Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions for Writers

I’m sure every writer has made a well-intentioned resolution that in hindsight was overly ambitious. From getting an agent to publishing three books in a year, writers often create unrealistic expectations for themselves that usually result in disappointment and depression. I’d like to propose the following suggestions as alternative resolutions for any writer at any stage of their craft. Leave a comment below if you come up with any others.

10. I will stop obsessing over how many times I use the word “said” in a scene.

9. I will write five minutes more during each writing session.

8. When I dread my writing time, I will either change the story or write on something else.

7. I will disregard well-intentioned advice that doesn’t fit my situation or writing style.

6. I will do something fun in the name of research.

5. I will identify an insecurity I have in my craft and improve it.

4. I will find joy in the publication of other writers, not resentment.

3. I will create pages of my story, not just notes to myself of what my story will be.

2. I will write something that I will love.

1. I will practice my autograph, just in case.

What Writers Can Learn from "A Christmas Carol"

It’s Christmas time, and that means the Schopfer home is filled with the signs of the season. A tree that has taken over the stairwell, holiday music echoing from several rooms at once, and evening showings of all our favorite Christmas movies. It was while watching one of these old favorites that I started to muse over what is perhaps the most popular Christmas tale of all time, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”

I heard somewhere that this short book has been adapted to film more times than any other work of fiction, and I don’t think anyone who knows the story would be surprised by that. The universal themes of guilt, love, and redemption are personified by this powerful little plot, and everyone seems to want to present their personal vision of the story. This abundance of adaptations doesn’t even take into account all of the stories that are clearly influenced by Scrooge’s emotional journey. From “It’s a Wonderful Life” to “One Magic Christmas”, tales of divine intervention on behalf of a lost soul are part of the cultural fabric of this special time of year.

So what can writers learn from this? So often I’ll hear students and peers who express concern over writing a similar plot to something else they’ve seen. “I had to give up on that story,” they say sadly, “someone else had already written it.” Don’t think that! Even if your plot is identical to someone else’s story, only you can tell that story in your own way.

Look at “A Christmas Carol” again. How many different Scrooges have you seen? How many Jacob Marleys, or Bob Cratchits? How many times have you heard the lines “God bless us, everyone!” and “Humbug!” Are any of the various adaptations lessened by their peers? Perhaps, but keep in mind that many of those adaptations would have likely still been sub-par even without superior versions to compare them to. On the other hand, think of the various adaptations that are all wonderful and all different from each other despite having nearly identical plots. Like a song that’s been sung by a variety of artists, a good story can become great as each artist puts their distinctive mark on the piece.

My personal favorite is the “Muppet Christmas Carol”. I’ve always been a huge fan of Jim Henson (I dedicated one of my short stories to him) and this movie was the first major Muppet project after his passing. The usual silliness of the characters was subdued in favor of a warmer, gentler adaptation of the familiar story, tinged with the grief and loss of Jim as well as longtime Muppeteer Richard Hunt. There’s a scene where Kermit (now played by Steven Whitmire and portraying the character of Bob Cratchit) speaks to his family about the death of Tiny Tim. It’s clear that Kermit’s words are as much meant for the rest of the Muppet family as it is for the Cratchit family, and I always cry at the sweet sincerity of that moment.

So remember, writers, that it doesn’t matter if your story has a similar plot to something else that’s already been done. The story may have been told, but only you can tell it with your voice. Trust in the power of your storytelling ability, and perhaps your story will one day be a treasured classic for your fans.

Merry Christmas!

December Update on "Into the North"

With a book tour scheduled for late spring, I've temporarily put all other projects on hold as I work furiously to get the sequel to The Beast Hunter ready for publication. The first draft was completed a while ago, and I'm working on the second draft revisions now. Things were going well at first, and I even managed to get a whole week ahead of schedule. And then I hit a snag.

I had planned to try a different revision strategy for this book. While I never outline my stories before writing them, I decided to try outlining the plot as it appeared in the first draft. The idea was that I could then use my outline to see the plot all at once and make large-scale edits quickly and efficiently. Once the outline had been fully revised, I would be able to use it as a road map for the rest of the second draft. That was the plan.

What happened was that I struggled just to create the outline in the first place. I had to read the entire first draft manuscript to create a beat-by-beat description of the plot, forcing myself to ignore all of the mistakes and problems that my editor's eye kept noticing. To placate myself, I kept a notebook nearby that was soon half-filled with notes of places that would need fixing later. Things got even harder after finishing the outline.

I quickly found a significant flaw in my plan as soon as I started making revisions to the outline. Whenever I made a correction early on in the manuscript, I found that I wasn't able to make any corrections later in the draft because I didn't know how the earlier change might affect the story. If I added a new character in chapter five, what would they be doing to affect the story in chapter fourteen? Since I'm not a natural outliner, I found the process of trying to anticipate my creative mind to be frustrating, time-consuming, and ultimately hopeless.

After reaching out to several friends for advice, I decided to chuck the outline and start revising the actual manuscript, using my notebook of suggested edits to jump-start the process. While I'm disappointed to have lost so much time to the outline, I'm glad to say that the second draft is finally coming along, and I'm very happy with the changes I'm making.

I'll be sure to give another update as we get closer to the release date. Big thanks to all of my fans and friends for their support and enthusiasm!

Warning Signs that Christmas is Invading Your Story

Whenever I write, I always have a carefully crafted playlist of music for my writing sessions. However, my writing playlist has recently taken a backseat to all my favorite Christmas tunes, and it got me thinking. What if all these carols and festive favorites started to have a subliminal effect on my writing? So just for fun, here are some signs that Christmas might be creeping into your narrative.

For Fantasy Writers – Your elves shoot longbows decorated with candy cane stripes and make toys in their treetop cities.

For Western Writers – Mistletoe keeps popping up in odd places like hardware stores, horse stables, outhouses…

For Sci-fi Writers – You put the rest of your story on hold as you dedicate yourself to figuring out a believable way to make it snow in space.

For Horror Writers – Your poltergeist forces the protagonist to start overcoming deeply ingrained character flaws and to give large gifts to big-eyed children.

For Memoir Writers – You keep interrupting the story of how you found faith in the face of grief to tell anecdotes about wanting a BB gun for Christmas.

For Historical Writers – Despite all your research, nothing interesting ever seemed to happen between January and mid-November.

For Thriller Writers – Your terrorists seem less interested in genocide and more interested in stealing presents.

For Mystery Writers – Your hardened PI delves into the dark underworld of San Francisco to find out how Santa gets all his presents into his sack.

For Steampunk Writers – Clockwork reindeer.

Game Story Review – Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

I’ve said before that Star Wars can never be ruined for me (click here for more on that). That being said, I’ve only played two games set in the Star Wars universe that stirred some of that powerful nostalgia in me. The first is the original X-wing game for CD-Rom back in 1994. The second is Knights of the Old Republic (or KOTOR to fans) developed by BioWare and released in 2003.

Premise

This game takes place about 4,000 years before the storyline in the original trilogy of movies. The Jedi are established throughout the galaxy as peace-keepers and the ultimate authority figures, but a splinter-group calling themselves the Sith have begun a war for control of known-space. It’s up to a colorful cast of characters including Jedi, soldiers, a Wookie, and a homicidal droid to choose a side and fight for the freedom of the galaxy or the lure of power in a new regime.

Review

Like many other RPGs, there’s a morality system in KOTOR that keeps track of all of your “good” and “bad” choices. What sets KOTOR apart is that the morality of the protagonist is the central focus of the storyline. Almost every sub-quest and mission can be done in a good or evil way, and the final act will be drastically different depending on whether you played on the light-side or the dark side. I especially like the way these choices tie-in with the identity of the protagonist. I won’t spoil it, but suffice it to say that there’s a reveal two-thirds of the way through the game that has been called one of the best twists in video gaming history.

However, there are some significant problems with the morality system in KOTOR. In my two-part review of the Mass Effect storyline (which was also produced by BioWare) I praised the way that the developers had provided role-playing flexibility for the player. If you wanted to play a good guy who wasn’t a pushover, you could do that. If you wanted to play a bully who had a soft spot, you could do that too. But in KOTOR, the moral choices have very little subtlety. “Do you choose to let the child call you names or do you cut his head off?” are the sort of extreme options the player is given.

This is compounded by the game being heavily influenced by the Jedi Order as presented in the three underwhelming prequel movies. The Jedi are presented as dogmatic and narrow-minded pacifists, which is probably the most boring character archetype you could have in a sci-fi RPG. Perhaps this was intended to make the Sith more sympathetic, but this breaks down when the Sith’s portrayal is little more than a one-dimensional desire to rule everything. It’s this lack of compelling arguments from either ideology that ultimately makes the plot one of the weaker elements of this game.

But I don’t play this game for the plot. I play this game to feel like I’m in the Star Wars universe, swinging lightsabers, buying droids, gambling in bars surrounded by weird aliens… that’s where the appeal of this game lies. The music, sound effects, and artwork all work in harmony to create an atmosphere that is both Star Wars and its own unique setting. Granted, there are some logical problems with the setting. For example, why is the technology level, political situation, and cultural norms all basically the same as they are in the movies which take place 4,000 in the future? Still, I’ve always considered the drastic time difference primarily an excuse for the developers to have some flexibility in their portrayal of the galaxy, and I think the game is better for it.

If you’re considering playing this game for the first time, I’d encourage you to give it a try. While the role-playing aspects leave much to be desired, the chance to play a well-balanced RPG in the Star Wars universe is too good to pass up. Enjoy the atmosphere, the action, and the experience. Also, don’t feel guilty about skipping all the dialogue about light/dark philosophy. You won’t be missing anything.