A NOVEL Writing Site.com

Writing Lesson 26 – Honesty is the Best Policy

michelle — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:00:42 +0000

A lot of us are in the habit of writing and saying what we know other people want to hear from us. This is very necessary and good when it comes to some things like schoolwork and chores – but the habit doesn’t grow a writer who can speak from the heart.

Grab your Bible and look through the Psalms. You’ll see song after song filled with concern, complaint, conflict as well as expressions of confidence in God. The one unifying theme of all 150 psalms is that the entire range of human emotion is contained in the collection.

To grow as a writer, it is helpful to have a place where you can be completely honest before God and with yourself. A journal can do this. If you’re not sure where or how to begin journaling, you might want to check out my resource for home schooled students: http://www.jsgrammar.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=17&Itemid=31

If you’ve never tried your hand at spilling your emotions onto paper, this brainstorming exercise is a simple place to begin.

Exercise

Begin by setting a timer for ten minutes and writing a list of all the things that frustrate you in your life. You don’t need to show anyone else your list. The goal should be to get your thoughts onto paper without worry about censoring them in order to please someone else.

If you run out of things to complain about in your own life, you can take on the world around you. What’s not fair in that world? What makes you sad? Mad?

Now, pick up that Bible you skimmed a few minutes ago. Take a look at Psalm 64. Read it out loud to yourself two or three times. David knew how to complain about his enemies, didn’t he? But if he’d stopped at complaint, his song to God would have been a one-note monotone. Instead, he detailed his complaint, then turned his heart to God in hope.

Now look at your list of complaints. Choose one and write a psalm patterned like Psalm 64. Express your complaint honestly, and then form a request for God’s help in the matter to close your psalm.

Finally, read (or sing) your completed Psalm to Him.

For more writing help from Michelle Van Loon, visit www.homepagewriting.com

Writing Lesson 25 – Use Comparisons to Show

naomi — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:00:15 +0000

Using Comparisons Brings Life to Dead Adjectives

Whether you are writing a short story, a novel, or a non-fiction essay, you will need to give description, and often times to do so you will use comparison. It’s been said that “nothing means anything except as compared to something else”. In other words, if you say, “The house was big,” you make the reader ask, how big? Compared to what? If you tell them that the trip was long, they’ll want to know how long. Compared to what? If you say the job was hard, they’ll inquire, how hard? Compared to what? If you envision a beautiful dress and say that it was very blue, your reader will say, what kind of blue? Compared to what?

Comparisons are called similes and metaphors. You use them to help the reader visualize something they couldn’t see before, or to explain something that is unknown by showing them something that is known. For example, rather than saying the house was big, you might say that the house was as big as a castle compared to the tiny shack she lived in with her grandfather. I didn’t change the fact that the house was simply big, but saying it was “as big as a castle” to the character helped us see it the way she did. I might continue the description with something further: She wondered, did really only one family live inside? There were so many windows and walkways leading to doors on either end that it seemed surely two or three families must have apartments inside.

Or how about that dress? What kind of blue was it? Blue like the sky on a cloudless day, or deep blue, like dusk on a summer’s night? Maybe it was as blue as the sapphire necklace the hero gave her.

He went on a long trip . . . Well; it might be helpful to know what kind of story we’re telling. Say we’re talking about a Tom Sawyer type individual, who grew up never getting far from his home on the river. Maybe a long trip would simply be to the next town, twenty miles away. Maybe we’d say, “It was the longest trip of his life, being as how he’d never been past Cooley’s Ridge before” – kind of like when the hobbits had never gone outside the shire . . .

When we use like or as, we’ve used a simile. We are saying that something is similar to something. When we compare something even more boldly, we use a metaphor. We say something is indeed something else, even though it physically cannot be true. For instance, instead of using a simile to say, “It looked like a storm was brewing between his brows”, (though that’s pretty good) we might say, “A storm brewed between his brows.” It tells us the same thing — that someone is getting angry — but it does the job a little more forcefully.

Good fiction, and even good non-fiction, makes ample use of good comparisons while not becoming so heavy handed with them that we can’t see the story for the metaphor. You can overdo a good thing. The simple fact is that using comparison helps to put things in context. It helps to make your point, to clarify a picture, to put the reader in the scene or sense the sight, the smell, and the feel of what you’re showing them. It helps the writer to accomplish the one thing that should always be the writers’ mantra: Show me what it looks, feels, tastes, smells, sounds like; don’t just tell me that it does.

EXERCISE:

Search through your current work-in-progress for places that comparison would bring more visualization to the story. See if you can bring think of metaphors or similes that would liven up boring adjectives that merely tell.

Also, as you read for pleasure, note comparisons that authors are giving you to help you live in the story.

Writing Lesson 24 – Unique Character Voices

melinda — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 09:00:52 +0000

Today we’ll focus on your character’s speech and mannerisms. In past lessons, we’ve discussed external and internal goals, core values and conflicts, physical details, and personality traits. Another layer in a character’s personality is speech. Each layer adds depth and makes your reader feel as if they know this person. Readers sometimes see themselves in your character. If they can identify with the character and develop a relationship with them, they’re more likely to remember the novel or story. That achieves your goal—unforgettable characters.

Think of Luke Skywalker. Are his actions around Princess Leah and Darth Vader the same? Does he talk with Han Solo the same way he talks with Yoda?

To make this personal, is a conversation with your parents the same as a chat with your best friend? Are your actions the same? Of course they aren’t.

Each character has a unique voice and mannerisms. Some may use proper English while others wouldn’t. As your write dialogue, have your characters speak the way they would in real life. Sentence fragments and poor grammar often show up in dialogue.

Shy and nervous Tracy, my artist in a previous lesson, might have a hard time talking with her employer. She might stutter or stumble over her words. However, she could explain the story behind her painting with ease if she’s talking with her best friend. You get the idea.

Take the characters you’ve created in previous lessons. Add another layer by giving each one a unique voice.

Writing lesson:

Create some dialogue. Try at least two of my suggestions from the list below or come up with another relationship. Use the same topic each time. Choose one of the characters you’ve already developed. By now, you should know them pretty well. How would they sound and act?

Write a dialogue scene between your character and his/her best friend.
Try one with a parent.
Choose a scene with their boyfriend/girlfriend.
Have the same discussion with a grandparent.
Talk with a teacher or an employer.
Discuss the issue with a brother or sister.

Writing Lesson 23 – Framing Your Story

Teri Dawn Smith — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:00:19 +0000

Story Structure

Structure in your story is like the frame of a house. It both holds it together and gives it shape.

Sometimes we creative types don’t appreciate the word structure. We may view it as something to stifle our imagination. However, structure doesn’t need to bind you, and it can be an essential tool in creating a fast-paced page-turner.

The most common over-all story form is the three-act structure, made simply of beginning, middle, and end. There’s plenty to learn about the elements of those three acts, but I’d like to concentrate today on the chapter-size structure of scene and sequel.

The Scene

The scene also has three elements: goal, conflict, and disaster. Write your scenes as though it were acted out on stage. Not a telling of what happened, but acted out before the reader’s eyes.

Goal: Just as your story needed to start with a goal, your scene also needs to begin with one. Fairly early in the scene, we need to know the goal or purpose the main character has. It needs to be something specific and obtainable. For example, “gaining wealth” is general. “Asking the boss for a raise” is specific.

Conflict: Your character must encounter conflict on his way to reach his goal. If Jim’s goal is to ask the boss for a raise and the boss says “yes”, then the scene is over. Boring. If Jim experiences inner conflict or actual roadblocks, then he must fight his way through, and we’ll cheer him on.

Remember, conflict is not simply bickering or misunderstanding. It’s the struggle against something and opposition where the outcome is in doubt.

Disaster: Again if you character reaches the goal, the scene falls flat. If it ends in disaster, we turn the page and wonder what he’ll do next and how did he react to the disaster.

The Sequel

A reaction scene usually follows the disaster. Many writers refer to this as a sequel. It also has three parts: reaction, dilemma, and decision.

Reaction: At first, the main character is reeling from the disaster of the previous scene. He’ll react emotionally about how he felt and how he messed up.

Dilemma: Next he will begin to think more rationally about his problem. Give him new worries here, something additional to fret about. Have him consider his options now.

Decision: Finally, he’ll come to a conclusion and make a new decision. This new decision becomes his goal in the next scene.

A Sequence of Scenes and Sequels Sets the Pace

An understanding of the sequence of scene and sequel will help with the pacing of your story. If you need to speed it up, keep the sequel short, maybe tack it briefly on the end of the scene. Or you could open with a brief sequel, and go directly into the goal of the next scene.

If your story becomes breathless with too much action, the reader may need time to slow down. You can do this with a longer sequel.

The understanding of the structure of scene and sequel doesn’t need to bind you as a hard and fast rule, but it may be just the tip you need to turn your story into a page-turner.

Lesson

Look through the story you are writing to see if you’ve written a scene or sequel. Does it have the three elements from our lesson?

Select a chapter from one of your favorite books. Can you spot either scene or sequel elements?

Writing Lesson 22 – The Color Editors Hate

naomi — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:02:30 +0000

Purple Prose

It may be a pretty popular color for your bedroom if you’re a teenager, or it may look awesome on an electric guitar, but for a writer, the color purple is to be shunned. I’m talking about a figurative color, something that we call “purple prose”.

Purple prose is language that is over the top. It is description that is extravagant, flowery, or simply too dramatic for the requirements of the scene. Purple prose creeps in stealthily, and for some strange reason, when we’ve written something that is too purple, we find ourselves liking it. Unfortunately, our editors won’t like it, and our readers will be distracted by it. Maybe since writers love language and words so much we just tend to get carried away with them.

Purple prose takes clear, concise writing and dresses it up in gaudy language –sights, smells, tastes, and sounds that are unrealistic or too poetic. For me, it’s a hard line to draw, because I know that imagery is good, and that using the senses helps evoke detail. But too much of a good thing becomes a purple patch.

Here’s an example of purple prose:

Gerard gazed pensively out the window streaming with raindrops, running like rivers of pain in his soul. The crashing thunder reminded him of his shattered hopes, of how he’d dreamed of winning the contest for his true love and proudly donning the Medal of Honor while the crowd thundered his name gloriously across the arena. His forehead crumpled against the cold, cruel glass and he sighed deeply, dramatically. All his hopes were gone, spiraling down, down, down into the chasm of his despair.

That’s some pretty awful stuff. I bet you were more tempted to laugh at the pathetic Gerard than you were to feel his suffering. If we analyze it a bit, we can see what made it so bad.

There are too many adjectives and adverbs – gazed pensively, crashing thunder, shattered hopes, true love, proudly donning, gloriously, and so on.

The alliterations (and still more adjectives and adverbs) of crumpled, cold, cruel is over-the-top awful, not to mention deeply, dramatically, down, despair.

The metaphoric chasm of despair and the simile of the raindrops running like rivers of pain are both just too flowery, if not cliché. The distant thunder reminding him of shattered hopes is cliché as well.

EXERCISE:

I’m working on a fantasy novel for publication that has captured the interest of an editor. However she has been quick to point out my purple prose right in the opening scene. Now I’m scouring my manuscript for more purple patches. Start scanning your own work for purple prose. It may help to go straight to a Big Scene – one where there is a crisis or turning point or lots of action. That’s where purple prose is mostly likely to crop up. Look for words or phrases that are just a little bit too much. It may not be an entire paragraph like the example above, but just a small sentence. For example, in my book’s prologue, I had young Prince Erasté facing a foe who’d just slain his father the king:

Below his knees, the life blood of Elian Ruelle soaked into the rich earth. He pushed one leg up, then the other, forcing himself upright until he stood to face the faerie queen. His body shuddered and a fire kindled deep inside, denying any place for the anguish that wrenched him. The knot in his jaw quivered.

In the revised version, the editor asked me to remove “pushed one leg upward, then the other” as being too purple. The new line simply says, Erasté forced himself upright until he stood to face the faerie queen. Everything else stayed the same. The answer was not to eliminate all the visuals, just to rein them in a bit.

So let’s start weeding the purple patches out of our manuscripts!

Writing Lesson 21 – The Dreaded Edits

lynn — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:00:20 +0000

Writing Your Story is Only the First Step

Ponder this quote from the blog of author and freelance editor, Maryanne Miller (http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/2010/01/things-that-drive-editor-crazy.html):

“Developing the story and getting it down on paper – or stored on your hard drive – is only the first step in writing a book. The next couple of steps are crucial and infinitely more difficult – at least I think so. Rewriting and editing to find just the right words and phrases can lift an average book into the realm of good and maybe even great.”

Fess up, now. If you love to tell stories passionately enough that you are willing to endure and even master all the nit-picky “jots and tittles” we more commonly refer to as the rules of phonics, grammar, and punctuation, would it be stretching assumption too far to guess that you just might be a bit of a perfectionist? Might have trouble turning off the editor inside your head long enough to actually finish the story? And, once it’s told, might be just a teensy bit defensive regarding its pristine perfection?

Learning that writing the story is only Step One continues to be one of the hardest lessons for me. Like most writers, I’m conscientious to a fault. Just “good enough” is rarely good enough with me. I “do my best” out of habit, and by the time I let anyone else read a piece, it’s already as good as I know how to make it. If they find fault with it, I don’t know how to make it any better…yet.

That’s what’s called bumping up against my learning curve. Being a (recovering) perfectionist doesn’t mean I think I already am perfect, just that I’d like to become more perfect. And finding the weak parts in my story gives me an opportunity to learn new skills.

Here’s what works for many writers:

Turn off your inner editor long enough to get a rough draft down on paper. Proper spelling and punctuation are such a distraction to me that sometimes I even close my eyes while I’m typing a scene. Just letting the movie in my head play, I type as fast as I can to get down the best action, dialogue, and sensory/setting tidbits.

Read over what you’ve written, preferably aloud, and catch any obvious errors as you go. Spell check is my friend. Grammar check, not so much. Sometimes my computer and I disagree.

Now read the scene out loud again. This time, just listen. Do the words sing? Over time, you’ll develop a sense for pinpointing the notes that are “off.” Does a certain word or phrase show up repeatedly? Could the dialogue be snappier? Are your characters unique? Do their actions show their personalities? I have found that some issues are almost never a problem for me. That’s very encouraging. Helps to balance out the growing list of writing issues that crop up in patterns in my rough drafts. (For me, it’s usually a “pet” word. I also tend not to let my characters show enough emotion.) I am building a checklist tailored to my own weaknesses and a file of tools for fixing them.

When the scene really is as good as you can make it, that’s the time to let others read it. I have two small groups of people who read my stories. One is made up of friends and family. They give me encouraging, positive feedback and inspire me to keep writing as they hound me for the next chapter and the next. The other group, though, doesn’t let me off so easily. They’re friends, too, but the friends in the second group are other writers. They know a thing or two about the craft. They’re good at skills I’m still working on. And they give it to me straight—“speaking the truth in love,” of course. “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.” And when they’ve finished making suggestions, guess what?

I get to edit the scene again!

When a story is finally, finally as good as I can make it, I submit it to a publishing editor, and guess what? Yup…MORE edits!

I’ll admit there are times I’ve wanted to throw up my hands in frustration, BUT with each edit the story gets better and stronger. The bad news that a story can always be improved is also the good news. Even famous authors continue to grow and improve over the course of their careers, but it didn’t stop their earlier works from being published. With practice and experience we become better. And really, being the perfectionist I am, isn’t that a good thing? When I look at it that way, edits are almost fun.

Almost.

Writing Lesson 20 – Get Inside Their Heads

michelle — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:01:05 +0000

Point of View Makes All the Difference

When you and your sibling have a disagreement and tell your stories to a parent, you learn firsthand the difference someone’s point-of-view can have on the way he or she sees the same basic set of events. Your brother’s version of how grandma’s prized antique vase got broken may not be the same as yours – even if the two of you were practicing football tackles together in the living room where the vase was displayed.

Using the power of point of view can make your writing jump off the page – and may give you an “ah ha!” as you dig into your characters’ motivations. Here’s a great point of view exercise you can try to explore the “why” behind a sibling conflict of Biblical proportions.

Read Genesis 37 several times in order to become familiar with the flow of the story.
Choose one of the three primary characters in the story (Joseph, Reuben or Jacob/Israel) and list the things that happened in the story from his perspective. Pay close attention to what your character knew and did at this point in his history. For example, Reuben didn’t know that Joseph had wandered looking for them from Shechem to Dothan. Joseph, of course, had no idea that his brothers were going to jump him and dump him into a pit. Jacob, also known as Israel, never would have imagined that his brood was capable of such treachery.
Use your outline to write a first-person account of the events of Genesis 37, having your character (Joseph, Reuben or Jacob/Israel) tell the story from his perspective. Make sure he is only telling about the events in which he was directly involved in the chapter. Remember, these characters didn’t know at this point how this story was going to turn out like we do!

This exercise is even more useful if more than one person does it. If you have a sibling, a friend or even a co-op group each willing to do take different characters from the Biblical account and write about the events of Genesis 37, you’ll have an opportunity to hear the difference a point-of-view can make in a story.

Writing Lesson 19 – Conflict of Values

melinda — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 09:00:06 +0000

Creating Unforgettable Characters, Part 4

In my last post we explored Internal and External Goals. Each of us has things we value. It makes us ‘tick.’ We don’t always recognize, though, what our values or goals are. We roll on in life doing what we believe is right and never stop to ask why we act the way we do or if our actions are correct.

When you create characters, spice things up with conflict. Your story and the characters become more interesting when life isn’t normal. Giving your characters conflicting values is one way to do that.

Let’s say your hero places money above everything else in life. That may seem selfish, but it’s who he is. Money is his ‘core value’ or his ‘internal goal.’ Place him in a position to lose his money and you have a conflict. Give him a reason to spend his money on a worthy cause that he would normally ignore. You’ve created a deeper conflict. Now he’s in a position that requires a choice. It will challenge his core value and could bring about a change in the way he thinks and behaves.

Example: Mr. Rich loves his money. He meets a person who touches his heart. This person needs money and is in a desperate situation. Mr. Rich’s money would change their life. Nothing has ever tempted him to part with his money. He has a huge internal conflict. Will Mr. Rich keep his money and ignore this person? Will he follow the leading of his heart, change his core value, and share the wealth? What would it take to make him change his attitude? If he shares, will it cause a permanent change or will he go back to life as usual?

Did you recognize the story of Scrooge in the example? Tiny Tim created a conflict that forced Scrooge to make a choice. This “internal conflict” propelled the story. It forced Scrooge to make a choice and it uncovered a deeper value. He learned that people are more important than money. His core value changed. Scrooge learns some hard lessons before he lets go of his money. In his case, it’s a permanent change.

Writing lesson

Examine the internal goals of a character you’re creating. Insert something that will challenge their core value. Choose something that forces him or her to make a hard choice. Some people don’t change when the conflicts come. They remain the same and never grow. And there could be a time when their core value is correct and the conflicts they face confirm this.

Choose one of the following items for your writing lesson.

Show by his or her actions how the conflict makes a positve change in their core value. Show how they fail to change when the conflict arises.
Show how your character faces a conflict that proves their core values were correct. Show how they maintain that value when it’s challenged.

Writing Lesson 18 – Four Dialogue Tips from the Pros

Teri Dawn Smith — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:00:21 +0000

I love writing dialogue. When I start working on a story, it’s the things characters say to each other that begin sounding in my head.

Improving the dialogue is one of the fastest ways to make your story better so let’s look at some tips from professional writers.

All of the books I’ve read agree on two things: A.) Don’t try to write dialogue the way we speak! Leave out the boring parts such as greetings. “Good morning.” “How are you?” “Fine, and you?” (Yawn!) B.) Don’t use dialogue as an information dump. Example: “My aunt is coming. She’s the one who has the pizzeria down on Main Street where the fire was last night.” If the information is essential, find another way to work it in, but don’t dump it in the dialogue.

So what specifically can you do to improve the dialogue?

Tip #1 from James Scott Bell: Write compressed dialogue. Chip off all the unnecessary words. Instead of writing, “Would you like to go to the basketball game with me?” Write: “Let’s go to the game.” Drop words, and keep it lean.

Tip #2 from Susan May Warren: Spice up the conversation between characters with name-calling. If someone tries too hard to be funny, have a character call him a name. “Okay, Bozo, that’s enough out of you.” If someone’s suggests something dangerous, use another name. “Whoa, Superman, I’m not that brave.” The possibilities are endless and lots of fun.

Tip #3 from Jerry Jenkins: Use the simple attribution of “said” if you use one at all. Attributions are the little indentifying tags like he said, she asked. Some writers try to get clever and change the attribution: he responded, she queried, etc. Those attributions begin to call attention to the tag itself while “said” is almost invisible. Whatever you do, don’t write: “Get out,” she hissed. (Hissing requires the “s” sound which is not present in the words uttered.)

Tip # 4 from Donald Maass: Infuse dialogue with tension. Tension comes from warring emotions. It’s not so hard to come up with emotional friction between antagonists, but what about pitting allies against each other? Have them get sarcastic with each other. Donald Maass says, “True tension in dialogue comes not from what is being said, but from inside those who are saying it.” (The Fire in Fiction, page 195)

Writing Exercises:

Go over a passage of dialogue you’ve written and see if you can cut words.
Find places to inject name-calling.
Use only “said” or “asked” as attributions, but see if you can get by without them sometimes.
Look for places to ratchet up the tension, especially between friends.

More About the First Annual (First Ever) NOVELWritingSite.com Writing Contest

lynn — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 09:00:10 +0000

Again this week, let me remind you about our first ever Annual NOVELWritingSite.com contest.

Hopefully throughout the fall semester, you’ve been trying out some of your new skills on stories of your own. Is it working?

We’re offering you the opportunity to have professional writers take a look at the first twelve pages of your story and give you some positive feedback and ideas.

I realize that may sound a little scary for some people. When I started writing, there were many stories that I didn’t let anyone read. Not friends. Not even family. Sometimes especially not friends or family. I put a lot of myself into those stories, so I was really sensitive about people’s responses. Suggestions that my story was flawed in any way made me feel like I, personally, had failed to meet approval. But who would understand those fears better than a fellow writer? It’s safe to say that your entry will be read by kind and sympathetic volunteers who like stories and like to encourage people who write them.

If that doesn’t make you feel more confident, try this: In at least the first round, no one will know who wrote the story. Names will be removed, so we won’t know who you are until it’s time to send out the results. If this is your debute, we’ll let you “sing from behind the curtain”–totally incognito.

Sounding better?

Here’s what to do:

Select a story that you feel reflects your best efforts–something you wrote independently.
Make sure you’re subscribed by email or RSS Fed to www.aNOVELWritingSite.com. Only regular readers may enter, but subscribing is easy. Just follow the directions in the left side bar under “Subscribe.”
Send the first 12 pages of your story by midnight, May 1, 2010 as an email attachment. Your submission should be typed, double-spaced with 1″ margins, in Times New Roman font (12 pitch size) and saved as a Word document in Rich Text format. Please use a header to show the title of your story and the page number on each page, but do not include your name in the header. If you know the genre of your story, you may include that information also.
In the body of your email, please be sure to tell us your name and the name of your story. If you could tell us something about yourself, how far along you are in your story, or how long you’ve been writing, that would be interesting as well.
Entries will be critiqued by one or more of our contributors.
Categories will depend somewhat on how many entries we receive from writers of various ages in each genre. Winning entries in each category will receive a full critique and a copy of A Novel Idea: Best Advice on Writing Inspirational Fiction, a compilation of tips from best-selling Christian novelists. This is a really good book!

So be brave! Take the challenge! There’s really nothing to lose but your jitters. And don’t forget to subscribe to receive this blog regularly.

Best wishes for a happy new year from your friends at aNOVELWritingSite.com!