The Plotting and Revision Process

Greetings!

This post will be similar to my map post. This is from my personal experiences and will not link out to other people's works, as some of my other posts have done. However, as editing and revisions are an important part of the writing process, I thought I would lay out how I am editing my epic novel series, just in case it proves useful to you. Feel free to use my method if you desire -- that is why I am posting it after all.

An epic series, whether it is science fiction or fantasy, shares one thing in common with every other epic series: length and detail. While I have been drafting this series, I have noticed one thing: my brain simply needs assistance keeping all of the details in order. The first draft got the general idea of the story onto paper, developed my characters so I have an idea of their personalities, where they start and where they go, and ensure that I have a good idea of where I want the story to go.

The revision process is making all of these details coherent and stick together. This post will relate, in some ways, to the devious plot hole post.

However, instead of covering how the plot hole is found, this will cover how I fix them.

For this project, I am using word 2007. I have the full version of it, which is proving invaluable.

Coupled with word 2007, I am using One Note. One Note is a journal program that is bundled with Office 2007. It is nearly as invaluable as word 2007 is. I'm quite fond of it. Thank you, Microsoft, for making a product that has behaved itself fantastically. However, that doesn't stop me from making backups out of sheer paranoia.

Now that I have listed my tools for this, I will make one commentary: my husband is cheap and didn't buy me note cards, so I had to make due without. He told me I could waste all of the printer paper I wanted, though. I will probably print 'note cards' for some parts of this process. For now, I am just using One Note and seeing how it goes from there.

An epic fantasy novel has a few characteristics. It has many characters, many lands, many cultures and many events going on throughout the world. For the sake of demonstration, and because I recently read the books, I will use David Edding's Belgariad and the Alera Codex as examples of *why* I'm doing this as I have.

If you have not read either of these series, I strongly recommend it. The Alera Codex (Jim Butcher) is very, very entertaining. The Belgariad I consider a classic.

The first thing I will note about both of these series is the rich characters found in them. The Belgariad typically follows two points of view: Belgarion and Ce'Nedra. Others are thrown in, but you mostly see the world from these two young folks.

The Alera Codex is deeper. It follows many PoVs, ranging from Tavi , his mother, and a long range of supporting *and* main characters. My novel shares the Alera Codex's methodology and character range. I found that my epic just could not be done with only one or two points of view.

Either way is fine.

While the Belgariad does not go into more than two direct PoVs (seriously at any rate), you get to see many other characters on the rate. Where Eddings' excels is through his ability to stay true to his characters. They grow and change, but you never go "What the heck, this character would not do this!". He builds up to the important roles as much as necessary. The Alera Codex uses characters that are deeply shadowed in shades of gray. They are mysteries and you never know exactly what will happen next.

I am attempting a blend of these two styles.

So, in order to accomplish this, I have to take all of the ground work that I have done in my first draft and put it to words. When I drafted, I went in with nothing but a keyboard, a copy of word 2007, and determination to get it done. Thus, I started to write. I did make the error of not pausing to write down character information as I went. I was too eager to get the story onto paper.

So now I have a lot of extra work on my hands. I suggest you write this stuff down as you go. It will save you time. However, it is very useful for rereading your story for plot holes if you do not choose to write it down as you go. I'm still torn a bit on which way I prefer, so I do jump back and forth between the methods.

My first step was to open One Note and start laying out my journals. Currently, I have the following journals made. Please note that this is a work in process and I am by no means done the general plotting footwork of this novel.

Characters, To Do, Kingdoms, Char 1 Plot, Char 2 Plot, Char 3 Plot, Char 4 Plot, Villain Plot

I have removed the names of my characters, but Chars 1-4 are the main protags / antags. The villain plot is the general overview of the bad guys ploys -- this involves more than one or four individuals with different stories, but a more concise, cohesive force. This may be different for others, but my main protagonists are not very cohesive, at least from the start. Because of this, I have to weave their plots separately. If my good guys were more united (such as Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar Heralds) I may have just had an Antagonist Plot and a Protagonist plot. However, this is not the case with this specific series. I will be adding a general Protagonist Plot tab, but I will mostly be working with the specific char plot lines.

So, let us delve a little deeper into what I'm doing with these journals!

• Characters

This is the major list of my characters. I have cp'd a small snippet of the type of things I'm including in this listing. As I write sections that introduce or name these characters, I write down at least the very basics about them.

Age	Gender	Hair	Eyes	Build
24	M	Pale	Blue	Tall/Muscular

Personality	Likes	Dislikes
Easy Going Loyal	Horses Traveling Haggling	Combat Arguments Cunning Women

This is a bare bone model for a character. The more advanced the character, the more in depth I will go with this. However, this is the minimum I will tend to use if I name a character. I use this as a basic template, then build it as needed. Things I include for more common characters are the clothes that they wear, their professions, etc. This is a very good start for me when it is a minor character. (All major characters also start it this sort of information.)

Let us go a little into the specifics. I try to be as clear as possible when I write out this information. I want to remember what I meant later. For example, build is purely physical, just to help me remember what they look like a bit. Obviously, every character has different needs, so it is up to you to decide what is best for your book.

I have a section in this journal for every named character, regardless of whether it is a protag or an antag.

• To Do

Next we have the To Do list. These are things I need to do in the near or far future that I do not want to forget. In this journal, I have several sections.

• General To Do List
• Character Modifications
• Plot Hole Fixes

This list will grow as I progress in the novel. The novel will not be complete until I have addressed all of the items in my to do list.

• Kingdoms

This section ties in with that big maps file I have. For every kingdom listed, I am working on defining the political, economic and cultural aspects of the people of these kingdoms. In a way, these kingdom sections in the journal will become general templates for the people found in them. There will be a section dedicated to the stereotypical behavior pattern, classes and beliefs of the people of these kingdoms. This section is a massive amount of work. I am approaching this by listing all of the kingdoms and basic general points about them. When my characters are active in a kingdom, I flush it out to make certain it is consistent with what I have written. Some of these kingdoms may never actually find their way into the novel as a major role, but it is important to know regardless.

• Character Plot Points

Plot Point #

Main Plot Point

Second Point

Third point

Fourth point

Importance

This is the basic template that I am using for the plot points. This will help me get their overall plot written out. Each Plot Point # will become a section of its own. I may have several Plot Point #'s per a chapter, but each plot point # will only have one Main Plot Point. This is to help keep all of the threads of the plot organized. I may add another column to reference previous plot point numbers so I don't have to dig back as often. The second, third and fourth points are to make small notes of important things that occur based off of their importance. I may have three or four things listed under secondary points. The Importance is just how vital this point is for the success of the plot I want for the novel.

I will use variants of this for all of the character points *and* the villain points.

This is the basics of my structure. Once I have the plot points listed out, I may print out the One Notebook as my note cards, cut them out per plot point and use that to determine where things should happen.

I am chewing on whether or not to have a "date of event" column in my plot. This may be very useful keeping things in chronological order, but I am still uncertain if I will do this.

Now that you know how I structure my notes for revisions, I can begin the rewrite. This is the second draft, and may or may not use sections from the original. I have some sections that will remain mostly intact. However, a lot of the sections can use improvement. While I will keep the general idea of the passages, I will not necessarily keep the exact wording. However, some gems will remain in the final novel! I know some of my more powerful sections will be remaining with some revisions for the sake of consistency.

The second draft is about letting that editor come out and play. While I will be doing a lot of writing and rewriting and working, I will be picking apart every section to make certain that I do this correctly. Writing in this stage is slow. When I work, I expect 500 to 1,000 words per hour. This is rather slow compared to many others I know. However, unlike some events during the year, Quality trumps Quantity. However, time is precious. If you are serious about novel writing, you will remember this. Time is precious. Do not waste it.

Good luck with your writing, and I hope this proves of some use to you!

The Stereotypes and Cliches of Fantasy Writing

First, I'd like to thank Ian T. Healy (spelled correctly this time..) for the subject of today's blog post. His original post is as follows: @rebeccablain "Fantasy: more than dark elves, demons, and magic"

There is so much more to this subject than just dark elves, demon and magic... so I thought it would be a good time to do the post on the whole lot of them.

Let us first be honest with ourselves. It is very difficult to write a 100% original fantasy piece. With thousands of fantasy novels on the shelves, many of the ideas held within those volumes are twists on cliches or stereotypes of some sort until they are no longer cliche or stereotypical.

However, there are a lot of writers who stick with the cliche / stereotype. This is a shame, but it is not really avoidable. After all, you must border on true genius in order to totally escape having these elements in your novels.

With that said, I will start by regurgitating a very insightful post from a short story publisher of the science fiction and fantasy genres. If you are not aware of this publisher, you should be. Allow me to introduce you to Clarkesworld Magazine. The below is an except from their submissions page. This content is a direct copy paste and used for educational purposes. It in no fashion belongs to me. I only wish I were this brilliant.

Though no particular setting, theme, or plot is anathema to us, the following are likely hard sells:

• stories in which a milquetoast civilian government is depicted as the sole obstacle to either catching some depraved criminal or to an uncomplicated military victory
• stories in which the words "thou" or "thine" appear
• talking cats
• talking swords
• stories where the climax is dependent on the spilling of intestines
• stories where FTL travel is as easy as is it on television shows or movies
• time travel too
• stories that depend on some vestigial belief in Judeo-Christian mythology in order to be frightening (i.e., Cain and Abel are vampires, the End Times are a' comin', Communion wine turns to Christ's literal blood and it's HIV positive, Satan's gonna getcha, etc.)
• stories about rapist-murderer-cannibals
• stories about young kids playing in some field and discovering ANYTHING. (a body, an alien craft, Excalibur, ANYTHING).
• stories about the stuff we all read in Scientific American three months ago
• stories where the Republicans, or Democrats, or Libertarians, or the Spartacist League, etc. take over the world and either save or ruin it
• your AD&D game
• "funny" stories that depend on, or even include, puns
• sexy vampires, wanton werewolves, or lusty pirates
• zombies or zombie-wannabes
• stories originally intended for someone's upcoming theme anthology or issue
• stories where the protagonist is either widely despised or widely admired simply because he or she is just so smart and/or strange
• stories that take place within an artsy-fartsy bohemia as written by an author who has clearly never experienced one
• your trunk stories

This is perhaps one of the best pages I have ever seen that goes into exactly what not to do for a serious submission. Read this, absorb it, and quickly Hall of Shame most of the things for this. However, there are venues for this type of writing. But, for the most part, they are hard sells, just as the magazine states.

Let us go through this list and pursue just why these are stereotypical, cliche, or hard to sell.

• stories in which a milquetoast civilian government is depicted as the sole obstacle to either catching some depraved criminal or to an uncomplicated military victory

First, milquetoast means the following: sissy: a timid man or boy considered childish or unassertive -or- A person of meek or timid disposition; meek, timid (source, define: milquetoast via google.)

Reason: Well, first, anything timid or meek isn't really a challenge. Second, give us a better villain, something more interesting, please! Granted, this is just my interpretation, but I wouldn't be interested in reading this.

• stories in which the words "thou" or "thine" appear

Reason: Above all, most people do not use thou or thine appropriately. It takes away from the genre, it does not add to it, ladies and gentleman. I have seen it used exactly once in modern writing to good success. David Eddings used it sparingly as flavour text. This is why he got away with it. Thou and Thines often take away, they do not add to the environment. Especially when they are not used properly.

• talking cat, talking swords, talking.. anything.

Reason: I lumped these together because it is the same basic concept. Talking animals can work, but in this case, it doesn't fit the publication. I can think of several great series and stories that use these concepts. However, most tend to be cheesy at best, without good justifications for the talking pets and objects. This concept is so abused that publications like Clarkesworld have totally just abandoned them completely.

• stories where the climax is dependent on the spilling of intestines

Reason: I absolutely love this. I became a huge fan of Clarkesworld just for this reason. Gore has its place in fantasy. Especially Sword and Sorcery. However, a story dependent on it is not a great story. I've yet to read a published work that was dependent on it and I ever read a second time. With that said, there is stuff like that out there. But, I have not returned to those novels since reading them. This does not mean that you cannot have death or gore in your books. It means that you should not base the story or novel on the gore. This is an important distinction.

• stories where FTL travel is as easy as is it on television shows or movies (time travel too)
  

Reason: Magic can be limitless... but limitless magic can be truly annoying. If they can do all of these things so easily, then what is the point? In my opinion, once a character is able to do such things easily, he or she should be able to snap their fingers and get it done. Then, there would be no point to the story.

• stories that depend on some vestigial belief in Judeo-Christian mythology in order to be frightening (i.e., Cain and Abel are vampires, the End Times are a' comin', Communion wine turns to Christ's literal blood and it's HIV positive, Satan's gonna getcha, etc.)

Reason: I think this is fairly obvious. There are markets for this type of work, but your short story or novel should stand on its own feet, not on the belief systems of the real world.

I have done a few of them... you can figure out the rest.

Dark Elves, Dragons and Dungeons, Oh my!

Novel or short story writing is not without entering into the world of stereotypes and cliches. I have stated this before, I will state it again in the future, I am certain. What will determine whether or not you are a good writer is what you do with the stereotypes and cliches you come up with.

There is nothing stating that you cannot use a cliche or stereotype. However, in order to succeed, it is up to you to make certain that you somehow twist it so that it becomes something new. Making something unique is truly a difficult task. It is very difficult, as a writer, to separate yourself from the things that inspire you. Writers who read and enjoy a certain series will often pick up aspects of that series in their own writing. It is so very common. The key is that you catch yourself doing it and transform trash into gold. Until you make it your own, those elements are trash. Just accept that, it will make you a better writer in the long run.

Is there more to fantasy beyond the stereotypes? Of course there is. Make your Dark Elves distinct by stepping away from the normal evil elves and go into a world where these elves separated from their lighter skinned brethren for a good purpose. Have them just be a genetic mutation and no different than their lighter counterparts. Get rid of the lighter counterparts altogether. And for the love of all that is pure, don't make them look and act like a cookie cutter. Make them dark skinned humans with an ear mutation. Do something to make them different than opening a Dungeon Master's Guide and reading about it.

Dragons? There are lots you can do with dragons. The best concept I've heard for a dragon? Make them stupid and dislike hoarding things. That will make people stop long enough to go "What the heck is this?"

The instant you make your reader ask questions is the moment that you are stepping away from the stereotype. Fantasy need not be cookie cutter. If you find your concept in another book, add or take away until your concept becomes unique. Then take it and make it your own. Only then will you surpass the cliche.

I cannot give you a template on making sure your races and people are not stereotypical. That is something personal you have to conquer on your own. However, we have all dealt with it. If you find a truly unique concept, work with it. It may just go somewhere really pleasant.