YA Author Stacey Kade

One of the things I love most about writing is watching the movie of it play in my head. Scenes play out in my head, just like on a screen. The trouble is sometimes I have no idea who these people are, why they’re doing what they’re doing, or what comes before or after the moment playing in my head.

This is something I’m still working on how best to understand and cultivate, honestly. Before, when this would happen, I would eagerly leap into writing those scenes, banking on the fact that eventually the story would come. The scenes before and after would make sense, the motivations for the actions I was seeing would eventually become clear. Sometimes they did. Other times, I got sixty pages in and discovered I didn’t really have a story.

That was heartbreaking. Truly.

These days, I’m a little more cautious. Mainly because I can’t afford to go in endless circles for months at a time with deadlines and contracts and being a professional (yea!), nor do I want a repeat of that heartache and frustration.

That being said, sometimes it feels like you can’t know whether a story really has something until you’ve given it a little time to unfold. Then you’ve got at least a jumping off point from which to figure everything out. Otherwise it’s all up in the air and impossible to pin down.

So, I think I’ve decided to give myself permission to write the first three chapters in a given idea first before worrying about where it’s going. But only the first three. Then it’s time to figure out whether this idea and I have a future together or it’s just a fling.

I’ve got three ideas I’m playing with (yikes, that would be a total of nine chapters to write “just to see”) for books in addition to my Ghost and The Goth series. (Princess Poltergeist is and will continue to be my top priority, of course! But I’m thinking ahead because I like knowing what I’m going to work on next so it can start simmering in the back of my brain.) Not sure which of these ideas will end up being “the one,” or if it will be something entirely new, an idea that hasn’t even introduced itself yet.

So many possibilities…That’s half the fun, I guess!
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Random Stuff:
–Impossible by Nancy Werlin and The Hate List by Jennifer Brown were both awesome, awesome books! Highly recommend them.

–Glee rocks my world, just thought you should know.

–If you have a chance, check out my post–Mean Girls, Villains and Cheerleaders, oh my!–over at The Bradford Bunch blog and tell me what you think.

To give myself some kind of structure around here, I’ve decided that Wednesday posts shall be (loosely) writing related. Otherwise, this whole blog will be nothing but squeeing about books I’ve read and loved and reminders to watch cool shows. (Speaking of which…GLEE on tonight!)

So…

I spend a lot of time thinking about goals. Not just my personal ones, but the ones my characters have.

Everybody wants something. That’s one of the basic tenets of Debra Dixon’s brilliant Goal, Motivation and Conflict theory/way of thinking.

People have external goals–something they’re trying to achieve that can be seen or recognized through the senses. Completing a 5k run, for example.

They also have internal or emotional goals, which they may or may not be aware of–wanting to be loved or accepted or independent, etc. I want to make Dad proud of me, for example.

It occurs to me today (and I could very well be having a belated realization based on Dixon’s GMC work as I’ve practically absorbed it into my subconscious by now through so many re-readings) to wonder if there’s a kind of causal connection between the internal goal and the external goal.

In other words, if someone is aware of the internal goal or need, do they consciously seek out external goals they believe will also meet their internal goal/need?

In other words:

If you have a character who is, for example, seeking acceptance or reassurance of being accepted, does said character then have an external goal of being elected Homecoming Queen? If I become Homecoming Queen, then that’s proof that I’m accepted.

Or, if a character wants to prove his independence (internal), perhaps his (external) goal is to climb Mt. Everest alone or something.

My trouble is I usually know what someone’s external goal is first, and working backwards isn’t as easy. There can be any number of internal (emotional) goals driving the establishment of an external goal.

For example, our mountain climber could be doing this to express his independence or he could be doing it to find inner peace, escaping the trouble and heartache of his life. The two would work out to be completely different stories with the same external goal for the main character.

What do you think? Are internal and external goals connected? Should they be?

Crap. I’ve been gone for too long. But it’s for a good reason, I promise! I’m working hard on the sequel to The Ghost and the Goth, Princess Poltergeist. (As always, my Facebook and Twitter pages–www.twitter.com/staceykade and www.facebook.com/staceykade–are the best place to find me!)

I’m thinking there probably needs to be a bit more routine around my blog updating. I’m good with routine and scheduling. However, I’m not particularly interesting, I’m afraid, so you may end up getting lots of posts about cool new books and tv shows you should check out.

I can say this, that outside of Princess Poltergeist, I just had an experience that doesn’t come along very often: an idea comes out of nowhere and it’s just freaking tantalizing I want to start writing it right away. THAT does not happen often for me. Usually there’s lots of planning and thinking and hmm, where is this story going to go? But not this time. It was, like, all there. Or, almost all of it. Which is quite distracting because I normally spend a good deal of time getting to know the people and what they want.

I do know from experience, though, that I need to take the time to do the pre-writing. Otherwise, when I run out of the stuff I know (the scenes I’ve already watched in my head), I’ll be really stuck.

So, I’m working on piecing it together in spare moments when I’m taking a break from Princess Poltergeist.

I should also have an update about a potential school visit at the end of September/October.

But in the meantime, don’t forget GLEE comes back tonight! I’m so excited!!!