Today the Insecure Writer’s Support Group would like to
welcome James Scott Bell, the author of several books on the craft of writing,
including Just Write, a Writer’s Digest Book. We’re discussing high stakes in a novel and how to manage writing time. Welcome, James!
1. What is one thing all writers can do today to help manage their time?
Learn to prioritize. Not all tasks are
of equal importance. Everything you do should be according to the ABCs.
Tasks that MUST be done label with an A.
These are tasks fundamental to contributing to your long-term success. Further,
those A tasks should also be prioritized by 1, 2, 3, etc.
Set about to do A1 first....then
A2...etc.
B tasks are important, but should not be
handled until the A tasks are done. Prioritize these as well. B1, B2 ....
C tasks can wait. Do these only if you
get some spare time.
Also, put a time estimate by each task.
I prioritize my tasks by the week.
Sunday is a good day to plan out your week.
2. We
often hear that the stakes in a novel should be high. How high do you think
those stakes should be?
Death. Always death. Physical,
professional, or psychological.
Physical death is what you have in a
thriller. Someone, or a whole lot of someones, are going to die if the bad guys
get their way. The Hunger Games.
Professional death means that the
character’s job or vocation (e.g., cop, lawyer, mother) is one the line. If
they fail in the novel, that aspect of their life is effectively over, or
damaged greatly. The Verdict.
If the novel is mainly about a character
on the inside, on their becoming a whole human being, that’s psychological
death. If the character cannot overcome the challenge, they will “die inside.” The Catcher in the Rye.
3. What
is one of the biggest writing blunders you’ve seen writers make and how can
they avoid it?
I have a book called 27 Fiction Writing Blunders – And How Not To Make Them. If I had to pick just one, right now I’d say it’s writing the
“expected.” Our minds tend to jump to what’s been done before, not just in
characterization and plotting, but in every scene we write. We have to
consciously set out to find the unexpected. Which can be in something as subtle
as a dialogue exchange. This is what makes writing seem fresh.
4. How
can a writer work on several projects at once? Is it possible?
My method is to think of myself as a movie
studio. I always have a green-lighted project (my work-in-progress, or WIP). I
have several projects “in development.” That means I’ve started making notes on
character and plot, and perhaps a preliminary story board (I use Scrivener’s
index card view for this). Projects in development go into a file I call “Front
Burner.”
Then I have a file of hundreds of ideas
I’ve come up with over the years. These are usually summarized in one or two
lines. Sometimes just a title. I scan these ideas from time to time, looking
for the ones that catch my fancy and, if they do, I make a few more notes. If I
start to like something, I move it to the Front Burner.
In this way, my “boys in the basement”
are always at work, even when I’m concentrating on my WIP.
5. Why
should writers study classic novels?
Depends on what you mean by “study” and
“classic.” For me, a classic is The
Maltese Falcon or Farewell, My
Lovely. I study these for various
purposes related to my own writing.
So it depends on your goals.
If I want to study characterization, I
might turn to a Dickens. Or a Stephen King.
If I want to study dialogue, it could be
John O’Hara ... or Elmore Leonard.
For emotional impact: Hemingway short
stories or To Kill a Mockingbird.
It’s good for writers to design
self-study programs on each of the seven critical success factors of fiction:
plot, structure, characters, scenes, dialogue, voice, meaning (theme). Get some
good craft books on the subject and select some novels you’ve read where the
writer has done that thing well. Or get recommendations of same. Then read,
study, and practice what you learn.
This is called growing as a writer. And
it should never stop.
Author Bio:
JAMES SCOTT BELL is the author of the #1 bestseller for writers, Plot
& Structure, and numerous thrillers, including, Romeo’s
Rules, Try Dying and Don't Leave Me. In addition to
his traditional novels, Jim has self-published in a variety of genres. His novella One More Lie was the first self-published
work to be nominated for an International Thriller Writers Award. He served as
the fiction columnist for Writer's Digest magazine and has written highly
popular craft books including: Just Write, Write Your Novel From the
Middle, Super Structure, The Art of War for Writers and Conflict
& Suspense. Jim has taught writing at Pepperdine University and at
numerous writers conferences in the United States, Canada, Great Britain,
Australia and New Zealand. He and London.attended the University of
California, Santa Barbara where he studied writing with Raymond Carver, and
graduated with honors from the University of Southern California Law Center.
Visit his website www.JamesScottBell.com
Question to Readers: How do you manage writing time and multiple projects?
