Lou Paduano | Urban Fantasy Novels | Sci-Fi Crime Series

Building Better Scenes

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It’s a fickle situation writer’s often find themselves in when it comes to the editing process. Here you are with your finished draft, thinking it’s totally aces and ready to publish.

Then you read it…

Oops.

When you leave your first draft, you’ve told the story as you envisioned it from the beginning. Before typing that first word, this is what was intended – in your mind – and, of course, it is absolutely without fault.

The funny thing is, that over the course of that draft you’ve learned a thing or two about what your story is REALLY about. You’ve lived with these characters, recognized their movements, felt their anguish and heartbreak as well as their joy and triumph. Those lessons, those feelings, can sometimes influence the self-editing process more than we ever imagined.

And it can be a good thing.

It opens doors to building better scenes.

What was wrong with my original scene?

Maybe nothing at all. The truth is, you may simply realize there is a BETTER way to develop a relationship or work through a heavy bit of exposition. This might come from a character perspective, or a change in their arc during the course of the draft.

On the other hand, there are some very real reasons to change a scene completely. For example, I recently finished reading The Resurrection of Jean Grey by Matthew Rosenberg. I enjoy Matthew Rosenberg’s work typically. He knows his characters and creates interesting situations that play to their strengths.

Not this time around.

In no less than three – count ’em THREE – separate occasions during the narrative, he decides to fall back for a mission briefing scene. In the same location. With the same people. Each time, they are somewhere else and decide this conversation needs to happen. So they head to the briefing room and hash it out. It slows the plot to a grinding halt. Actually, it’s worse than that – it is such a reversal that it sucks the life out of the book completely.

Now I get it. There are deadline constraints. There are reasons why these scenes felt right to him. It shows Kitty Pryde’s leadership. There’s focus on the interplay between the teams. Or maybe it just looks cool showing every X-Man possible in a single shot.

But this example needed new locales, new situations, in order to offer the exposition required to advance the plot. It really, really did.

Your story might need the same.

I know mine do from time to time. There are certain situations that just feel right and natural. It’s a comfort zone and I fall into the trap every once in awhile. Too many office scenes. Too many warehouse or alley scenes. There are a million, billion places to sit and have a conversation. Why make it the same place every single time?

Everyone should look twice at their scenes for improvement.

From the first-time novelist to the seasoned vet, each of us can stand to take a closer look at our scene breakdown. Is there a way to punch up this scene? To make it more exciting or visually interesting to the reader? Does it hit the right character beat or is the environment causing a different vibe entirely?

Play with the dynamic. Switch things around.

Don’t use the downtown high-rise. Make it a museum. Look for different angles that explore character and theme.

Have fun with it. Because if you’re having a good time in the scene so will your reader.

Writing Update – January 22, 2019

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The weather took a turn this weekend. Snow, snow and more snow. Well, it is January so I can’t complain too much about it. Plus, the bonus is that there is no reason not to sit at my desk and crank out some pages.

Writing Update

I came into the new year with a pretty ambitious plan. Lots of new projects on the docket for 2019, writing-wise. Publishing-wise? Well, I’m still trying to figure that one out.

As of this writing I am scripting DSA Season 2 Book 6. I never set out to script the second season. As I neared the end of drafting the first I knew it was important to outline, to sort of feel my way into the second season so that I could refine and focus certain details in the first.

But the stories refused to let me go. It took three weeks to dialogue everything out. All six books. Now I’m almost finished taking that dialogue and meshing it with the outlines to create a nice spine for what each book should be when I sit down to draft.

So, about 500 pages of material for January. I’ll take it.

Season 2 is shaping up to be even better than the first, in my opinion. The seasonal arc, the subplots, are much tighter this time around. I think part of my hesitance in closing out my edits of the first season is that sense of beginnings. There are details that occur before the first sentence and I’m not sure if they have a place in that opening book or if it will convolute the overall narrative.

I know, I keep talking about a project you haven’t seen yet and keep asking questions about it. This is what I’ve been dealing with for months and what I’m hoping to finish by the end of March. That’s my personal deadline and I aim to keep it.

Publishing-wise

I mentioned some hesitation on this front earlier. Publishing is a long-term game and right now, the way the dollars and cents breakdown I’m not quite where I need to be to make the DSA fiscally viable.

What does this mean?

Well, I’ve tinkered with the idea of a Kickstarter campaign. Crowdfunding is pretty huge right now and if it can help get these books in your hands sooner why not try it out?

I’ve also considered a Patreon page to help fund this endeavor. Another crowdfunding effort, but this would be on a monthly basis and you would receive my final draft of each book directly from me for your contribution. Not the eventual published version, which would be professionally edited but pretty darn close. This way you could get a new DSA book EVERY MONTH for the next 30 months once I launch.

That sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it?

Seriously, I am asking your opinion on this. And I’d love to hear your thoughts at lou@loupaduano.com. I’m loving the hell out of this project and want you to be able to enjoy it as soon as possible.

I better get back to it. Thanks for reading!

Winter 2019 Reading List

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I’ve made a vow this year to minimize my purchasing of new books until I’ve finished reading everything I already own. (HA. We’ll see how long that lasts…) It’s true, though. I’d love to buy and buy and buy but I want to make a concentrated effort to clean house, while also produce as much new material as humanely possible.

What it doesn’t take into account are library books or recommendations from friends. Those are always fair game so feel free to disrupt this silly plan of mine as often as you like.

And if you’ve read or feel like reading along with any of the following books, let me know! Drop me a line at lou@loupaduano.com to share the reading experience. I’d love to hear from you.

Winter Reading List

A Cold Day in Hell by Lissa Marie Redmond

Lauren’s job as a cold case homicide detective is her life. And life just got complicated.

Lauren Riley is an accomplished detective who has always been on the opposite side of the courtroom from slick defense attorney Frank Violanti. But now he’s begging to hire her as a private investigator to help clear his client of murder. At first Lauren refuses, wanting nothing to do with the media circus surrounding the case—until she meets the eighteen-year-old suspect.

To keep an innocent teen from life in prison, Lauren must unravel the conflicting evidence and changing stories to get at the buried facts. But the more she digs, the more she discovers that nothing is what it first appears to be. As Lauren puts her career and life in danger, doubt lurks on every corner . . . and so does her stalker.

The sequel is coming out next month so I want to jump right into this one to see where it leads. Very excited about this book.

The Fall (Mutant Rain Book 2) by L.A. Frederick

New Hampton lies in ruins.

Amidst the death and destruction, a few survivors cling to life avoiding the many pitfalls residing in the decaying city. The mutants hiding in the Bunker, led by New Hampton’s most famous vigilante Reinhardt, must devise a new plan to outlast the rampaging hordes, and more importantly Doctor Zhirkov and the infamous Watchroom gangs. 

The murderous Doctor Zhirkov sets about the next phase of his long devised plans to improve humanity, as we discover the crazed, obsessed and bloody history of the man. In a new world, plagued by infected masses hellbent of devouring all in their path, choosing whom to trust is the difference between life and death.

The Fall is the second book in The Mutant Rain series, a dark, dystopian, mystery, horror and science fiction story.

I am very curious to see what happens next with the characters introduced in L.A. Frederick’s first novel, The Rain. Lots of intrigue and a superhero element that is right up my alley.

The Escape Artist by Brad Meltzer

WHO IS NOLA BROWN?
Nola is a mystery
Nola is trouble.
And Nola is supposed to be dead.
Her body was found on a plane that mysteriously fell from the sky as it left a secret military base in the Alaskan wilderness. Her commanding officer verifies she’s dead. The US government confirms it. But Jim “Zig” Zigarowski has just found out the truth: Nola is still alive. And on the run.
Zig works at Dover Air Force Base, helping put to rest the bodies of those who die on top-secret missions. Nola was a childhood friend of Zig’s daughter and someone who once saved his daughter’s life. So when Zig realizes Nola is still alive, he’s determined to find her. Yet as Zig digs into Nola’s past, he learns that trouble follows Nola everywhere she goes.
Nola is the U.S. Army’s artist-in-residence-a painter and trained soldier who rushes into battle, making art from war’s aftermath and sharing observations about today’s wars that would otherwise go overlooked. On her last mission, Nola saw something nobody was supposed to see, earning her an enemy unlike any other, one who will do whatever it takes to keep Nola quiet.
Together, Nola and Zig will either reveal a sleight of hand being played at the highest levels of power or die trying to uncover the US Army’s most mysterious secret-a centuries-old conspiracy that traces back through history to the greatest escape artist of all: Harry Houdini.
Brad Meltzer is one of those authors I will read no matter what they write. He’s just released a new non-fiction book – way out of my wheelhouse – and it is on my to read pile. His stories are fun and always contain some unique look at American history. Can’t wait to dive in.

A short list this time around…

Can’t be avoided, unfortunately. I’m putting every ounce of energy, every spare hour I can muster into churning out some incredible stories for you to devour later this year. When the dust settles, and hopefully it will in a few months, it’s going to be so nice to sit back and enjoy some more books.

Let me know what you’ve been reading! I’d love to hear what’s been exciting you in the world of fiction.

Take care and thanks for reading.

How to Dialogue a Better Chapter

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Dialogue, to me, is the fundamental key to making or breaking a story. Description is great, character is important, but the moment the dialogue fails a scene is when the story falls apart.

Here are some key strategies to dialogue a better chapter:

Outline first

Nothing comes easy without preparation. Maybe it’s a scribble on a notepad or a thousand word document about the contents of the scene/chapter. Whatever it is matters to the overall quality of what is coming out of your characters’ mouths.

Every component you bring to the table before sketching out your dialogue adds that much more to the final product. Knowing where they are in the story, knowing the stakes, foreshadowing threats, everything can be determined before starting.

Here is a recent chapter outline I finished for a future project:

Chapter Five

– The Bunker

– Ben and Morgan meet with Alison Adler.

– She has just received word of a dead drop being used that hasn’t been touched since 1982.

– A DSA dead drop.

– She goes through the history of the department, how in those days agents didn’t have a specific home or base of operations. They worked outside the law, all to better serve their fellow man. They created these dead drops to stay in touch, especially when things went awry.

– And they always did.

– The pair question who would have access after all this time.

– Adler shows them the image of Wesley Fuller, leaving the scene.

– He was the first DSA agent on record, his partner lost on one of their early cases back in 1972.

– She opens the letter left at the drop.

– “I need help. He’s come back and I need help.”

– Both agree to be the ones to answer the call.

Laying this all out allows me to feel my way into the scene better. What knowledge needs to come through in the dialogue? What can remain in the description to limit the amount of exposition?

I also call this my beat sheet. This lists every beat I need to hit when I’m scripting. It determines the setting, the placement of the principal characters and where they end up at the final moment of the scene, propelling them and the narrative forward to the next chapter.

Finding an entry point

This can be tricky business in some cases. Enter too early and you’re rambling until you reach the meat of your scene. Enter too late and everyone is screaming at each other rather than building the tension.

For the outlined chapter above, I come in on dialogue. Alison Adler is already into her case for Ben and Morgan when the scene opens. Why jump right in? Why not let them show up and greet her?

Because it’s boring. It offers nothing for the reader who really want this story to pop at this point. It’s a pacing no-no, in other words, and would drag the entire chapter down.

Another good reason, and one always to keep in mind, is character based. Adler wouldn’t bother with a simple greeting. Rather than hello, this is exactly where she would start her conversation. Knee-deep in exposition, rather than waste anyone’s time – including her own.

Keep it character based

It’s easy to fall into a pattern. Using the same breaks, the same nuance for each character’s voice. What happens, however, is that pretty soon a character is pretty much a placeholder instead of a three-dimensional player in your drama. Everyone sounds the same, has the same accent, the same snark and it becomes boring for the reader.

Change it up.

In the scene above, Ben plays up his snark as often as possible. That’s who he is. Morgan reins him in, the consummate professional. In Adler’s case, she’s newer to the series at this point and the audience needs to figure out who she is almost as much as I do. So she gets more focus. She starts the ball rolling and provides more information as a way to allow some character to flow into the words.

She breaks into conversation more, meaning she’s impatient. Why? Well, she has a project running in the background that she’s more than happy to tell you about but won’t because they’re all too busy with this new situation.

Little things can go a long way in dialogue. A slight hesitation could mean a sign of nervousness. A callous remark could point to a character disconnected with the situation. Every nuance, every line of dialogue, is a chance to add character. Sometimes it can be overdone.

Read a Gambit comic from the 90’s and you’ll know what I’m talking about. (Oy, that accent!)

Play around with the elements…

Nothing is set in stone with writing. There are always ways to improve a scene. Enter later or earlier. Add a background character to liven up the conversation.

See how different interactions change the dynamic of a scene if it seems too stiff. Or if you’ve lost control, go back and see if you can tighten it up and keep the character’s on target.

There’s nothing better than finding a character’s voice through dialogue and it can add a ton of potential to your novel.

Thanks for reading.

End of Year Wrap Up 2018

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I won’t keep you. The holidays are upon is and the craziness is nestled at the heart of the Paduano household as well.

Thank you

It means a lot to have you here every week, reading these missives. I enjoy putting them out there, from the updates to the commentary and even the reading lists. It’s fun connecting with you and I hope to continue that next year.

A Goodbye to Greystone

I’ve done a few of these already but this really is the last time I’ll be talking about the series for some time. There was a sense of planning with the series that now that it is done, I’m slightly concerned about where things are heading. I certainly know what I’d like to do on multiple levels but not having Soriya and Loren at my side for the first time is a little strange.

I do have some short stories planned so maybe the break won’t be as long as I think.

What to expect in 2019

The steady flow of publishing was not quite as sustainable as I was hoping from a monetary aspect. My goal to crank out the DSA starting in the summer probably won’t be happening as a result.

I do have a plan to get these out to you. I think fans of Greystone and of my writing will enjoy the journey ahead for the characters. What form that takes, though, remains to be seen.

As for the blog? In order to maximize my output and make sure I’m hitting my deadlines I’m cutting the blog back to once a week for 2019. This will probably change once DSA heads your way. I like to talk about the books and always have plenty of interesting background details to throw at you about my process.

Plus it’s a nice change of pace writing-wise.

Wishing you and yours a happy holidays!

Take care of yourselves and enjoy the season!

Have a Happy New Year!

Writing Update – December 17, 2018

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The final update of the year! An insane year writing-wise and it looks like next year is going to be even more intense with projects galore.

Writing!

NaNoWriMo was a blast! I really challenged myself to hit my daily goals without the use of additional helpers to tackle the little things like my kids, grocery shopping and Black Friday shopping online.

I definitely felt the crunch at times but it was well worth the effort to see if I could make a go of it with my limited availability writing-wise.

So what came out of it this year?

The entire first season of DSA is drafted! Books 4 through 6 were my goal for November and I managed to eke it out on the last day. I have a ton of notes to go through and additional threads to weave now that all six books are written. My plan is to spend January through March cleaning up all six so I can pass them off to my alpha readers.

But wait, there’s more!

I might be insane. Might. I try to take it easy when I can but it never works for me. I have to keep moving forward, keep pushing myself to build story.

As of today, the entire SECOND SEASON of DSA is outlined. All six books are plotted with character arcs and subplots spreading from seeds in the first season. I am loving this world and don’t want to leave any time soon.

There is a map now for the entire series. I have the opening and closing scenes for Season 3 Book 1. I know the twist coming at the end of Season 4 Book 5. A rough path lies ahead and I feel terrible for the things the characters will be forced to face.

But I would be lying if I didn’t enjoy every new note, every interesting twist I never imagined previously.

I think you’re going to love it.

Reading

This week I’ve been diving into research for a new project. It’s a long-term book requiring quite a bit of foresight and knowledge before putting pen to paper. Not my usual style, not my usual subject matter to some degree, but the idea was so fascinating when it was presented to me by a friend that I wanted to see if I could do it.

I’m hoping to have an outline built out of my notes by the end of the year before the massive self-edits on the DSA consume my life.

Other than that, the majority of my reading has been with my daughters. We just reached 1993 in the Spider-Man comics. It is an absolute treat to be able to share these stories from my youth with my kids. There are so many gems in there. David Michelinie’s run on Amazing Spider-Man is absolutely one of my favorites. Alex Saviuk’s pencil work on Web of Spider-Man was another highlight for me.

However, the top praise goes to J.M. DeMatteis and Sal Buscema for an utterly beautiful run on Spectacular Spider-Man. Issues 178 through 200 are one of the greatest collaborative accomplishments to this day, in my opinion. They brought a humanity to every character and really brought out the pathos in every situation. The culmination in 200 is still one of my favorite comics of all time.

People denigrate the 1990’s for being extreme or void of actual content. Not these books, folks. These books defined who I am and I was glad they held up against the nostalgia factor.

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