Jared AxelrodWriter of Adventure

Though, as you can see, the learning the trapeze was pretty darn awesome. But that’s another post.

I am currently represented by Beth Fleisher of Barry Goldblatt Literary. Barry, in what clearly is a stroke of staggering genius, does annual retreat where the many of the writers under his umbrella get together and talk. This year, it was at Club Med in Sandpiper, FL (which has trapeze lessons as one of its athletic options). Some of the talk is about craft, some of it is about business. But mostly, it’s about speaking to people who in your career but are maybe just ahead, or just behind, or way ahead or exactly where you are. I was one of the New Kids this year, which gave me the license to ask the Embarrassing New Kid Questions and actually, y’know, learn stuff. Which was great, because I had alot to learn

Some of the highlights, no particular order:

•  Making a living from writing is incredibly difficult to achieve
• This is not a business where you can count on anything
• Midlist is not death-some midlist stays in print forever
• Barnes and Noble controls a mind-boggling huge share of book sales
• Time management is key: Not only do you have to respect your creative time, so do your friends and family.
• This is not a hobby
• Scrivener is worth the money for the “Outliner” function alone.
• Work For Hire is not a way to build a career, it’s a job. There’s a difference
• “No matter how long you work, you always think the next project is the one that’s going to change everything. And it never does” –Charles Vess
• Wanting Neil Gaiman’s career isn’t healthy
• Blogging and Twitter is optional. A website, however, is mandatory
• When thinking about online content, ask yourself what you get out of it
• If the love triangle between your YA characters does not exist, it will be invented by the readers
• Real writers are not competitive
• Give yourself permission to not do everything
• Don’t say no to an editor without a counter suggestion
• Noodletools is worth the money because of how easy it is to use
• When interviewing someone for research, use specific questions…
• …but be open to listening to where their story goes.
• Mortified is an excellent resource for the specific details and shared generalities of being a teenager
• Fantasy is the inner journey explored outwardly
• Sara Ryan has done an excellent favor for comic writers everywhere, What Artists Wish You Wouldn’t Do: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 (also, Getting a Robot to Make a Sandwich)
• Holly Black’s rules for fantasy world-building work for sci-fi (just replace “magic” with “technology”), and for realistic fiction, thanks Jo Knowles’s impressive insight.
• When coming up with your magic system, think like a gamer: how can I cheat the system? How can I break it?
• Smell description is the best way to get people into a world
• I need to read more. A lot more.
• I made the right choice signing with this literary agency

he Maze of Bones is Book One of the popular middle-grade adventure series The 39 Clues. It was recently suggested to me that read it for tips on plot construction, and I now I see why. Rick Riordan has created a storyline that is plotted with a mathematical precision that is astounding.

How astounding? There are twenty chapters in The Maze of Bones. Here are the major points of plot, for each chapter:

1. Overarching threat is hinted at, the plot is set in motion
2. Protagonists and antagonists are introduced, meet. Threat is repeated
3. Stakes are set, protagonists make a “Point of No Return” decision
4. Threat is reiterated. Supporting characters #1 & #2 make contributions
5. The 1st step forward in the plot is made. Reversal of fortune #1 occurs
6. Sacrifice #1 to continue forward in the plot is made, Protagonists escape Death Trap #1, Supporting character #3 joins the plot
7. Focuses on the antagonists.
8. Plot step #2, Reversal #2, Death Trap #2 threat is reiterated
9. Sacrifice #2, 2 stakes are raised
10. Focuses on the antagonists
11.  Reversal avoided
12. Plot step #3, escape danger without sacrifice
13. Focuses on the antagonists, reveals the source of previous danger
14. Plot step #4, Reversal #3, Death Trap #3 with escape
15.  Supporting cast provides plot support, more info is revealed
16.  Plot step #5, Reversal #4, Sacrifice #3 in order to escape Death Trap #4
17.  Plot step #6, Reversal #5
18. Character arc completion, Plot step #7, Death Trap #5, Reversal #6, Sacrifice #4
19.  Plot step #8, Protagonists are rewarded, new status quo is established
20. Threat increases

On first glance, it’s easy to see patterns emerge. Almost every success the characters have in terms of plot is immediately taken away from them (literally, in this case, as the plot points are all clues that lead to next part of the story, like a scavenger hunt), and is followed almost immediately by a sacrifice. This is standard plot stuff, but what’s interesting is how often it happens. The two main protagonists have to make two sacrifices apiece before the story is over, and have the tables turned on them six times. There are five brushes with death. A great deal happens in the books 220 pages.

Breaking the chapters in halves, we can see that everything happens faster. There are more plot points, more reversals, more death traps. It’s also worth noting that all of the characters are at least mentioned by Chapter 2. No one is introduced later who has not been name checked by then, and the final supporting character joins the story midway through the first half. No one new is brought in the second half.
Breaking it into quarters, everything becomes even more clear.

• Chapters 1-5 are all introduction: introducing characters, relationships, situations and the dangers our characters will face. The first quarter tells you everything you need to know about the book. If you’re not hooked by the end of Chapter 5, this isn’t the book for you.
• Chapters 6-10 are our nitty-gritty plot chapters. The supporting cast in finally complete and the plot begins in earnest. A clear pattern is of wins, reversals and sacrifices is set up. There’s two death traps in this quarter, both dramatic (a fire and a bomb). Half our protagonists sacrifices are made here.
• Chapters 11-15 break the formula, and show our characters learning from their mistakes. We get to see the heroes win without sacrifice, and we get the answers to some of the plot questions. The pace is slowed somewhat,  the treat of the death trap is less immediate (a pit that will be filled with concrete).
• Chapters 16-20 move at a breakneck pace, with three plot points, three reversals and two sacrifices. Two death traps (an underground train and a rooftop ladder during a storm), though it is noteworthy that neither are explicitly set up by the antagonists; the world is now out to get our heroes. The penultimate chapter rewards our heroes, but the final chapter implies that their victory is short lived.

That’s some pretty tight plotting—it mimics the Lester Dent Master Plot, while adding some “breather” space necessary for a larger work—but what makes the plot interesting is not what happens when you break it into quarters. It’s what happens when you break it into sixths.

The first and last chapters are essentially a prolog and an epilog. If we remove those, that leaves eighteen chapters, which can be broken down into six parts, each three chapters apiece. Here’s what happens in each part:

• Chapters 2-4: The world is set up, the threat is established, and all the characters are introduced.
• Chapters 5-7: The plot begins, the cast is set, there’s one reversal, one sacrifice, one death trap and the antagonists have some focus.
• Chapters 8-10: One plot step, one reversal, one sacrifice, one death trap and some antagonist info. Almost exactly like the previous part
• Chapters 11-13: The formula is broken. Not only does the reversal come before the plot step, but no sacrifice is needed to move forward. And there’s no death trap
• Chapters 14-16: Everything starts moving faster. Two plot steps, two reversals, two death traps and one sacrifice.
• Chapters 17-19: Again, we get a quicker combination of elements. Three plot steps, two reversals, one death trap and one sacrifice. One of the protagonists completes her character arc. The heroes win, but at a cost. The future is met up with a new feeling of accomplishment and apprehension.

What’s fascinating is how clean these breaks are. A place for everything, and everything in its place. You could build a monument on this plot, it’s so sturdy. Given that the books in The 39 Clues are written by a total of seven authors, such an exact plotting framework may have been a necessity to ensure that each book felt the same.

This plot framework isn’t necessarily the best for every story, but one could do a lot worse than learning from it.

pring is once more upon us, inviting us all to lay back, gaze longingly at our loved ones, and remark how pleasant everything is (even when it is not) It is a time of rebirth. We’ve had our chance to regroup, to start over. Now is the time to show what we’ve done with this new chance life has given us.

The flowers are out, man. Nature’s done her part. What are you doing with your spring?

Well, I’ve got a couple books out. So that’s something.

Matthew Wayne Selznick’s “Sovereign Era” started with his seminal novel Brave Men Run, (why, yes, I did do the cover for that, how sweet of you to remember) and continues on in The Sovereign Era: Year One. Matt was kind enough to let me, J. R. Blackwell, P. G. Holyfield, J. C. Hutchins, Mur Lafferty, Nathan Lowell  and Matt Wallace play around in his sandbox, crafting new stories in the Sovereign Era world. Matt’s is a “Sovereign Era” a little bit  X-Men, a little bit Breakfast Club. My story, Can’t Get There From Here, is perhaps more John Sayles than John Hughes, but it’s got unconventional superpowers and charm to spare. If you ever wanted to know what it might be like to have psychic connection to machines in rural North Carolina, that there’s your story.

The other stories are great, too. But then, with an author list like the one above, you knew that.

Also recently released is Podthology: The Pod Complex, from the fine folks over at Dragon Moon Press. Like The Sovereign Era: Year One, this anthology is an embarrassment of riches, consisting of stories by Scott Sigler, Tee Morris, Phil Rossi, and a host of other podcasting luminaries. I’ve got two stories in this bad boy, What The Damned Owe and The Curse of the Forward-Thinking Gentleman. Damned is amusing meditation on demons and taxes, and Curse has the distinction of being my first steampunk story in print. Which is nice to be finally able to say.

Both anthologies now have a snug place on the sidebar. Feel free to click’n'buy.

But the real blossoms of Spring happen at the end of May. You know what I’m talking about: Balticon! Lots of fantastic stuff happening at Balticon this year: I’ve got two panels–one about the current steampunk trends running through new media, and another where I intend to lie about THE TRUTH–and a reading. But the jewel of the schedule is as follows:

Tea On The Flying City

A Launch Event for Jared Axelrod’s New Podcast, “Fables of the Flying City”

Saturday, May 29, 2:00pm Chesapeake

Join “Aliens You Will Meet” & “Voice of Free Planet X” creator Jared Axelrod as he launches his new steampunk adventure podcast, “Fables of the Flying City.” Learn how Ashe, a young woman from the streets of the flying city of Amperstam learns what it takes to be a member of the Aerial Guard. The first episode will be read, live! Tea will be served! Prizes will be won! YOU could be in the story!

That’s right. I am returning to podcasting. And with my triumphant return comes a fantastic bit of news that I will not spoil here, but rather wait until it the Live Launch itself, where it can be presented in the fullness of time. Suffice to say, it is both awesome and life-changing.

As for the launch event itself, it is going to be a not-to-be-missed spectacle, in the thundering tradition of my Aliens You Will Meet live shows (though there will be no puppets…this time). I’ll be posting teasers of what you can expect from the podcast and the launch itself all month until the con. Because this is not something you want to miss.

Spring has arrived. And I’ve only just begun to bloom.

ather, a portion of it. The writing expertise part. I am offering my services up as part of the Boom Effect charity auction. The actual auction takes place Saturday, and will be broadcast here, but feel free to put in a proxy bid over at the site. Just put in however much you consider a piece of my headmeats is worth.

Now, I suppose the question is, “How much of Jared’s brain will I be getting?” A valid query.

I would say, around about this much:

Jared Axelrod, published author and creator of the ALIENS YOU WILL MEET and VOICE OF FREE PLANET X podcasts, will edit your short story up to 9000 words. But what is being offered here is more than mere red-pen spelling and grammar check. Over a personal Skype discussion, Jared will provide:

-Detailed analysis of themes, and how you can make them stronger.
-Discussion of the wants and obstacles of both the protagonist and antagonist
-Examinations of the setting and the pace of the story
-Market suggestions for your story
-Axelrod-brand Encouragement! (TM)

The whole business will be auctioned in the Bespoke items timeslot on February 27th. But if you can’t make the event, feel free to place a proxy bid.

Bid high and bid often!

very now and then, either JR or I will turn to the other and ask a question about the story we are writing. Is this character interesting? Is this plot too twisty? Is this feminist enough? It then falls upon the other to answer “That’s not a 1st Draft question,” or whatever draft we are working on at the time. Which is always the correct answer.

It’s very easy to get caught up in questions that just be addressed one, two, three drafts ahead, so it’s nice to have to have a guideline of what questions should be asked when. Your mileage, of course, will vary. But this works well for us.

1st Draft: What happens next?

This is the only question you should be asking yourself as you write your first draft. The. Only. Question.

The point of the first draft is the foundation, the rocks you build your story on. And for that story to be built, the foundation has to be finished. Nothing is more important in writing your first draft than reaching the end. Not your word choice, not your plot mechanics, not your personal politics. All of that can be changed, but not until the draft is finished. This means when you’re done you’ll have a pretty shitty piece of writing, but who cares? You’ve got at least 3 more passes to get it right.

2nd Draft: Does the plot make sense? What does my protagonist want? What is in his/her way to getting it? Are his/her decisions in keeping with his/her character, or to just move the plot?

Now you’ve got a shitty piece of writing that at least has a beginning, middle and end. Good job. It probably has a few human-shaped lumps that could pass as characters, so here’s your chance to make those characters real. Ideally, the protagonist should drive the plot, not the other way around (nobody likes a reactive protagonist, we like people who get shit done). Concurrent with this is the concern that these proactive decisions are keeping in touch with the character. If they aren’t, you can always change the decisions, or change the character.

3rd Draft: Are my characters engaging? Does my antagonist have proper motivation? How is the pace? Should I cut/add anything? Are the places and people properly described?

Your shitty piece of writing now has gained an engaging through-line and an involved, proactive protagonist. Time to beef up those side characters. A good rule of thumb with this is to imagine the story told from each and every character’s point of view. These new stories, where our side characters and villains are now the main heroes, should be just as engaging—if in different ways—as your main story. You don’t have to write these stories, but it’s important to imagine them. Would STAR WARS be as enjoyable if Han Solo, Princess Leia and Darth Vader didn’t have their own stories going on just to the side of Luke’s? MIDDLEMARCH works the same way.

This draft is also a good time to look at pace. Is the story moving fast enough? Is it going too fast? Luckily, your new and improved side characters and antagonists can help out, by cutting some fat off some scenes or adding drama to others. Take some time to define who these people are, as well as the places they inhabit. If Draft 2 was all about the protagonist, Draft 3 is about giving that protagonist a world to inhabit.

4th Draft: Are the words the best words for the situation? I am comfortable with the themes and politics of this story (is it feminist, conservative, racist, etc)? Is it interesting to people who aren’t me?

The story’s not looking quite so shitty now, is it? Here we get to the polish stage, where you can add all those writer bells and whistles you’ve been dying to include since Draft 1. String all the pearls you want; your story should hold them. Now that that you have the story complete, you can also examine the themes and tweak them appropriately. Same with the politics. I’m making a note of them here, in Draft 4, because it’s very easy to fall into the trap of think of these sort of things before the story even finished. No character has politics until they’re fully fleshed out, no themes are evident until you get to the end.

After this pass, you can hand it off to a first reader or two, and they’ll have their own questions for you.

A note to users: much like the mastery of a martial art, one must approach writing in the appropriate sequence, and build upon the questions of a previous draft. You may ask yourself “What happens next?” while working on Draft 4, but if you find yourself wondering if Draft 1 is sexist, you’re focusing on the wrong things.

R and I have signed up for The 24 Hour Cram, a brilliant idea put on by Plays & Players–who I have done work with before, and indeed, hope to do work with again. Unsurprisingly, the mad minds who gave us “Superheroes Who Are Super” have yet another deliciously quick and dirty theater concept up their collective sleeves.  Here’s how they describe it:

We meet on January 29th at 8pm at Plays & Players 3rd Floor. Everyone is put into teams that each consist of one writer, one director and an equal number of actors.

We chat, we laugh and then we send the writers home to write a 10 minute play by 8am the next morning. Directors receive the hot off the printer plays at 8:01am and meet up with their actors to rehearse until house opens at 8pm on January 30th. For those of you still counting - that is 24 hours of pure cram!

Clearly, I am insane for wanting to try this. Luckily, my wife is too. We are enablers in our insanity.

JR and I have an edge on this, as we have seen the results of a previous 24 Hour Cram and have a pretty good idea of what works (outsized characters, mysteries) and what doesn’t (quiet character, slow builds). We did a practice run last night, to see how long it took us to write a ten-minute scene. Mine, a Mamet-ian exploration of the pros and cons of the iPad, took about an hour. JR’s, an examination of the pitfall of modern supernatural romance via speed dating, took about the same time, but was, as you might imagine, a little more deep.  After that rush job, 12 hours aught to be a luxury.

So, yes, it will be insane. But, the exact type of insanity that we excell at. Which means it will be awesome.

I expect to see you all there.

They called her Resolve.  A woman of immense strength and power, she stood toe to toe with the Mega-Gorgon of the Lost Dimension, the Storm Kings of 67th Century, and the Xenophage Legion.  When the Galactivore came to lower its might teeth into our very planet, Resolve and Resolve alone stood fast in the face of such certain doom.  She was indomitable, indestructible, and possessed a bravery unlike any other the world had seen.

So it was that when the Cosmic Challenger came to Earth and bellowed for a champion, Resolve stood, and met his wager. With the fate of the world in the balance, Resolve met the Cosmic Challenger on equal footing. His muscular frame towered over her, despite her own impressive stature.

“Well, little one!” He said. “As the challenged, it is up to you choose the style of battle! Be wary! I am a master of over four thousand distinct martial arts, and over twenty nine thousand variations of them! Do not expect to catch me unawares!”

“You will not need any of them,” Resolve said. “All you must do is meet my eyes.”

Born Of An Atom Bomb is a daily warm-up piece, where I base a character around a random word or phrase. Today’s word: resolve

Delightfully big news, as I am the first–FIRST, I say!–official contributor to the I Should Be Writing blog. Mur gives me a fantastic intro, there, which leaves me with more than a little apprehension about what the devil I’m going to be talking about. I can only hope that I live up to the introduction.

(I will, of course. Don’t worry too much. I’m just trying to build suspense.)

In addition to taking over The News From Poughkeepsie, I intend to throw out the odd essay about writing advice–as opposed to an odd essay that is writing advice–and maybe a comic or two. I haven’t done an Autobiologic in forever, and the gods know I’ve got plenty of writing-based hilarity (read: pain) to illustrate. I’m not sure what else. Any ideas?

But that’s not the only unusual place I’ve showed up on the internet today. Io9 put up a post on Steampunk novels, illustrated with nothing less than the photo of Miss Liza James and I that Kyle Cassidy took and subsequently was put on Wikipedia. Clearly, Miss James and I have become the faces of modern steampunk. Which I am okay with.

First ISBW and then Io9….clearly my plot to take over the internet is moving apace….

I’ve been slack with the whole Balticon-recap business.  Blame the injury.  Here, to obfuscate things further, is a picture from Miss Vivid Muse herself that pretty much expresses the whole weekend in a nutshell:

Gotta keep those balls in the air at Balticon.  And look nice while doing it.

But the real reason I’m writing has nothing to do with Balticon, or juggling, or me. The lovely and talented J.R. Blackwell has teamed up with the lovely and talented Mur Lafterty to bring us Her Side, a multimedia fiction project. I’m a sucker for words and pictures coming together, and the two artists involved have used that potential at its utmost. Both the written work and photos involved tell a story on their own, but brought together they create something powerful. It’s free to veiw, so everyone should.

Such a project ought to be enough for anyone, but in addition to all of this awesomeness, Mur and JR are helping out the lovely and talented J.C. Hutchins. I know you’ve already bought/preordered your copy of J.C.’s book Personal Effects: Dark Art–why wouldn’t you?–so you’ll be interested to know that if you send an electronic copy of your receipt, you’ll  be entered into a weekly random drawing. For what, you ask?  Only a one of a kind 8×12 print of one of the photos, and a signed copy of the portion of the story that goes with the photo, from J.R and Mur.

Free fiction, free artwork and, if you’re lucky, free tangible peices of the project itself. You couldn’t find a better deal if you tried!

Still recovering from the gauntlet of joy that is Balticon, I opened my email with bleary eyes to discover this message from Lulu.com:

“Congratulations, your book has been selected for listing on Amazon.com’s Marketplace! As a result, your book will now be easily found on the world’s largest online bookseller. ”

That would be this book, here:

Astounded, I searched for my name on Amazon.  Sure enough, there it is. So, if you find yourself hankering for 50 pieces of weirdness (plus illustrations!) by yours truly, here you go. It’s ready for you at Amazon.

Also, If anyone knows how I can put a cover and some interior pages up there, I’d sure appreciate it. I’ve got all sorts of content for that page.

And thanks, Lulu.