Off the Bookshelf: HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL USING THE SNOWFLAKE METHOD, by Randy Ingermanson

 

I've had this book sitting in my iPad library for a while now ...

Could somebody please tell me WHY I didn't read this sooner?

Well, maybe because whoever I heard talking about the snowflake method gave me a really twisted, off-the-mark idea of what was involved, and I was getting psychosomatic hives thinking of all the nitpicky work.

As in dozens of pages of character charts and psychological analysis and writing out a description of each scene and all sorts of anal-retentive-to-the-maximus work before I wrote one word ...

It ain't so!

For those of you who consider yourselves mega-pantsers, this won't interfere with your method. And it's adaptable so that the most organized of plotters will be happy and cozy.

The big word is flexibility.

And yeah, going back and revising, the more you learn about your characters and setting and their goals and dreams and fears and values and figuring out what will work -- yeah, BEFORE you write that opening scene.

The really fun part is that our esteemed teacher presents this as a story -- appropriately, set at a writing conference. There's conflict, fear, shame, old secrets and grudges, humor, angst, suspense, and discovery. Whew! Essentially, as our heroine Goldilocks learns to prepare to write her book and know where she's going and more importantly WHY she's going there in the story, we also learn along with her.

This is one of those writing books where it makes sense to go back and re-read it every few months, as a refresher course. If you haven't read this one yet ... don't be like me, and let an itchy fear of hives get in your way. Read it!

Off the Bookshelf: OXYGEN

Ever feel like you're jumping on the bandwagon so late, you almost missed and ended up face-down in the dust?

People have been talking about OXYGEN by John B. Olson and Randy Ingermanson on various Christian writing loops for what seems like YEARS. When the book was re-packaged and re-released by Marcher Lord  some time ago (don't ask me how long, but it was near the bottom of the list on my iPad Kindle reader, meaning it was one of the first books I got) I decided to get it.

Wish I had read it sooner! Yeah, I sometimes had a hard time with all the astronaut lingo and acronyms (occupational hazard when dealing with the government/military/sciences) and wondered when the promised romance would gain speed (the tagline proclaims it a science fiction romantic suspense), but the book kept me reading. Even when I should have been doing something else, like meeting deadlines for my own publishers!

The story: A manned mission to Mars (say that ten times fast!), all the prep work, personalities involved, politics, paranoia, and all the soul-searching and struggle for survival that takes place when things go very, very wrong with life support, when there's no chance of turning back or help reaching them in time.

What can I say? Wow. Thoroughly thought through, grabbing at your emotions, and threatening to give you a sore throat from holding back vocal arguments with or warnings to the main characters while reading in public. I'm just not into the space program -- I prefer my stories where we're already "out there" -- but this held my attention and interest. Good job, guys.

Interesting side note: At the back of the book is lots of bonus material, talking about how the book was written and sold, the collaboration between the two authors, and how they came up with the sequel. I haven't read all that material, but from everything I've heard about Ingermanson and Olson, definitely something a serious writer should read, just to learn from them.

Should you read OXYGEN? You better believe it.