Wednesday’s Tea #5

Ducks in a Row

The full saying goes, “Get all your ducks in a row”. In other words, do yourself a favor and do your prep-work.

     Preparation (prep-work) is essential and the single lifeline to save yourself when you lose focus or lose direction. But, preparation is also flexible to allow different perspectives and focuses as long as it adds and not distract from the masterpiece you had your heart to present to the world. Much Like cooking, it’s important to look at the whole (the finished product), pay close attention to the ingredients needed (what makes up the parts), the recipe itself (how everything fits together), to mix the ingredients according to the recipe (your outline-even storyboarding), and finally it’s time to cook what you have put together (sitting down and write that great inspirational novel). Oh, but it isn’t over yet. You should also have in your prep kit test tasters (test readers).

     One of the most overlooked assets when it comes to preparing your steps to have a successful and meaningful experience in this task (manuscript, short stories, movie –stage-TV script) is to have readers. This was one lesson learned I wished someone had brought to my attention while I was making preparations to write my first, second, or… you get the point. Not only just having some test readers, but the right test readers. The mixture that works for me is 10% who know little on the subject, 10% who are experts, 30% who are family and friends (I know-self-esteem purpose), and 50% of those who are just excited to be a part of something special. Believe it or not, but the 50% and the 30% groups are the ones who will give you the biggest headache as were the ones who aren’t interested and experts will give you the best reviews. These two smaller groups will help you produce the best product possible and support you to the end. Now on to the heart of the actual prep-work itself. Let’s take a look at the two main topics when it comes to the heart of prep-work a bit closer starting with World Building and finish up with Character Development.

  

World Building

    Gathering and choosing the information and materials on a subject, course, and of an idea is extremely necessary and a vital step to obtain a predetermined outcome. But, what is most important and insures your outcome is what you wanted it to be is preparation on the surroundings, more preparation on the situations, and even more preparation on what drives your story and what doesn’t. Even if there are no (reference) materials to gather, there is one source for the background information of the subject(s) that your work will be based on and that asset is you. The more material you can come up with, the richer the content of your work will be and will allow your reader to submerse themselves in the world you have created. Of course, this is a necessary action that should take place for character development as well.  

Character Development

    “According to Stanislavsky, the creator of The Method (method acting). There are no small parts, just small actors”

     The best characters are the ones where the reader imagines what they look like, what they sound like, and what they would feel if they were to meet them in person. Unfortunately, the best they can do is meeting the author (unless someone buys the option to turn it into a movie or TV show). The best characters I have ever written have very little to go on about their appearance, and yet I (on occasion) use comparison descriptors to add more depth to what the reader can add to their imagination of the character they had formed in their minds. The only description that must (none-aliens) stand out is if they are male or female. After one of these two choices have been made then you can Let-Err-Rip. In an early article I looked at the subject of bad sometimes being good and good using villainous ways and yet in both these examples it’s the desired outcome that counts. As they say, the victor writes the history books. It’s about time to bring this to a close with these final thoughts.

     With World Building and Character Development done, then comes the fun part, your story line (the recipe).

     You would think that after you know where you are and who all the players are that all you would have to do is connect the dots. Road maps (storylines-storyboards) are very tricky. The first thing you have to realize is that nothing is written in stone (always wanted to say that when it actually means what it was intended). Although, all storylines start on the same road or connects somewhere ahead, it’s the destination that has a problem of moving. This movement could be farther away, a bit off center, way off to the left or right, or move towards you for a shorter distance (ran out of ideas or just want to get it over with by cutting your work short). But, no matter the case, don’t concentrate on every tree, bush, or rock when you take your first journey from the starting line to the finish line (that’s for the second draft).

     The Picture is from the 1986 American science fiction comedy film directed by Willard Huyck called “Howard the Duck.” This movie was actually based on the 1973 Marvel Comic character Howard the Duck who was created in 1973 by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik in Adventure into Fear as a secondary character in that comic's Man-Thing.

Would you like to have your topic discussed? Would you like to get an opinion on something that bugging you? Have you ever wonder about what makes an author pull out their hair?  Well, let's sit down for a cup of TEA or a nice healthy shot of CAFFEINE.

 
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