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Subplots and Storylines – May 2017

Tracey Dyck 24 Comments

Transitions are fickle things. Sometimes one hardly realizes that the season of life has changed, and other times one is aware of every minute detail. May was a month of transition for me, slipping from college to “normal” life.

Princess Peach (me) and Mario (my brother)
It started out with exams, volunteering at a Special Olympics swimming event with my classmates, and dressing up as Princess Peach at a church event for moms and their little ones. There was a Mario Kart track set up where kids could drive little motorized cars in a circle, and my brother and I provided the entertainment!
(Ignore my awkward princess pose. And the fact that my crown is falling off.)

On another day, my classmates and the college interns had a barbecue to celebrate the end of the year. We had written letters to God at the beginning of the year, and now we got to open them and see just how far we’ve come since September.

Then it was Mother’s Day. In creative ministry (for college), we worked hard to put up some amazing décor to celebrate all the moms in church. It turned out beautifully. And at home, we had a quiet celebration involving Chinese takeout. (Come on, we saved her from making supper!)

And then I went to an escape room with my peeps from creative ministry! I’ve never been to an escape room before, but after this, I would LOVE to go again. I tried a castle-themed room with twelve other people. The logic! The teamwork! The tricky puzzles! If we’d had an extra two or three minutes, we would’ve made it out successfully, that’s how close we were.

The middle of the month rolled around, and with it, college graduation! Celebrating with friends and family, looking back on the past nine months, giving a valedictorian speech, and spending the night at a friend’s place for the afterparty–all were such beautiful, bittersweet memories.



We graduated! This is me with Jacky, a good college friend who
recently moved back home, hours away from me. *sniffle*

Like I said, May was a month of transitions. So after grad, life has switched gears. I’ve returned to volunteering in kids ministry at church (which I had taken a break from because of the intense college schedule). I’m back to working four or five shifts a week. And now that my sisters are done school for the summer, life at home has taken on a different pace too. You’d think it would be slower, but oddly, it’s not as slow as I was expecting.

Books

Finally // Wendy Mass

Goodness, I’d forgotten how dramatic the twelve-year-old life could be! This was a cute book about the mishaps and missteps that befall Rory when she turns twelve and can finally do all the things on her list, like get her ears pierced, babysit, and go to the mall with her friends. (Talk about a throwback to simpler days . . .) Four stars.

Crazy Dangerous audiobook // Andrew Klavan (narrated by Nick Podehl)

I read the novel four years ago and loved it then. Listening to the audiobook, I loved it again! It’s intense, it’s endearing, it’s a little creepy at times, and Sam Hopkins is just my favorite. I was reminded of how addictive Andrew Klavan’s books are! Because I can count the number of audiobooks I’ve listened to on one hand, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this. But the narrator was perfect for this book. Now I need to go find some more audiobooks to listen to on my drive to work. Five stars!

The Purpose Driven Life // Rick Warren

Another college read. We started in September, but we didn’t even finish (as a class) before grad, so I finished the final chapters on my own. I’m pretty sure I read it eons ago too . . . Anyway, there were a number of good reminders in here. It’s not like I got nothing out of it, don’t get me wrong. But I learned the most from the chapters I disagreed with, because they sparked great class discussions. We dug into the Word, bounced perspectives off each other, and learned how to rectify the disconnect between what we saw in the book vs. what we know of God’s character and the Bible. Three stars.

Green Rider // Kristen Britain

At Jacky’s behest, I began reading one of her favorite series! It felt like the pacing lagged at times, especially in the first half of the book, and later the climax kept looking it was going to happen, but then it wasn’t the climax after all. (That could’ve been just me, though.) But the actual ending helped make up for it, especially when Karigan, the protagonist, started doing more for herself. And I liked the concept of the Green Riders, a group of special messengers/riders with magical abilities. Jacky tells me the series gets progressively better, so I’ll pick up book two sometime. Three stars.

Movies & TV

I watched a fair bit of Once Upon a Time and The Flash, as per usual. My siblings and I finished season 1 of OUAT and started season 2. With my parents, I finished OUAT season 2. With just my sisters, we watched some more of season 5. Jumping around the timeline so much is kind of fun, actually. You get a really good contrast of different parts of each character’s arc!

My siblings and I just recently finished season 2 of The Flash as well. Somebody help me, I think the pieces of my heart are all over the floor. (Seriously, I need to write a blog post about this show ASAP.)

The grade 6 students of a nearby Christian school made a movie based on a WWII novel, which I got to watch. They did such a good job!

Moana: While not as good as Tangled, this was a fresh twist on the typical Disney princess story. I liked that it was a friendship story instead of a romance. And the songs were fantastic! I’ve loved “How Far I’ll Go” long before I watched the movie.

Doctor Strange: This was awesomesauce, you guys. Quite different than most Marvel movies, yes, but I think that’s a good thing. The beginning–wow. Something about the subtlety and atmosphere (and Stephen Strange’s awful attitude) really grabbed me. And then the superhero aspect kicks in . . . and there are jaw-dropping visuals . . . and a dash of humor . . . and gahhh, I want the Cloak of Levitation for myself. Can’t wait for a sequel!


Writing

I booked my appointments for Realm Makers! Woohoo! It feels even more real now, and the pressure is on to finish The Brightest Thread in time to pitch it.

With college being over, I had some time to pick up Ted Dekker’s The Creative Way writing course, so I listened to session 12 and learned more about the four types of conflict. (I’ve yet to do the workbook part of that session, however.)

In the first half of May, I had a little blip of productive writing time, and then wrote basically nothing until after grad. About 12,000 words have been added to The Brightest Thread, bringing it to a total of 32,824 words. The goal is to fall comfortably between 80 and 90k by the end of June so that there’s time to edit a bit before Realm Makers. S.O.S. Please send coffee.

I’ll be fine . . . probably. Most of this TBT work has been quite enjoyable, truly, and this week I wrote some positively scrumptious scenes, if I do say so myself.
But still send coffee. I’m going to need it.

So that was May 2017!

Whew! A lot of fun, some hard work. Goodbye to one season and hello to another. And now it’s summer, and that means sunshine, gardening, and hopefully more books and more writing.

What about the rest of you? If you’re a student, is school out yet? What’s on your summer agenda?

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Rooglewood Press Fairy Tale Contest: FIVE POISONED APPLES

Tracey Dyck 14 Comments

The time has come once again, my friends, to announce the theme of this year’s fairy tale retelling contest hosted by Rooglewood Press, and I couldn’t be more excited! The previous three contests have inspired such creativity and talent as writers rise to the challenge of spinning beloved fairy tales into reimagined stories of beauty, pain, humor, and wonder.

And there’s much to inspire us again this year. Because the theme of Rooglewood’s fourth and final fairy tale collection is . . .

hold your breath






wait for it






scroll down






ignore the fact that you read the title already






keep going






bet you haven’t guessed . . .





Snow White!

That’s right! With the beautiful title of Five Poisoned Apples, and the even MORE gorgeous cover, I can already tell this final contest is going to be incredible. It seems that each collection somehow manages to top the one before–and let me tell you, the ones before have been pretty amazing! (Five Magic Spindles is sitting unread on my shelf, but shush, it is on my summer TBR list.)
You can find the full contest details and rules right HERE, including the deadline of December 31, 2017.
The cover model must be super talented, because not only does she grace the cover, she’s the photographer as well. You can find Wynter Clark’s website HERE. And last, but certainly not least, the cover design was once again done by Julia Popova, whom you can find HERE.
***
Let me tell you a little bit about my experience with these contests. If you’ve been around Adventure Awaits for a while, you may know most of this already, but bear with me.
Back in early winter 2013, I read Anne Elisabeth Stengl’s Heartless and fell completely in love. Wanting more, I looked her up and discovered her blog, where I found out she was hosting the Five Glass Slippers contest. The deadline was a month away, but I hastily whipped up an entry anyway. My novella, The Glass Girl, was far from perfect, but I’d had a lot of fun reworking a fairy tale for the first time.
So when June 2014 rolled around, I pounced on Five Enchanted Roses and wrote Blood Rose, a contemporary fantasy-ish thing with a dash of medical science (gosh, was that part ever hard) and angst. Again, it was a boatload of fun! Having the full half a year to work on my entry this time, I got the chance to connect with other hopeful young writers entering the contest, and through that, I made some wonderful friends.
Then in June 2015, when Five Magic Spindles was announced, I dove right in once more. I’d already discovered some important things about myself as a writer, and about the nature of retellings, through the previous contests, but writing The Brightest Thread brought a whole new set of challenges–not to mention a whole new beautiful experience.
Now, after a one year hiatus thanks to the arrival of Anne Elisabeth Stengl’s precious baby girl, Rooglewood Press is holding Five Poisoned Apples. I anticipate another adventure, my friends: this one centered around the iconic Snow White herself!
I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and get started (once I finish some pressing work on TBT first).
And if you’ve got some time and even just one creative bone in your body, I would highly recommend joining me! Seriously, you guys. This contest gives you the chance to submit your work, and not just a short story or piece of poetry like most places accept, but a full NOVELLA. Some entrants even get professional feedback from the judges at the end, which is invaluable. Along the way, you can connect with a community of other writers, bounce ideas off each other, and support each other. And who knows? YOUR name might wind up on that jaw-dropping cover. If it does, you’ll also get the chance to work alongside the Rooglewood staff to refine your manuscript until it gleams.

Now wouldn’t that be a fairy tale come true?

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When Your Story is Too Short: Tips for Expansion

Tracey Dyck 24 Comments

Do you remember when I first started writing The Brightest Thread back in 2015? The first draft was a somewhat flabby novella that I ended up shortening from almost 30,000 words to 20,000 words in order to follow the Five Magic Spindles contest guidelines.

Fast forward to 2017, and I’m taking that story I worked so hard to condense and expanding it into a full novel! Back when I was cutting words and soaking my keyboard in tears (slight exaggeration), I ached with the knowing that there was so much more story to explore, but no room to do it. I felt I could easily make it three times as long.

Well, now that I am actually trying to triple its size, it’s a lot harder than it looks! See, my stories have always had the bad habit of exploding on me. Subplots crop up, character arcs get deeper or more complicated, and connections start springing up like dandelions in May. (Seriously, I look out my window and there’s a sea of yellow.)

So things get . . . long. Short stories become novellas, novellas try to become novels, and standalones turn into series.  That’s just how I roll, I guess.

But I know lots of young writers have the exact opposite problem. Their stories are too short. By the time they type “The End” their supposed “epic YA fantasy novel” is only 50k, more like middle grade than YA. If that’s you, I can sympathize with you for the first time!

photo via Pinterest // graphic mine

So today we’re going to be looking at ways you can lengthen your stories–and not just padding them with fluff, but adding meaningful length.

And we’ll do it by re-examining the condensing tips I shared in Unraveling a Mess of Threads to see if any of them can be reverse-engineered. Perhaps the opposite principles will be helpful.

(And there will be random gifs, because why not?)

1. Streamline.

Nope, you don’t want to reverse this one! Every scene still needs to carry its weight. Don’t wander for the sake of extra words. That’s when the reader starts yawning–or worse, decides to put the book down.

2. Cut dialogue.

Brevity is still the soul of wit, even if you’re looking to expand a story, but you don’t have to be quite so ruthless with your dialogue now. A lot can be revealed in a conversation: personality, motives, conflicts, plot, etc. Characters are crucial to any story, and quite often, so are their interactions. So when they start talking to each other, don’t be afraid to dig a little deeper, and look for ways to add tension or conflict.

It doesn’t always have to be conflict between the characters, either. A tense conversation can be about the imminent war or the urgent need for supplies . . . or it can just as easily be about smaller conflicts, like the fact their local diner stopped selling chocolate milkshakes and they’re both upset about it.

The point is, add dialogue that does something. Treat conversations like mini stories: figure out what each person wants and what stands in their way.

3. Cut descriptions.

Now you’ll want to add description! But no purple prose, please–your reader proooobably doesn’t want to spend three pages watching a sunset unfold. Nor do they need to spend an agonizing amount of time listening to your protagonist navel-gazing.

However, if your story is running too short, there are probably lots of places you can beef up your descriptions. Use them to ground each scene. Intersperse them with action and movement. Engage all five senses. Strive to immerse your reader wholly within the world you’ve created! That world may never come out on the page 100% the way you imagine it in your mind, but get as close as possible.

If you’re struggling to find a place to add description in a scene, stop and consider what’s out of the ordinary about where that scene takes place. Yes, it might be in your protagonist’s average little kitchen and not in some wildly exotic fantasy locale, but try to find something relevant and interesting about your setting. Maybe the dishes have piled higher than normal because the character’s mom has been sick, and the plates are crusted in yesterday’s lasagna. Maybe the little brother left a note on the fridge saying he left to search for his missing puppy, but the brother is only six years old and your protagonist starts freaking out about him wandering the streets alone.

But do take note: we don’t need to know about the plates or the note if they don’t a) further the plot, or b) develop the characters. Yes, you want to add words, but you want to add words that matter!

4. Make a list of scenes.

In the original post, I suggested doing this for the purpose of getting a birds-eye view of your story. That way, it’s easier to spot which scenes aren’t pulling their weight and need to be cut out. But this is also a great strategy for finding places to expand! Did the story jump from the hero departing home to his arrival at a tavern on the way to his goal? Well, perhaps the journey in between can offer some conflict. Take that boring walk you skipped over and throw some obstacles at him. Ogres attack! The bridge is broken! Bandits steal his food! He stops to help a wounded peasant who will later betray him to the villain! He injures himself climbing a precipitous road! The sky’s the limit, folks. It may take extra work later on when editing to make sure your new scenes fit into the story’s flow, but it can be done.

5. Cut minor characters.

When every single word is measured, you keep your cast to the bare minimum. But when you’re expanding, adding a few more minor characters can provide more conflict, more dialogue, more revealing of main characters, and more subplots–in essence, more words. Who could you add to your story to further complicate events? This leads into the next tip . . .

6. Cut subplots.

This goes further than just adding scenes and characters. This means tying those extra things into your existing storyline, which can be easier said than done. Right now, with every new element I introduce to The Brightest Thread, I’m worried that it will draw the focus away from the main storyline, or that I’m making the story worse, not better. (But at this point I should be in creative mode, and save those sorts of judgments for editing.)

But a new subplot can enrich your story like nothing else. At some point, you’ll want to consider whether the subplot revolves around your story’s central plot and theme (it should), but for now, take some time to jot a list of all the crazy, difficult, dangerous, beautiful, or interesting things that could happen within your story.

This is where it becomes all about connections! This is when you get to decide that your villain is actually related to your hero, or that trade between two kingdoms is suffering, or that the regular old sword the sidekick wields is no longer an ordinary blade, but a magical object that somebody out there would do anything to obtain.

Rather than bog the story down, a well-written subplot will add depth and complexity.

7. Enter each scene late and leave it early.

KEEP DOING THIS. Basically, start each scene when the important stuff happens, and end it before the tension drops. Don’t waste time in getting things going or wrapping them up. This will keep those pages turning fast!

8. Cut unnecessary words.

Admit it, you have a collection of pet words that somehow manage to pepper every other page, no matter how much pet-word-repellant you spray your keyboard with. When you edit, please don’t leave those pesky things there just to keep your wordcount higher. Keep deleting whatever’s unnecessary. Pacing can be an issue on the scene level and on the sentence level.

Keeping that in mind, you can continue adding dialogue, descriptions, scenes, characters, and subplots. Just make them necessary. Tie them to the stakes of the story. Therein lies the key to meaningful additions.

To sum up:

When expanding a story, look for opportunities to:

  • Add dialogue
  • Add description
  • Add scenes
  • Expand the cast of characters
  • Create subplots

But don’t forget to:

  • Keep it streamlined
  • And make sure every addition either furthers the plot, develops a character, or both

And that’s all I’ve got! I’m excited about a certain (ahem, creepy) subplot I’m in the process of writing into TBT . . . it’s definitely going to change the flavor of the book somewhat, but I hope it will be in a good way.

Discussion time! Have you ever tried to lengthen a story? What worked for you? What didn’t work? Or if you’re planning to expand a story in the future, which of these tips do you think will help you the most?

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I Graduated!

Tracey Dyck 30 Comments


“Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different?”

These wise words by C.S. Lewis have always struck a chord in me, but perhaps never as strongly as here at the end of college. Because looking back, it’s been one crazy amazing adventure from start to finish. But in the day to day, I experienced hard moments, challenges, frustrations–long days when it felt like no matter how much time or energy I poured into it, nothing was changing. Yet now that it’s over, I look back and I am astounded at the ways I and my classmates have transformed this year.

Of course, none of that would have been possible without some very key people!

My teachers. (I nicknamed them Bob and Larry for their opposite personalities.) Both are very wise, godly men who have become dear mentors to me. They taught me and my classmates, coached us, equipped us, and poured their hearts into us.

The ministry leads. They were all amazing, but this year I got the chance to work under the leadership of the fantastic people in the youth department and the creative department. In youth, my love for teens grew even deeper, and my courage strengthened as I took opportunities to form relationships with them, teach them, and serve them. In creative, I learned new skills with my hands, started thinking outside the box more and more, and realized how much work and forethought go into event planning.

My family and friends. Without a home base of people who loved me, understood my crazy schedule, and supplied me with food, hugs, and listening ears, this year would’ve been a lot harder! Their support, encouragement, and of course prayers made a big difference.

My classmates. They rocked! I learned something from each and every one of them, whether they were aware of it or not. The team we formed got some pretty darn remarkable things done during these past nine months of college, and some of the friendships I formed will last a long time.

I have learned so much at college. Leadership principles, people skills, communication and public speaking, how to serve wholeheartedly, relationship building, and the list goes on. I’ve learned more about God, His Word, and His real purpose for my life.

But it’s one thing to acquire more head knowledge–you can pick up a new book or take a class just about anywhere. It’s a whole other thing to actually apply what you’ve learned, and that was one of the best things about this program.

Through designing chapels for elementary and high school, doing group projects, ministry afternoons, and volunteering at youth, inner city, and big events, we got many chances to really live out exactly what we were being taught.

Perhaps the biggest example of this was the day camp we planned from the ground up. Working on that project, we actually had to lead both each other and the kids. We had to work with each other’s personalities. We saw each other’s strengths shine out, and we came face to face with each other’s flaws. Yet we still chose to build a team, a family.

As a recovering perfectionist, I learned to beat the shame storm. Excellence is just doing the best you can with what you have, and that is enough.

I grew in my public speaking. In September, presenting a speech brought on nervous butterflies and even dizziness. But just two days ago, I delivered a valedictorian speech at grad and–apart from shedding a few tears–felt pretty comfortable behind the mic. (This post, in fact, is a modified version of that grad speech.)

I stepped out of my comfort zone, especially in the area of leadership as I was put in charge of the aforementioned day camp.

Some of my D personality* classmates rubbed off on me, and I became more direct and honest with others, lessening my people pleasing side a bit.

*from the DISC system; D’s are the direct people who cut to the chase and get stuff done.


I learned better strategies for managing my time.

I learned that life is all about relationships, and that tasks are secondary (and really are meant to serve relationships in the first place).

I learned to ask why, to stay curious, and to apply new knowledge to my life at this very moment.

I learned in a greater way that we are all reflections of God’s nature, and so is everything that’s right and true in the world.

It’s been said, “In any given moment, we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety.”

My classmates and I took many forward steps between September and now, and it would be easy to stop there, to think of this as the end. Truthfully, I’ve just begun this journey. Many new chapters lie ahead. But I’m well-armed with the tools God has helped me forge this year. I’m sad to see my year at college come to a close, because I’ve made so many good memories. But as my classmates and I move into new adventures, we’ll be cheering each other on.

And faith tells me that no matter what lies ahead, God is already there.

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