Nightmares and Chocolate: Kelly Blanchard

Showing posts with label Kelly Blanchard. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Takeover Tuesday 6-16-15 Kelly Blanchard #3

Timeline Outline

When writing historical fiction work, it’s important to have an outline—a timeline to be more precise. This allows you to keep track of actual dates and events without having to dig through piles of books. This is also useful when you have a specific, complex story possibly with multiple sub-stories.

What is the difference between a normal outline and a timeline outline? The normal outline is vertical dealing mainly with the progression of the story, chapter-by-chapter, scene-by-scene. The timeline outline, however, is horizontal, showing mainly the relationships between specific events and character in a specific range of time. You can also see, in a snapshot, other events that occurred at the same time but with different characters.

How do you create a timeline outline? Well, you can do it by hand, but you’ll need continuous printer paper because timelines can be very long due to their horizontal nature. Or you can use an Excel program. Or you can use an actual timeline program on your computer. I have done it by hand as well as with a timeline program. Unfortunately, I can’t show you what it looks like when done by hand because the computer can’t scan continuous printer paper. However, here is a screenshot of what it looks like on the computer—at least one part of it. This is from my historical fiction novels, The Last King of Legend series, research I did for Book 2, ‘In the Face of Trials’, so there are no spoilers unless you haven’t read the books—in which cause I can’t really help you, but this IS history, so technically it’s still not spoilers.

This is Aeon Timeline. If you did NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) or Camp NaNoWriMo, and if you won, you obtained a discount for this program for a limited period of time. It’s incredibly easy to use. Let’s break it down.

There are multiple timeline templates you can use for your story. This specific one is BC – AD because I have historical dates to use. When I am outlining my fantasy novel though, I tend to just use ‘Years Only,” create a year, and go from there.

At the top you see the months and years. It has the ability to go to specific days, but I didn’t use that too much since I didn’t know the exact dates most of the time. In the middle with the little red dots and red vertical lines, the dots are the date of the event with a brief description of the event beside the dot. The line then goes down and hits horizontal lines. Those horizontal lines are the lifetime of characters (in this case ‘King Baldwin IV, Princess Isabella, and Baldwin V).

Now, if you look along the blue line of King Baldwin IV’s life, you see blue circles–circles that are full and hollow. The full circles mean Baldwin participated in that specific event, and the number beside the circle is how old he was when it happened. You’d have to turn on ‘Toggle Age Display’ to get that to turn up, but it’s a marvelous tool to have. Now, the hollow circles are events of which Baldwin was present but merely observed. For instance, he only witnessed Sibylla’s marriage to William Longsword whereas he participated in the Battle of Montgisard.

There are two other symbols you will see along the characters timeline. First one is a star. You see this on Baldwin V’s timeline in that picture. That represents his birth. The next symbol you will see is a block, and that represents the character’s death. It’s very handy.

Now, here is a glimpse of the timeline outline from my fantasy universe. This isn’t just one story but rather three different stories happening at the same time, but they’re all in the same world. It was getting confusing in my head, so I made this timeline to understand what happened first, who was how old when what happened, and who was where when that happened.

As you can see, this is a little more complex and compacted. There are more characters and more events than what you see in that snapshot, but it gives you an idea of how something like this might turn out.

“But Kelly, I don’t have Aeon Timeline. What am I supposed to do then?” I am sure there are other programs available to you, but I haven’t researched them. Otherwise, you can mimic this idea on a spreadsheet or by hand on paper.

When I wrote my timeline by hand, I had two characters’ lifespans I wanted to record for sure–King Baldwin IV and Baldwin V. My historical fiction novels ‘The Last King of Legends’ is based on the life of King Baldwin IV, so I had his lifeline go the length of the paper, and below that, I made vertical columns–each column a specific year from 1161-1185 because that was the length of Baldwin IV’s life. Now, Baldwin V was born during Baldwin IV’s life, and because of his importance, I wanted to include his lifespan so I could calculate his age at specific times. I put his lifeline directly above Baldwin IV’s. It looked something like this. I made this as a spreadsheet, and I’m starting at year 1174 due to limitations of space here. Also I didn’t fill in ALL the details of the years. Otherwise that would be spoilers for the books!

Now, of course there could more space between each year (sometimes as wide as a small paragraph). In each column, I wrote the events that happened in that year, and so on and so forth. This way I could just glimpse at the timeline and see which year was the busiest or the slowest. I could also look at it quickly and remember I had to set up for this specific event.

Does every story require a timeline outline? No. Must every author create a timeline for their stories? No. All of this is merely a suggestion for organization when writing something complex. And I have to admit, it is a lot of fun creating timelines (especially on the computer), so if you’re looking for another way to procrastinate while technically working on your story, there you have it. No, I’m not promoting procrastination–just always try to remember to procrastinate later.

For now, you have a fair idea of how timeline outlines might be beneficial to you. Now, with the next several posts, we will focus on the pros and cons of outlines–to use or not to use or just throw away the outline you had. That is what we will discuss.

**This was originally posted on June 26, 2014 at: https://cinemagraphicwriting.wordpress.com/2014/06/26/timeline-outline/

Many, many thanks to author Kelly Blanchard for allowing me to repost this here today. Want to get to know her more?

Author Bio:

Kelly Blanchard writes medieval fantasy, science fiction, and has published historical fiction under the name Serafia Cross. In addition to this, she maintains a blog which cover numerous topics of writing (description, dialogue, pace of story, timing, fight/battle scenes, working with an artist to create book covers, self promotion, and much more), and she mentors fellow writers in the craft of writing.

Her website to her historical fiction work: www.serafiacross.com

Her blog: www.cinemagraphicwriting.wordpress.com

If you're interested in seeing her fantasy stories or reading poem and short stories based off her historical fiction work, you can find her profile here on Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/user/Kellannetta

If interested in interacting more with Kelly or are interested in inspiration for your stories and encouragement in your writing, you're welcome to join her group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AuthorKellyBlanchard/

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Takeover Tuesday - Kelly Blanchard

I put out a call to my fellow friends and authors to do a few write ups on how they outline. Our guest today was kind enough to answer my call. I'm sure you'll find her as helpful as I do. So, take it away, Kelly Blanchard!

Plot: The Spine of the Story

What is plot? What is story? To have a story, you need several basic elements—a clear storyline, characters, and a universe for the story. If you’re missing one of these, you’re going to encounter Writer’s Block. Sometimes you can have a great idea for unique aspect of a world for a story, but you lack characters and storyline. Or you can have epic characters but no world to put them in or storyline. Sometimes you can have a storyline but no sure world or characters for it, although usually with storylines, the characters and world will develop automatically.

Sometimes writers ask me to help them brainstorm certain aspects of their story, so I always ask, “What is your story about?” And sometimes I get a response like this, “Well, there’s this other realm—like another dimension—and only certain people can pass between the two dimensions, but they can drag ordinary people with them to the other dimension. When this happens, normal people gain superpowers, but they lose them when they come back to our own dimension. They usually lose their minds and go mad after an encounter like that. They know they had superpowers, but now they don’t, and no one believes them.”

I wait, but when they don’t continue, I press on, “Okay, but what’s your story about?”

They look at me puzzled. “It’s about those dimensions.”

I lift my hand to stop them from repeating themselves, and I look them straight in the eyes. “That is the universe of the story. That is the setting, the background. That is not the story itself. Who are the main characters? Who is the story about?”

This is when most writers pause then frown. “I…I don’t know.” And to be honest, I can’t really help you when you don’t know the answer to this. This is a form of Writer’s Block, and it is something every writer—even I—encounters.

So, what is plot? Strip away the universe of the story, the world, the extraordinaries of the story, the uniqueness of it, all the color and fluff and all the awesomeness of the story, and what is left? When you strip it down to its bare bones, what remains? What is the soul of the story? Who remains?

For instance, my medieval fantasy story, which I hope to publish next year or so, deals with magic and technology, crosses genres of fantasy and science fiction, has a huge cast of characters (I want to say around seventy-five characters prior to editing), multiple interweaving subplots, political intrigue, intense battle and fights, and emotional distress and heartbreak. However, at the core, the story is about one very powerful man who has always done his best to use his power for good, but he is accused of a crime he claims he did not do, yet no one believes him. They think him a lying, two-faced monster. Soon he realizes in order to clear his name, he must become the very man they think him to be, but will he lose himself and remain that man?

That is the main conflict of the story. That plot can be applied to any genre and any era and be retold into a new story. That is the beauty of plot. It is said there are 20 master plots, but plot relies on conflict, and there are only four kinds of conflict, ‘man against man’ (film: Gladiator, 2000), ‘man against society’ (film: In Time, 2011), ‘man against nature’ (film: Twister, 1996), and ‘man against self’ (TV Show: Perception, 2012). The difference between plot and conflict is, multiple conflicts form a plot. You can twist it any which way you want. In my fantasy story, the conflicts were mainly ‘man against man’ and ‘man against self’.

So, what do you do if your story is a good idea but has no plot? You need to know there is no magic formula. However, there are a few things you can do. First, recognize the problem and acknowledge it then think about it. Brainstorm with people who understand and encourage your writing. Watch films, TV shows, YouTube videos, read books and fan fiction, listen to music—the seed for the story might be anywhere.

Once you find it, there is no stopping you. Stories are funny like that. You pick up a seed, and suddenly it blossoms in full bloom right in your hand, and you have to quickly cast it to the ground because it’s very swiftly becoming a full tree! Its roots dig deep into the ground. Its trunk grows thicker and taller than you. Its branches reach out above your head in complicated patterns with leaves kaleidoscoping the sky—much like the interwoven subplots and paths of the characters.

But sometimes—despite everything you put into it—it doesn’t flourish. Is it because it’s not a good idea? No. It’s because it’s not time for that story to be written. Where you are in your life isn’t the right time for that story to be written. It’s also not the right time for others to read it—the world isn’t ready for it yet. So, pocket it away for the time being. Don’t forget it. Don’t lose hope over it.

“So I don’t have a plot—can’t get one regardless how much I think about it, what am I supposed to write? I have no idea!” Thus the terrible clutches of Writer’s Block. Yes, you can try to force your way through the story you have, but usually that results with pent up frustration, and editing is even more of a dread.

So what do you do in such a situation—especially if you want to write daily? Well, simple—write. “Write what?” Whatever comes to your mind. It could be a scene here, a conversation, a journal entry, co-writing with someone, a blog post, plotting out ideas—something, anything to keep you in the habit of writing.

How long will this spell go on? It varies—can be a few days, weeks, months, even a year or so. Does that mean you fail as a writer? No—especially if regardless of all this, you continue to write, continue to look for the story, continue to strengthen your understanding of the craft and sharpen your skill. When the story comes, you’ll be ready for it. You’ll hit the ground running without hesitation. You won’t lack confidence because you know you’ve maintained your ability. It’s like training for the Olympics.

Don’t think of it so much as a block but rather an opportunity to sharpen specific areas of your writing. You can focus on mastering description without being bogged down with a storyline. You can perfect the art of dialogue without worry of plot points. You can experiment with specific characters in any situation because they’re not tied to a specific story. You can strengthen your ability to write certain kinds of characters like the antagonist and how to make them relatable.

If it makes you feel any better, at this very moment I’m struggling with this myself. In one hand, I have a story with much potential and unique ideas but no characters or plot. In the other hand, I have these three characters but no story for them. I’ve tried to blend them together, but still lack the plot. So, what do I do in the meanwhile? Well, I make myself write at least a thousand words a day. I’m co-writing and writing blog posts like these, and I’m also writing random scenes experimenting with those characters I mentioned—never know when they’re reveal their story to me.

So if you’re struggling with this, don’t feel like you’re a failure as a writer or that you’ll never be able to write a worthwhile story. Sometimes the story will come to you in a flow that you just can’t stop, but if it were like that all the time, you literally would have no life, and you would be exhausted—physically, emotionally, and mentally. Other times the flow just ebbs, forcing you to slow down. It will pick up again, and you’ll forget the times you struggled with words.

Can a story have no plot? Of course, but the plot gives structure and purpose to the story. Having a story without plot is like having a body without a skeleton. Sure, you might have hands, legs, and something the resembles a head, and you can dress it up with fancy clothes, but in the end, it can’t stand on its own. A story with plot has bones, has a spine and the confidence to carry itself.

So write daily—something, anything. Be patient. And when you do write, determine the plot and the reason for your story.

**This was originally posted on June 12, 2014 at: https://cinemagraphicwriting.wordpress.com/2014/06/12/plot-the-spine-of-the-story/