Hi, Gang. Craig here again with the conclusion to my bit of free-form thinking.
It all began with Write Small, where we learned to include small details to help readers relate to our characters. These are the split-ends and hangnails of our stories.
Then we moved on to Write Medium, where our main story really lives. This is where your character wants something, even if it isn’t the right thing, and we write about that character’s story on a personal level.
So far it’s a pretty serviceable story. Think of it like a piece of chocolate cake, but wouldn’t that cake be better with a bit of frosting? This is where writing large comes in.
When I write, I try to take on a personal goal that points me toward self improvement. My newest one is called Voyage of the Lanternfish. The goal here was to expand my world-building skills. I allowed myself to drift just a bit more than usual. When I did, something amazing happened.
With simply a line here and there, my story took place on a real world, with real history, and other events happening on a global scale. It didn’t take much either. Maybe a character from a different part of the world, a recruiting poster that’s germane to the story, but for events elsewhere.
The previous posts mentioned a space opera, so let’s keep exploring that. Maybe your character gets news of a huge defeat in the solar system down the block. The pundits are blaming outdated tactics, the same tactics your character is forced to deploy.
Another one might be parked in the bar at some distant outpost, and the televisions all start blacking out, first from solar system A, then B, then-then-then. The alarm sounds and they all scramble for their ships. These other places tell readers there is more going on, and that they’re getting the story of one person’s efforts in a galactic level tale.
I have no experience with series writing, but I can see writing large as a gateway to series work. The environment is larger and it’s vibrant. Maybe there are more stories to tell here.
The story still takes place on the medium scale, with bits of the small scale thrown in too. The large scale is, to repeat myself, the icing on the cake. Just like too much icing can ruin a cake, too much large scale can spoil your story.
I hope you got something out of this series. I know I did. Sometimes getting the words down helps bring things into focus.
The first two posts included some photos I took at Craters of the Moon National Monument. They illustrated the small scale, and the medium. I was going to provide something like a map of the whole thing to help this post along. I decided this image might provide a better visual angle.
There it is right there, north of the Great Salt Lake. You can see it, can’t you?
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Really enjoyed this series, Craig. I’m like Staci, I enjoy writing a series and it’s hard for me to write stand-alone novels, which is what I had planned for my first novel. A single idea turned into something much larger. I’m planning a new series once the last book of the current one is finished.
BTW, not sure I spotted the Great Salt Lake, but I love that visual!
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Glad it worked for you. I like reading stand alone books too.
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Nice ending to an excellent series of posts and bo I couldn’t even find the great salt lake.
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that should be and no
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I guess you never saw me waving at you either.
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I loved this series of posts, Craig. You really nailed the nuances of each. And your visuals were spot-on.
I especially like your thoughts about writing large relating to series writing. I’ve used that technique when writing my own series, and I think (I hope) that’s how it came out.
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That part is new to me, but I may be taking this up soon in my own work. Might not be as important in works set in our current environment, but SFF seems to demand some of it.
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I love that part. I struggle to write standalones. Funny how we all approach things differently, isn’t it?
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Even though our paths are different; hopefully, we all get there in the end.
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Interesting post. Now I need to go back and read the other 2. Thanks for sharing. ✨😊✨
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Thank you.
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I really enjoyed this series, Craig. I never stopped to ponder writing small, middle, or large before. The parallels you drew in each section were excellent for emphasis. The cake frosting in this one was ideal and drove the point home.
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I didn’t either, until it happened. I shared my thoughts, and it seemed to make a nice series.
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Great post, Craig. I’d say that you definitely accomplished your goal of world-building in the Lanternfish, and that was one of my comments in my review. You expanded the world you created each time a new character or monster was added. Considering the time period of this story, which I pictured to be maybe around the 1600s(?) you did an amazing job of showing us different cultures, even down to the hooch they drank! 🙂
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Thank you, Jan. What would a pirate tale be without hooch? What surprised me was how little is needed to make the world feel expansive. The wanted posters were printed somewhere. The creature we don’t see on Halfrid’s island home. Even George’s cute pet. That kind of thing.
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Excellent message for us writers, Craig. Thanks for sharing 🙂
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Thank you, Ryan.
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I can see where this will be helpful to many writers. Some of us miss the small stuff, some the bigger picture.
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It’s an evolutionary process. A mutual acquaintance says we both have “white room syndrome.” I’m trying to work my way out of it with Lanternfish, and it taught me some things.
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Reblogged this on Author Don Massenzio and commented:
Check out C.S. Boyack’s post on the Story Empire blog on the topic of writing large
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Thanks for sharing.
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You’re welcome.
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Great series. As someone who does series and ‘writes big’ as you describe, I think you hit the nail on the head. Saying it’s a little here and there is true and people don’t always realize that. Many just go for the big flood of information in one go and then leave it at that. Occasionally repeating the same world-building tidbit can help too.
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I can see that with a series. It can be a reminder two books down the line.
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Part of it is because you reuse settings even down the line.
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Like the trolls in The Hobbit.
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I can see how writing large can lead to a series. Haha, I opened up this blog post before 6am (noooo, I wasn’t fully awake yet) and saw it was about writing large and wondered, “Large text?”
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Large text is good too. I’m just now having my morning coffee, so I understand.
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My current WIP is forcing me to include some of the large, as what happens on one planet has to affect the other five in the system, and I need to show that, even if only with a small snippet here and there. Thanks for a great series of posts, Craig 🙂
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Whew! Glad it resonated. I like that ripple effect. Some things we can’t hide from even if they don’t happen close to home.
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Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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Thanks for sharing.
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This is going to take a bit to wrap my head around. I’ve got the small and medium (or what I call micro and meso) worked out, but writing large… I admit I tend to shy away from the large. Maybe now it’s been drawn to my attention I can ponder on it a bit more in my writing!
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Thanks, Jessica. Anything that makes us think can be helpful.
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