Story Porn
By John Vorhaus | September 24, 2015 |
I’m in the outline/development stage of writing my next novel, a mystery/thriller called Stella Blue, and as I do with every major new writing project I take on, I have lately asked myself, “What do I want to learn this time?” It has become clear to me that my writing gets better, faster and is more fun (well, scary fun) when I’m out on the face of the wave between what I know and don’t know about my craft.
This time out, I have a couple of goals in mind. One is to do a much better job of outlining and mapping the story before I start writing a draft in earnest. As some of you know, I’m a proudly self-defined “pantser” – I write by the seat of my pants. I’ve always claimed that this was because if I knew in advance where the story was headed, I couldn’t be bothered to write it. These days, I don’t think that’s true. If I’m being honest with myself (as I learned to be from writing my last book, how to live life) I’d have to say that part of me rejects outlining because I perceive it as dry, dull work – heavy lifting at a time when I want light skipping and jumping. But my growth as a writer demands that I part with the pantser model, at least temporarily, if for no other reason than to overcome a certain prejudice and find out, really, if outlining has anything to offer me at all.
The other goal, related to the first, is to see if I can come up with some brand new ways to think about story development. I understand outlining to be the part of the process where I gather raw material for the story. I want to do a better – and therefore must do a different – job of this than I have in the past.
Why do I need new methods for story development? Because I hate story development. In the early days of finding a story it seems like I’m mostly just staring off into space thinking of nothing at all. Sometimes this feeling gets so bad, so frustrating, that the story never develops at all. I don’t lament this – I never force a story to come – I just call it another dry well and move on to the next.
This time around, though, I’m making great progress and having great fun by using a simple new technique I call “story porn.” Basically, all I do is look at pictures that I think might be relevant to my story, and then wait to get excited by what I see.
For instance, Stella Blue takes place (among other places) in a commune in Vermont in the early 1970s. Simply by Googling images of commune life, I find my eyes (and therefore head) stuffed with thrilling bits of visual information. That’s the porn part. Such information causes all kinds of interesting questions to spring to my mind. What are the rules of life in my commune? Where do jealousies and rivalries lie? These people all look so happy – what could make them mad enough to kill? That’s the story part. Together they add up to story porn, an easy, effective (for me anyway) new path to story development.
It has a pleasing rhythm. I write until I can’t think of anything else to write and then, instead of staring off into space, I stare at pictures. I stare at pictures until I think of something to write, then I write. When I run dry again, I go back to my pictures. Words to pictures, pictures to words, back and forth in a nice, gentle, productive process of advancing my story and my understanding of all it has to offer.
To make this method work for me – really spin like a top – I find that there’s one significant process block to let go of, and that’s the need to be writing all the time. See, I used to think that staring at pictures was frivolous, lazy, or otherwise worthy of contempt. I was enslaved by “the myth of efficiency,” which believes that only the act of putting the words on the page is “real writing,” and everything else is one or another form of time-wasting distraction.
I’m training myself to be okay with distraction. I’m training my mind to let my searches take me where they will. I’m rethinking this whole idea of efficiency and recognizing (as I knew all along) that story development is an inherently inefficient process, just by its very nature.
I’m also letting go of the need to write things in chronological order. There’s so much I will have to know about this story, why should I limit myself to discovering things only as events unfold? If a picture gives me great insight into something that happens in the climax of my story, or somewhere in the middle, or at the beginning or before the beginning, I don’t bother asking how it all fits in. I just write it all down. I’ll sort it all out later. That sorting out… that’s called the first draft.
Another thing I’m mindful of here is the need to operate at an appropriate level of detail. There are so many questions I need answers to, but I don’t need them all right now. Just to give you one example, I hate a certain character’s name. Every time I write it, I remind myself that it needs to be changed. Yes, but it doesn’t need to be changed right now. As long as I understand that the current name is just a placeholder, I can continue in my development, unafraid to be wrong, or vague or undercooked on the page. That’s a big breakthrough for me.
I can’t write the same books over and over again, just as, per Heraclitus, you can’t enter the same river twice. I have to keep reinventing myself, my words, my stories, my approach. That’s the only way I’ll get better, and if I’m not committed to getting better as a writer, what the hell am I doing here in the first place? So now my browser history reflect my journeys to hippie times, mountain biking, religious cults, the Grateful Dead, the Green Mountain State, and how many hits of acid can be found on a typical sheet of blotter.
And my official Story Outline document is a big, fat hairy mess of what-ifs and maybes, sprayed all over the pages in no particular order.
That looks like progress to me.
Or anyway it looks like fun.
And not for nothing, but tomorrow is my 60th birthday, and if I’m still having this sort of ridiculous fun at my age, I have to think I’m doing okay.
What are the best parts of your process? What are the worst? What discoveries have you made about your approach that you can concretely share with others? Where does your writing day typically take you, and what can you do to take it some place new and different and lots more fun?
[coffee]
John Vorhaus has written seven novels, including Lucy in the Sky, The California Roll, The Albuquerque Turkey and The Texas Twist, plus the Killer Poker series and (with Annie Duke) Decide to Play Great Poker. His books on writing include The Comic Toolbox, How to Write Good and Creativity Rules!
John, greetings from a fellow pantser trying to be more of a plotter. I’ve never tried the technique of looking at pictures to flesh out a story, but I know writers who “story board” their stories with photos clipped from magazines. I am currently writing a novella that takes place at a lake in Wisconsin and on a trip last year to Madison, I took all sorts of pictures of lakes. It has helped me to visualize the setting in a fresh way. I appreciate your sharing these techniques with the WU community.
I also look at pictures through google searches and then am amazed at what those nasty algorithms say I’m interested in – it will be interesting to see what pop-up ads you get from the Grateful Dead and those hits of acid! Last week, I researched Prairie Style homes in Oak Park and now real estate agents are sending me listings of million dollar homes, Enjoyed the post – welcome over to the plotters side of things.
Hey John-
Funny, on my current project my main goal was just the opposite of yours: to fully “pants” a manuscript and experience discoveries that outlining did not provide.
So far so good. It has helped having mile markers–moments that I knew had to be included–and a solid grounding in scene structure has made it possible to start with a scrap and make sure that every scene truly advances the story.
Other stretches I set for myself included writing a story where the journey truly is inside and moves forward without the crutch of plot. Not that there’s anything wrong with plot, of course, it’s just that so many novels in this category carry themselves along primarily with plot. They lack emotional force. I wanted my MC’s journey of change to be what matters.
I also set myself a goal to write a scene in which “nothing happens” but which is utterly dynamic anyway. Plenty of classic authors have done that, why not me? I also wanted to add themes to my story that novels in this category do not usually offer, yet making them integral rather than add-ons.
As for (story) porn…I do find it useful to find faces for my characters, but honestly the greater necessity for me is researching what my characters would know and visiting the settings in the story. The details gleaned that way give me confidence.
Nice post, John, it reminds me that there are many ways to write a novel. If viewing (story) porn helps you…well, awesome. Doesn’t do much for me but, hey, go for it.
I’ve got this story about fairies, so I took this herbs and spices book apart and mocked up a field guide for their herbalist (my main character). I created a board on pinterest to store inspiration. I watched all kinds of disney movies to make sure I didn’t do what’s already been done. I learned what animals live in Ireland (did you know there are no snakes and only one type of lizard?) I developed a map of their village and a floorplan of my main character’s home. And I’m working on a fairy folk and lore book filled with their histories and descriptions of different types of fairies because the herbalist’s brother is an historian… wow, I sound uber-nerdy right now.
I am a total plotter (obviously) but I write my first drafts the way you described above. If I’m researching something and a scene comes up, I just write it down and title the document with a descriptive line. If I ever get blocked, I just print it all out and play story tetris, rearranging the pieces into some kind of sensible order. This will generally inspire me to work on one of the holes I see in the story and we’re back in business.
I used to wish I could just jump into a story like other writers do, but, come on, I make an outline for how I’m going to clean the house. This is how I function and I’ve learned to stop questioning myself when I should be questioning the story.
Great post! Hope plotting both impresses you and gives you newfound appreciation for pantsing.
And yet another pantser trying to become a plotter! I love your whole story porn idea and am eager to try it out on my next novel. Happy 60th, John. You look great!
John, I absolutely love this post. Really. When I met you at WUncon, I thought you were this contagious ball of fire (that’s a huge compliment by the way) I just had to follow, and you shine, leading the way in this post.
Story Porn. What a great title for a planning concept! Love it.
I wrote my first novel in less than 10 weeks, flying by the seat of my pants. Then it took me 2-3 years to edit and fix. I learned my lesson and learned to plan. I learned Story Porn is my friend, and doesn’t limit me or my creative juices, only fuels them, diving into uncharted waters. Books two and three were planned, planned well, and I’ve never looked back.
Kudos to you for trying something new, thinking outside your box, and having such a great time as a writer. I feel the same, and hope we’re both contagious. :)
Hugs
Dee Willson
Author of A Keeper’s Truth and GOT
I love Pinterest.com for this – you can create a board for each book and fill it with images which link to interesting articles that give you yet more ideas and images. I’ve even made screenshots of the current favourite board and used it as a screensaver, so even if I’m not at my computer, the screen scrolls through my Pinterest pages and I can see them from a distance – a visual reminder to stay within the story, even if I’m eating lunch or dealing with life stuff.
I’m very visual so the photos and mental images are all I’ve got for my story. When I sit down to write, it’s like wandering back into a movie I’d paused in the middle. And I find, like you, the images and the research bring a depth, and sometimes sub-plots and character development, I wouldn’t have otherwise. Thanks for sharing your approach; it’s so nice to know we aren’t wandering this path alone.
Thanks for posting this – really resonated with me – such a good idea. Happy Birthday! (and many more)
Jennifer Crusie does fabulous, inspiring 3-D mock-ups of her whole story. you can check out one of the most amazing at https://arghink.com/2014/10/the-monday-street-collage-details-add-up/ .
Sounds like we are at the same point with deciding to try plotting more – my decision fueled by the horrendous amount of time I am spending on rewrites of unfocused pantsed ms’s.
The giving-yourself-permission-to-look-at pictures thing is so true. Thank you for reminding me of Jenny’s great collages and giving me permission to take the time to find them again online.
I like your idea of looking at pictures that reflect your story idea. I’ll have to try that with another story. I have a Pinterest board for my current WIP that consists of pics of my characters and certain aspects of their life (i.e. friends, cars, pets, etc.). Since the overall theme for my series is sex trafficking, I’m pretty sure I don’t need to see pics of that. :/
Happy Birthday, John! Thanks for a terrifically timely piece. I’m just starting a proposal for a new series, and while I’ve written and sold two before, it’s hard to remember how I did that! It’s great to get the reminders, and a few new ideas, from your piece.
It’s also good to see a writer trying another approach, to see what the process can teach him or her. Though I’m an outliner, I had a really hard time planning the mystery I just finished; I decided that since many successful writers are pantsers, I could “pants” certain elements, including the last 1/3, of the story. I don’t know if the book suffered — I have zero perspective at this point — but I know I did. For me, it was a really hard way to write, much harder than planning. I definitely learned things from the experiment, incl things to do and things not to do again. I hope your experiment succeeds on that level as well.
Hey everybody, thanks for your thoughtful responses (and kind birthday wishes). This whole discussion reminds me of a known truth of story on the text level: “the ocean is blue but it’s also wet — there’s always more than one ‘right’ version of any story.” We also see that there’s always more than one right approach to writing a story. I view passing back and forth between pantsing and non-pantsing like being a switch-hitter or a utility infielder: your flexibility makes you more useful, productive and marketable. Not that I’ve ever been a switch-hitter or a utility infielder. I wanted to play baseball — I did — but I couldn’t run, hit, field, throw or catch, and I was afraid of the ball.
“Sigh,” says my adolescent ghost, “Guess I’ll go inside and write…”
Thanks for a great post John. I’m new to this forum, and have really been impressed with the ideas shared among writers. I’ve been working on and off penning my first novel for several years now, and enjoyed hearing what you and other writers do to get the creative juices flowing.
One of the things I find most useful, if I’m lacking inspiration, is to play some appropriate soundtrack music — fast-paced if it’s an action scene I’m struggling with, sad if it’s an emotional scene, etc. I’ve collected a library of such music, and will just sit in my “thinking chair” and listen until I can imagine my characters inside their own movie, doing things or having a conversation.
Thanks again for the great post!
For me, being a plotter means staying in control and directing the story, while being a pantser means freedom and creativity. As a newbie to this, I’ve tried both methods over the past couple years, and a few months ago ended up with a hybrid of them that seems to be working well. As much as I enjoy the unexpected discoveries from letting a story unfold organically, I realized I’d never finish a story that way–like life, they just keep going on and on. I need to know ‘the end’ or at least one possible end, I’m writing toward. But, creating a detailed outline made the writing feel tedious, and uninspired, like little more than “fill-in-the-blanks” on a test. So, now I’m working with a very general outline that leaves plenty of room for new characters, events, etc. as they occur to me, but that also keeps the story on track. My outline corresponds roughly to chapters, and the only thing specified is “the point”, the reason for writing it. Eg., Chapter 2. “MC meets caretaker.” The where, when, how, etc., is left for the actual writing. So far, this is working well. I know I still write too much, but will edit the excess once the story is finished, and hope that a strong, viable story remains.
I’ve always viewed the characters in my stories as people who stumble into my life (actually, my mind) and introduce themselves. Over a period of recording specific events of their lives (the parts they want me to know about) I grow to understand them and what they experienced. Thus, the novel or short story is born. Forcing myself to write what I think they’ve gone through or said isn’t necessarily the best option for me to relay that story. I’ll sit down and review what I’ve already written and hope something more is revealed, which usually happens anyway. That works better than commanding X number of pages or words out of my brain before I get back up. I don’t look at fiction writing as a job, but the passion it’s meant to be.
Happy Birthday, too, John! Gosh, you don’t look a day over 58! :)
Love the tips and the whole idea of using the pictures to stimulate ideas. What a clever use of “porn.” LOL I, too am traditionally a pantster, but wondering now if I would write faster if I did a bit of planning first. My current WIP looks a lot like yours with bits and pieces of scenes interspersed with notes and plot ideas. I am finding as I go through from one tangled mess to the next and clean it all up, the story is coming along nicely. I’m going to quote you on my blog tomorrow for my Writing Wisdom feature and link back to this piece.
Happy birthday.
Looking forward to Stella Blue no matter how you get wind up getting there. I was the girl with the camera so I have a trove of photos from the trenches having invented “point and shoot” from the times when I was not so upright. If you want, I’ll send you those mid-seventies issues of Rolling Stone before they completely decompose. And while you are wallowing in that story porn, don’t forget the music! It’ll take you more than halfway there.
ps. Your posts alone are great writing prompts. thanks
Jeez, how can I say no to that kind offer? See inbox for mailing address. :) PS Thanks for the joe. -jv
Enjoyed the post! I was more or less a pantser for a long time, but the more I honed my process for pre-development (I don’t call it plotting because most of the work goes into just figuring out the important stuff about all the moving pieces, and if that’s done right the synopsis seems to write itself…) the more I realized that I write best when I know where I’m going. It was the difference between 500 well-written words a night that didn’t survive editing and several thousand that were catchier and more lively (and cheaper to cut if needed) and (most importantly) went the right direction to begin with. Pre-development seems to take a lot of time to do right and it’s not as fun, but it makes drafting a lot MORE fun because it frees you up to just write what’s in front of you and not worry about how to avoid dead ends as you go along. Drafting and planning require such different mental hats, right?