Save the Cat!

Thanks to the #WritingCommunity on Twitter, I discovered Save the Cat! I have Googled to find good writing guides, endlessly searching for the right book for me, which is when I found Story Engineering. (More on that later.) It wasn't until an author I was following asked on Twitter which book people recommend for writing that I discovered Save the Cat!

I like the writing style in Save the Cat! Writes a Novel. It's accessible, easy to understand, and as I was reading, I kept adjusting and adding to my own novel.

Save the Cat! breaks the novel down into three main parts and then those parts are again broken down into five, seven, and three parts respectively.

I don't want to go into it too much as I will never explain it as well as it's written in Save the Cat! Writes a Novel. But I'd like to draw your attention to my main take-aways from the guide.

It's Not About What You Think It's About

If someone asked me what my book was about, it'd be about two human kids discovering aliens live on Earth. Or maybe it's about how destiny is a load of rubbish and we can all act and save the world. But that's not what the book is about.

Every book, no matter what the genre or the character or whatever happens, is about the character's personal journey. If they're in space, or in a battle field, or an office or a school, every character takes a personal and emotional journey. Maybe they're selfish and they learn to be selfless, maybe they're a coward and they learn to be brave. Whatever the character flaw, they will ultimately learn to be a better person at the end of the book, or fail trying.

My main character, as far as I was concerned, had no flaws. She's amazing: brave, funny, assertive. But when I thought about her, she's reckless. She doesn't think of others. She's adrenaline seeking, selfish. She has flaws! Hurray! This means I have a story. Now, my book isn't just about plot, the stuff that happens, it's about the inner journey my main character doesn't even know she needs to take. It has depth, theoretically. Whether or not I pull it off is another thing, but at least I have the shape of an idea.

Thank you Save the Cat!

The Midpoint Needs to be Big

One of the things I'm not very good at is being mean to my characters. We had a lovely story,

where the children discovered lots of lovely things, had a lot of fun, nice and gentle where nothing really happened until the end.

That has all changed. I've just written a scene where my characters are nearly eaten by a monster. That would have been unheard of in earlier drafts where they were kept safe in this wonderful alien world.

All this builds up towards the midpoint where something huge and different changes the game and instead of bumbling along trying to understand what's going on, the characters change and have a plan of attack.

Save the Cat! says that the midpoint is where the hero experiences a false victory or a false defeat. The stakes of the story are raised and the plot and the inner personal journey of the hero collide.

I didn't have a mid point for a long time. Nothing really happened around the middle and my characters just bumbled along in Act 2 until Act 3 started. Now, my main characters flaw makes her do something that is ultimately a victory but then leads, very quickly to a false defeat. She could have had everything she'd ever wanted if only she hadn't acted on her character flaw, and now she's lost everything.

I am not good at this. I already feel guilty for hurting my darlings. These are my characters, my babies, they must only have good times in my books but of course, that won't help my character develop and grow as a person. Fun times won't help my character develop, to realise her flaw and overcome it.

I am still working on the midpoint as I need some catalyst, some reason that she'd go against everything she's ever wanted. It needs to be a big enough draw that includes the false antagonist and the real antagonist. So, I'm working on the details of the midpoint but at least I know now that it exists and it is catastrophic.

One Last Thought

I would recommend everyone who wants to write, no matter how good you already are, reads Save the Cat! Writes a Novel. Even if you you're already amazing, even if you know what you're doing. Read it if you're just about to start writing for the first time or if you're like me and have a pile of unpublished works in progress.

Getting Organised

If you're following me on Twitter you may have seen that I'm using a bullet journal to keep myself

organised. It's not perfect, but I'm remembering to do a lot more things and it's leaving my mind clear to think about writing.

I do not have the best memory to say the least, so I'm glad the bullet journal is working well.

I have now started using it to schedule when I'm writing. I've broken the book down into scenes that I've planned using the beat sheet from Save the Cat Writes a Novel. I cannot tell you how brilliant Save the Cat is and how much I think everyone should use this beat sheet. I have the book and I've been watching the You Tube tutorials and I've learnt so much about storytelling. I'm using a lot of what I've learnt from all the different elements of storytelling in my plan and finding it useful to refer back to my plan when pantsing it doesn't work out.

So, because I have these scenes prepared I know roughly how long my book is going to be. I can plan out which scenes I'm going to write when.

Of course, this isn't going to be a hard and fast schedule with no wiggle room. Creativity doesn't turn on and off because I've planned it out in my bullet journal. But now, I've broken the writing process down into managable chunks. I know how much I need to write to achieve my goal for that day. I know now, without worrying about it, that I will finish my novel before my self-imposed deadline, with room to go over if I need it. s

It's also a realistic plan for writing. I'm probably not going to write during the day, or when my husband suggests TV for us to watch, so I've planned around that and allowed rest times and times for playing with the kids. And still, I should be right on schedule.

Fingers crossed, it actually works and I manage to stick to it. It all went according to plan yesterday, with 5000 words across two scenes added to the WIP.

The Tale of the Missing Antagoinst

I have been reading a lot about writing, linking this research back to famous books and

films I've seen and read myself.

I suddenly realised: my story has no antagonist.

Many Types of Antagonist

While I realise there are many types of antagonist, there still needs to be one. An antagonist can take many forms. It can be the bad guy, the storm, the inner voice holding you back. 

My tale, has no bad guy. There are plenty of people who antagonise or prevent the characters from reaching their goals, but there's no target, no conflict to over come. 

Back to the drawing board!

Plan Plan Plan

I'm going to try to think about what's happening in the story before it starts. Who are the antagonistic forces and what are they doing to be part of Lexi and Tim's story? How are they going to prevent Lexi and Tim from reaching the end of the story? 

This might mean introduction of a brand new character who hasn't been in the story before. Even when previous characters have been chatty, or roguish, or distracted, they have always wanted the best for my main characters, rather than to hamper their journey completely. With the introduction of this new character, his entire goal will be to get in the way of the characters at every turn. 

The pinch points will be linked to him and what he's doing but in subtle ways. I'm thinking we may need to have a twist. 

Why can't we just pull the story from our heads and splat it straight down on the paper? This would work massively better than the current method of teasing it out. 

Oh, I'll include a link to the blog I've been reading because it's really useful. 

The Friendly Editor

I Need to Blog More Often

I'd just like to start by saying thank you for joining me through my writing journey. As you know, I'm on the millionth draft of this novel. It has been a roller coaster, swooping from the highs of 'It's finished!' down to the lows of 'I scrapped the lot and started again.'

I genuinely believe there is a lot of good story in this book. What I'm not doing well is the world building in the middle of the book, I think.

Let's break it down and unpick it properly.

Our main characters are Tim an Lexi. Let me see if I can Google search some pics to give you a rough idea of what this pair may look like. (Illustrations pending)

This isn't quite how I picture them but as I can't draw, this is the best I could find on the internet. Click here if you'd like to make your own character. It's free! This gives you a visual idea about who my main characters are, what about who they are on the inside?

Core Wants

Lexi wants nothing more than to escape the life she has at the moment. 

Tim wants nothing more than to continue the life he has at the moment, with little disruption as possible. 

Core Personality

Lexi is outgoing, determined and fearless. She will do anything to achieve her wants, go anywhere, stand up to anyone. And she does. 

Tim is naturally curious, open minded and thoughtful but these traits are often over ridden by his learnt behaviour: don't get in trouble! 

The Conflict

Conflict between Lexi and Tim occurs when Lexi tries to push Tim out his comfort zone. She can be quite thoughtless, and speaks without thinking. Tim, a thoughtful person who always thinks before he speaks or acts, thinks this makes Lexi careless and selfish. This is where conflict occurs between these two characters. 

So, why are they friends?

On a subconscious level, Tim loves that Lexi pushes him to be more adventurous. In turn, Lexi likes that Tim is making her more thoughtful. This is their character arc and they both come to their arcs because of each other. 

The Mis-Belief

Your main character should start the story with a misbelief that is part of their character arc. See Story Genius by Lisa Cron. Their misbelief is rooted deep within their psyche from past experiences. 

Tim's misbelief is that the town he lives in, Rosewell, is completely ordinary. He also believes that if he just behaves well enough, everything will be ok. 

I find Lexi's misbelief more difficult to define. Her entire life has been turned upside down. She deliberately acts out and behaves in ways that no one approves of. I think Lexi's misbelief is that no one cares about her so she may as well do what she likes. This is reinforced by some of the minor characters, but disproved by others. Lexi bounces around with her misbelief. 

My Message

My message is about motivating people to act in ways they don't feel capable, to move outside their comfort zones. I don't feel capable of writing a novel, sometimes. But, I'm trying to say that you don't have to be magical or have a destiny in order to do something amazing. 

I'm trying to show this in making it appear Lexi is the all amazing person in the story, but actually it's Tim who does the most amazing things. This is something that Lexi will point out to him at the end of the book, when Tim has reached his character arc. Also, in being able to explain this to Tim, Lexi will have reached her character arc. 

Unpicking the Middle

I have often said that the middle of my novel is the most difficult for me to unpick. I think that's because I know what my characters are going to do, but I don't know why. Or also when. Lexi does thoughtless things when she should be more thoughtful. Tim is being fearful when, along his arc, he should be more brave. 

This is a really quick sketch of what I'm thinking for their story arc, but you can see here that they act differently at different parts of their arc. 

Maybe, that's what I've been missing, that character development that's in an arc rather than a spaghetti mess like it has been. The events in the story happen because of what the characters do but why are they doing these actions? I've really got to go back to the drawing board and think about what I want to happen in which part of the character arc. This would also dictate how it's going to happen. 

The black line on this sketch could be what happens in the story which isn't caused by the characters but is something they can react to, which says what happens next. It's a really loose over view that could be padded out on scene cards. 

More Unpicking

I've always known what happens in the beginning because it's so Lexi character led. I've always known what happens at the end of my story because it's Tim and Lexi led. It's the middle, the world building, the learning, the growing, the events that shape the characters of my characters that I found tricky. 

At it's heart, this is an adventure novel. The ending is the culmination of the children's skills and experiences they've had during the book. But, they still need to have adventures as this story goes along. Mini-adventures. If they were exploring a jungle, or a castle, there would be foot falls, cliff hangers, hidden treasure. Just because they're exploring an alien world, doesn't mean these elements can't be reflected somewhere in the story. 

I think I need to have a sketching session and then come back to it. I need to have a think. 

Thank You So Much for Reading

This has been really useful! Thank you. Unpicking where I'm going wrong like this has really helped me with the middle of my novel. 

Writing, Writing, Writing

Not sure where this burst of writing has come from. I have had some

bad news, personally which has brought me great sadness. Maybe that has forced me to reevaluate my situation, and all the things I can be thankful for. I have a lot to be thankful for. I think, when events like this are put into perspective, it can really focus the mind.

I have wanted to be a published author for so long, now, I really just want to get on with it. My MG science fiction which I have been writing for at least 3 years, is still washing around the middle of the novel. The start I think is pretty good, although that goes through numerous changes. I'm also 4000 words into a new fantasy, early chapter book. That book, my own children are enjoying immensely so I will continue on with that.

I am reading a lot of chapter books and early chapter books to my children at the moment, I am getting a lot of genre exposure. This is inspiring me to write my own!

My own children enjoying my writing really spurs me on to write more. Unfortunately, they're both too young for my MG scifi so I can't read them that at the moment.

I'm thinking of releasing the early chapter story on here as a serial. It might be nice to share a story with people at the moment but I'm not quite sure if the subject matter is appropriate at the moment.

So that's my update at the moment.

I really hope that everyone reading this blog is staying safe, staying at home and keeping well.

Writing at the Moment?

I know from the #WritingCommunity on Twitter that I am hardly the only
one who is finding writing difficult in the current climate.

I do find writing difficult at the best of times. Having a full time job and kids, I tend to do my writing after the kids have gone to bed on days that I don't have day job to do in the evenings.

This means, I'm shattered when I'm writing. When I come to read back what I've done, it's often complete drivel.

And now, writing in this climate is really difficult. My mind is so preoccupied feeling for all those people who have been ill, died, the front line workers putting their own lives at risk to help those who are sick. All the people who have had their weddings, holidays, plans, hopes all dashed because of this virus. And on top of that, I'm still mainly writing in the evenings as I try to entertain my kids and keep a semblance of normality going.

It isn't an atmosphere that fosters creativity. What are creative types doing about it?

I think it's really important to accept and notice your feelings at this time, especially. If I can't write, I'm not putting pressure on myself to do any writing. I know I can't edit a blank page, but my novel goes off on such an awful tangent if I'm not focused.

I'm also trying to be more kind to myself with regards to the kids. I don't know who else needs to hear this but it is ok for them to watch TV or play on their tablets. I think I need to hear it, over and over on repeat. The kids had a TV day on Sunday and I wrote 1400 words. Most of those words, I'll keep because I was writing in the middle of the day, facing my garden, heaps of well-being and positive vibes. It is ok for me to work on my book when the kids are around. They don't have to have my attention from waking to bedtime.

I don't know if other #writermoms are the same. I hear all the evils about tablets and TV but we are
now in unprecedented times and we can be kinder to ourselves. My kids are still going out in the garden, they're still doing maths and English learning, we're still doing science and home ec and art and all the other things.

This is temporary. Things will get back to normal and I shall return to struggling to write in the evenings around doing Day Job and Kids things. I will continue to struggle with the middle of this novel and not knowing what on Earth to do with it.

I hope that all those who are working to protect us, keep us well and work on the front line will be ok, and come through this all with us.

I hope all who are reading this are safe and well, and staying at home to protect us all. Stay safe, stay well and stay at home.

Plotting Act 2

Act 1 of my current upper middle grade science fiction really wrote itself. It's very

character driven, things happen in that story because of what the protagonist or the deuteragonist do.

Similarly, in Act 3, everything is cause and effect. The protagonist is pushing through the innermost cave, towards the climax and the reward similarly is all due to the protagonist and deuteragonist.

This is not true for Act 2. Act 2 is a series of things that happen. It wasn't working. Even with using Lisa Cron's Story Genius scene cards, I just couldn't do it right. The 'And so...' at the end of the scene card didn't always make sense. It was more like, what I wanted to happen in the story and it wasn't coming together. It still isn't, if I'm honest, but I'm on the way.

I'm trying something else.

Can my day job help?

Story structure from Ingrid's Notes

Act 2 of a novel, film, story is often called the Trials and Rituals. Other names include Fun and Games, Resistance and Struggle, Push to Breaking Point, the Special World, there are lots of names for things that happen in Act 2, and after that, there's the Mid Point and Approaching the Innermost Cave. These are from

I thought I'd change it up a little.

I thought I'd call it, Teach, Practice and Apply.

In the day job, if I was teaching Phonics for example, I'd teach the sound /ee/. We'd practice sounding the sound out, practice the sound in words, read the sound in words and write the sound in words. Then we would apply that to reading an entire sentence or writing an entire sentence.

Could I apply this to Act 2 of my novel?

Teach

In this section, the main character learns the rules of the new world. Maybe she has new powers, she learns how to use those. It's the learning section. Everything that is new in the new world, through the threshold, the main character is learning.

Practice

This is where the main character has learnt a little bit about the new world, her new powers, new relationship or whatever it might be, and she fails. Her efforts are frustrated, but she's practicing and she does get some things right.

Apply

I was thinking that apply might lead more into Act 3, where the main character uses what she has learnt and practiced to bring the climax and reward. 

Give it a try

Between day job and kids, I've found it a bit tricky to get round to actually applying this idea to my novel. I've sketched out the idea on a notebook, and it's getting typed up. At the moment it is a series of things I want to happen, to make sure the ending happens, so I've got to think about how to make it all character driven and support the character arc of the main character. 

Hopefully using my day job skills will bring it together. Here's hoping.