Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Cate's Favorite Craft Books Series # 6

 I had intended to bring you the next in my favorite craft books series today, but I'm in the middle of an interstate move and all my books are packed away in boxes awaiting the moving men.


Instead of doing a repost, I decided I wanted to focus on craft books in a different way.


The best and most frequently given advice is if you want to be a writer, you must read. Read the kinds of books you want to write, read research books, read the kinds of books you don't want to write because they will help stretch your mind.

One way to use books you love as "craft books" is to deconstruct them. I recently heard someone give advice about this as if it was some big secret. Really? I've been doing it for ages as have many other authors I know. If you're not familiar with the idea, it's basically figuring out why you love the books you love so that you can learn to replicate the result in your own work. 

(NOTE: I'm not talking about copying work. I'm talking about studying it.)


I really do believe that reading is the best training for writing, because avid readers absorb style details without even being aware they're doing so. They develop a sense for how the story should unfold, for what makes a good story.

You can set about this "research"  in many ways. Maybe you just want to reflect on what it is about a certain book that makes you love it. Maybe it's the characterization. Maybe it's the clever plot twists the author is known for. Maybe it's the language. You're just getting a general sense. That's an informal use.

But you can also take a more formal approach to breaking a book down to study the structure. This is particularly helpful if you're trying to break into a line. Take Love Inspired or Love Inspired Suspense, for example. When I was first trying to sell to LIS, I took books by some of their best-selling authors and took notes scene by scene to see what I needed to do. How is the pacing handled? How do the hero and heroine's points of view alternate? When do they meet, have conflict, kiss? When (with regards to chapters) does the black moment occur? How many chapters? How many scenes per chapter? How long is each chapter? And so on....




On the flip side, there is also value in deconstructing books you disliked. Why did you dislike it? Were the characters unlikable? Was the setting or plot off? Was it the pacing or the dialogue? All of these questions can give you valuable insight into your own work.


So let's talk. Have you ever deconstructed a book to see how it works? Did it help you?

I'd also love to hear any good moving stories! Friends keep telling me there's a book in this experience!


20 comments:

  1. I've never deconstructed a book, but your advice is excellent and I plan on using it!

    Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Cate, I wish you the best in your move.....praying it all goes smoothly! Will look forward to "that book" after this!!!

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    1. Thanks, Jackie. It's the first time I've moved in 34.5 years, so it's a big deal. Looking forward to normal again.

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  3. I've never sat down to deconstruct a book, but I've been thinking a lot lately about what my favorite stories (books and movies) have in common. I'm trying to figure out what kind of story I want to write like what kind of theme or trope. But taking a favorite book and breaking it down is a great idea.

    And best of luck with the move. My dad was in the military so we moved a lot. On one of those moves the moving company loaded up a bag of garbage that we then found when we got to our new home. LOL It didn't smell any better after a cross-country trip in a semi-truck :)

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    1. Oh, Glynis! I can't imagine that smell. Note to self - check for trash bags!

      Deconstructing movies works really well too. Tina Radcliffe did a workshop on one a year or so ago and it was great!

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    2. Glynis, I'm an Army brat and an Army wife who has moved so many times. Lots of horror stories from folks who didn't watch the packers. As you said, garbage was packed. The one I always chuckle at is the greasy skillet that was packed. The wife had fried eggs for breakfast and hadn't washed the skillet before the packers swooped in, and as I mentioned, packed the skillet!

      We had a crate fall in the ocean on a return trip from Europe. When we opened the crate at our new home in Fort Irwin, CA, everything including a 9x12 rug was moldy from the ocean water. :(

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  4. I have deconstructed short stories a lot to learn to write those better. I haven't done it a lot with a book, although I have tried to break down scenes. Good luck with your move. It isn't a fun thing to do so I hope it goes smoothly.

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    1. Thanks, Sandy. Not fun at all, although fortunately my eldest daughter is a help help. She works in theater production and they routinely pack and unpack things. What seems overwhelming to me is just "work" to her.

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  5. In my early unpubbed days, I read and reread one particular author's book. I underlined, used sticky notes and really dug into the way she created her suspense. Yes, I learned a lot.

    I've often thought that typing a favorite author's pages from one of her books might help reveal the author's cadence and style. Not to use her work, but to learn how she constructs her sentences, how she adds dialogue tags and perhaps hooks at the end of the scenes. I've never tried the technique, but I do think the exercise could be instructive.

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    1. That's an interesting idea, Debby. I haven't done that, but I imagine you could pick up a lot more information that way.

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  6. Cate, great post. I was watching a Lifetime Movie Network movie and right in the middle of it thought now that's a great way to weave in backstory! I had never thought about deconstructing a book I don't like to figure out why. I'll have to do that!

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    1. I understand, Sally. It's sort of the flip side. It's important to read, but it's hard to be just a reader when you're also a writer.

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  7. Yes! This is the one valuable thing I learned about writing back in the dark ages (aka college,) and I've used it often. Especially when I'm trying out a new genre or adjusting from writing one word count to another (because the rhythm and pacing is different for a novella than for a full-length or short novel.) I've heard the technique called different things, but deconstructing is a good word for it!

    This is a great tip, Cate!

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  8. I have and am still working on it. I’ve found it more challenging than I thought. I’m not always positive if I find the right plot points.

    I’ve also tried James Scott Bell’s Plot & Structure method of breaking down Scenes. Some scenes I don’t know how to place though as action or reaction. I’m not sure if that’s normal or not?

    I’ve been a very restless reader. I can’t get into the books I pick up, I don’t know if my tastes are changing? I’d have a difficult time deconstructing those books.

    Also, have you ever heard of someone taking their notes from a book and writing their own based on that? Not copying but following the flow and beats of the published book?

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  9. Best wishes with your move. I enjoyed reading your article.

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  10. Lol - I recently moved and said to another author friend that there was a lot of story fodder from my move but none of it would be believable enough for a novel! Took the movers three days to move us 4 hours away. We paid them to move us but hubby and FIL were loading and unloading too, workers stopped because they wanted to get paid with half unloaded truck to go...and so much more!

    I'm slowly getting unpacked. My writing space and books are set up so the most important room is done. ;P

    Your move will go better than mine!

    Thanks for sharing, Kate.

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  11. Great advice, Mary Cate. I've not deconstructed a book, though if I love a book or don't care for another, I do ask myself why I felt that way. That helps me see what does and doesn't work and, hopefully, works toward making me a better writer.

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  12. Yes! I've deconstructed books for what I liked and didn't like, the techniques, the style, and more. And...it doesn't feel like homework or studying, because it's all fiction books! :)

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  13. When I first started seriously trying to write, I did what I called a book on training wheels. I took the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" and wrote it from Mary Bailey's point of view. Lol! I've since learned that there's an actual name for that. It's called fan fiction.

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