I've been skimming the workbook, "Writing the Breakout Novel" by Donald Maas, hoping to glean a few writing tips from it, which I am, and I came across a part where he advised authors not to write kitchen scenes.
He says (and I'm paraphrasing because I don't have the book in front of me) they're boring, nothing happens in them, and they don't develop the story at all. If you do have to use them, you're supposed to add action or some big major plot twist, lots of tension, or something to make it worth a reader's while.
Curious if I messed up and wrote a kitchen scene (or two), I thought back to my three stories I have coming out in the future, and you know what...all THREE of them have scenes that take place in the kitchen. Sigh. Guess I'm just a typical kitchen-scene author.
In The Right to Remain Mine (coming in Feb), the heroine learns the heroes first name in a kitchen scene, then an intruder breaks into her house, which starts a physical brawl in another kitchen scene. Actually, there were a bunch of scenes that took place in the kitchen in that book. Hmm. I'm all confused if they were worthwhile scenes though.
In The Best Mistake (coming in March), the heroine realizes the hero is actually the owner of the company where she works in their kitchen scene. It seemed like a big, revealing moment to me. Hopefully it's not something that should've been deleted because I've already finished editing the final round in that book.
The Color of Grace (who knows when that is coming out) has a handful of kitchen scenes as well. But I personally felt like I needed those because they showed the growing tension between Grace and her mother.
Maas's writing advice really makes you look at your story though. I swear I went through every kitchen scene I've ever written, and more times than not, I realized they really didn't need to be in the story. It just felt like filler that stalled out the plot and went nowhere.
Do you have kitchen scenes in your book? Do they really need to be there? Or can you jazz them up so that the scene is integral for the plot of your story?
It's something to think about anyway.
Showing posts with label Writing Advice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writing Advice. Show all posts
Lessons Learned...The Rejection Way - #2
Friday, January 8, 2010
Proactive vs. Reactive Characters
Here's a topic I had never even considered...until I received a rejection for it. Oops.
So, tell me, other writing friends out there, what drives YOUR characters? Their own wants and goals or an overwhelmingly strong plot? Apparently, the correct answer is their own wants and goals. I received a rejection once because my characters were less proactive and more reactive.
A reactive character is someone who merely reacts to events happening to them in the story--outside influences drive the plot.
A proactive character makes events happen by pushing the plot forward themselves--THEY drive the plot.
Here's a lame example of reactive: A story starts with a woman receiving a hostage note from the antagonist, saying "I have your daughter. If you want her back, leave me a grand in the trash can on Fifth and Vine." Of course, when she gets there, another note has been left, telling her to go to another place...and thus she's pushed along a certain path, forced to REACT to all these events happening to her. This would be a reactive character.
A proactive character would be (and sorry, here's another lame example): A story about a woman who feels her husband might be cheating on her, so she visits this house where she suspects Miss Mistress lives, and gets herself into a whole tangle of problems by pushing her curiosity forward and breaking & entering the place, therefore having to hide in a closet when someone comes home, only to hear who the alleged marriage wrecker is REALLY spending her time with.
Can you see the difference? You can get a better feel of the proactive character's personality because her actions come from internal drive, whereas...how do we really know what the reactive character is like? The Kidnapper is controlling her, making her act how he wants her to, keeping us from seeing her true personality.
It's possible this is merely a subjective issue, and some editors might not feel so strongly about it, not really caring what drives the plot as long as the story is good and characters are distinctive. But I happened to find one editor that did care (go me!).
It's something to think about when submitting your story anyway; do the characters stand out or does the plot, and does the editor/agent you want to submit to prefer plot-driven or character-driven stories?
Here's a topic I had never even considered...until I received a rejection for it. Oops.
So, tell me, other writing friends out there, what drives YOUR characters? Their own wants and goals or an overwhelmingly strong plot? Apparently, the correct answer is their own wants and goals. I received a rejection once because my characters were less proactive and more reactive.
A reactive character is someone who merely reacts to events happening to them in the story--outside influences drive the plot.
A proactive character makes events happen by pushing the plot forward themselves--THEY drive the plot.
Here's a lame example of reactive: A story starts with a woman receiving a hostage note from the antagonist, saying "I have your daughter. If you want her back, leave me a grand in the trash can on Fifth and Vine." Of course, when she gets there, another note has been left, telling her to go to another place...and thus she's pushed along a certain path, forced to REACT to all these events happening to her. This would be a reactive character.
A proactive character would be (and sorry, here's another lame example): A story about a woman who feels her husband might be cheating on her, so she visits this house where she suspects Miss Mistress lives, and gets herself into a whole tangle of problems by pushing her curiosity forward and breaking & entering the place, therefore having to hide in a closet when someone comes home, only to hear who the alleged marriage wrecker is REALLY spending her time with.
Can you see the difference? You can get a better feel of the proactive character's personality because her actions come from internal drive, whereas...how do we really know what the reactive character is like? The Kidnapper is controlling her, making her act how he wants her to, keeping us from seeing her true personality.
It's possible this is merely a subjective issue, and some editors might not feel so strongly about it, not really caring what drives the plot as long as the story is good and characters are distinctive. But I happened to find one editor that did care (go me!).
It's something to think about when submitting your story anyway; do the characters stand out or does the plot, and does the editor/agent you want to submit to prefer plot-driven or character-driven stories?
Lessons Learned...The Rejection Way - #1
Thursday, December 10, 2009
When I would start a new job back in the beginning of my adulthood and then make a mistake bad enough the boss had to correct me, I feel I learned more vividly how to do that part of the job correct...and it was rare when I made that same mistake again, because I was extra careful not to repeat it.
I think that same thing must be true with manuscript rejections. When I receive a rejection that has personal comments attached, I'm extra aware of trying to avoid doing that same wrong thing in subsequent stories or revisions.
I call it lessons learned--not just the hard way--but the "rejection" way.
And I figured if I can learn to improve from my rejections, I don't see why others can't too. Thus, I decided to write a blog about all the different reasons I've received rejections to help other writers avoid receiving the same rejection letter I did...except that would make one super long post--because there's just so many rejections to chose from. So, I concluded that a series of "Lessons Learned" posts would work better!
Since this is my first lesson learned post, I'll start with the first thing a person can do wrong at the very beginning of their manuscript. I've had my hand slapped twice for this one, so I'm thinking I still need to work on it too.
Info Dumping
Back in the days of Charles Dickens and all those great classics, it was perfectly fine to wax eloquent at the beginning of your novel, describing the world at that time, the weather three months before, and all the harvest seasons before you ever started on the true story.
But times have a'changed.
In this age of immediate gratification--ATMS, eBay, Amazon.com--people don't want to wait around to begin their story. They want to start the beginning of their story at the beginning of the story (does that sound as funny to everyone else as it does to me? Well, it's true regardless.).
Try to avoid writing background information at the very beginning of your story. You're an artist, creating a work of fantasy; I'm confidant you can find a way to ingeniously filter in all the pertinent background information throughout the story and not just dump it all at the very beginning.
IF there is something your reader simply MUST know before they can begin the story, then make that the beginning, but don't tell it in past tense, rather show it in a scene as if it's happening now.
That's something I've done wrong, and received a rejection to prove it. I wanted to explain my character, by giving the reader all the juicy details of their life, before I actually showed them in action. But with the new millennium starting and everything, no editor/agent was interested in wading through the boring stuff to get to the true meat of my tale.
So...beware of dumping too much information at the beginning. And if that idea doesn't appeal, you can think of it this way. Just because you can't say everything you want to on page one, doesn't mean you can't say it later on in the book AFTER you've already got the reader hooked on the story, because that's when they'll really want all the juicy background on their favorite characters.
I think that same thing must be true with manuscript rejections. When I receive a rejection that has personal comments attached, I'm extra aware of trying to avoid doing that same wrong thing in subsequent stories or revisions.
I call it lessons learned--not just the hard way--but the "rejection" way.
And I figured if I can learn to improve from my rejections, I don't see why others can't too. Thus, I decided to write a blog about all the different reasons I've received rejections to help other writers avoid receiving the same rejection letter I did...except that would make one super long post--because there's just so many rejections to chose from. So, I concluded that a series of "Lessons Learned" posts would work better!
Since this is my first lesson learned post, I'll start with the first thing a person can do wrong at the very beginning of their manuscript. I've had my hand slapped twice for this one, so I'm thinking I still need to work on it too.
Info Dumping
Back in the days of Charles Dickens and all those great classics, it was perfectly fine to wax eloquent at the beginning of your novel, describing the world at that time, the weather three months before, and all the harvest seasons before you ever started on the true story.
But times have a'changed.
In this age of immediate gratification--ATMS, eBay, Amazon.com--people don't want to wait around to begin their story. They want to start the beginning of their story at the beginning of the story (does that sound as funny to everyone else as it does to me? Well, it's true regardless.).
Try to avoid writing background information at the very beginning of your story. You're an artist, creating a work of fantasy; I'm confidant you can find a way to ingeniously filter in all the pertinent background information throughout the story and not just dump it all at the very beginning.
IF there is something your reader simply MUST know before they can begin the story, then make that the beginning, but don't tell it in past tense, rather show it in a scene as if it's happening now.
That's something I've done wrong, and received a rejection to prove it. I wanted to explain my character, by giving the reader all the juicy details of their life, before I actually showed them in action. But with the new millennium starting and everything, no editor/agent was interested in wading through the boring stuff to get to the true meat of my tale.
So...beware of dumping too much information at the beginning. And if that idea doesn't appeal, you can think of it this way. Just because you can't say everything you want to on page one, doesn't mean you can't say it later on in the book AFTER you've already got the reader hooked on the story, because that's when they'll really want all the juicy background on their favorite characters.
Writing Tips From Blogosphere
Monday, November 9, 2009
In October, I posted a blog that snagged different ideas from different blog pages and shared a bunch of writing tips with everyone about all the things I'd learned lately. Well, that went so well, I might just make a habit of it. Plus, I'm finding such treasures, I feel the need to pass along all these golden nuggets of information.
This month, I've learned interesting facts about agents, email submission, perseverance, and how to keep a reader reading.
On Submissions
This wonderful piece of advice comes to us from Tess Hilmo on her blog : Tess Hilmo
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 : Wish I Knew Wednesday #1
"Many (not all) editors/agents do not open e mail addresses that are not names. For example hotchick(at)whatever(dot)com or bestmommyever(at)something(dot)com.
Why?
They get a lot of emails and spam and are very cautious about possible viruses or other malware. If they run their mouse over your email address and the name that pops up does not match the address, they will most likely delete the e mail w/out opening it."
On Agents
This wonderful piece of advice comes to us from Jessica Nelson on her blog : BookingIt
Friday, October 30, 2009 : Know Thy Self: Guest Post
"It’s so easy to say: I’m going to research every agent inside and out, read their every blog entry and online interview, talk to their other clients, and ask all the right questions to turn down any agent who answers even one of them wrong. That still doesn’t mean the marriage will be perfect."
This guest blogger goes on to explain how an agent may take a writer on because of a single book they wrote, but they might not represent every genre of literature that author is interested in creating. So, make sure to let a perspective agent know what you like to write and where you want your writing to go, so you'll both know if the "marriage" will have a better chance of surviving.
On Perseverance
This wonderful piece of advice comes to us from Robyn Campbell on her blog : Putting Pen to Paper
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 : Building a writing career
"I'm in this for the long haul. Writing is much harder to do than it sounds. I know it isn't easy. Believe me, I know that. I'm prepared for the ups and downs. But I want it. I can taste it. I can feel it. I wanna BE it. An author."
On Keeping the Reader Reading
And finally, this wonderful piece of advice comes to us from Nancy J. Parra on her blog :This Writer's Life
Sunday, October 25, 2009 : Get the Hook
"You need to write something that catches the reader's attention and doesn't let them put the book down. Each chapter, each scene needs to have two hooks. One at the opening and one at the ending. Your job as a writer is to keep your reader up all night because they HAVE to know what happens next."
This month, I've learned interesting facts about agents, email submission, perseverance, and how to keep a reader reading.
On Submissions
This wonderful piece of advice comes to us from Tess Hilmo on her blog : Tess Hilmo
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 : Wish I Knew Wednesday #1
"Many (not all) editors/agents do not open e mail addresses that are not names. For example hotchick(at)whatever(dot)com or bestmommyever(at)something(dot)com.
Why?
They get a lot of emails and spam and are very cautious about possible viruses or other malware. If they run their mouse over your email address and the name that pops up does not match the address, they will most likely delete the e mail w/out opening it."
On Agents
This wonderful piece of advice comes to us from Jessica Nelson on her blog : BookingIt
Friday, October 30, 2009 : Know Thy Self: Guest Post
"It’s so easy to say: I’m going to research every agent inside and out, read their every blog entry and online interview, talk to their other clients, and ask all the right questions to turn down any agent who answers even one of them wrong. That still doesn’t mean the marriage will be perfect."
This guest blogger goes on to explain how an agent may take a writer on because of a single book they wrote, but they might not represent every genre of literature that author is interested in creating. So, make sure to let a perspective agent know what you like to write and where you want your writing to go, so you'll both know if the "marriage" will have a better chance of surviving.
On Perseverance
This wonderful piece of advice comes to us from Robyn Campbell on her blog : Putting Pen to Paper
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 : Building a writing career
"I'm in this for the long haul. Writing is much harder to do than it sounds. I know it isn't easy. Believe me, I know that. I'm prepared for the ups and downs. But I want it. I can taste it. I can feel it. I wanna BE it. An author."
On Keeping the Reader Reading
And finally, this wonderful piece of advice comes to us from Nancy J. Parra on her blog :This Writer's Life
Sunday, October 25, 2009 : Get the Hook
"You need to write something that catches the reader's attention and doesn't let them put the book down. Each chapter, each scene needs to have two hooks. One at the opening and one at the ending. Your job as a writer is to keep your reader up all night because they HAVE to know what happens next."
Chevy Up Your Story
Monday, November 2, 2009
Since NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) started yesterday, all my writing friends are off... busy crafting a 50,000 word story in one month. So, I'd like to help them along with one piece of advice. Don't forget the GMC, which of course stands for Goal, Motivation, and Conflict (I always think of the Chevy Emblem when I hear that term, so that explains why I had to slot that picture in here).Every story needs GMC, or there's no story to tell. Just make sure while you're busy describing the beautiful sunset and giving your unique characters their awesome dialogue that you're still working on the GMC (durned ol' chevy always needs its maintenance).
 G = GOALBob's goal is to buy himself a shiny new GMC Chevy Camero. |
|
 C = CONFLICT But... Bob's a little short in the money department, so getting this car is going to be a trial. |
And there's your story. How much does Bob want that car? What lengths will he go to in order to get it? What started this deep-seated need to impress so many woman?
A writer could go so many different directions with a story like that, all because there's a simple GMC propelling it along.
So, there's my single reminder for all you writers out there, creating your masterpieces. FORGET NOT THE GMC!! Good luck and God speed.
Now... I think I'll go and try to follow my own advice!
Not My Preciousssssss!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Since I’ve been busy submitting book queries lately, I’ve been more into the revision process of writing instead of creating new stuff. So, when I heard Tessa McDermid (author published by Avalon and Harlequin) was going to give a talk about writing revisions at a somewhat local writer’s group, I HAD to go. And listening to her was indeed a smart thing for me to do.
I have to say the most helpful piece of advice I came away with was, “you are not married to your words.” They can always be changed. Nothing in your story has to be permanent. Taking them out might be the hardest thing to do, but sometimes giving up a darling word, phrase, or chapter MUST be done... for the greater good.
There have been times, I've turned all Gollum where I'll clutch my manuscript to my chest, stroking the lovely words with a tender caress and cooing, "My precioussss." But, honestly, they're just words. Who's to say the next one you come up with won't be even better, stronger, more meaningful. So, you gotta be open to change. Yes, you must.
This is easier said than done though. So, I've learned a nifty little trick, which I'll share now. My secret is: Delete nothing. Deleting that precious word or phrase or chapter means it's gone forever. You'll never get it back. But... cutting it out of your current document and pasting it into a new one, then saving it to a file labeled "Outtakes" or some such name, means it's still out there, easy to be retrieved and stroked and caressed again! This way, you know you can always go back to your precious... if you need to. Sometimes, I have gone back and slotted an "outtake" somewhere else in my story, but a majority of the time, I never go back. And the story is honestly better without it.
So, don't be afraid to "test" the story without a line or phrase or chapter that really needs to go. You might just be surprised how good it improves the book.
Now, I gotta know... am I the only one out there that gets attached to words and phrases and has a hard time letting them go? What are some of your tricks to saying goodbye to a precious piece of your writing?
I have to say the most helpful piece of advice I came away with was, “you are not married to your words.” They can always be changed. Nothing in your story has to be permanent. Taking them out might be the hardest thing to do, but sometimes giving up a darling word, phrase, or chapter MUST be done... for the greater good.
There have been times, I've turned all Gollum where I'll clutch my manuscript to my chest, stroking the lovely words with a tender caress and cooing, "My precioussss." But, honestly, they're just words. Who's to say the next one you come up with won't be even better, stronger, more meaningful. So, you gotta be open to change. Yes, you must.
This is easier said than done though. So, I've learned a nifty little trick, which I'll share now. My secret is: Delete nothing. Deleting that precious word or phrase or chapter means it's gone forever. You'll never get it back. But... cutting it out of your current document and pasting it into a new one, then saving it to a file labeled "Outtakes" or some such name, means it's still out there, easy to be retrieved and stroked and caressed again! This way, you know you can always go back to your precious... if you need to. Sometimes, I have gone back and slotted an "outtake" somewhere else in my story, but a majority of the time, I never go back. And the story is honestly better without it.
So, don't be afraid to "test" the story without a line or phrase or chapter that really needs to go. You might just be surprised how good it improves the book.
Now, I gotta know... am I the only one out there that gets attached to words and phrases and has a hard time letting them go? What are some of your tricks to saying goodbye to a precious piece of your writing?
Positive Energy
Sunday, August 30, 2009
I'm discovering more every day how much easier it is to review a book than write one. Stories are subjective. Either you like it or you don't. So, there's no training needed to review. You simply list everything you loved or hated about the plot, characters, emotions, word choices, etc...and TA DA! You reviewed a book. Reviews aren't wrong, either. It's all a matter of opinion. Whatever you say is okay because that's how you feel about the story.
Writing is a whole different ball park. First, you learn the trade, take classes, get advice, join groups, attend conferences, study the craft until your eyes want to fall out, and practice, practice, practice. Then it's on to writing.
In the rough draft, you pour your heart and soul into a manuscript, ignoring friends and family, to say what you've always wanted to say. Then you go back to it with revisions, checking grammar and word choice, sometimes obsessing over one phrase for hours to express it it just the right way. Then, you go back again and again, adding scenes, deleting scenes, and revising some more to insure a durable plot or believable and likable characters with actual character to them. Then you revise (yeah, again!) to make sure the soul and emotions shine through. Revise a couple more times to turn all the telling into showing, once again strengthen the weak points, and check grammar and word choice a few more times. Layer upon layer, days/weeks/months/years of work and yet, there will always be something that could be better. And there will always be someone more than willing to point out your weaknesses.
Doesn't matter what step you've reached in your writing career.
Okay, after the happy box idea, I'm out of ideas other than to take a break and get away from whatever is depressing you for a while. Spend time with loved ones. I heard once that you could make yourself happy by making someone else happy. So, maybe you could do something special for a friend or family member to make their day, then bask in the joy radiating off them.
What do you guys do when you're getting sucked into the vortex of negativity?
Writing is a whole different ball park. First, you learn the trade, take classes, get advice, join groups, attend conferences, study the craft until your eyes want to fall out, and practice, practice, practice. Then it's on to writing.
In the rough draft, you pour your heart and soul into a manuscript, ignoring friends and family, to say what you've always wanted to say. Then you go back to it with revisions, checking grammar and word choice, sometimes obsessing over one phrase for hours to express it it just the right way. Then, you go back again and again, adding scenes, deleting scenes, and revising some more to insure a durable plot or believable and likable characters with actual character to them. Then you revise (yeah, again!) to make sure the soul and emotions shine through. Revise a couple more times to turn all the telling into showing, once again strengthen the weak points, and check grammar and word choice a few more times. Layer upon layer, days/weeks/months/years of work and yet, there will always be something that could be better. And there will always be someone more than willing to point out your weaknesses.
Doesn't matter what step you've reached in your writing career.
- In the middle of crafting your first manuscript? Critique partners will deflate your excited balloon of joy within five minutes.
- Submitting to a publisher or agent? Rejection, rejection, rejection.
- Entering a contest in the hopes of getting your name out there? Your results come back and your score is the last on the list. Ouch. Then all the judges bleed your entry to death with ghoulish red ink.
- Finally selling stories? Reviews, bad reviews, worse reviews.
- Made the best seller list? Fans complain this story wasn't as good as that other you wrote and suggest it's time you should retire.
And it's not that most of these people are deliberately trying to be cruel. I'm sure many merely want to be helpful, give advice, correct every possible thing they can find wrong so your story will be the best it can be. Or maybe they have to feel better about themselves by showing you how smart they are. Who knows. The point is, all the critiquing, correcting, and negative reviews can sometimes bring you down, possibly even make you question why you're even bothering, make you think you have no business trying to share your stupid, worthless story with the world.
So, how do we drag ourselves out of this painful funk? Dude, I don't know. Honestly. But I'll try to suggest some ideas to help pump up our esteem and bring positive energy back into the force.
I'd like to say, "Just ignore those mean bullies ripping your story to shreds. They don't know what they're talking about." But, sometimes their suggestions really are useful and can make the story ten times better. So, you can't completely discount them off hand. Maybe just set their critiques off to the side for now, and go back a little at a time. Don't overdose on negativity.
Maybe you could come up with a mission statement to remind you WHY you like to write. Me, my mission statement is the movie Romancing the Stone when Joan Wilder finishes her manuscript in the beginning of the movie and burst into tears with, "Oh, God, that's good!" To me, the moment I finish the last word of my story is the best moment of writing. The elation, joy, and satisfaction of completion...it's very consuming. Fulfilling. I actually did it. I wrote a story... a real story with a beginning, middle, and end and characters that I created and love. Wow.
So, remember that: Mission statement. Repeat it when things get bad.
OR... you could make up a happy box. Jot down things people say about your story that are good and positive and bright. Published authors could print out all their good reviews. Put each exciting comment on a piece of paper, fold it up, and slip it in the happy box. Linda, I had no idea you could write like that. It made me cry. I got emotional when stories never make me emotional. Dialogue is obviously your strong point. I really loved your strong and endearing characters and your sassy writing style. Your concept is really good....it moves well and is cute and funny and sexy. So, whenever you get overwhelmed with negativity, start pulling out a piece of paper and read those lovely comments made by other people until you begin to feel better.Okay, after the happy box idea, I'm out of ideas other than to take a break and get away from whatever is depressing you for a while. Spend time with loved ones. I heard once that you could make yourself happy by making someone else happy. So, maybe you could do something special for a friend or family member to make their day, then bask in the joy radiating off them.
What do you guys do when you're getting sucked into the vortex of negativity?
Word Count
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Ever since we’ve been able to string our first sentence together—See Jane run—and instructors have been handing out writing assignments, we’ve asked the age old question… How long? How long does the sentence have to be? The paragraph? The term paper? The thesis? The chapter? The book?
Some people want their answer to be straightforward, as my English teacher from high school would like to assign her lessons. “It needs to be 2,000 words long with ten paragraphs and a maximum of five auxiliary verbs.” Yeah, those were some tough papers to write… or as I should say without the auxiliary verb… That teacher possessed a strict guideline despite the fact I fondly remember her as one of the greatest grammarians ever. But my favorite answer to the question HOW LONG came from my middle school English teacher. “It’s like a mini skirt. Make sure it’s long enough to cover the topic, but short enough to stay interesting.” Yes, he was a male teacher, if you were curious!
I’m by no means an authority on the length question, but today I’m going to share what knowledge I do have on the subject. How long.
Sentence:
We’ll start with sentences. Sounds like a good place to me. I’d always heard a sentence was a subject and a verb containing a complete thought. “Jane ran.” Subject, verb, complete thought. There’s our sentence. Sounds simple enough. So, let’s make it a little more complex. “As Jane ran barefoot between the towering oaks in the woods next to the house where she grew up.” Yes, it still has the subject—Jane—and the verb—ran—but we lost our complete thought after adding “As” to the beginning. As Jane’s running wherever she’s going to run, we need to follow that thought up with what happened while she was running. Or… we could simply delete “AS” to give the sentence a complete thought and make it grammatically correct. Am I making any sense yet? A sentence needs to be long enough to contain a subject (even if it’s only implied), verb, and complete thought.
Paragraph:
Okay, I had to go to a dictionary to get the correct definition of a paragraph. So, according to dictionary.com, a paragraph is “a basic unit of prose. It is usually composed of several sentences that together develop one central idea. The main sentence in a paragraph is called the topic sentence.” I have a bad habit of falling into a rut over paragraph length. I get to thinking, “this paragraph is way too long, no reader is gonna want to read such a long paragraph.” So, I’ll press enter and indent, starting a new one… whether that’s right or wrong. But we should always remember to keep sentences with one central idea together.
Here’s one trick you could do to cut a paragraph shorter if you’re getting nervous about its length. Say you’re writing a scene where the hero just laid eyes on the woman who’ll end up being his heroine. He’s probably going to describe what she looks like. If he likes what he sees, he might have a lot of description, which would most likely make a lengthy paragraph. So, if he’s just described her hair, and eyes, and legs, and said how soft her skin looked, you could break the paragraph and make a short new one by making a side note—or rather internal monologue if you will—like, “He’d really like to find out just how soft that skin was.” That sentence doesn’t go with the central idea of the paragraph; it really needs its own paragraph all by itself. Ergo, you’d have a nice little break there before starting a new paragraph to describe more traits of your amazing heroine. Plus, it makes the story more interesting to read it in that conversational way.
Chapter:
I’m letting Noah Lukeman take care of my chapter length discussion. Author of The First Five Pages (which is a book EVERY writer should own), Lukeman says on Page 172 of his book:
Book:
After reading that great piece of spectacular advice, I probably don’t even need to go into book length. A story, of course, should be as long as it needs to be to set up a conflict and then unravel a resolution for that conflict. The problem with that answer occurs when we’ve finished our story and begin looking for a publisher who’ll actually buy a book within the limits of your word count. In the romance industry, you’ll probably notice if you’ve ever done any publisher research that most places want stories to be around 100,000 words long. Harlequin and Silhouette like stories between 50,000 words and 65,000 for a majority of their category lines. So, if you’ve written a 75,000 word story, you might think you’re stuck in a no-man’s land. The uprising of e-publishers saved the day there, because a good portion of them will accept a story anywhere from 15,000 words to 125,000 words. Thanks guys!
A couple vices to help you control word count are subplots, secondary characters, and added conflicts. If you need to shrink your word count to pursue a certain line, try taking out a couple minor characters. You might be amazed how much that’ll lighten the load. Or in the opposite case, you need to make the story just 10,000 words longer, add another character. Each person in a story has their own agenda and mindset, and the more people your novel contains, the more complex and longer it’ll be.
So, okay, there’s my writing advice for the day. Since I’m definitely not a professional on the topic, any additional comments and tips are always appreciated. Thanks!
Some people want their answer to be straightforward, as my English teacher from high school would like to assign her lessons. “It needs to be 2,000 words long with ten paragraphs and a maximum of five auxiliary verbs.” Yeah, those were some tough papers to write… or as I should say without the auxiliary verb… That teacher possessed a strict guideline despite the fact I fondly remember her as one of the greatest grammarians ever. But my favorite answer to the question HOW LONG came from my middle school English teacher. “It’s like a mini skirt. Make sure it’s long enough to cover the topic, but short enough to stay interesting.” Yes, he was a male teacher, if you were curious!
I’m by no means an authority on the length question, but today I’m going to share what knowledge I do have on the subject. How long.
Sentence:
We’ll start with sentences. Sounds like a good place to me. I’d always heard a sentence was a subject and a verb containing a complete thought. “Jane ran.” Subject, verb, complete thought. There’s our sentence. Sounds simple enough. So, let’s make it a little more complex. “As Jane ran barefoot between the towering oaks in the woods next to the house where she grew up.” Yes, it still has the subject—Jane—and the verb—ran—but we lost our complete thought after adding “As” to the beginning. As Jane’s running wherever she’s going to run, we need to follow that thought up with what happened while she was running. Or… we could simply delete “AS” to give the sentence a complete thought and make it grammatically correct. Am I making any sense yet? A sentence needs to be long enough to contain a subject (even if it’s only implied), verb, and complete thought.
Paragraph:
Okay, I had to go to a dictionary to get the correct definition of a paragraph. So, according to dictionary.com, a paragraph is “a basic unit of prose. It is usually composed of several sentences that together develop one central idea. The main sentence in a paragraph is called the topic sentence.” I have a bad habit of falling into a rut over paragraph length. I get to thinking, “this paragraph is way too long, no reader is gonna want to read such a long paragraph.” So, I’ll press enter and indent, starting a new one… whether that’s right or wrong. But we should always remember to keep sentences with one central idea together.
Here’s one trick you could do to cut a paragraph shorter if you’re getting nervous about its length. Say you’re writing a scene where the hero just laid eyes on the woman who’ll end up being his heroine. He’s probably going to describe what she looks like. If he likes what he sees, he might have a lot of description, which would most likely make a lengthy paragraph. So, if he’s just described her hair, and eyes, and legs, and said how soft her skin looked, you could break the paragraph and make a short new one by making a side note—or rather internal monologue if you will—like, “He’d really like to find out just how soft that skin was.” That sentence doesn’t go with the central idea of the paragraph; it really needs its own paragraph all by itself. Ergo, you’d have a nice little break there before starting a new paragraph to describe more traits of your amazing heroine. Plus, it makes the story more interesting to read it in that conversational way.
Chapter:
I’m letting Noah Lukeman take care of my chapter length discussion. Author of The First Five Pages (which is a book EVERY writer should own), Lukeman says on Page 172 of his book:
"Each chapter must be thought of as its own complete unit, ready to excerpt should a magazine want it (indeed, this very chapter was excerpted prior to publication); the same holds true for paragraphs and sentences. Do you resolve in the end of the chapter what you establish in the beginning? Many writers don't; they just plug along, inserting chapter breaks wherever they feel their text can use one—sometimes completely arbitrarily. Writers often ask me: How long should my chapters be? Is five pages too short: Is forty too long? The fact that they're even asking this question indicates they're thinking of the chapters in the wrong way—merely as dividers for a greater whole. Of course, a chapter needs to be part of a greaterwhole, but it also needs to be its own unit. The appropriate length is whatever length is necessary to accomplish whatever that individual chapters sets out to do. "
Book:
After reading that great piece of spectacular advice, I probably don’t even need to go into book length. A story, of course, should be as long as it needs to be to set up a conflict and then unravel a resolution for that conflict. The problem with that answer occurs when we’ve finished our story and begin looking for a publisher who’ll actually buy a book within the limits of your word count. In the romance industry, you’ll probably notice if you’ve ever done any publisher research that most places want stories to be around 100,000 words long. Harlequin and Silhouette like stories between 50,000 words and 65,000 for a majority of their category lines. So, if you’ve written a 75,000 word story, you might think you’re stuck in a no-man’s land. The uprising of e-publishers saved the day there, because a good portion of them will accept a story anywhere from 15,000 words to 125,000 words. Thanks guys!
A couple vices to help you control word count are subplots, secondary characters, and added conflicts. If you need to shrink your word count to pursue a certain line, try taking out a couple minor characters. You might be amazed how much that’ll lighten the load. Or in the opposite case, you need to make the story just 10,000 words longer, add another character. Each person in a story has their own agenda and mindset, and the more people your novel contains, the more complex and longer it’ll be.
So, okay, there’s my writing advice for the day. Since I’m definitely not a professional on the topic, any additional comments and tips are always appreciated. Thanks!
How to Fight
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
In a marriage, I like non-verbal arguments best. Sure, they can be just as aggravating and miserable as a good ol’ yelling match, but I think you can have a little more fun with them too since you use actions instead of words.
Take my husband and me, for example. We have this “thing” going with our bathroom countertop. Since moving into our new house, we’ve kept the vanity clear of cosmetics and cleaners. Whenever my husband leaves out sunscreen or the like, I put it back up in his cabinet for him. Well, the other day, I left something out (Yeah, I know. Shame, shame, Linda Kay), and he put it away for me, (in the wrong place, mind you), only to leave THREE of his items out. So, now…. It’s on.
I increasingly wonder if I shouldn’t have majored in Psychology instead of English when I went to college. Authors deal with so many fictitious personalities, they have to figure out what makes each character tick. What are their strengths and weaknesses and how are they going to deal with confrontation? When are they going to pull their punch, and when are they going to hit below the belt? Will they be honest throughout, or will they cheat?
My sister actually came up with an ingenious idea to help me map out internal battle plans for my stories and figure out how I want my characters to fight. She leant me a self-help marriage book called Safe Haven Marriage by Dr. Archibald Hart. The book explains how different people act and react in a fight and why. Of course, then it goes on to teach us how to fight fair, but for a writer, the mere explanation of why and how can be very useful. We know how we ourselves will react in a certain situation, but a counseling book will further explain others’ motives and fears.
So, it makes me wonder: could reading any old marriage book richen the depth of our heroes and heroines? Both deal with strengthening a relationship, so it seems reasonable to me.
What do you think?
Take my husband and me, for example. We have this “thing” going with our bathroom countertop. Since moving into our new house, we’ve kept the vanity clear of cosmetics and cleaners. Whenever my husband leaves out sunscreen or the like, I put it back up in his cabinet for him. Well, the other day, I left something out (Yeah, I know. Shame, shame, Linda Kay), and he put it away for me, (in the wrong place, mind you), only to leave THREE of his items out. So, now…. It’s on.
Confession Time: OK, I admit. I might’ve put it away myself, but I gotta useThe whole ordeal made me think of writing (yeah, imagine that:)). In telling a romance story, a writer has to delve into the dynamics of a relationship between the hero and heroine. You can throw in as many plot twists, plane crashes, psycho stalkers, and surprise babies as you like, but somewhere in there, the two main characters are still going to have internal, emotional differences, whether they be difference of opinion, morals, or objectives. In short, they need to fight. Happily ever afters don’t happen without overcoming their problems first.
this as an example for the rest of my blog, so please work with me here.
I increasingly wonder if I shouldn’t have majored in Psychology instead of English when I went to college. Authors deal with so many fictitious personalities, they have to figure out what makes each character tick. What are their strengths and weaknesses and how are they going to deal with confrontation? When are they going to pull their punch, and when are they going to hit below the belt? Will they be honest throughout, or will they cheat?
My sister actually came up with an ingenious idea to help me map out internal battle plans for my stories and figure out how I want my characters to fight. She leant me a self-help marriage book called Safe Haven Marriage by Dr. Archibald Hart. The book explains how different people act and react in a fight and why. Of course, then it goes on to teach us how to fight fair, but for a writer, the mere explanation of why and how can be very useful. We know how we ourselves will react in a certain situation, but a counseling book will further explain others’ motives and fears.
So, it makes me wonder: could reading any old marriage book richen the depth of our heroes and heroines? Both deal with strengthening a relationship, so it seems reasonable to me.
What do you think?
What’s your story REALLY about?
Friday, May 8, 2009
As a writer in general, our main objective is to make a point about the human condition. As a romance writer, it’s the author’s duty to narrow that down to creating a story about the relationship between a hero and heroine; their ups and downs and the emotional tale about how they make it to their happily ever after.
Since Suzanne Brockmann is a great source of inspiration to me and one of my favorite authors on earth, I have tell you about one of her quotes from her Day 5 Interview with Romance Novel TV. She sees her stories as having a spine and a soul. The spine is the central romance between her two main protagonists and the soul is almost like a subplot of that. It’s what else is happening in the story to make it deeper. It could take place in a secondary character’s life or in one of the main character’s. But it always gives deeper meaning to the story as a whole.
I like to think of this second layer as the theme. In Gone with the Wind, all we romance enthusiasts can say the story is about Scarlett finally growing up to realize Rhett is the one man for her. There’s a main story line, aka a plot, aka a “spine.” The End.
But one of the themes Margaret Mitchell makes about the human condition--the soul of the story--is about a woman’s endurance to survive through war and not only make it through by the skin of her teeth, but to triumph. That’s what makes Gone with the Wind such a classic. It has a plotline and a theme, a spine and a soul, layer upon layer of what the story it’s REALLY about.
Now the trick is how to bring in that depth, so that years from now scholars will discover our weighty, thoughtful prose and teach about them in their literature classes. My suggestion is to steal one. Hee hee! I know, I know, Linda, you naughty girl, copy-catting someone else’s brilliance. How wrong. But think about it a moment. Most of the great classics are great because they’ve borrowed their theme, their “soul,” from an even earlier piece of literature.
If you scour Stephenie Meyer’s website, you’ll discover Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice influenced her twilight book, Breaking Dawn. S. E. Hinton based her book, The Outsiders, on the Robert Frost poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” C. S. Lewis’s The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is a simulation of the Bible’s The Passion of the Christ story.
To tell you the truth, I tried to copy my YA story The Stillburrow Crush’s theme off a piece of classic literature too. It revolves around two lines from John Keat’s poem, “Ode on a Grecian Urn.”
The poem goes along with my theme on teen death. The girl who dies will always be known as that pretty, young cheerleader. She can never change or grow old. She’s immortalized exactly as she was, just as the dancers are on Keat’s famous urn. And the trees painted on the urn he’s describing will always have leaves. My heroine is also immortalizing herself by telling her story through a journal. We readers will always see her as this sixteen year old girl, experiencing her first crush.
Now, I’m not sure if anyone else will ever catch any of that symbolism I made, or even if it deepens the story for readers, but it made the manuscript come alive for me. Plus other great authors like Lewis and Hinton did it for their young adult books, so I thought I’d mention it as an idea for all you writers out there.
Once you have your plot and character down (might even wait until you’ve finished the entire rough draft), step back and look at your story as a whole. Is there a theme about the human condition waiting to emerge from your work? Is it by chance something you could glean from classic literature? If you can find something, grab a hold of it and hang on tight. It works wonders in the revision process and really makes your story bloom. It did for me anyway. In fact, I hadn’t fleshed out my entire theme until I’d sold my manuscript and was working through the first round of edits.
Since Suzanne Brockmann is a great source of inspiration to me and one of my favorite authors on earth, I have tell you about one of her quotes from her Day 5 Interview with Romance Novel TV. She sees her stories as having a spine and a soul. The spine is the central romance between her two main protagonists and the soul is almost like a subplot of that. It’s what else is happening in the story to make it deeper. It could take place in a secondary character’s life or in one of the main character’s. But it always gives deeper meaning to the story as a whole.
I like to think of this second layer as the theme. In Gone with the Wind, all we romance enthusiasts can say the story is about Scarlett finally growing up to realize Rhett is the one man for her. There’s a main story line, aka a plot, aka a “spine.” The End.
But one of the themes Margaret Mitchell makes about the human condition--the soul of the story--is about a woman’s endurance to survive through war and not only make it through by the skin of her teeth, but to triumph. That’s what makes Gone with the Wind such a classic. It has a plotline and a theme, a spine and a soul, layer upon layer of what the story it’s REALLY about.
Now the trick is how to bring in that depth, so that years from now scholars will discover our weighty, thoughtful prose and teach about them in their literature classes. My suggestion is to steal one. Hee hee! I know, I know, Linda, you naughty girl, copy-catting someone else’s brilliance. How wrong. But think about it a moment. Most of the great classics are great because they’ve borrowed their theme, their “soul,” from an even earlier piece of literature.
If you scour Stephenie Meyer’s website, you’ll discover Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice influenced her twilight book, Breaking Dawn. S. E. Hinton based her book, The Outsiders, on the Robert Frost poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” C. S. Lewis’s The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is a simulation of the Bible’s The Passion of the Christ story.
To tell you the truth, I tried to copy my YA story The Stillburrow Crush’s theme off a piece of classic literature too. It revolves around two lines from John Keat’s poem, “Ode on a Grecian Urn.”
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare.
The poem goes along with my theme on teen death. The girl who dies will always be known as that pretty, young cheerleader. She can never change or grow old. She’s immortalized exactly as she was, just as the dancers are on Keat’s famous urn. And the trees painted on the urn he’s describing will always have leaves. My heroine is also immortalizing herself by telling her story through a journal. We readers will always see her as this sixteen year old girl, experiencing her first crush.
Now, I’m not sure if anyone else will ever catch any of that symbolism I made, or even if it deepens the story for readers, but it made the manuscript come alive for me. Plus other great authors like Lewis and Hinton did it for their young adult books, so I thought I’d mention it as an idea for all you writers out there.
Once you have your plot and character down (might even wait until you’ve finished the entire rough draft), step back and look at your story as a whole. Is there a theme about the human condition waiting to emerge from your work? Is it by chance something you could glean from classic literature? If you can find something, grab a hold of it and hang on tight. It works wonders in the revision process and really makes your story bloom. It did for me anyway. In fact, I hadn’t fleshed out my entire theme until I’d sold my manuscript and was working through the first round of edits.
Dear Reject
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Rejection.
Like diarrhea, it's a nasty subject. Happens to everyone (at least it does to every writer) and yet we're all too mortified to admit to it when it does. It's happened to me...more than once...just this year (Rejection, that is, not the other). But I must say, my experiences lately are becoming a lot less horrifying. Actually, I might even call most of them pleasant (gasp, I know).
Eleven years ago when I entered the publishing world and sent out my first submission, I had no idea what to expect. My story came back to me with a standard form letter. Dear So and So, Thank you for querying us, but we're not interested at this time. Yada, yada, yada... blah, blah, blah.
OK, so it broke my heart, but I moved on. Wrote another story and sent that off.
My second submission attempt came back as well, with another similar note attached. Standard, impersonal...rejected. But rubber banded to the back of my returned manuscript, I found a reader's review. I have a feeling this review wasn't supposed to make it to my eyes and was "supposed" to be kept in some file under my name back at the publishing office. But, oops, someone must've forgotten to separate it from the story before returning it to me... and I read this reader's blunt, honest review. Two, full single-typed pages of painful criticism. Ouch. I didn't submit another query for four years after that experience.
But eventually, I did jump back on the wagon and after writing a few more stories, I eased back into the submission game...a lot more leery this time. Many more standard form letters came back. I learned more about submitting from each rejection. And over time, personal notes began to crop up within the mine field of form letters. I could tell people were actually beginning to read my stuff because they gave advice about my plot or certain characters before telling me they weren't interested.
It was ten years before an editor actually offered me a contract... but the rejections didn't end there. Nope, I still get them. I even still receive the impersonal, standard form letters. But lately, those have decreased substantially and personal comments have increased. In fact, in the past three rejections, I was asked to resubmit after making corrections. This is good...this is very good news. I always feel like jumping up and down and singing the theme song to The Jefferson's "Movin' on Up" when I receive these letters. Because one step up from a "please resubmit" letter, is an "I-want-to-buy-your-book" call!
So, anyway, I've discovered manuscript rejection comes in three basic stages before making it to acceptance. There's...
1. The standard form letter where they may (or may not) slot your name into the salutation and write the same "Sorry, we're not interested at this time" mumbo jumbo to basically everyone they contact.
2. The personalized note, thanking you for submitting, and then detailing every reason why they don't want your story. These are helpful rejections because now you know what's wrong with your story and how you can make it better.
and finally...
Like diarrhea, it's a nasty subject. Happens to everyone (at least it does to every writer) and yet we're all too mortified to admit to it when it does. It's happened to me...more than once...just this year (Rejection, that is, not the other). But I must say, my experiences lately are becoming a lot less horrifying. Actually, I might even call most of them pleasant (gasp, I know).
Eleven years ago when I entered the publishing world and sent out my first submission, I had no idea what to expect. My story came back to me with a standard form letter. Dear So and So, Thank you for querying us, but we're not interested at this time. Yada, yada, yada... blah, blah, blah.
OK, so it broke my heart, but I moved on. Wrote another story and sent that off.
My second submission attempt came back as well, with another similar note attached. Standard, impersonal...rejected. But rubber banded to the back of my returned manuscript, I found a reader's review. I have a feeling this review wasn't supposed to make it to my eyes and was "supposed" to be kept in some file under my name back at the publishing office. But, oops, someone must've forgotten to separate it from the story before returning it to me... and I read this reader's blunt, honest review. Two, full single-typed pages of painful criticism. Ouch. I didn't submit another query for four years after that experience.
But eventually, I did jump back on the wagon and after writing a few more stories, I eased back into the submission game...a lot more leery this time. Many more standard form letters came back. I learned more about submitting from each rejection. And over time, personal notes began to crop up within the mine field of form letters. I could tell people were actually beginning to read my stuff because they gave advice about my plot or certain characters before telling me they weren't interested.
It was ten years before an editor actually offered me a contract... but the rejections didn't end there. Nope, I still get them. I even still receive the impersonal, standard form letters. But lately, those have decreased substantially and personal comments have increased. In fact, in the past three rejections, I was asked to resubmit after making corrections. This is good...this is very good news. I always feel like jumping up and down and singing the theme song to The Jefferson's "Movin' on Up" when I receive these letters. Because one step up from a "please resubmit" letter, is an "I-want-to-buy-your-book" call!
So, anyway, I've discovered manuscript rejection comes in three basic stages before making it to acceptance. There's...
1. The standard form letter where they may (or may not) slot your name into the salutation and write the same "Sorry, we're not interested at this time" mumbo jumbo to basically everyone they contact.
2. The personalized note, thanking you for submitting, and then detailing every reason why they don't want your story. These are helpful rejections because now you know what's wrong with your story and how you can make it better.
and finally...
3. The interested rejection, telling you you're close, but your story still needs a bit more work. Here, they'll either ask you to submit something else or resubmit a revised edition of what you just showed them. Here, it's time to get excited because if contracting a story was fire, you'd be singeing your eyebrows with this rejection.
Literary Rejections on Display is a blog dedicated to posting various rejection letters and making fun of them. So, the next time you receive a nasty little diarrhea note, visit LRoD and join the ranks of every other writer on the planet for a little lift-me-up humor. It always makes me feel better, anyway.
Literary Rejections on Display is a blog dedicated to posting various rejection letters and making fun of them. So, the next time you receive a nasty little diarrhea note, visit LRoD and join the ranks of every other writer on the planet for a little lift-me-up humor. It always makes me feel better, anyway.
Makin' a List & Checkin' it Twice
Monday, April 27, 2009
Not much has been going on with me these days. I've mostly been waiting, waiting, waiting to hear back from editors. The story I sold, The Stillburrow Crush, is on its way to getting Galley No. 2 made. So, I'm waiting on that as well. Like Nancy J. Parra said in her April 10th blog, Wait is a definitely a four letter word.
I haven't been creating much new material, but mostly been revising old stories. And in the revision process, I'm starting a list of words. Actually, there's about two lists developing. One is for unnecessary words that I'm doing a word find on my word document to look at every instance that word is used in the story. If I really don't need it, or if I can find another phrase there to make it sound tighter or just all around better, I'm changing it. This list of words is being called "The Deleters."
The second list consists of a two words per line. I'm doing a word find on terms that are similar to other words and making sure I've used the right word. This is my "Correctors" list.
Yeah, it's time consuming to do a word find for each word, but it's also amazing how many times I've ended up deleting or changing something.
Anyway, here's what I have so far. Please let me know if any of you know more good words to add to the lists.
THE DELETERS
-began
-even
-feel (felt)
-got
-it
-just
-look
-out
-started
-suddenly
-that
-then
-up
-was
I haven't been creating much new material, but mostly been revising old stories. And in the revision process, I'm starting a list of words. Actually, there's about two lists developing. One is for unnecessary words that I'm doing a word find on my word document to look at every instance that word is used in the story. If I really don't need it, or if I can find another phrase there to make it sound tighter or just all around better, I'm changing it. This list of words is being called "The Deleters."
The second list consists of a two words per line. I'm doing a word find on terms that are similar to other words and making sure I've used the right word. This is my "Correctors" list.
Yeah, it's time consuming to do a word find for each word, but it's also amazing how many times I've ended up deleting or changing something.
Anyway, here's what I have so far. Please let me know if any of you know more good words to add to the lists.
THE DELETERS
-began
-even
-feel (felt)
-got
-it
-just
-look
-out
-started
-suddenly
-that
-then
-up
-was
CORRECTORS
-affect / effect
-adverse / averse
-compliment / complement
-its / it's
-taunt / taut
-use / used
-wander / wonder
-where / wear
-wander / wonder
-where / wear
-which / that
-your / you're
The Foiled Blog
Friday, April 17, 2009
I had an entire blog created to talk about receiving manuscript rejections today. But in the past twenty-four hours, I've received two different requests for full manuscripts, so I think I'll put off the depressing "r" topic for some other time. And since my blog idea has been foiled, I think I'll discuss...foils (sorry for the pun; couldn't help it!).
Eons ago when I was taking a writing course in college, I wrote a short story about two friends that were about as similar as black and white to each other. My professor told me I had showed a good example of creating a foil character. And I was like, a what character?
I then learned how authors put certain people in their stories that are the complete opposite of their main character in order to highlight the features of said main character. Instead of outright telling readers about the hero/heroine, they show their protagonist's characteristics by contrasting them with another character's personality. In movies, I would say we'd call these people supporting actors/actresses. (Check out Wikipedia's definition of a Foil for a better description)
After I wrote that story in college, time passed, and I forgot all about these foiled people.... until the other day. I was reading Claire Ashgrove's blog about stretching a story out longer with sub plotting. And for some reason, I thought, hey, Linda Kay, remember those foil characters back from college? They could really add a good subplot and help lengthen a book as well as deepen emotions and give your tale more meaning.
So...There's my helpful writing tip for the day. Don't forget about Foil Characters! Write that on a post-it and stick it somewhere in your writing tool box to pull back out whenever you stumble across a rough patch and need to lengthen, strengthen or deepen your story. They really do help.
Famous Foils in Literature
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell : Rhett Butler and Ashley Wilkes
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck : George Milton and Lennie Small
Don Quixote by Cervantes : Don Quixote and Sancho Panza
Hamlet by Shakespeare : Hamlet and Laertes
Star Wars by George Lucas : Luke Skywalker and Hans Solo
Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling : Harry Potter and Ron Weasley
Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle : Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson
Eons ago when I was taking a writing course in college, I wrote a short story about two friends that were about as similar as black and white to each other. My professor told me I had showed a good example of creating a foil character. And I was like, a what character?
I then learned how authors put certain people in their stories that are the complete opposite of their main character in order to highlight the features of said main character. Instead of outright telling readers about the hero/heroine, they show their protagonist's characteristics by contrasting them with another character's personality. In movies, I would say we'd call these people supporting actors/actresses. (Check out Wikipedia's definition of a Foil for a better description)
After I wrote that story in college, time passed, and I forgot all about these foiled people.... until the other day. I was reading Claire Ashgrove's blog about stretching a story out longer with sub plotting. And for some reason, I thought, hey, Linda Kay, remember those foil characters back from college? They could really add a good subplot and help lengthen a book as well as deepen emotions and give your tale more meaning.
So...There's my helpful writing tip for the day. Don't forget about Foil Characters! Write that on a post-it and stick it somewhere in your writing tool box to pull back out whenever you stumble across a rough patch and need to lengthen, strengthen or deepen your story. They really do help.
Famous Foils in Literature
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell : Rhett Butler and Ashley Wilkes
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck : George Milton and Lennie Small
Don Quixote by Cervantes : Don Quixote and Sancho Panza
Hamlet by Shakespeare : Hamlet and Laertes
Star Wars by George Lucas : Luke Skywalker and Hans Solo
Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling : Harry Potter and Ron Weasley
Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle : Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson
Setting: Don’t Start Your Story Without It.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
My friend, Erin (who writes Paranormal, Sci Fi, and overall all amazing romance under the name Jackie Bannon), wrote an article for the January edition of our MRW writing group’s Newsletter, Impressions. It was so amazing and thought-provoking, I found myself still thinking about it the next morning.
In her piece about sci fi world building, she definitely broadened my horizons (yes, sorry, corny pun intended there) to make me realize there was so much more to think about when creating a galactic world than naming a few planets and sticking a couple of strange new creatures on them. Fictional or not, it was downright daunting. Upon reading the article, I threw my hands in the air, defeated, and said, “That’s it. I will never ever attempt to do something as in-depth and complex as that. I’ll just stay on my simple planet earth, thank you very much.” But the more I thought about it, the more I realized… it didn’t matter where my story took place, I still need to consider its world. I need to know about the place I put my characters, even in a mere earthling story.
Gravity, climate, atmosphere, time zone. Good Lord, I realized with a certain about of panic, the setting of my story could change the plot, the characters… my ENTIRE manuscript. But then I remembered a Nora Roberts book I read long ago (Sorry, can’t even remember the title now). There was a flashy, big-city-girl-type character that found her way down to Louisiana or some such swampy locale, and I remember her being so upset because the damp climate shot her expensive hair-do all out of sorts and made it frizz.
I could completely sympathize with this poor woman. Having naturally curly hair myself, I spend an unmentionable amount of time each morning in front of the mirror with blow dryer in hand, trying to manage my bangs to look how I want them, not just how nature thinks they should look. It’s a control issue. Control my hair, control my life. But as soon as I go on vacation with my husband to beautiful Branson, Missouri, I might as well throw my dad-gum blow dryer out the window. It’s useless.
There’s just something about the climate in that town that makes my hair frizz out and do whatever it wants. There I stand, in front of the Showboat Branson Belle, and I just want to get a cutsie picture taken with my sweetie on the deck in front of the sunset. But I can’t because I refuse to immortalize myself looking like Cousin It’s ugly step sister in some cheap cardboard-framed photo that’ll cost me thirty bucks or more to buy. It makes me feel so frustrated, and helpless, and scared that I’ve lost that small piece of control on my life. I can’t understand why, why, why this has to happen to me.
But as Erin says in her article, it’s all about the solar system and the position of the earth, causing gravity’s pull to form mountains and valleys in their respective places, directing the flow of water and precipitation and making climates and atmospheres. Everything really does affect everything else. There’s this huge world out there, and I’m just a small little cog. A nothing.
So, now I have a completely new appreciation for setting. It’s a lot bigger than I’ll ever even begin to imagine. But never fear. It can be used as one of the most handy tools in a storyteller’s arsenal and it doesn’t have to be complex or scary. Nora Roberts was able to use it with one tiny detail like a bad hair day to reach out and connect with a reader—me—so I could bond with her character and feel a part of what she felt. After reading about another woman—even a mere fictional woman—experiencing something I’ve experienced and feeling what I’ve felt, I wasn’t so alone in my situation. There are others out there just like me, doomed to suffer through bad hair days because of no fault of their own making. I’m not such a nothing after all.
What a liberating experience. And I had it all because Nora Roberts thought to consider the alignment of the solar system and gravity’s pull on earth, causing… well, maybe she didn’t go that deep into it, but she did have a very real sense of setting and climate.
Put that way, it sounds so simple and easy to do. It makes me eager to try something like it in one of my tales. Now, I just hope I remember I said that when I start my next story. (Egads!)
Location, Location, Location. It really does affect your plot and characters and makes a difference in your story. If you don’t believe me… Just talk to Erin.
In her piece about sci fi world building, she definitely broadened my horizons (yes, sorry, corny pun intended there) to make me realize there was so much more to think about when creating a galactic world than naming a few planets and sticking a couple of strange new creatures on them. Fictional or not, it was downright daunting. Upon reading the article, I threw my hands in the air, defeated, and said, “That’s it. I will never ever attempt to do something as in-depth and complex as that. I’ll just stay on my simple planet earth, thank you very much.” But the more I thought about it, the more I realized… it didn’t matter where my story took place, I still need to consider its world. I need to know about the place I put my characters, even in a mere earthling story.
Gravity, climate, atmosphere, time zone. Good Lord, I realized with a certain about of panic, the setting of my story could change the plot, the characters… my ENTIRE manuscript. But then I remembered a Nora Roberts book I read long ago (Sorry, can’t even remember the title now). There was a flashy, big-city-girl-type character that found her way down to Louisiana or some such swampy locale, and I remember her being so upset because the damp climate shot her expensive hair-do all out of sorts and made it frizz.
I could completely sympathize with this poor woman. Having naturally curly hair myself, I spend an unmentionable amount of time each morning in front of the mirror with blow dryer in hand, trying to manage my bangs to look how I want them, not just how nature thinks they should look. It’s a control issue. Control my hair, control my life. But as soon as I go on vacation with my husband to beautiful Branson, Missouri, I might as well throw my dad-gum blow dryer out the window. It’s useless.
There’s just something about the climate in that town that makes my hair frizz out and do whatever it wants. There I stand, in front of the Showboat Branson Belle, and I just want to get a cutsie picture taken with my sweetie on the deck in front of the sunset. But I can’t because I refuse to immortalize myself looking like Cousin It’s ugly step sister in some cheap cardboard-framed photo that’ll cost me thirty bucks or more to buy. It makes me feel so frustrated, and helpless, and scared that I’ve lost that small piece of control on my life. I can’t understand why, why, why this has to happen to me.
But as Erin says in her article, it’s all about the solar system and the position of the earth, causing gravity’s pull to form mountains and valleys in their respective places, directing the flow of water and precipitation and making climates and atmospheres. Everything really does affect everything else. There’s this huge world out there, and I’m just a small little cog. A nothing.
So, now I have a completely new appreciation for setting. It’s a lot bigger than I’ll ever even begin to imagine. But never fear. It can be used as one of the most handy tools in a storyteller’s arsenal and it doesn’t have to be complex or scary. Nora Roberts was able to use it with one tiny detail like a bad hair day to reach out and connect with a reader—me—so I could bond with her character and feel a part of what she felt. After reading about another woman—even a mere fictional woman—experiencing something I’ve experienced and feeling what I’ve felt, I wasn’t so alone in my situation. There are others out there just like me, doomed to suffer through bad hair days because of no fault of their own making. I’m not such a nothing after all.
What a liberating experience. And I had it all because Nora Roberts thought to consider the alignment of the solar system and gravity’s pull on earth, causing… well, maybe she didn’t go that deep into it, but she did have a very real sense of setting and climate.
Put that way, it sounds so simple and easy to do. It makes me eager to try something like it in one of my tales. Now, I just hope I remember I said that when I start my next story. (Egads!)
Location, Location, Location. It really does affect your plot and characters and makes a difference in your story. If you don’t believe me… Just talk to Erin.
Edit Land
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Today, I received my second round of edits for The Stillburrow Crush, and I must say, progress is a beautiful thing. I keep getting one step closer to holding my very own book in my hands, clasping it to my chest, and reverently breathing out the word, "Wow." I'm so excited it makes me feel all bouncy inside. It's too bad I have to deal with editing and marketing and promoting to get there. Though I must say I have a grade A editor. She's been very good to me.
However, it's funny. A writer will work and rework their story before they ever show it to anyone. Then, everyone that reads it henceforth will have a comment to add and the writer will once again revise and edit, reworking their story from that new perspective. What's so ironic about this part is that each person will see your story from a totally different viewpoint. You might think it's all written out there, plain as day, on a flat, single-sided piece of the paper. But for some reason, your manuscript turns into this multidimensional being that has a heads and a tails, like a coin, and every other person that reads it will chose their preferred side.
It gets very complex and confusing, and the humorous part is most of the main disagreement centers on wording, not the actual story. "You're using the word was too much." "No, you should keep was in there." "No, was is used twenty-seven times in the past five pages. That's way too much." "But was helps show the action and movement of the sentence." "Was is too passive tense. It should go." I swear I've heard all these comments on critique sheets. Now, tell me honestly, what's a poor girl to think? What's really the right way? Sadly, there is no correct answer, no definite "right" way, and nothing to do to satisfy every reviewer.
Not that I'm too bothered by all the conflicting comments. It lets me know my original version wasn't necessarily wrong, which is always a relief. Plus, I think it's interesting that such a dispute actually exists in the writing world. Yeah, okay, how you say something is important, but what you say is really what the story is all about. A reader's going to be more concerned about the characters and the plot. They're going to remember actions and dialogue more than sentence structure and how many times you use was. So, I'm actually very honored to have my editors and critique partners obsess about how I worded this or that. To me, that means the meat and potatoes portion is going good. Either that, or I need more brutally-honest reviewers. Yikes!
However, it's funny. A writer will work and rework their story before they ever show it to anyone. Then, everyone that reads it henceforth will have a comment to add and the writer will once again revise and edit, reworking their story from that new perspective. What's so ironic about this part is that each person will see your story from a totally different viewpoint. You might think it's all written out there, plain as day, on a flat, single-sided piece of the paper. But for some reason, your manuscript turns into this multidimensional being that has a heads and a tails, like a coin, and every other person that reads it will chose their preferred side.
It gets very complex and confusing, and the humorous part is most of the main disagreement centers on wording, not the actual story. "You're using the word was too much." "No, you should keep was in there." "No, was is used twenty-seven times in the past five pages. That's way too much." "But was helps show the action and movement of the sentence." "Was is too passive tense. It should go." I swear I've heard all these comments on critique sheets. Now, tell me honestly, what's a poor girl to think? What's really the right way? Sadly, there is no correct answer, no definite "right" way, and nothing to do to satisfy every reviewer.
Not that I'm too bothered by all the conflicting comments. It lets me know my original version wasn't necessarily wrong, which is always a relief. Plus, I think it's interesting that such a dispute actually exists in the writing world. Yeah, okay, how you say something is important, but what you say is really what the story is all about. A reader's going to be more concerned about the characters and the plot. They're going to remember actions and dialogue more than sentence structure and how many times you use was. So, I'm actually very honored to have my editors and critique partners obsess about how I worded this or that. To me, that means the meat and potatoes portion is going good. Either that, or I need more brutally-honest reviewers. Yikes!
The Bad Good Guy
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Author Sophia Garrett, one of my wonderful critique partners, started to blog recently. Tuesday, she wrote a blog and posed the question,
“I think a hero or heroine in a book CAN stay somewhat unrepentant from their bad ways at the end. Anne Stuart is one of my favorite authors and her heroes tend to be assassins and mercenaries. Just read her ice series:
1. Black Ice
2. Cold as Ice
3. Ice Blue
4. Fire and Ice
5. Ice Storm
Her stories are very dark and there's this sense that even after the two mains get together and start their happily ever after, they're still going to be shrouded in the darker side of life. That's actually what I love so much about her books, her ability to be that sinister and still make me cheer for her characters.
I think that's why I liked the movie The Crow too. Coming back from the dead to kill a bunch of people isn't such a happy-sweet plot, but his reasons for his actions--he did it because of a great love, for his soul mate--it's just so... thought-provoking and intriguing and heart-rendering. It stays with you longer after you experience the story exactly for that reason.
I also love Katherine Sutcliffe for her dark writing, both her historical and contemporary stuff. And then there's Meagan McKinney's more contemporary work. They have some very conflicted heroes and heroines, which makes me like them more. Neither of them have published anything for a few years, but if you get your hands on one of their books, read them and see for yourself that dark writing I'm talking about... it's addictive.”
There are so many other “Good Guys” out there that have a bad angle to them, I can’t even begin to start naming names. You can even find them on television shows. In That 70’s Show, for example, my favorite character is Hyde because he’s just so naughty and I don’t really want him to change. In fact, that’s what I like about him.
Now… a curious Linda wants to know, who are a few of your favorite bad “Good Guys”?
“What do you all think of people who push the line of... redemption... having a romance written in a darker fashion?”Well, I just loved this question, ‘cause it made me think. And here was my response to her, pretty much verbatim as I said it.
“I think a hero or heroine in a book CAN stay somewhat unrepentant from their bad ways at the end. Anne Stuart is one of my favorite authors and her heroes tend to be assassins and mercenaries. Just read her ice series:
1. Black Ice
2. Cold as Ice
3. Ice Blue
4. Fire and Ice
5. Ice Storm
Her stories are very dark and there's this sense that even after the two mains get together and start their happily ever after, they're still going to be shrouded in the darker side of life. That's actually what I love so much about her books, her ability to be that sinister and still make me cheer for her characters.
I think that's why I liked the movie The Crow too. Coming back from the dead to kill a bunch of people isn't such a happy-sweet plot, but his reasons for his actions--he did it because of a great love, for his soul mate--it's just so... thought-provoking and intriguing and heart-rendering. It stays with you longer after you experience the story exactly for that reason.
I also love Katherine Sutcliffe for her dark writing, both her historical and contemporary stuff. And then there's Meagan McKinney's more contemporary work. They have some very conflicted heroes and heroines, which makes me like them more. Neither of them have published anything for a few years, but if you get your hands on one of their books, read them and see for yourself that dark writing I'm talking about... it's addictive.”
There are so many other “Good Guys” out there that have a bad angle to them, I can’t even begin to start naming names. You can even find them on television shows. In That 70’s Show, for example, my favorite character is Hyde because he’s just so naughty and I don’t really want him to change. In fact, that’s what I like about him.
Now… a curious Linda wants to know, who are a few of your favorite bad “Good Guys”?
The Fiction Wars
Monday, October 13, 2008
It doesn't seem to matter what you write sometimes, someone will always look down their nose on your work. After listening to many writers talk, I've discovered there is a hierarchy of arguments over which is consider quality writing. So, today, I think I'll explore these arguments and discussions to simplify what each school of thought believes.
Literary vs. Mass Market
To begin, we have our academic scholars dueling with the sensation writers. There is actually fiction in the world that considers itself so above par, it cannot possibly be classified into something as lowly as a genre. This fiction is called literary. When I was in college, I was taught genre stories were not as fulfilling or meaningful as true literary classics. Though, to be honest, the definition of a literary work is simply to make a point about the human condition and to have the protagonist change or realize something new about him or herself.
Genre A vs. Genre B
Since the literary world sees all genres beneath them, they don't really pick on one category more than another. But once you step into the genre community, the differences begin to stand out. Science fiction and Mystery, for example, like to point at romance fiction--and at Harlequin/Silhouette stories more significantly--calling it fluff and saying it's only formula writing. There's no real substance in romance, they claim.
E-Press vs. Print Press
Romance writers, however, don't think Harlequin/Silhouettes stories lack such substance. In fact, if you sell to Harlequin, you're pretty well respected in romance writing circles. With romance authors, the big debate is between how you're published... by an e-press or print press. Mostly, people consider e-press publishers somewhat lower than print-press publishers.
So, those are the three main debates I've noticed in my writing endeavors... and guess what, I've actually been aspiring to make it to the lowest on that totem pole of importance.
Now, ask me if I care.
No, not really. I know each of my stories have a theme and makes a point about the human condition. I know my hero and heroine learn something about themselves and sometimes change by the end of my books. And I always have that satisfying romance ending, where my two mains get together. Other than that, I just want to tell a story and bring my characters to life on each and every page. If that makes other writers look down at me, oh well... I know what readers like because I know what I would rather sit down and read myself and also... I see what sells the most on the bookstore shelves. And that right there is what's important to me. The reader.
Stephen King illustrated it best in his self help writing book, On Writing. After getting in trouble when he was young for--what do you know--writing, one of his teachers lectured him for his choice of subject, telling him had so much potential and he was just throwing it away on writing garbage. He went on to say, that for years after that, he was actually ashamed of what he wrote and the stories he told. Now, I don't consider King an unsuccessful author. He is one of the most talented storytellers of our time, and I must further comment, I'm glad he didn't let anyone get him down. I'm glad he was able to share all the stories inside him because some of his stories have been made into my favorite movies.
Now, here's my challenge for you today. Don't let anyone belittling your dreams get you down, be those dreams writing or teaching or politics or sky diving. Be proud of what you want to do with your life and don't be afraid to reach for your goals. You never know what you might find in your grasp. And whatever you do, you can always find a group of like-minded individuals who share the same passions. Surrounding yourself by them will help you realize you have purpose and importance.
And I think I'm off my soap box for now. Have a great day.
Literary vs. Mass Market
To begin, we have our academic scholars dueling with the sensation writers. There is actually fiction in the world that considers itself so above par, it cannot possibly be classified into something as lowly as a genre. This fiction is called literary. When I was in college, I was taught genre stories were not as fulfilling or meaningful as true literary classics. Though, to be honest, the definition of a literary work is simply to make a point about the human condition and to have the protagonist change or realize something new about him or herself.
Genre A vs. Genre B
Since the literary world sees all genres beneath them, they don't really pick on one category more than another. But once you step into the genre community, the differences begin to stand out. Science fiction and Mystery, for example, like to point at romance fiction--and at Harlequin/Silhouette stories more significantly--calling it fluff and saying it's only formula writing. There's no real substance in romance, they claim.
E-Press vs. Print Press
Romance writers, however, don't think Harlequin/Silhouettes stories lack such substance. In fact, if you sell to Harlequin, you're pretty well respected in romance writing circles. With romance authors, the big debate is between how you're published... by an e-press or print press. Mostly, people consider e-press publishers somewhat lower than print-press publishers.
So, those are the three main debates I've noticed in my writing endeavors... and guess what, I've actually been aspiring to make it to the lowest on that totem pole of importance.
Now, ask me if I care.
No, not really. I know each of my stories have a theme and makes a point about the human condition. I know my hero and heroine learn something about themselves and sometimes change by the end of my books. And I always have that satisfying romance ending, where my two mains get together. Other than that, I just want to tell a story and bring my characters to life on each and every page. If that makes other writers look down at me, oh well... I know what readers like because I know what I would rather sit down and read myself and also... I see what sells the most on the bookstore shelves. And that right there is what's important to me. The reader.
Stephen King illustrated it best in his self help writing book, On Writing. After getting in trouble when he was young for--what do you know--writing, one of his teachers lectured him for his choice of subject, telling him had so much potential and he was just throwing it away on writing garbage. He went on to say, that for years after that, he was actually ashamed of what he wrote and the stories he told. Now, I don't consider King an unsuccessful author. He is one of the most talented storytellers of our time, and I must further comment, I'm glad he didn't let anyone get him down. I'm glad he was able to share all the stories inside him because some of his stories have been made into my favorite movies.
Now, here's my challenge for you today. Don't let anyone belittling your dreams get you down, be those dreams writing or teaching or politics or sky diving. Be proud of what you want to do with your life and don't be afraid to reach for your goals. You never know what you might find in your grasp. And whatever you do, you can always find a group of like-minded individuals who share the same passions. Surrounding yourself by them will help you realize you have purpose and importance.
And I think I'm off my soap box for now. Have a great day.
Contests
Monday, April 28, 2008
Whether entering a contest or not, contest score sheets have been a great source of help to me. I like to go through them and grade my own manuscript. If I can tell where something isn’t as strong as it should be, then I know where I need to work on my writing.
I usually go to Stephie Smith’s Contest Chart for Writers to find contests taking place. After clicking on a link and going straight to a contest site, I can usually find a sample score sheet available to glance through. Too many times, I've found areas I needed to give a facelift.
I usually go to Stephie Smith’s Contest Chart for Writers to find contests taking place. After clicking on a link and going straight to a contest site, I can usually find a sample score sheet available to glance through. Too many times, I've found areas I needed to give a facelift.
Query & Synopsis
Friday, April 11, 2008
The most important piece of information I've learned about trying to publish my work, so far, is this: No matter how spectacular the story, no one will read it unless you supply a query letter and synopsis... and not just any query letter and synopsis, but a good one. Studying how to write them is key. I think it's more beneficial to read a hoard of help columns too, not just one, because you pick up new tid bits of advice in each article. Now, if only I'd scanned through all these sites before sending in my first submission, I'd be so much further along in my writing career today. (Sigh)
Query Letter Help Sites
Synopsis Help Sites
Query Letter Help Sites
- Passionate Pen Query Letters
- Harlequin's Sample Query Letter
- Writing a Query Letter
- How to Write a Query Letter
Synopsis Help Sites
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