a labyrinth at all. Where are the twists and turns?
Her answer comes from a cute little worm, who points out that things aren't always what they seem in this place, so you can't take anything for granted. Another emphasis on the theme.
In the above clip, pay special attention to the worm's final line. "If she'd a'kept on goin' down that way, she'd a'gone straight to that castle."
D'oh!
She went the exact opposite way she needed to go to achieve her goal. Knowing she's going the wrong way instantly creates tension, and since it's done in a kind of cute way (it's a talking worm!), we do this headshaking smile thing and say, "tsk tsk. Silly, girl."
And we continue following her story. That's the important thing. The purpose of each scene is to hook us into watching/reading the next one, all the way to the end.
Now that we know Sarah is in real danger, and inadvertently moving away from her goal, the story cuts back to Jareth, the antagonist. It's always a good idea in a story like this to keep the reader informed of what the antagonist is doing, even when they aren't physically with the protagonist. As the protagonist has a plan to keep moving forward, so does the antagonist. Both want to succeed. Show it.
Set to a lovely musical number, we see Jareth in all his glory as Goblin King. This scene, on the surface, seems to just be a nice filler for the kids. A break from the tension for some fun song and dance. But really, it's still keeping the tension taut. It shows us what Jareth has to lose if Sarah succeeds. He enjoys being king, being in control, and apparently, he enjoys singing and dancing and tossing babies around.
The important thing to remember here is that while the protagonist thinks she has a good plan in place to succeed, so does the antagonist. They both think they are headed for sure success at this point, and obviously, one of them is wrong. This creates more tension. Who will win?
Then we're back to Sarah in the labyrinth. She faces a few more obstacles that, at first, make her feel like she's getting smarter, but they only plunge her into a deeper mess. The last one, literally, when she falls down a hole and lands herself in an oubliette.
oubliette - a secret dungeon (of a castle or similar structure) with an opening only in the ceiling, aka a place where prisoners are sent to die.
Although she has been placed in a situation with seemingly no way out, the plot continues to move forward. Now is the perfect time to introduce a new story element--Jareth is using Hoggle to trick Sarah into failing.
This throws the audience off-balance, just enough to keep them hooked. New story elements should be unexpected, but then when you look back you can see how it all connects to the main story goal. Throw the audience into left field, not completely out of the ball park.
Hoggle plays his part of double-agent beautifully. He tries to get Sarah to leave the labyrinth while at the same time agreeing to help her. We also start to see his weak spots, which will come in handy for Sarah later, and set him up for his very own character arc.
As we near the midpoint, the stakes continue to be raised:
Sarah can't trust Hoggle, but has no other choice.
Jareth threatens Hoggle with the Bog of Eternal Stench.
The labyrinth gets progressively harder to solve. Dangers increase. Puzzles are more... puzzling. Etc.
The actual midpoint happens with a short bit of reflection of what has happened thus far. The midpoint should feel like the story has shifted somehow, and this is usually through a clear shift in the protagonist's viewpoint of her situation.
After another frustrating back-and-forth reminiscent of their first meeting (except this time their roles are reversed), Hoggle declares, "It's not fair!" And Sarah replies, "No, it isn't. But that's the way it is."
She is starting to see things differently. The story is changing her.
Then Sarah and Hoggle encounter a "wise man" who tells them, "The way forward is sometimes the way back. Quite often, young lady, it seems like we aren't getting anywhere, when in fact, we are."
Sarah ruminates on this for a moment, and now she's ready to face the hurdles of the second half of Act Two. Everything she has experienced so far has merely prepared her for what's to come. But without it, she couldn't have moved forward, and neither could the story.
So the first half of Act Two--"the promise of the premise"--includes the following key points:
protagonist begins the journey that defines the premise
protagonist is confident they will succeed, although unsure of what lies ahead
antagonist is also confident they will succeed
introduction to and/or continued emphasis of specific elements of the story world that make it unique--setting, characters, situations, etc.
introduction of the B Story
repeated emphasis of theme (makes the story feel important), and running gags (good for comic relief)
every successful step the protagonist takes is followed by a bigger push from the antagonist
at the midpoint the protagonist experiences a clear shift in viewpoint, based on reflection of the events of Act Two thus far
Any questions? Fire away in the comments and I'll do my best to answer.
Next week we'll discuss Labyrinth's second half of Act Two, or what I like to call The Big Squeeze. In the meantime, let's all take a break from the stresses of adulthood for a few minutes and do the Magic Dance.
I'm moving the weekly music post from Tuesday to Monday (which I've done in the past, I know, sorry for the confusion). My reason is that I'm going back to a M-W-F posting schedule for a while.
And just to clarify, Elton John and Lady Gaga are the ones who sing this song. They are not the voices of Gnomeo and Juliet in the movie.
Today I'm starting a new series in which I break down the structural points of a well-known movie and apply it to fiction writing. Story structure is one of my most favorite topics to discuss, so if you have any questions at all please post them in the comments and I'll answer as best I can.
In each post I will focus on a 25% chunk of the story. Act One, the first half of Act Two, the second half of Act Two, and Act Three. That's four posts, one per week, so a total of four weeks for one movie. Or, about one movie per month.
This month I'm breaking down the childrens' fantasy classic, Labyrinth.
The movie has a run time of one hour and forty minutes. If we don't count the opening credits and the closing credits, it's about an hour and a half long, or, ninety minutes. And every last one of those ninety minutes is important. So here we go.
Like the first pages of a novel, the first images you see in a movie set the tone for everything that follows. If your story is meant to be humorous, that first page better have something funny on it. If your story is meant to be gritty, that first page better have some kind of shock factor. Etc, etc.
The first thing we see in Labyrinth is Sarah, all dressed up like a medieval princess, reciting something that sounds like either poetry or an old play. Right away we get a sense of fantasy from this. But what we don't realize is that these words she is reciting are vitally important to the plot later.
Also noteworthy is that Sarah fumbles the last line of her recital. As a first-time viewer you will likely remember that she forgot certain words rather than the exact words she said, and that's just what the writers want you to do.
So we've met our protagonist. We've shown the setting (made clear when we see Sarah's jeans peeking from beneath her costume and hear her revert to modern lingo). We've set the tone. We've hinted at foreshadowing. All of that was accomplished in UNDER ONE MINUTE.
The next scene puts Sarah into an immediately tough situation. This is our inciting incident, bridged to the opening by the fact that she was out later than she should have been. When she returns home, she and her stepmother go a few rounds before Sarah storms off into her room, utterly disgusted with her unfair life.
This is all very teen angsty and cheesy, but it's important setup for what follows. The point here is basically that Sarah has a troubled home life and she's at her breaking point with having to babysit her brother all the time.
While all of this is going on, the filmmakers are throwing clues at us left and right about what's to come. Sarah's bedroom is FULL TO THE BRIM with toys and books that either relate directly to the world of the labyrinth or simply emphasize her fantasy-crazed personality. As the camera pans her room we hear her reciting those same lines again.
And she gets interrupted before those final words. Again. It's been shoved right into our faces twice now in under five minutes.
By the time Sarah is left alone with her brother for the night, she is so angry about her situation that she's literally screaming. Yes, it's melodramatic, but at least we're not missing the point. She hates her life. Something needs to change or she'll... die? Yes.
Not physically, but psychologically. Her attitude is ripe for the story ahead to bring about a drastic change. Remember that some form of death needs to hang over the protagonist from the very beginning until the resolution. "Death" is not always physical (depending on your story) and it often changes form as the conflict progresses.
At the five minute mark, I'm pretty much ready to punch Sarah in the face. This is arguably her most unflattering scene in the entire movie. She's being completely selfish and hateful toward her baby brother, and all the while trying to make it seem like she is the victim. Again, this is all just setup for a change about to come. If things were perfect for her at this point, people would stop watching.
Then we creep into the catalyst. Sarah starts telling her brother a story, one that she's read from her Labyrinth book so many times she has it memorized. As she's talking about goblins and the goblin king and the girl and the girl's brother... we see a parallel. And immediately wonder, Is this just a story, or is it real?
We get our answer about two seconds later (quick quick quick, keep it moving!) when we're shown a bunch of goblins hiding under the bed. This IS real. Sarah just doesn't know it yet. She doesn't realize the danger she's putting her brother into, out of petty frustration. This creates tension--we know something she doesn't and we see her heading blindly toward a fall. By the end of this bit she inadvertently sends her brother off to the Goblin King and we've officially reached our catalyst.
It's right around ten minutes into the movie when Sarah gets a bitter dose of reality. Her brother is gone. There are goblins scurrying around the bedroom. Everything she thought was fantasy is now real. And then, to make her mistake abundantly clear, the Goblin King himself pays her a visit to offer a deal.
Jareth, the Goblin King, is the antagonist. As I've discussed before (here), the antagonist should make an appearance (either directly or indirectly) by the time we reach the catalyst. In true antagonist form, Jareth pushes Sarah into a debate period. A tough choice. Either she accepts his gift--a magic crystal that will make all of her wildest dreams come true--and forget about her brother. Or she takes the hard route of traveling through the labyrinth to rescue her brother at the center, at Jareth's castle beyond the Goblin City.
We've already seen how terribly selfish Sarah can be, so we aren't really sure at this point what her decision will be. This kind of tension keeps the audience fixed on the edge of their seat.
Jareth and Sarah go back and forth for a bit, and then Sarah refuses his gift and says she's going to save her brother. Jareth tries again. And again. Sarah stands firm. His last resort in this debate is to give her a time limit of 13 hours to solve the labyrinth.
Adding a ticking clock is one of the most tried-and-true ways to increase tension in a story. It's been done a million times--and it works every time. We automatically ask now, Will she get to her brother in time? Will she get lost in the labyrinth forever? What's in there, anyway?
And we're hooked. Act One has done its job beautifully. We follow Sarah into the labyrinth, into the meat of the premise.
The story breaks into Act Two at the twelve minute mark. That isn't quite 25%, but in a childrens' movie a short beginning is forgivable. The same is true for MG and YA novels. I'd prefer to get to the meat of the story too soon rather than too late. The screenwriters here did have some room to develop things more in the beginning, without hurting the overall feel of the movie, but it's not a major fault. Likely what happened was they needed more room in the middle for something they felt was more important.
And that's perfectly okay. Story structure is not meant to be a strict minute-by-minute guide. You can flex things a bit here and there and the story usually doesn't suffer for it.
So here's the gist of Act One:
Opening image - sets the tone for the rest of the story
Setup - clearly shows how the protagonist and her situation are ripe for drastic change; she should feel on the verge of a "breaking point"; filled with foreshadowing, only recognized as such when looking back after the story is done; quick pacing or you'll risk losing the audience before they're hooked
Catalyst - first major turning point; involves the antagonist either directly or indirectly, which pushes the protagonist into a mental debate
Debate - protagonist faced with her first tough choice; she weighs both sides and ultimately decides to take the hard route; moves on to the meat of the premise in the first half of Act Two
Doesn't look like much when you reduce it to those basics, but it is so SO important. Without proper execution in Act One, your audience may never reach the juicy parts of your story in Act Two. In this way, you could say that the entire first act is your Hook Zone. Because that is where most readers will either put the book down or decide it's worth reading to the end.
Next Wednesday we'll break down Labyrinth's first half of Act Two, aka "the promise of the premise."
Today's song comes from one of my fave fantasy movies as a kid, and is still one of my faves today-- the 1986 classic, Labyrinth. There is actually no real romance in the story, but this scene (which is a fruit-drug-induced hallucination/dream type thing) is thoroughly swoon-worthy. And much of it has to do with the song David Bowie created for it.
And Jennifer Connelly's face and costume and hair MY GOD IS SHE NOT GORGEOUS IN THIS SHOT? But the title of this post is not "Favorite 80s Teen Idols", so. Moving on.
I love the scene from the movie, in the top video below, but I'm also going to embed a lyrics video so you can see precisely why this song is so entirely romantic. For those of you who are old enough to remember when this movie was new, please join me in some nostalgia. For the rest of you, I hope this intrigues you enough to check out the movie (streaming now on Netflix! get it while it's hot!) and perhaps add it to your "oldie but a goodie" list.
Please give a warm welcome to YA author Dusty Crabtree! Goodreads is hosting a giveaway of her novel Shadow Eyes through August 6. Click here for details!
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The Writer's Zone
What most people don’t understand is that writing a book is not the hardest part for a writer. It’s probably the easiest. At least it would be if we actually had time to do it.
Before Shadow Eyes was published I didn’t anticipate all the other things writers have to do that soak up so much of our time. Between promoting, blogging, facebooking, tweeting, commenting on blogs and forums, searching for reviews and places to guest blog, researching, reading about writing techniques, answering emails and checking author forums, promoting fellow authors, and discovering new ways to promote and market…sometimes it seems like we hardly have time to actually do what we love and need to do: WRITE!
Finding a balance between writing and all that other stuff is difficult. Up until recently I would tell myself I couldn’t write (thinking I was enforcing discipline, since that was my favorite part) until I did some of the other things first. But then time would get away from me, and before I knew it, I barely had time to write anything. Plus my mind was swimming with the million other things I’d just seen and done, so the time I did have wasn’t productive because I was distracted.
I think I’ve discovered a somewhat better way. WRITE FIRST!
You’ve heard of the phrase, “In the zone”? Writers have to get “in the zone” too, and this is hard to do. It takes immense concentration and focus with little distraction. The reason why is you have to put yourself in that setting, imagine the way everything looks and smells, get into your characters’ minds, foresee the plot and all the intricacies that will happen. That way you can take the scene in your mind and transcribe it onto paper for the reader to be able to imagine it. Once you’re in that scene, you get on a roll with your writing because it’s just as easy as describing what’s literally around you, only with bigger, more thought-out words and a better flow of sentences.
As any writer will tell you, some days you just can’t get in the zone. For whatever reason, it’s not happening. Use those days to get all of those other things done, as well as edit or read books in your genre. However, if you are able to get in the zone that day, milk it for all it’s worth. Take advantage of it like you would if you randomly felt the urge to clean. At some point later in the day, maybe when distractions are getting the best of you, go ahead and pause to do the other writerly things you need to do.
But you can’t make good writing happen, and you can’t predict when it will. Give it a chance first. The rest will come eventually.
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About the author:
Dusty Crabtree has been a high school English teacher at Yukon High School in Oklahoma since 2006, a challenge she thoroughly enjoys. She is also a youth sponsor at Cherokee Hills Christian Church in Oklahoma City and feels very blessed with the amazing opportunities she has to develop meaningful relationships with teens on a daily basis.
Her passion for teens has poured into her writing as well. She is the author of the young adult urban fantasy, Shadow Eyes, through Musa Publishing, which she wrote in order to give teens an intriguing and provocative book series that promotes moral messages. She lives with her husband, Clayton, in Yukon, Oklahoma, where they often serve their community as foster parents.
Iris Kohl lives in a world populated by murky shadows that surround, harass, and entice unsuspecting individuals toward evil. But she is the only one who can see them. She’s had this ability to see the shadows, as well as brilliantly glowing light figures, ever since an obscure, tragic incident on her fourteenth birthday three years earlier.
Although she’s learned to cope, the view of her world begins to shift upon the arrival of three mysterious characters. First, a handsome new teacher whose presence scares away shadows; second, a new friend with an awe-inspiring aura; and third, a mysterious and alluring new student whom Iris has a hard time resisting despite already having a boyfriend.
As the shadows invade and terrorize her own life and family, she must ultimately revisit the most horrific event of her life in order to learn her true identity and become the hero she was meant to be.
Shadow Eyes is available direct from Musa Publishing and at all major online bookstores
A few days ago I participated in a forum chat with my fellow Musa authors. This particular one was hosted by a romance writers site, but most of what we discussed could apply to fiction writers of any genre. I especially liked the following question:
"What three bits of wisdom would you pass on to new writers?"
My answer was this:
1. Read read read as much as you can! Read fiction, especially the genre/type you want to write. Read blogs about writing and the industry. Read nonfiction books from established veterans of writing and publishing.
2. Write write write as much as you can! Everyone has different circumstances so don't compare how much you can accomplish per day to how much someone else can accomplish per day. Determine a writing schedule that works for you and stick to it. You don't necessarily have to "write every day", just write regularly.
3. Expect nothing and appreciate everything. If someone wants to publish your story, fantastic! If not, move on and write another. Keep writing keep writing keep writing. The great thing about writing is that you can always create something new, and you get better with each story you write.
