How many of you have had that conversation lately? Neighbors, family and coworkers don't quite know what to think of us when we writers talk out our dialogues in a low (or not-so-low) voice with no one else around. I actually have a friend who had a security guard ask her manager if she was all right. Talk about busted!
The truth of the matter is that (no matter how embarrassing it can be to have someone laugh at you for "talking to yourself") we writers have to talk out our dialogue. There's just no way around it.
Why, a non-writer might ask? It makes perfect sense if you consider what goes into writing.
When a writer sits down to a blank screen, there is an automatic "FREEZE!" moment. They suddenly can't think of a thing to write. So they think and plot and plan a little, then come back and sit down again. With first sentences, this is pretty easy. With dialogue, not so much. Why? Because narrative is easy to write. It's like writing in a journal, or blogging, or Twittering. It's basically typing out your thoughts. No editing is really needed as you go to make it sound natural (most of the time). Dialogue, on the other hand, isn't something you can always write naturally because all conversations with more than one person (you and yourself don't count) happen out loud, not inside our heads.
This means that when you're writing dialogue, you can't just depend on what you hear inside your head. You have to hear it out loud to know whether or not it sounds right. You have to hear it to know if people would really say things like that. "The ear is the best writer" is the saying - and it is completely right when it comes to dialogue!
Think of it this way:
You love fudge; you've eaten lots of fudge; you've made lots of fudge. But you've never tried Lemon Bar Fudge. Now, you can read the recipe all you want. You can think about how delicious it's going to be. You can even pin pictures of it onto your favorite Pinterest board. But you will never know what it tastes like unless you actually put a bite into your mouth.
The same is true of dialogue. You can read it. You can plan it. You can even write it down. But until you hear it spoken out loud, you will never know if it SOUNDS right.
So for those of you who are hiding behind bedroom doors, cowering in the basement study, covering up your conversations with the noise of a hot shower, I would say this - rehearsing dialogue is nothing to be ashamed of. A little unusual for non-writers to see, but not at all unusual for a writer to do. The next time somebody gives you that look and asks, "Who are you talking to?" just give them a lecture on the subject of how to properly test dialogue. And I guarantee you, they may think you're crazy, but they won't ask about it again.
Sincerely,
Yours Truly
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Friday, March 6, 2015
LIFE: What Having a Child Will Do For Your Writing
A lot of people make a big deal about how having children will change your life. "You'll never get to go anywhere fun!" "You'll never be able to afford it!" "You'll ruin your figure, not to mention your life!" Oh, and my personal favorite - "Just forget about romance after this!" People make a big deal about almost any major event in your life (and theirs). As if the world is coming to an end just because you have to plan your life more carefully or work out more diligently. But what they tend to forget is that you can turn almost anything to your advantage as a writer. And major life experiences are no exception.
No, this is not a blog post on how having my daughter has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Nor it is a blog post on the many ways she actually has changed my life. (For the record - the romance only leaves if you let it. Just sayin'.) This post is going to be about how life-changing events, like having a child, can actually improve your writing on a level nothing else can.
How? Here are three important ways.
1) It makes you think about priorities. This may sound daunting and undoubtedly cliched, but any change in your life that starts to cause inconveniences (from missing Mom's old coffee maker to waking up at 3:30 a.m. to a baby's cries) will make you rethink what's important in your life. Our lives only have so much room despite our efforts to cram everything in. Which means that we have to decide what is important enough to make time to do and what isn't. As harsh as it sounds, if the one thing you don't have time or energy or inspiration for is writing, then it's time to let it go temporarily. If you find yourself spiraling downward without it, it means you're still a writer at heart. If you find your life is simply that much better without it - it means you're not really a writer at heart and you need to focus on those passions you were created for.
2) It gives you fuel for your stories. The more experiences you are exposed to, the more you will have to write about. I haven't had that much happen to me throughout my life compared to most people, certainly not many big life changes. (Either that, or I just didn't realize that they were big life changes at the time.) So for years I have struggled with the phrase "write what you know". If I was supposed to write about only my life experiences, then my book was going to be awfully boring! (More on that phrase in a later post...) Now that I've had more happen to me (marriage, moving away from family, having a baby), I not only feel like I have actually had something happen in my life - I have SO much more to write about! I now have a huge increase in story material from my own life that I can write about expertly because (duh!) it happened to me. And that leads to the most important way a life changing event helps a writer...
3) It allows a writer to sympathize with the characters. Most of my stories growing up were about people older than me, in different circumstances than me, dealing with a lot of things I could only imagine I knew about. And it made for pretty unconvincing story lines, not because I hadn't done my research, but because I had no source for emotional connection with my characters. I had never been separated from a loved one, so I couldn't properly relate how a girl would feel if the love of her life got sent off to war. I had never had a child, so I couldn't properly relate how a parent would feel about watching a child have to go through something difficult. I had never been through surgery, so I couldn't properly relate how a person would feel having to deal with rehab. Now that I have experienced all these major life events, I can write as though I understand what a character is going through even if their particular life experiences are slightly different than mine. Why? Because I have been through similar situations, if not identical ones (I'm pretty sure no one has ever carried around a magic ring and had to dump it in a volcanic mountain before). And while before the reactions I came up with were noble and brave and idealistic, I can now write reactions that are more realistic. People are people. They don't always react like they should. And having been through some "stuff" myself, I can now understand why they don't. It makes for better plot lines, more lifelike characters, and reactions people can believe.
Does all this mean that writing is made any easier having a child around? Or living in a new area where you don't know anyone? Or dealing with a physical condition that takes up a lot of your time? Absolutely not! But easier isn't always better. Just ask my post-pregnancy-work-out-sore abs - sometimes you have to endure pain to build muscle. So don't complain about the inconvenience of life experiences. Start using them!
Sincerely,
Yours Truly
Guess Who's Back? (And Bringing Company)
Wow. Having a kid in your life will do all kinds of crazy things to your writing! But not necessarily bad things. Later this weekend, I'll be publishing a post about how all of this "non-writing time" has affected my writing and what I've drawn from it - and, hopefully, some other, fun posts, too!
For now, let me share with you some food for thought: a vlog (video blog) by Nosco Says in which my big brother discusses weak, underdeveloped villains - and when you can afford to get away with using them. Although drawn from films, this vlog certainly applies to writers. I myself was convicted of falling prey to the kind of cheap writing Nosco points out.
Please enjoy and share with your writer friends!
Sincerely,
Yours Truly
For now, let me share with you some food for thought: a vlog (video blog) by Nosco Says in which my big brother discusses weak, underdeveloped villains - and when you can afford to get away with using them. Although drawn from films, this vlog certainly applies to writers. I myself was convicted of falling prey to the kind of cheap writing Nosco points out.
Please enjoy and share with your writer friends!
Sincerely,
Yours Truly
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Fiction 101 - the Art of Plot Line Q & A
Recently, I started watching the TV show Terra Nova on Netflix. It follows a futuristic family (22nd century) who are among many to travel back in time and establish a colony in the 'prehistoric' past. The show, though only one season long, has so far proven to be full of suspense, plot twists and dazzling eye candy shots of a beautiful world - and lots of dinosaurs (which is where it really gets fun).
Now, this post isn't about the show or its actors or even the fact that I haven't noticed any plot holes thus far (a great discovery in this era of action-only-ditch-the-good-plot-part movies). It's about the main frustration I've felt in watching this show, one that I've noticed I also tend to feel in a lot of novels for teens and kids. And that frustration is simple: faulty plot line Q & A.
What is Plot Line Q & A, you may ask? That, my friend, is the element of a novel that makes the reader HAVE to turn the next page, HAVE to read the next chapter, HAVE to finish the book tonight. It's not that difficult to incorporate, either. In fact, as most stories invent themselves in a writer's head (for those of you who aren't writers, stories have a tendency to do that) they develop their own system of Plot Line Q & A.
This is because all good stories are based not on action but on a question - how is the main character going to fight this/survive/win the girl/figure this out/etc. The subsequent development of both character and plot are meant to advance that question to a definite and satisfying answer. How a writer develops the SUB questions, however (the questions that underlie the big, easy-to-see-one), is what will make the reader continue reading.
In Terra Nova, the writers did an excellent job of asking lots of questions. How is the dad going to travel back with them? What is this Commander Taylor guy really doing here? Where did these strange markings come from? Who are the Sixers?
The trouble was with answering them - or rather, with not answering them. The point to asking somebody a question and then giving a dramatic pause is to make them REALLY want to know what the answer is. Usually they start guessing; then they start to get antsy. Finally, they get impatient - and that's when you know you've waited too long. In Terra Nova, the writers didn't give the audience a chance to get to the antsy stage. In fact, I myself barely got to the guessing stage. They asked the questions in one episode and then answered them at the end or in the next episode. And it was really, REALLY disappointing not to get to guess the answers myself or be made to HAVE to watch the next episode so I could find out.
Again, the questions were good ones, and they were asked subtly enough. To add to that, the action and drama surrounding the questions were such a good distraction that the audience could have gone on for several episodes being asked new questions without getting to the impatient stage about the first ones. But the writers didn't do that. They went ahead and answered them - through some rather cheesy plot exposition dialogue, too, I might add. And that's what spoiled it for me.
So how do you get the Plot Line Q & A right without either disappointing your audience (answering too quickly) or driving them nuts (making them wade through 25 episodes of junk to find the answers)?
That part just takes practice. And a little keen observation as you read books and watch TV. (Yes, believe it or not, TV and movies are an EXCELLENT way to learn how to and how not to develop plot line, characters, etc.)
One good way to gauge how well you're doing with Q & A is to sit next to somebody while they read your manuscript and have them give you their honest opinion about it. (You can just have them read it and report back to you, but it's much funnier when you're sitting next to them.) When my sister-in-law was reading through my most recent manuscript for critiquing purposes, she did this part really well. Once every chapter at least, she'd look at me and say, "Wait - why is such and such happening?" Then (without fail) two or three sentences later, she'd go "Oooohhhh, I get it." At the end, she told me that she had noticed I had done a good job of asking a question and making the audience wait just the right amount of time before answering it - all while adding new questions to the pile.
No, in case you're wondering, this is not another plug for my book or my own personal writing skills. It's simply that I thought of that incident as I was watching this TV show because I realized just how important it is to ask and answer the right questions at the right moments for the ultimate experience of suspense and intrigue.
My litmus test for good Plot Line Q & A? Look at your manuscript and ask yourself the following questions. (The answers should be written down somewhere for you to look over as your edit.)
1) Am I immediately answering all questions as I get to them, or am I leaving a few answers at least until later?
2) Am I asking my questions directly (as in through dialogue or narrative) or am I just sort of leaving a situation unexplained, in which case the audience is asking the questions? (A good combination of both makes the audience feel like they're not being taken advantage of or having all the work done for them.)
3) How many times have I asked this question, and do I need to take out a few references to it so the audience doesn't get tired of being asked and shut the book?
4) Contrarily, has the audience been so distracted by subplots that they've already forgotten I asked this question, in which case do I need to a) ask it again or b) take out some distraction?
5) Am I rushing to explain situations by having other characters talk about them early on (plot exposition dumps are REALLY annoying to a reader), or am I letting the situations explain themselves as the pieces of the puzzle start to come together?
In the end, how you ask and answer questions is something only you have control over. But remember always - an audience appreciates good suspense, and Plot Line Q & A (done right) is how you get that. My challenge to you is to look over whatever you're writing now (seriously, take a break from the internet and look over that huge document sitting in the Microsoft Word file) and ask the questions listed. Then keep those questions in mind as you continue writing and see how it turns out. Have fun! And good luck.
Sincerely,
Yours Truly
Now, this post isn't about the show or its actors or even the fact that I haven't noticed any plot holes thus far (a great discovery in this era of action-only-ditch-the-good-plot-part movies). It's about the main frustration I've felt in watching this show, one that I've noticed I also tend to feel in a lot of novels for teens and kids. And that frustration is simple: faulty plot line Q & A.
What is Plot Line Q & A, you may ask? That, my friend, is the element of a novel that makes the reader HAVE to turn the next page, HAVE to read the next chapter, HAVE to finish the book tonight. It's not that difficult to incorporate, either. In fact, as most stories invent themselves in a writer's head (for those of you who aren't writers, stories have a tendency to do that) they develop their own system of Plot Line Q & A.
This is because all good stories are based not on action but on a question - how is the main character going to fight this/survive/win the girl/figure this out/etc. The subsequent development of both character and plot are meant to advance that question to a definite and satisfying answer. How a writer develops the SUB questions, however (the questions that underlie the big, easy-to-see-one), is what will make the reader continue reading.
In Terra Nova, the writers did an excellent job of asking lots of questions. How is the dad going to travel back with them? What is this Commander Taylor guy really doing here? Where did these strange markings come from? Who are the Sixers?
The trouble was with answering them - or rather, with not answering them. The point to asking somebody a question and then giving a dramatic pause is to make them REALLY want to know what the answer is. Usually they start guessing; then they start to get antsy. Finally, they get impatient - and that's when you know you've waited too long. In Terra Nova, the writers didn't give the audience a chance to get to the antsy stage. In fact, I myself barely got to the guessing stage. They asked the questions in one episode and then answered them at the end or in the next episode. And it was really, REALLY disappointing not to get to guess the answers myself or be made to HAVE to watch the next episode so I could find out.
Again, the questions were good ones, and they were asked subtly enough. To add to that, the action and drama surrounding the questions were such a good distraction that the audience could have gone on for several episodes being asked new questions without getting to the impatient stage about the first ones. But the writers didn't do that. They went ahead and answered them - through some rather cheesy plot exposition dialogue, too, I might add. And that's what spoiled it for me.
So how do you get the Plot Line Q & A right without either disappointing your audience (answering too quickly) or driving them nuts (making them wade through 25 episodes of junk to find the answers)?
That part just takes practice. And a little keen observation as you read books and watch TV. (Yes, believe it or not, TV and movies are an EXCELLENT way to learn how to and how not to develop plot line, characters, etc.)
One good way to gauge how well you're doing with Q & A is to sit next to somebody while they read your manuscript and have them give you their honest opinion about it. (You can just have them read it and report back to you, but it's much funnier when you're sitting next to them.) When my sister-in-law was reading through my most recent manuscript for critiquing purposes, she did this part really well. Once every chapter at least, she'd look at me and say, "Wait - why is such and such happening?" Then (without fail) two or three sentences later, she'd go "Oooohhhh, I get it." At the end, she told me that she had noticed I had done a good job of asking a question and making the audience wait just the right amount of time before answering it - all while adding new questions to the pile.
No, in case you're wondering, this is not another plug for my book or my own personal writing skills. It's simply that I thought of that incident as I was watching this TV show because I realized just how important it is to ask and answer the right questions at the right moments for the ultimate experience of suspense and intrigue.
My litmus test for good Plot Line Q & A? Look at your manuscript and ask yourself the following questions. (The answers should be written down somewhere for you to look over as your edit.)
1) Am I immediately answering all questions as I get to them, or am I leaving a few answers at least until later?
2) Am I asking my questions directly (as in through dialogue or narrative) or am I just sort of leaving a situation unexplained, in which case the audience is asking the questions? (A good combination of both makes the audience feel like they're not being taken advantage of or having all the work done for them.)
3) How many times have I asked this question, and do I need to take out a few references to it so the audience doesn't get tired of being asked and shut the book?
4) Contrarily, has the audience been so distracted by subplots that they've already forgotten I asked this question, in which case do I need to a) ask it again or b) take out some distraction?
5) Am I rushing to explain situations by having other characters talk about them early on (plot exposition dumps are REALLY annoying to a reader), or am I letting the situations explain themselves as the pieces of the puzzle start to come together?
In the end, how you ask and answer questions is something only you have control over. But remember always - an audience appreciates good suspense, and Plot Line Q & A (done right) is how you get that. My challenge to you is to look over whatever you're writing now (seriously, take a break from the internet and look over that huge document sitting in the Microsoft Word file) and ask the questions listed. Then keep those questions in mind as you continue writing and see how it turns out. Have fun! And good luck.
Sincerely,
Yours Truly
Monday, July 14, 2014
Author's Bio 101
Today I had to write an author's bio for the back of my book. I also had to take a picture to be sent in, which isn't an easy thing to do given that I am currently four months pregnant and starting to really look it. I'm all in the groove for writing at the moment, and decided that while in this groove I might as well write a blog post. And this is what I have to write about.
Most people think an author's bio would be the least of their worries when it comes time to publish. Au contraire, mom ami! An author's bio is what they will live up to for the rest of their known life! It is that small glimpse into our world people all over the globe may read. And if it doesn't sound just right, it doesn't sound professional. Too long? Unprofessional. Too short? Why did you put it in there?! Too trite? You sound like a fourth-grader writing up an "all about me" paper for school.
See? Not so simple after all.
The best tip I can give is this: READ AUTHOR BIOS FROM NEW YORK BEST SELLERS! The answer to most questions of professional quality is simply to see how the professionals do it. And this is exactly what I did. The results were comforting. I can add in some personal, non-writing-related interests; and I don't have to put down the name of the city that I live in given that it might be changing soon. All in all, a very gratifying tour of the professional world, and one that makes me feel incredibly professional myself.
How did it turn out? Well, buy the book when it comes out and you'll see!...Okay, maybe I just wrote this post to promote my book. Can you blame me?
As always, I remain sincerely,
Yours Truly
Most people think an author's bio would be the least of their worries when it comes time to publish. Au contraire, mom ami! An author's bio is what they will live up to for the rest of their known life! It is that small glimpse into our world people all over the globe may read. And if it doesn't sound just right, it doesn't sound professional. Too long? Unprofessional. Too short? Why did you put it in there?! Too trite? You sound like a fourth-grader writing up an "all about me" paper for school.
See? Not so simple after all.
The best tip I can give is this: READ AUTHOR BIOS FROM NEW YORK BEST SELLERS! The answer to most questions of professional quality is simply to see how the professionals do it. And this is exactly what I did. The results were comforting. I can add in some personal, non-writing-related interests; and I don't have to put down the name of the city that I live in given that it might be changing soon. All in all, a very gratifying tour of the professional world, and one that makes me feel incredibly professional myself.
How did it turn out? Well, buy the book when it comes out and you'll see!...Okay, maybe I just wrote this post to promote my book. Can you blame me?
As always, I remain sincerely,
Yours Truly
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
How to Get Your Audience Back in 5 Easy Steps
My first novella is finished (as in actually, literally finished; no more writing on it allowed!) so I have naturally moved on to the next project. And this one will be considerably more involved than the last. Mainly because the original 'finished' version was well over 100,000 words instead of a mere 25,000. But it is also because there are a lot of important characters, complex backgrounds and interwoven subplots that are vital to the story. So this novel is, as I said, more involved. It will also, however, be more exciting as I begin the process of making it an interesting novel instead of just a mediocre novel, as it is now.
I'm going to relay to you some of the fascinating things that I discovered as I reread the material and began outlining the changes I wanted to make in this new version. And these are things that I believe every writer should look at as they prepare to do any kind of rewrite.
1. Cut to the Chase
The first chapter of the original version took my character from Scene 1 to Scene 2 in about 2,000+ words - the amount of words I now use to cover an entire first chapter, and it wasn't anywhere near done yet. It used up 1,000 of those words just to get around to introducing another character and including actual dialogue. And all of those 1,000 words were used to explain the situation the character found herself in.
In the new version, my character broods for a grand 520 words (literally half that of the original) and spends less time explaining so that the audience, instead of being bored, has their curiosity aroused. Contrarily, I added over 100 words to the dialogue sequence - a part of the narrative that the audience actually would find interesting. My goal in this destroy-and-add-words binge? To skip all the gobblety-gook (as my grandmother would put it) and just tell the story.
2. Cut to the Important Characters
Let's talk reality here. In real life, we meet up with dozens (even hundreds) of people that we'll never meet more than once or twice. We might politely exchange names; we might chat about school, work, the weather, even politics; we might say "see y'all soon". But we'll never actually see those people again. It's just how life works. So it makes sense to assume that to make a novel reflect real life, we have to have our main characters intermingle with at least a few nonessential characters here and there. The more, the merrier, right?
Eh, WRONG! While unnamed nonessential characters do add a sense of reality to the novel (something important in a fantasy), they can become "those characters" that annoy the reader because we read about them once and never read about them again - especially if you already have two dozen essential characters floating around. The audience will never know whom they're supposed to keep track of. (And a well-laid-out glossary does NOT help in these instances!)
The first step in this second step (pardon the repetition) is simple. Replace all nonessential personnel (particularly the named ones) with the minor characters your story is filled with. And voila! Your audience is instantly introduced to people they actually do have to keep track of, and they will inherently care more about what is going on in the story. If and when a nonessential could help you out a little (such as a random villager yelling "fire" or a bank teller being obnoxious), simply remember to keep them unnamed and their part in the story brief.
3. Cut the Narrative
While briefly telling the audience what happened is important so we don't spend the whole six years in the dungeons, it can equally be frustrating if that's all the audience ever reads. For example, the first half of the original version of my novel spent well over 80% telling the audience what happened rather than letting them find out as the characters experienced it. It seemed important at the time; after all, nothing of significance was happening. Then I thought of something - if nothing of significance was happening, why am I boring my audience with this section?
Easy way out - tell the audience. Challenging way - SHOW the audience. In this instance, it seems best if I try the challenging way so that my audience will actually want to get past the boring section of story to where the adventure REALLY begins. And that leads to Number Four...
4. Cut the In Between
So the guy has to spend four years in college to get him to that final road trip across Europe. So what? Everybody has a dry spell in their life wherein nothing of importance happens. If we have to live through those spells, what makes us think we'd want to read about those spells? A writer's first instinct is often to "shorten" the boring sections by narrating what happens briefly. But if the time that elapses is long in any way, shape or form, the audience is going to fall asleep by paragraph two. We aren't being paid by the word like Charles Dickens, people! We can afford to - gasp - skip over the boring parts and launch right into the important stuff.
"But what happens in the middle is what sets up the character for that road trip! It's essential to the story." Our whole lives are about us being set up for what takes place next. If we used that excuse every time, we never would get around to the actual ending, would we? The way to find a balance between not telling enough and telling way too much is to focus on the main conflict and its resolution. Not EVERYTHING that happened to this guy set him up for that road trip.
Pick out the biggest, most memorable things that happened (even if he doesn't get how they all connect yet; let the audience figure that one out and they'll love you for the intrigue). Let the character experience them through dialogue and action rather than narrative. And go through it as briefly as possible.
5. Cut the Insights
Speaking of the things that will happen to our characters...Our audience will know from the moment they pick up the book that something is going to happen to this character. So why bother them the whole way through by giving those "insights" that something is going to happen? They came for a surprise, not a teaser trailer!
Sentences like "Little did she know what was inside" or "If he could only have known what was about to happen next" or (heaven help us) "this was going to change his life forever" have their place. Used sparsely (read: ONCE) they can add a hint of intrigue. It's when you use them at the end of every chapter (read: more than once) that the audience tires of them.
Instead, make the audience ask the questions themselves throughout. And that will build up their curiosity. Answering those questions in a timely fashion will serve you much better than FINALLY telling the audience whatever it was that the character (duh!) didn't know.
Well, that's it, folks - my five-steps-to-getting-your-audience-back lecture. I'll be using it a LOT as I write a new version of this old story. I hope you do, too, as you go through your own rewrites. Remember, your audience is a lot smarter than we authors give them credit for. Don't push them away by being boring and trite. Give them something that will make them share it with their friends (and pay good money to read the next one).
Sincerely,
Yours Truly
I'm going to relay to you some of the fascinating things that I discovered as I reread the material and began outlining the changes I wanted to make in this new version. And these are things that I believe every writer should look at as they prepare to do any kind of rewrite.
1. Cut to the Chase
The first chapter of the original version took my character from Scene 1 to Scene 2 in about 2,000+ words - the amount of words I now use to cover an entire first chapter, and it wasn't anywhere near done yet. It used up 1,000 of those words just to get around to introducing another character and including actual dialogue. And all of those 1,000 words were used to explain the situation the character found herself in.
In the new version, my character broods for a grand 520 words (literally half that of the original) and spends less time explaining so that the audience, instead of being bored, has their curiosity aroused. Contrarily, I added over 100 words to the dialogue sequence - a part of the narrative that the audience actually would find interesting. My goal in this destroy-and-add-words binge? To skip all the gobblety-gook (as my grandmother would put it) and just tell the story.
2. Cut to the Important Characters
Let's talk reality here. In real life, we meet up with dozens (even hundreds) of people that we'll never meet more than once or twice. We might politely exchange names; we might chat about school, work, the weather, even politics; we might say "see y'all soon". But we'll never actually see those people again. It's just how life works. So it makes sense to assume that to make a novel reflect real life, we have to have our main characters intermingle with at least a few nonessential characters here and there. The more, the merrier, right?
Eh, WRONG! While unnamed nonessential characters do add a sense of reality to the novel (something important in a fantasy), they can become "those characters" that annoy the reader because we read about them once and never read about them again - especially if you already have two dozen essential characters floating around. The audience will never know whom they're supposed to keep track of. (And a well-laid-out glossary does NOT help in these instances!)
The first step in this second step (pardon the repetition) is simple. Replace all nonessential personnel (particularly the named ones) with the minor characters your story is filled with. And voila! Your audience is instantly introduced to people they actually do have to keep track of, and they will inherently care more about what is going on in the story. If and when a nonessential could help you out a little (such as a random villager yelling "fire" or a bank teller being obnoxious), simply remember to keep them unnamed and their part in the story brief.
3. Cut the Narrative
While briefly telling the audience what happened is important so we don't spend the whole six years in the dungeons, it can equally be frustrating if that's all the audience ever reads. For example, the first half of the original version of my novel spent well over 80% telling the audience what happened rather than letting them find out as the characters experienced it. It seemed important at the time; after all, nothing of significance was happening. Then I thought of something - if nothing of significance was happening, why am I boring my audience with this section?
Easy way out - tell the audience. Challenging way - SHOW the audience. In this instance, it seems best if I try the challenging way so that my audience will actually want to get past the boring section of story to where the adventure REALLY begins. And that leads to Number Four...
4. Cut the In Between
So the guy has to spend four years in college to get him to that final road trip across Europe. So what? Everybody has a dry spell in their life wherein nothing of importance happens. If we have to live through those spells, what makes us think we'd want to read about those spells? A writer's first instinct is often to "shorten" the boring sections by narrating what happens briefly. But if the time that elapses is long in any way, shape or form, the audience is going to fall asleep by paragraph two. We aren't being paid by the word like Charles Dickens, people! We can afford to - gasp - skip over the boring parts and launch right into the important stuff.
"But what happens in the middle is what sets up the character for that road trip! It's essential to the story." Our whole lives are about us being set up for what takes place next. If we used that excuse every time, we never would get around to the actual ending, would we? The way to find a balance between not telling enough and telling way too much is to focus on the main conflict and its resolution. Not EVERYTHING that happened to this guy set him up for that road trip.
Pick out the biggest, most memorable things that happened (even if he doesn't get how they all connect yet; let the audience figure that one out and they'll love you for the intrigue). Let the character experience them through dialogue and action rather than narrative. And go through it as briefly as possible.
5. Cut the Insights
Speaking of the things that will happen to our characters...Our audience will know from the moment they pick up the book that something is going to happen to this character. So why bother them the whole way through by giving those "insights" that something is going to happen? They came for a surprise, not a teaser trailer!
Sentences like "Little did she know what was inside" or "If he could only have known what was about to happen next" or (heaven help us) "this was going to change his life forever" have their place. Used sparsely (read: ONCE) they can add a hint of intrigue. It's when you use them at the end of every chapter (read: more than once) that the audience tires of them.
Instead, make the audience ask the questions themselves throughout. And that will build up their curiosity. Answering those questions in a timely fashion will serve you much better than FINALLY telling the audience whatever it was that the character (duh!) didn't know.
Well, that's it, folks - my five-steps-to-getting-your-audience-back lecture. I'll be using it a LOT as I write a new version of this old story. I hope you do, too, as you go through your own rewrites. Remember, your audience is a lot smarter than we authors give them credit for. Don't push them away by being boring and trite. Give them something that will make them share it with their friends (and pay good money to read the next one).
Sincerely,
Yours Truly
Saturday, May 31, 2014
My Writing Process Blog Tour
Today, I opened my Facebook account and found my name tagged in a post by a fellow writer and blogger. Her challenge? To join her in the writing process blog tour. At first, I didn't know what on earth it was. Then I read another person's blog entry on the same topic and found myself very much liking the idea of following suit. So, here I go. For those of you who know me personally, please enjoy the glimpse into my writer's mind. For those of you who don't - if you're a writer, you should consider writing this out for yourself, even if you don't have a blog, just for the fun of it. And to get a clear view of what you're doing, how you're doing, and (most importantly) why you're doing it.
What am I working on?
This week, I finally picked up the pages of my printed manuscript and began editing yet again for the third rewrite of what I hope will be my first published work. The book is a novella (short novel). Genre: fantasy - or more specifically fairy tale. It takes the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale Little Golden Hood (a variation of the well-known Little Red Riding Hood) and expounds on it, adding life to the characters and depth to the story. I'm about halfway through the manuscript right now. And after I finish this rewrite, I will begin the final editing stage.
How does my work differ from others in its genre?
The first thing that is different about my novella is that, while all modern fairy tale retellings alter the story, characters or themes in some way, this one doesn't. Like, at all. I literally took the original story and just elongated it. I like to call it the extended edition. Do I add to it? Of course! The original story, while fascinating, did what all fairy tales do - left out the details so as to get the main story across. I merely fill in the details to help tie all the loose ends together.
For instance, why does Little Golden Hood not get freaked out when the wolf talks? For that matter, how can the wolf talk? And why would he go all the way to grandmother's house to eat her first when he could have eaten Little Golden Hood right then and there and saved himself the trouble? I also add names so that I don't have to overuse the pronoun system. And I add subplots to a) explain the unexplained and b) make the story more interesting to audiences that expect that sort of thing.
This novella also doesn't seek to impose post modern fairy tale tropes on the audience or follow the most recent character stereotypes. Little Golden Hood isn't a rebellious teenager or a curious college kid. The wolf isn't really a human in disguise and he has no romantic interest in the main character. And the main villain isn't a parent or (who'd a thunk?) a religious leader. Furthermore, the main character isn't seeking desperately to alter her own future (or if we're going Disney, to 'follow her heart' and 'find her destiny'). Nor is she the only one who can change the course of events because of something that's just different about her.
Overall, this novella will be pretty by-the-book (literally) and will be very classical in its telling. (Note to anyone interested: classical does not mean boring; just ask my sister-in-law who couldn't put this book down:)
Why do I write what I write?
This question is really too complex to answer in a short blog post, but I'll do the best I can. The first thing I have to clarify is WHAT I write. That is - well, everything. While fantasy is my favorite genre, I also indulge in a good deal of historical fiction, the occasional modern fiction, and even come up with some half-decent science fiction once in a while. Recently, I dove into the very popular dystopian/apocalyptic genre and had a lot of fun. So to answer the question? I write all of these genres and the stories in those genres because God gave me an overactive imagination that simply can't help itself when it comes to inventing stories.
I write fantasy first and foremost because it is the closest we will ever come to the spiritual world outside of the Bible. (The Pilgrim's Progress IS the most widely-read book among Christians after the Bible, you know.) Fantasy gives us a glimpse of the supernatural, heightens our sense of moral conflict, and illuminates the ultimate battle between good and evil that will one day culminate in the victory of Christ over Satan. Add to that the fact that when it comes to fantasy, you're options are quite literally limitless - why wouldn't I want to write fantasy?
It is something that has become a part of my soul, and, I believe, has drawn me closer to God. In writing fantasy, I encounter myself in a setting where the petty problems of a materialistic world are outweighed by the great moral peril. Allegories abound, even when it is unintentional. Spiritual truths unfold as we never see them in other genres. And we can feel the magnitude, catch a sense, of the true war - the spiritual war of which we are a part, we mere mortals.
Okay, so maybe I get a little carried away when I talk about fantasy. But when it comes to writing, fantasy is my first love. So let's move on to other genres.
I write historical fiction because I love history. I love reading about other times and places, events that really took place, heroes and villains who really lived. I like to look at something and imagine myself there - and historical fiction does that. It gives us a chance to wear the shoes of people from a world that has passed us by and is now only memory. (Sorry for the sappy sentiment; I get a little romantic sometimes.)
Other genres I love for the same reason - imagining myself in other places, other situations, other people groups. It's something that not only stimulates the imagination but leaves me feeling deep respect for people who actually live those lives.
And all of it I write for the glory of God - because He's the one who gave me the imagination, the inspiration and the ability to write in the first place.
How does my writing process work?
The writing process is different for many people. Some are able to set a time each day to write a small amount and then just walk away when they're finished. Not so with me! I write when inspiration hits me - and that in itself is an extremely unpredictable occurrence. Sometimes it happens when I read an article; usually with historical fiction it happens as I read through history textbooks or come across interesting documentaries and movies about a specific time frame. Often I am struck by a theme, a character, or a plot line in a film (most likely a poorly written screenplay that just begs me to write something better). And sometimes I just see something or someone in real life that inspires me to ask the question "what if".
Once the idea has formed, it's like a disease (in the best possible sense) that takes over my mind. I think on it; stew over it; play out different scenarios in my head. Then eventually (as soon as possible really), I sit down and write out a summary, a character list, and a title. The next part of the process is filing those papers away while waiting to decide if I really want to focus my efforts on that story or one of the other six dozen all waiting for me to pull them out and write them. Usually I stick with a story that I've been working on for a few years and write it up around NaNo time.
Depending on what's going on in my life, I may or may not get it finished; I may or may not get around to the revision, the rewrites and the editing. But once I do, the book will finally be completed and I'll send it off to CreateSpace.com and have it printed! (This last part has only happened twice, and both times it was just for me or for a friend. We'll see how it goes this time!)
Well, there you have it, folks. And there I put it! It's good to be reminded on occasion of all of those things, see myself go off on tangents, etc. I think all writers should do it at some point every year (or even every season). If you are a writer, you know how important it is to always keep inspired, always keep on writing. Well, this little challenge - this tour - has helped me to do that. I suggest you try it, too. And if you have a blog? Post it! Nothing like knowing other people will read what you write to make you double check why you're writing it. This is a great way to do that.
Until next post, I remain,
Yours Truly
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