Andrew E. Kaufman on Writing through Recovery (Pt. 1)

Author Andrew E. Kaufman discusses his journey to publication success with the novels While the Savage Sleeps, The Lion, the Lamb, the Hunted, and Darkness and Shadow at the Southern California Writers' Conference.

Secret Plot-Plot-Plotting!

Christ. Christ.

I showed up at the ‘opening hook’ workshop at the SoCal writers' conference not realizing that I was going to have to actually, yanno…*read* the first two pages of a manuscript. I thought I was going to die.

But my buddy saved my ass. My buddy that was not even in attendance, lol. BUT SHE BETTER SHOW UP NEXT TIME.

I chose the story on which I’ve been collaborating with noustewfu. It's the tale of a 19th century voodoo acolyte who accidentally resurrects a Revolutionary War-era privateer. Mae and Simon must learn to work together to stop a corrupt Haitian vodou priest. It is a work in-progress.

The feedback was extremely positive, and I received a couple good tips as well. I was thrilled. Awesome kudos to my collaborator and friend, you kick ass!!! I ordered room service to celebrate.

Lesson learned - you better damn well be able to snag your reader within the first two pages. And remember to SHOW, not TELL!

SO. Since there seemed to be some interest generated in the story, we created a Tumblr for it. HERE IT IS!!!

And, uh...yes. Relevant crap will be added to it. Eventually.

SCWC: Writing Sex Scenes that Serve the Story

-        There is a time and a place for everything, make sure it's in context.

-        Reveal some emotional vulnerability

-        There needs to be a reason for a love/sex scene.  It needs to be crucial for the plot.  It needs to serve a purpose.

-        Does it create internal/external conflict?  Both?

-        Does it create purposeful tension?

-        How does it play into a characters motivations?  Devious or honest motivations?

-        Does it move the plot forward in ways other elements would not?

-        Is there a better device I could use to make my point?  If yes, then lose the sex scene.

-        Focus on the emotions, what the characters are thinking/feeling.  The act itself is a vehicle, not necessarily the road.

-        Character's mental state can affect the sex

-        Keep your characters IN CHARACTER when they're having sex (as it relates to the plot), otherwise it would distract from the point.  Know your characters so you know their parameters.  How would they react in this situation?

-        It's not always what they do—it's what they don't do.  You don't have to explain every little thing.  Readers are smart enough to read between the lines.  Mounting sexual tension/seduction can be better than the act itself.

-        Is the character having fantasies?

-        Consider the possibility of teasing the reader a little bit.  It's okay to leave the audience wanting more

-        Purpose of the scene: is the character trying to manipulate another character?  Is it love?  Is one in love, the other not?  Filling unidentified emptiness?  Failed judgment?

-        How long is the act?  How many details are revealed?  Can be genre-dependent (sex in a thriller might be  more hurried than in a romance/erotica).  Beware of overkill, don't say the same thing over and over again.

-        Write the sex scene first with as little detail as possible, then add in details later.

-        You don't have to name every body part!  (if you don't want to).  Body parts are distracting. Focus on the emotions/thoughts.  What does the act mean to the character(s)?  How does the character interpret what's going on?

-        Length – plot/genre dependent (sex in a flashback/memory would not go on and on and on)

-        Consider taboo subjects.  Be aware that many publishers/sellers will not accept certain acts (rape, incest, children-involved acts, bestiality)

-        Safe sex—is this practiced in the book?  Consequences if it's not?  Disease, babies, etc. Consider the characters' circumstances (will dictate a lot of decisions).  Religious beliefs, length of relationship, personal morals, time period/era, etc.

-        What will the characters bring to the bedroom?  Emotional baggage?  How will this affect the sex?  Conflict in the bedroom?  Sex addiction?  Unfaithfulness?  Independence vs neediness.

-        THE ORGASM.  Do they happen in the story?  Do you want it in your scene?  Is it important for the connection?  Does it occur in realtime, or does it occur as a flashback/memory.  Do they both experience it?  Does one or both fake it?  If so, why?  This could be a plot element/device. Was the sex an obligation?

-        Post-orgasm.  Do the characters engage in pillow-talk afterward, or do they go cold?  Is there an argument?  Discussion?  Disconnection?  Bonding?

-        A sex scene is like any other scene.  Don't be afraid to leave your comfort zone a bit.

SCWC: Happily Ever After - Make Them Earn It

-        Conflict; driving toward a black moment that sticks with people

-        A black moment is a pivotal turning point where all seems to be lost and the hero might not win. Lead up to this with conflict (what are consequences?).  Make the stakes high enough to make the reader give a crap.  Moment of change for hero.  Can't be easily solved.

-        Transformation/growth must occur in character(s).  Worst fears/secrets must be realized, confronted, and overcome.  Character must not be the same person they were at the beginning (ex: Pretty Woman).

-        Black moment needs to be a scene that has been building since the beginning of the book (otherwise it won't be as believable).  Deepens as danger or conflict mounts and culminates in final climax that leaves the reader wondering what the heck will happen next.  Will the hero win?!

-        Difficult to sell a tragedy nowadays.  People like happy endings.

-        If the black moment is solved too easily, readers will be pissed.  Don't come up with a magical solution to fix it.

-        All the good guys don't have to live.  Kill off characters even if you don't want to (if it serves the story, if it helps transform the hero).

-        Characters should have great depth so that readers will care about them

-        Black moments can be risky (killing children in Hunger Games).  Necessary to make the character's progression/evolution more believable.

-        Even if the hero doesn't “win,” the ending still needs to provide some sort of satisfaction

-        Life isn't about how hard you can hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and continue on

-        Hero could lose everything, but does the right thing anyway.

-        Black moment has to be the character's absolute worst fear.  And why is the character so terrified of this?

-        Black moment should be so huge that you as a writer should be asking yourself “Holy crap, how am I going to fix this?”

SCWC: Keeping 'Em Hooked - Writing for Today's ADD Readers

-        Your story must: entertain, educate, enlighten

-        Bite-sized chapters are preferable for today's ADD/strapped-for-time readers.  People have short attention spans nowadays.  Despite the shortness of the chapters, the author's job is to get the reader to turn the page and start the next chapter.

-        Don't let the facts get in the way when it's a page-turning suspense.  Page-turning suspense is for EVERY genre.

-        Everyone needs editing.  Everyone.  The scene needs to move the plot!

-        Use critique groups like a salad – choose what fits.  Pay attention of multiple critiquers bring attention to the same issue.

-        Put your first draft away for a month and then review/revise it with fresh eyes.

-        Everything that is real must be right.

-        1 twist for every 2 characters.  3 characters – 2 twists

-        “The palest of ink is better than the best memory” - write stuff down whenever you can!!  Don't try to retain too much in your head.  Get it on the paper.

-        Difference between thriller and mystery – reader knows who the villain is near the beginning in a thriller.  How it's done vs who done it? (mystery)

-        Engage the reader with the main character – with the character reach his/her goal???

-        Mysteries and thrillers are popular because people are naturally problem-solvers.

-        Don't trick the reader, give them an “ah-ha” moment.

-        Raise the stakes.  Something awesome is about to happen—but under certain conditions.  (Ex: (amazing possibility)You can have a million dollars...(condition)but only if you can get to Catalina by noon.)

-        Good suspense depends a great deal on backstory.  But don't use backstory up front!

-        Write the whole story first (try to first plow through to the end, don't agonize forever on the first chapter)—you can always go back later and change/move around/delete things.

-        Use prologues sparingly.  Start off with chapter one.  You have to hook the reader in the first 2 pages.

-        Make the reader care about something, then put it in danger.  Make the stakes high enough to make people care about the character/character's goals.  IF this happens, THEN this happens...

-        If you want to increase the tension, shorten/clip the sentences

-        Create a ticking time bomb—something that must be accomplished, or all is lost!  What is the obstacle?  Throw rocks at your characters.

-        Use senses/setting to generate tension and anticipation (ex: The telephone is off the hook.  A broken window.  Water left running in the sink, etc).

-        Use longer sentences to slow down time

-        Break tension by having something happen (ex: the phone rings)

-        The twists must be more believable than what was previously thought/suspected.

-        If you're going to pull the rug out from under your reader, then give them a place to stand

SCWC: Jump Start Your Story - The Spark of Life

So, I got in to my first workshop yesterday kind of late (the badge pickup line was sort of slow >.>)  But I managed to catch up.  I was given a random magazine photograph of a woman, and asked to describe her in five words. Five, instantaneous words, without any real thought or consideration.  Here's what I came up with:

pristine, elegant, clean, rich, refined

We were then asked to describe the person in our picture, and whether or not we would like to know them.

Looks like she would be tall; short, dark hair, dark eyes, almost black. She is wearing a business suit. Huge ring. She has blue accented glasses, very classy. She wears light makeup, very natural, so she seems to only wear it for slight enhancement rather than complete coverage (not trying to hide or recreate her features).

I would like to know her; she looks important. She looks like she has something important to say. She looks like a professional. Government official (politician) or major news anchor, or high-ranking private company official. She has large feet—perhaps size 9 or 9.5. Mid-to-late 40s. Looks familiar, may have seen her on TV before. She appears very authoritative, successful. Ex-military? Well-groomed.

We were then told to come up with five more words to describe the person (which was gradually becoming a character as we played along):

Intellectual, serene, fit, organized, adept

A scenario was proposed - this person wakes up in the middle of the night.  What happens?  What does she think about?

This woman is good at what she does, and makes a lot of money at it. Well-educated, climbed up the ladder. In the middle of the night, she wakes up and cannot go back to sleep. She gets up, wraps a silk or satin robe/housecoat around herself (pink, funnily enough, because she doesn't seem especially feminine). She is alert, roams the house a bit, nudges the cat aside with her foot as she goes to the fridge (a large stainless steel fridge) and pulls out a carton of milk. Does she drink directly from the carton? Yes, because despite her rigid exterior, she lets herself break the rules in her own house despite her strict adherence to them in the outside world.

Who worries about her?

Her husband does not worry much about her, because she is strong and resilient. Her mother worries about her because she crosses boundaries and uses daring strategy in her career. Her mother is from a different era; not used to women having such a strong sense of initiative in a career field dominated by men.

What do you imagine her name to be?

Debora.

A scene was then proposed, using the photo I was given, along with all the other photos other people in the workshop were given.  We were asked to give them names/professions/relationships to each other.

Suburban neighborhood

Surgeon Nelson– loner, workaholic, tennis-player

first wife (Joanne) and daughter (in 30s)

second wife (Beth) is in prison, tried to murder someone (him?)

lawyer defending 2^nd wife (Peter)

mother of the lawyer (Debora)

Clare – new love interest for Nelson (resembles his daughter in rehab)

Then we were asked to choose one of the characters and write a short scene from their point of view.  I picked my photograph of "Debora."

My son, Peter, is completely inept. I told him that it was a mistake to become a defense lawyer. We enjoyed a brief lunch today at the pier, where we discussed his current case. Since I am the district attorney, he has come to me to arrange a plea deal for his client, Beth. Beth has been accused of trying to murder her husband Nelson, a brilliant neurosurgeon.

“No,” I tell him. “No deal. She either pleads guilty or she will receive an added ten years for her gang association.”

“Gang affiliation can't be proven,” Peter tells me. He seems to have forgotten that she's met all the criteria. In fact that's why she even attempted to kill Nelson—it was part of a gang initiation act.

–

Miscellaneous Notes

- Writing exercise for a story-starter: pull out three photos at random from a magazine and develop plot/characters with them.

- We derive our own conclusions about people just from looking at them, studying them. What would their dynamics be with other people?

- Trick your unconscious mind to imagine without any kind of censor (Angel vs Devil on your shoulders)

- Choose a character and write from their POV

- Know inner-life of the character, so they seem more grounded rather than unachievable/inaccessible

Basis for my book.

The concept of robots, or creatures animated from metal, stone, or clay, has been around for thousands of years. I was surprised to discover this, but it makes sense that the appeal has proliferated for so long.

Data from “Star Trek”, Johnny 5 from Short Circuit, Andrew from The Positronic Man (Bicentennial Man), the Cylons from “Battlestar Galactica”, the replicants in Blade Runner, The Terminator, Transformers, KITT from “Knight Rider”, and even WALL-E and EVE exhibit that spark that could be acknowledged as a soul. Edward Scissorhands can even fall into this group. The list goes on and on; there are so many stories that we’re familiar with that examine the conjecture and supposition of what it means to be human.

We are fascinated with projecting human-like qualities onto machines. We love to imagine that somehow, by our own hand, we could cultivate an intelligent, sentient being that exhibits kindred traits. We are intrigued by the potential for growth beyond one’s programmed parameters, the ability to reason and ruminate beyond simple automation.

In Amaranthine, I wanted to explore this theme from the opposite direction. Instead of a machine longing to understand and experience the spirit of humankind (the essence we take for granted), I wanted to speculate the consequences of a person’s humanity being stripped away. What sorts of limitations would be imposed? How would the technological superiority affect our emotions and perceptions? Which of our hard-wired needs would we have to sacrifice in exchange for these modifications? In the transition from the biological to the mechanical, what would we lose and what would we gain? Would the enhancements be for the better or for the worse?

The marriage of man and machine is certain; we see it today with synthetic organs, myoelectric prosthetics, pacemakers, and even brain implants to help the vision-impaired.

But what would happen if one’s body was entirely artificial?