One Day At A Time: N. H. I.: No Humans Involved by Ray Ellis

One Day At A Time: N. H. I.: No Humans Involved by Ray Ellis: "N. H. I.: No Humans Involved is a debut Christian murder mystery novel from author Ray Ellis . Nate Richards is a rookie detective in Tr..."

The Process of Writing: Part 17

We’ve come to the last session of our seven basic steps.  But don’t worry there is a lot more information we can still refer to as we become better writers while learning this craft of creative prose.

The final adjustment that must be included in your manuscript; or more specifically speaking, your character development, is the New Equilibrium. This new balance, this new symmetry that has been achieved by your protagonist is reflective of the adjustment we mentioned in the last session, Growth.  But this, New Equilibrium, is the final placement for your character, where he or she ends up as a person.

Because he has obtained the prize for which he has fought, and he now has the prerequisite Growth, he must now arrive at some new destination within himself. He must be either better or worse than he was before. Like Luke Skywalker as he confronts the emperor, and says, “You lose Emperor. I am a Jedi, like my father before me.”

The Process of Writing: Part 16

Here we go again! Today’s topic is SELF-REVELATION. Sounds like an episode of the Dr. Phil show doesn’t it?

Ask yourself what your character has learned about his or herself as a result of the battle. Remember, anyone who under goes pressure will undergo change to some degree… self confidence, strength, love, power, just to name a few possibilities.

Once the hero goes through this battle and gains this new perspective it must relate to his new understanding of life and himself. In other words your character must grow. He or she must be either better or in some cases worse than they were at the beginning of the story. Think Emperor Palpatine. In the beginning of the Star Wars saga he  is powerful and he is wicked, but, by the time we see him in Return of the Jedi  he is completely consumed with evil and much more powerful than he was the 20 plus years prior to Luke being born. Growth, good or bad, it just has to be.

The Process of Writing: Part 15

It is the fifth day of my book tour and things are going well so far. Praise God! But I don’t want to stay too long away from the regularly scheduled topic…. So on with the show.

We last dealt with the trouble, or rather, the necessity of the plan. In this post we will deal with the Battle. {Think of a large echoing voice…Darth Vader in a concrete hallway}

Can you imagine Star Wars ending without the epic space battle around the Empire’s dreaded Death Star? It would have been a very flat movie and so will be your manuscript without the necessary conflict.

This final conflict, between the hero and the opponent, where it is determined who will possess ultimate control of the goal: in the case of Star Wars, the control of the known galaxy.

Whether a battle of force or words, it has to be Epic…the ultimate: no one last thing needing to be done. For my older readers, think back to the summer of 1975 and Jaws.  Remember Chief Brody barely floating in the wreckage of the Orca? As far as we knew he was the last survivor. The music builds. The shark attacks. Brody fires his rifle and misses. The music gets louder. Brody shoots again just as the shark is about to have him and the rest of the boat for dinner and… and… and…BOOM! The shark explodes. Wow!

Now imagine, after Brody killed Jaws he still lost control of Amityville’s beaches. People were still dying and the waters were still not safe for swimming. Not so good. He fought the shark, the shark lost. End of story. The ultimate battle for who would control the ocean waters off the shore of Amityville settled.

So as you work your way to the climax of your manuscript, think big. Think ultimate. Think BATTLE. Make it a battle worthy of control of whatever universe you’ve created. Oh, and to borrow from another well known space community, “Live long and prosper.”

VBT Day Five finds Ray interviewed at Beyond the Books!

http://beyondthebooks.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/interview-with-ray-ellis-author-of-n-h-i-no-humans-involved/

Interview with Ray Ellis author of N.H.I.: No Humans Involved Beyond the Books

Ray Ellis began his law enforcement career with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in Orange County, California. After working for a number of years in the maximum security facility, he transferred to patrol working along Orange County’s coast as well as the inner canyons and barrios.

Reviews by Molly: PUYB Blog Tour&Review: N.H.I. (No Humans Involved)...

Reviews by Molly: PUYB Blog Tour&Review: N.H.I. (No Humans Involved)...: "About the Book: Half of Treasure City is controlled by a violent street gang. The other half is controlled by fear. A rookie detective, ..."

The Process of Writing: Part 14

We have the Problem.

We have the Desire.

…And we even have the opposition.

What could we possibly need next? Did anyone suggest a plan?

The Plan is what moves the story forward, but will also be the means by which your readers will travel through the plot with your protagonist.

The hero must come up with a plan to overcome his/her opponent(s) and succeed.  How sad would it have been if Luke Skywalker and friends had broken into the Dreaded Death Star only to be captured and killed?  Of course it would have been a very short story. Smile.

The plan must give support to the middle of the story.

In too many manuscripts a new or novice writer will often have a fantastic beginning to a story, and may even have a dynamic ending in sight; but all too often the story falls flat in the middle.  As a reader, there are not many things I hate more than being left in the middle of nowhere with a go nowhere plot in the gut of a story.

Finally, the plan doesn’t have to be well thought out or even detailed in the mind of your hero.  Remember again, the trio of Skywalker, Solo, and Chewy as they determined to rescue Princess Leia. Luke comes up with a plan to sneak into the brig, but he has no idea of what he’s really doing or even of how he’s going get out again. Now keep in mind that this was only a smaller part of the plan that he and Obi-Wan Kenobi originated earlier to fight and destroy the Empire.

This big plan and all of its smaller components is what carries us as readers from the bombed out farm on Tatooine to the space battle above the jungle planet of Yavin Four as our rag-tag band of rebels take on the glory and might of the Galactic Empire.  (Don’t you just love these names?)

Simply put, the plan moves the story.