Writing Tip of the Week
Writing Tip of the Week
On Being a Soarhead.
The Quenten Tarantino film The Hateful Eight features a close up of someone pouring poison into a coffee pot, poison that later kills some of the characters. Tarantino says he had no idea who poured the poison when he wrote that part of the screenplay. The whodunnit element developed later out of a character’s actions and motivations.
My (currently being formatted) mainstream novel began as a travelog about a small-town reporter gathering stories along Route 66. About a third of the way in, a minor character, the elderly woman who owns his newspaper, slapped me in the face and said, “I’m the star of this show, bub.” She was right. That is, she was right until a minor character she had met earlier in her life slapped me once again and said, “What about me!” All three stories came together at the conclusion in a way that was as satisfying as it was surprising. I doubt seriously if any reader will be able to pull those literary threads together before the work is tied up in a neat little bundle of surprises.
I attended a writer’s group hosting a presentation by a very successful author who kicked off by saying he never plotted his novels. I choked briefly as the air was sucked out of the room by the 35 or so attendees. Their reaction was like a group of East Texas Baptists watching Billy Graham say he’d converted to Buddhism. Rejoicing in finding another brother in arms, I said, “You’re saying that if you jump off the cliff, you’ll discover you have wings.” He pointed at me and said, “Yes!”
Robert Frost (and others) wrote, “No surprise for the writer; no surprise for the reader.”
What am I talking about?
The term created by Dean Wesley Smith is Writing Into The Dark. The term means trusting your subconscious mind to provide the words, phrases, and sentences that create a successful written work. It means trusting your gut. It means trusting your characters to tell the story according to their lives and not your blueprint for them.
Obligatory Disclaimer – I am not criticizing those who depend on plotting to produce their work. I am suggesting, strongly suggesting, that there is a much better way.
I practice Writing Into The Dark for two basic reasons.
One is what I just stated. How can the reader figure out what’s going to happen if the writer doesn’t know as he writes? Letting the plot develop according to the actions and motivations of the characters as they reveal it keeps the reader curious, involved and excited about what’s on the next page. You want to share with the reader those wonderful “I didn’t see that coming” moments.
Reason two is the pure joy of writing into the dark. There’s no more fun in writing than flying by the seat of your pants. Okay, that’s a kinda’ sorta’ odd bit of phrasing, but it’s absolutely true. Where’s the fun of writing if you already know everything that’s going to happen? The joy of discovery is replaced by the mundane process of fitting literary pieces of the puzzle in a pre-determined form. You can’t have a “didn’t see that coming” moment if you already know everything that’s about to happen. WITD is thrilling, joyful and just plain fun.
If you’ve never tried Writing Into The Dark, give it a try. If you’re already writing without a plot, keep up the good work. You have discovered a remarkable fact. When you take the leap off that literary cliff, you not only can fly, you can soar.
Quote of the Week: “Teachers often admonish beginning writers, ‘Write what you know!’ It’s good advice. The wisdom we know deep inside ourselves is infinitely richer than anything we can be taught.” Jarrett Andrew
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DB Comment. The key in that quote is “inside ourselves.” Once you realize that fact, your knowledge and experience can be translated into any genre.
Recommended Reading: 2001 Fascinating Facts by David Louis
Recommended Online: Tuesday Night Bri with Brian Cano (I was interviewed re:pendulum dowsing and my paranormal books.)
I’ll Be Signing Books:
Desert Foothills Book Festival – October 19, 2024
Paranormal Weekend at the Superstition Mountain Museum – October 20, 2024
Arizona Author’s Association Holiday Book Fair (Green Valley, AZ) – November 30, 2024
Shameless Self-Promotion:
YouTube/Podcast Appearances: Coast-To-Coast AM With George Noory; Tuesday Night Bri; Monster’s Lounge; Sasquatch Paranormal Podcast; Afraid of Nothing; Patricia Monna Talks with Pendulum Dowser Dan Baldwin; Journey Through the Gate: Old West Spirits with Dan Baldwin; Journey Through the Gate: Dan Baldwin Author/Psychic in the Superstition Mountains; House of Mystery Radio Show on NBC: Dan Baldwin Psychic Detective; House of Mystery Radio Show on NBC: The Psychic Detective Guidebook; Horsefly Chronicles with Julia & Phillip Siracusa: Dan Baldwin & George Sewell; Watchers Talk: Is It Possible to Communicate with the Departed?; X2RS: Speaking with Spirits of the Old West; Andy de Codes: Dan Baldwin; Vincent Zandri? from The Writer’s Life Episode 851: Dan Baldwin; Rob McConnell Show: Dan Baldwin – The Psychic Detective Guidebook; Dangerous Thoughts; Generation X Paranormal, Generation X Paranormal; Typical Skeptic; Strategies for Living; Conflict Radio, The Energy That Surrounds Us; Shifting Paradigms in Medicine;
Contact me at [email protected]
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