Tag: writing craft

Writing Tips: the importance of craft

Hi, kids–

I have a spiel I use with new-ish authors with regard to the craft of writing. I tell them that there are certain rules that apply to writing. Rules of grammar, rules of spelling, rules of sentence structure, paragraph structure, story structure. Back in the day when public education was actually education all over the country, I learned all of these rules in both elementary school and high school. I diagrammed sentences out the ying-yang, and took courses in high school that delved into the origins and roots of words (in the English language).

These are things everybody should be learning at least in high school English.

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by Categories: Inspiration, Things that make you think, Writing, Writing tipsTags: , ,

The productive writer…

is the writer who writes. I know, I know. You’re thinking: DUH. But there’s a lot that goes into writing, and putting your butt to the chair and clicking away at your keyboard doesn’t necessarily mean you’re productively writing.

I caught Ann Aguirre’s blog over at Writer Unboxed the other day, and dang, she’s right (or write, as the case may be).

She offered 5 productivity tips. I’ll paraphrase here:

1) Don’t multitask
2) Know your next scene
3) Writer’s block could indicate a problem
4) Set goals, be accountable
5) Turn off the interwebs

What does it all mean? Come with me, Grasshopper…

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by Categories: Cool stuff to read, Inspiration, Things that make you think, Writing, Writing tipsTags: , 3 Comments

NANO NANO!

Hi, folks–

So some of you, I’ll bet, are doing NaNoWriMo. That’s National Novel Writing Month, and it takes place every November. I’ve participated twice, and each time completed it, much to my pleasure. It’s a great opportunity to set a writing goal for yourself, and to achieve it. Plus, you’ll meet lots of other people who are also engaged in it, and established authors offer pep talks and advice throughout.


source: NaNoWriMo

It might be just the thing you need to get off that idea you’ve been sitting on and commit it to paper.

Need some inspiration? Check with author Chuck Wendig. He posted The Inkslinger’s Invocation to provide just that. Check it here. Note–if you are of a more “delicate constitution,” Mr. Wendig may not be for you. Too bad. He’s a veritable smithy o’ words.

Want more, ah, staid inspiration? Here’s Lynda Barry from last year.

The point is, NaNoWriMo is a vast cornucopia o’ anxiety-ridden, excited, jump-on-the-document authors, whether established or not, whether you’ve been dreaming about putting your idea to words or you’ve just been trying to work out the next plot for your next novel. It’s a circus of writing delirium, the kind of milieu that only those who engage in this absurdly profound (profoundly absurd?) pursuit can understand. It’s a slap-happy, punch-drunk commiseration festival, and should you crank out your 50K words by the end of November, it’s a silly, grinning, drink-raising toast to the mighty you, who conquered the demons at the door to your muses’ private quarters.

So if you are an aspiring writer, and you’ve been looking for the opportunity to finally get that manuscript written, NaNoWriMo might be just the ticket for you.

So good luck, word bandits! May your drafts flow effortlessly from your fingertips.

Happy Wednesday!

by Categories: Inspiration, Writing, Writing tipsTags: , , , 4 Comments

Writing tip: “could” be passive

Hey, kids–

Hope this week has started out well for you. Anyway, how about a quickie writing tip?

The word “could” sure gets a lot of (over)use. And what it tends to do is make your writing passive, especially when used in combination with some variant of the verb “feel.”

Example:

She could feel the pain in her ankle when her booted foot slipped off the rock.
vs.
Her booted foot slipped off the rock and pain lanced through her ankle, bringing tears to her eyes.

Do you see the difference? Better yet, do you feel it? That’s the key to showing and not telling. When you use the helping verb “could” too much, you’re pushing your reader out of your character’s head and telling her what your character felt, rather than allowing her to feel/empathize with her.

Another example:

He slowed down because he could see the road was wet, since it had been raining
vs.
Streetlights glinted off the rain-slicked road and he took his foot off the accelerator.

See that? We all know what a road looks like when it’s been raining. But it’s kind of blah, if you will, to tell us that with a “could” construction and, in the next phrase, using “it” to refer to the condition of raining. SHOW us with your words what that road looks like and what the driver might do. Most of us, if we’re not being chased by zombies, will slow our vehicles accordingly.

Author Lori Lake has a great piece on passive voice and words to watch out for right HERE. You can find part 1 of that article here.

Do a search in your manuscript to see how often you use these forms of the verb “to be”: is, was, are, had been, have been, be, become, could be, would be, could have been
(see Lori’s article at the link above)

Yes, you might be adding words to your count. But you’ll also enliven your writing and bring a reader into the story, rather than leaving her outside, with a barrier of passive word-age between her and the characters. I’ll come back to this later. Don’t worry.

In the meantime, happy writing and happy reading!

by Categories: Writing, Writing tipsTags: , , ,

Weather or not: Writing Prompt!

Hi, kids!

Well, it was a crazy weekend for some of you. And the effects of Hurricane Irene may still be a problem (i.e. flooding and power outages). Regardless, glad you made it and hope you’re unscathed or at least able to fix the problem easily.

Along those lines, thought I’d give you some writing prompts/tips. I thought about this because I was worried about all the people I care about who were in the path of Irene, and I got to thinking about how climate and weather can determine what we do and where we go. That got me thinking about the 1948 Humphrey Bogart film, Key Largo, in which Bogart plays a guy who goes down to Key Largo to visit a friend of his. Turns out the friend was a hotel owner, but when Bogie gets there, a gangster has taken control of the hotel. Well, you just know these two are slated for a showdown and the catalyst turns out to be a hurricane.

Or, more recently (though not much, if you’re a youngster), think about how a thunderstorm played a role in a pivotal scene in the 1994 movie The Shawshank Redemption. Here’s the scene, when character Andy (played by Tim Robbins) makes his escape. You’ll see the role the weather starts to plays at around 1.00 (and not just creepy, tense atmosphere).


link

And that, in turn, got me thinking about writing prompts.This one, I’ve found, is particularly good if you’re having some trouble coming up with ideas or you just want to work on your powers of description.

Want more? Read on…

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Writing tips!

Hey, peeperinos–

Here are a couple of good writing tip links. Here’s Jeff Abbott, award-winning international suspense- and thriller-writing guy over at Amazon’s Omnivoracious talking about how to “build a hero” in your mystery/thriller books. Abbott talks about how he comes to embrace a hero in his books, and the characteristics a hero should have.

And here’s Writer’s Digest, with 5 most excellent tips for building a story.

Here’s a flavor (Quote):

1. Orientation:
The beginning of a story must grab the reader’s attention, orient her to the setting, mood and tone of the story, and introduce her to a protagonist she will care about, even worry about, and emotionally invest time and attention into. If readers don’t care about your protagonist, they won’t care about your story, either.

So, what’s the best way to introduce this all-important character? In essence, you want to set reader expectations and reveal a portrait of the main character by giving readers a glimpse of her normal life. If your protagonist is a detective, we want to see him at a crime scene. If you’re writing romance, we want to see normal life for the young woman who’s searching for love. Whatever portrait you draw of your character’s life, keep in mind that it will also serve as a promise to your readers of the transformation that this character will undergo as the story progresses.
source

And there are four more with great explanations. Check ’em out and have fun!

Happy writing, happy reading, Happy freakin’ Thursday!

by Categories: Inspiration, Things that make you think, Writing tipsTags: , , ,

Feeling stale? Writing prompts!

Hi, peeps!

There I was, minding my own business on Facebook, when I noticed that author Patricia Cornwell had just posted a photo along with a brief line of text to accompany it (part of her “On the case with Scarpetta”). She does that a lot on her Facebook pages and I like to go see what she’s up to, because the photos and line of text encourages interaction. Today she posted a photo of an outdoor staircase (cement) with a line of text that said “just beyond her hotel were the old steps”.

So I used that as a serendipitous writing prompt and came up with this:

‎”…beyond her hotel were the old steps” where, years before, the brutalized body of Nettie Halstead was found, her head on the last step, as if someone had propped it there, on a concrete pillow. All investigators got were the tales her blood tried to tell, eerie graffiti smears from midway down the steps, and the secrets sliced into her skin, a still unknown weapon and a still unknown assailant. Most people who knew the story hugged the railing when they used the stairs, avoiding the long-gone blood stains. And almost all skipped stepping on that last step.

—
Stories exist all around us. As a writer, I’m always watching people interact, and I’m always wondering about places I go — what happened here? What might have happened? What could happen? How do these people negotiate this situation?

But I do know that on occasion, your brain goes a little stale and you find yourself stuck in a rut. No worries!

Here’s a nifty site to get those juices flowing:
Creative Writing Prompts
Just put your mouse over any one of the numbers and see what the prompt is.

Writers Digest also offers prompts.

Fun fiction prompts from writing.com.

And here are a couple from yers truly:
1) He’d seen spiderwebs before, but this one completely covered the entryway into his bedroom.
2) “Do you believe in ghosts?” she asked as she reached for the doorknob. “No.” He smiled. “Why do you ask?” She pushed the door open. “You might want to start.”
3) Jeff tripped and the coffee arced from his cup, a beautiful one-way journey to Allison Danvers’ silk suit.

You don’t need to create a story or a novel around a writing prompt. Hell, just tack on a couple of sentences or a paragraph. Who knows? Maybe it’ll turn into a story or a novel. The point of a writing prompt is to get you into a writing groove and allow yourself a little room to breathe.

So happy writing and happy Wednesday!

by Categories: Inspiration, Writing tipsTags: , , , 2 Comments

Writing and self-awareness

Hi, folks–

Thought I’d chat a bit about writing. That is, the process of writing. The craft, and how we put words to paper.

Many writers will tell you that in order to improve your own writing you need to read. I’ve even said that several times. Writers will also tell aspiring writers (and even other writers) to study the greats, and to study the writers you really love.

Sure, do that. It’s important that you get a feel for what good writing feels like when you read it aloud or to yourself. Here’s the thing, though. When I say “study” the writers you really love, that means you have to have a grasp of what writing craft is all about, so you can put into words what it is you really like about that writer’s work. Is it POV? Characterization? How she ties her subplots up? Dialogue? Plot arc? Twists? The way she uses certain words to describe settings? How he introduces the bad guy? Pacing? What, specifically is it that you like about that writer?

Then, once you have a handle on that, you can translate what that writer does into your own work. That’s where self-awareness about the craft of writing comes in.

In other words, you need to develop a self-editor who tells you when something you’re doing is working or not. I can look at stuff I did back in the day and I know it sucks. There are some good things in the piles of writing poo that I threw onto paper, and I see some glimmers in those early works of things to come, but I’m not going to fool myself or you and say “it’s not that bad.” Because it was. Truly. I can take any of my early stuff and compare it to my later stuff and my later stuff is boocoo tons better. Why?

Because I got a better handle on writing craft. That is, I learned about grammar, narrative infrastructure, the definitions of various elements of a story, how they work together, and what to look for and do to make them better. When you do that, you are developing your self-editor. That’s the yardstick against which you measure not only your own writing, but how your writing stacks up against other writers’ (including your faves).

I practice these things all the time. I’m always looking for ways to write better, tighter, and to change styles in certain ways to reflect different genres.

So yes, analyze your faves. But analyze your own stuff, as well, and take some courses or workshops on the basics of writing craft, because that will help you develop your self-editor and thus give you a baseline against which to measure yourself and the work of others.

In the meantime, here is a SUPER COOL BLOG that will provide some great tips for doing what I’m talking about here, as well as other things writing:

The Other Side of the Story (Janice Hardy’s blog; H/T to writeadvice on Twitter for this link, which goes directly to a post that deals with my topic today)

Janice also gives you the rundown on craft with regard to novel-writing. Check it out.

Happy writing, happy reading!

by Categories: Cool blogs, Inspiration, Writing tipsTags: , , 1 Comment

Awesomely cool writing tip

This comes from one of my fave bloggers and writer-guys, Chuck Wendig. He can be a little raunchy with the tips, but he’s always right on.

This week, Chuck enlightens us with 25 tips for writing dialogue, and I gotta tell you. I think dialogue can make or break a character, pacing, and a story. Here are some of MY thoughts on that.

What I really like about Chuck’s tips here is that he nails the importance of good dialogue and its role in plot. Here’s a taste:

3. Sweet Minimalism
Let’s get this out of the way: don’t hang a bunch of gaudy ornaments upon your dialogue. In fiction, use the dialogue tags “said” and “asked” 90% of the time. Edge cases you might use “hissed,” “called,” “stammered,” etc. These are strong spices; use minimally. Also, adverbs nuzzled up against dialogue tags are an affront to all things and make Baby Jesus pee out the side of his diaper, and when he does that, people die. In scripts, you don’t have this problem but you can still clog the pipes with crap if you overuse stage directions. Oh, heavy dialect and sland? Just more ornamentation that’ll break the back of your dialogue.

6. Shape Determines Speed
Short, sharp dialogue is a prison shiv: moves fast ’cause it’s gotta, because T-Bone only has three seconds in the lunch line with Johnny the Fish to stitch a shank all up in Johnny’s kidneys. Longer dialogue moves more slowly. Wanting to create tension? Fast, short dialogue. Want to create mystery? Longer, slightly more ponderous dialogue. Want to bog your audience in word treacle? Let one character take a lecturing info-dump all over their heads.

And there are 23 more, just waiting for you to peruse
RIGHT HERE.

Happy writing, happy reading!

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Tips on writing stronger characters

Hi, all–

Usually on Sundays I provide some reading material or share with you a title of an article or book I’m reading. But since I am a writer, I also like to share tips for those of you who, for whatever reason, thought being a writer was a good idea. Welcome to my circus! I thought it was a good idea, too! LOL

Anyway, since we’re on this journey together, here are a couple of articles from Writer’s Digest that might help you create stronger, more nuanced characters. Plus, there’s another link to a blog that fellow writer Clifford Henderson did on it. And readers, if you ever read something and the writer makes it look easy, I hope you can appreciate the amount of work that went into that tract. Because it’s when everything’s working properly and smoothly that you know it’s the best kind of writing. Most writers work hard to achieve that — I don’t know if I have, yet, but dang it, I keep trying.

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