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Effective Dialogue – No expostulating allowed

Merrill Heath — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:50:20 +0000

In this article I’m going to touch on three very simple rules for writing dialogue that anyone can follow:
1. Avoid too many identifiers
2. Leave out odd descriptors
3. Use proper phrasing

A common mistake many novice writers make is to put in too many identifiers, or tags, to let us know who is talking. When only two people are having a conversation you can almost avoid tags altogether. The conversation naturally flows back and forth and it is evident who is speaking by the formatting. But often writers put in too many he saids and she saids or they will do a lot of name calling to “help the reader keep up.” For example…

“Carol, can I talk with you for a minute?” Bob asked.
“Sure, Bob. What’s on your mind?”
“Well, Carol, you know I have this big proposal due tomorrow,” Bob said. “I could sure use your help.”
“No problem, Bob,” Carol replied, looking at her watch. “I have a meeting in a few minutes. Can we get together after that?” she asked.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Bob responded.
“Okay” Carol said. “I’ll come by your office as soon as I get out of this meeting.”

This dialogue can be cleaned up and will read much better by eliminating most of the tags and all the name-calling.

Bob stopped Carol as she came down the hall.
“Hey, can I talk with you for a minute?” he asked.
“Sure. What’s up?”
“Well I got this big proposal due tomorrow and I could use your help.”
“Okay.” She glanced at her watch. “But I have a meeting in a few minutes. I’ll come by your office when I’m done with that.”
Bob nodded and Carol hurried off to her meeting.

Of course, the best approach would be to strike this whole scene and start with them talking in Bob’s office. As it is you have an unnecessary discussion that ends because Carol has a meeting. Unless her meeting has something to do with what Bob wants to talk to her about then you should cut it out altogether.

Another problem writers run into is using odd descriptors. They’re concerned the reader will get bored or distracted by all the saids so they start using descriptors like he exclaimed, she sighed, he intoned, she breathed… I’m currently reading Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. Her characters do a lot of sighing and breathing words in their conversations. I find this distracting. People sigh and they breathe and they speak. But they rarely do those things at the same time. But my all-time favorite odd descriptor is something that you used to see a lot in the Saturday Evening Post years ago: he chortled. I don’t even know what that means. I’ve never heard anyone chortle in my life. Thank goodness that descriptor has gone out of style.

The fact of the matter is that readers breeze over all the saids without much thought. But they get distracted when someone intones or chides or expostulates. Stick with the same old boring descriptors – he said, she asked, he replied, she shouted… There are plenty that you can use that will not distract the reader or break up the flow of the conversation. Just use them sparingly.

The third rule is to use the proper phrasing. Robert Parker tends to follow a question with the tag he said. I found this very distracting when I first started reading his books. Then I noticed that I was mentally reading he asked even though he said was printed on the page. But you don’t want to distract the reader. If someone asks a question and you follow it with a descriptor, simply say he asked. That’s no more effort than he said, and it’s the correct phrasing. No distraction. You read right over it and keep going.

In review, when writing dialogue avoid using too many identifiers. When only two people are talking you can leave out most of the tags. When three or more people are involved in a conversation then you have to use more tags. But you still want to keep them to a minimum. Don’t use odd descriptors. People say things, they ask questions, they may argue with each other from time to time, but don’t let them expostulate. And be careful to use the proper phrasing. Improper phrasing distracts the reader and breaks up the flow. You want your dialogue to flow and sound natural.

Merrill Heath is an author who has a strong desire to help other writers improve their craft. For more writing tips and techniques go to: http://mlheath.wordpress.com. For information on his novels and current projects visit his blog at: http://merrillheath.wordpress.com.

Writing a Publishable Novel – The Art of Tying up Story Threads

Robert L. Bacon — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:05:14 +0000

Story Threads can be a Huge Problem if Not Resolved, and even Some of the Most Respected Writers are Not Sacrosanct

A thread is a plot element, nothing more, nothing less, but a problem for authors if they do not reconcile their threads for the reader. The obvious rationale for an exception is to purposely leave the plot point unresolved to engender interest in reading a sequel to the story. But when the aforementioned is not relevant, the problem can be excruciating for the reader. And some of the most respected writers in literary history have been derelict by not tying up their threads acceptably.

One of the Most Flagrant Examples of Not Tying up a Thread is in INDEPENDENCE DAY

In Richard Ford’s INDEPENDENCE DAY, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1996, he provides great detail in describing the circumstances surrounding the brutal murder of a real estate agent. Then, later in the novel, he brings up her death once more, heightening the reader’s enthusiasm for an answer to who did it. But the thread is never developed and the culprit not identified. The murder therefore has no relevance to the story line, and by not providing a “reveal,” an awkward hole is left, although apparently not egregious enough for the Pulitzer committee to find fault.

WAR AND PEACE and THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE were also Not Immune to Dangling Threads

I call this lack of resolution a dangling thread, and a wonderful bad example (ugh, I know) can be read in the two novels cited in this subtitle.

Anatol is a profound early character in WAR AND PEACE (he’s the guy who ties Pierre to the bear, should anyone have forgotten). Tolstoy relates much later in the tale that Anatol lost a leg in battle, but there is not one single mention of him in any other section of the book.

In THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE, Captain Vye is a fabulous character for which a rich fabric is knitted by Hardy. But after Eustacia meets her end, there is no further reference to Vye–and his feelings–thus leaving the story and the reader with a huge void.

Can there be a Happy Medium?

Perhaps an expedient way to view threads is via Dos Passos’ USA. Eventually he had to leave some threads to their own devices or he’d have been writing ad infinitum because of the type of historical chronicle the story happened to be. However, USA demonstrates in abundant terms how threads can be expanded to reach a satisfactory conclusion in the mind of the reader–yet sans “finality” in each and every scenario.

Shouldn’t the Writer be Cut some Slack

Some can argue, and most justifiably, that it’s not a literary transgression to defer providing a detailed chronology for the life of every character in a book the size of WAR AND PEACE. This is certainly not disputable, but it does beg reconciliation by the author when, in my opinion, a character is prominent enough to drive a significant segment of a story. This is my contention in the Tolstoy example, and for me it’s even more acute in Hardy’s work because the captain is such a viable character in so much of the narrative.

It could be nothing more than an issue of degree, but if readers were to parse stories they didn’t enjoy, there might be a legitimate question as to how often their disappointment was due to dangling threads.

Robert L. Bacon, Founder

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Bring it to a Point – A Closure Technique

Thomas Ajava — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:01:42 +0000

Some people have a problem with starting a story. I don’t. I have a problem with finishing them. I know where I want to go, but getting there can be a problem. One technique that I’ve learned to use is called bringing it to a point. If you have closure issues, it might work for you as well.

I write like I paint. There is stuff everywhere. Okay, and maybe badly. Regardless, the storyline that starts out in detail quickly ranges to and fro like a ship on a storm filled sea form some great Viking yarn. I used to fight it, but now I just go along for the ride and hope I’ll find myself with some great story of value. Sometimes the boat finds the promised land. Sometimes it sinks! Regardless, it is an opened ended form of writing that can go as long as you can write. What if, however, you know the destination, but can’t see how to get there. You need a technique to develop this process in your mind.

The technique of writing to a point is admittedly a simple one. Perhaps it is even infantile. All I know is it has helped me with this issue. So, how does it work? The answer is in structure. Pick a predetermined length of text you are going to write. I usually go with five or 10 pages. Now nail down your ending in a short paragraph. Write it on the bottom of the last page. You know have your point.

The rest of the exercise is pretty simple. Start writing on the first page and practice bringing your story to the final paragraph. Will you will rarely, if ever, pull this off. You also do not need to worry excessively about grammar, punctuation or any such thing. None of these things is the point, pun intended, of the exercise.

To me, a story is an arc. It starts here and ends up there. The point of this exercise is to train yourself to deal with the last part of the arc. You’ve written to the highest part of the arc. Now, how do you bring it back to a defined finish…a point if you will? Frodo Baggins went underground, over water, through marshes and so on. From the word go of the story, however, he always had to complete an arc that found him in Mount Doom.

Many stories succeed or fail in how they close the arc of the story line. Getting from here to there is obviously important, but it is often the last 100 steps that make the journey a success or failure for the reader. Using the bring it to a point technique is one way to practice making those steps worthwhile in your story.

Thomas Ajava is with NomadJournals.com – makers of writing journals for writers and readers alike.

Editing Secrets

Laura Backes — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:01:21 +0000

Once you’ve plotted out your book, developed the characters and written the last word of text, the real work begins. As busy editors are bombarded with hundreds or even thousands of submissions a year, it’s more important than ever that authors apply their own editing skills to their manuscripts before putting them in the mail. Checking your basic grammar and spelling are of course important, but authors need to go beyond surface editing if their work has a chance of catching an editor’s eye.

* Trim, tighten, hack away. First, second and even third drafts of manuscripts are almost always laden with extra words and scenes. Take a break from your book and then read it through with a fresh eye. Write down your theme in one sentence (what the book is about, such as working through shyness on the first day of school or showing how Thomas Edison’s childhood experiences influenced his adult life). The plot (or progression of facts and events in nonfiction) is your vehicle for conveying the theme to the reader. Ask yourself if each character and scene advance the plot toward communicating this theme. And decide at the beginning that you will give up your precious words and finely-crafted scenes for the betterment of the book. Pithy dialogue may be fun to read, but if it pushes your story off track, it’s just a literary dead end. Take the publishers’ suggested word limits seriously: no, you don’t really need 3000 words to tell your picture book story about Freddy the Frog’s adventures in the Big Pond.

* The elements of speech. Well-crafted dialogue can be a writer’s most important tool. Dialogue is not just there to break up the paragraphs or show that your characters know how to talk; ideally, it adds to character development, moves the plot along and replaces sections of narrative. Each character should sound like himself, with speech patterns and phrasing that are unique. This is especially true with talking animal books. I see many of these manuscripts where, if I took away the words that identify the speakers, each character would sound exactly the same. Don’t have dialogue repeat the narrative and vice versa; “Did you hear that? Someone’s at the door!” does not have to be preceded by “They heard a sound at the door”.

* Show don’t tell. How many times have you heard this? It’s still true. Comb through your manuscript for sentences that tell the reader how a character felt (Sara was sad) and replace with sensory descriptions (Hot tears sprang to Sara’s eyes and rolled down her cheeks.) Avoid telling the reader what to think about the story (Jason foolishly decided to trust Mike one more time.) Instead, present your character’s actions and decisions to the reader, and let the reader draw his or her own conclusions (incidentally, this is how you “teach” without preaching).

* Wipe out passive writing. Search for verbs preceded by “would” (would go, would sleep, would eat) replace with the past tense (went, slept, ate). Also look for actions that seem to happen out of thin air. “The door was opened” is passive, because the sentence lacks a “doer”. Remember, the reader needs to visualize what’s happening in the story. “The wind blew the door open” is better, because the action can be attributed to something, and it puts the most important element (strong wind) at the beginning of the sentence. Simply rearranging the words (“The door blew open from the wind”) puts emphasis on a door that won’t stay closed, making that the subject of the sentence.

* Be precise. One of the best ways to make your writing come alive for the reader is to use exact nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. One well-chosen word is always better than three vague ones. Adjectives like big, little, cold, hot, beautiful, scary and silly; adverbs such as quickly, slowly, loudly, and softly; and general verbs like walk, went, stayed and ate don’t draw a vivid picture for your reader. Of course, sometimes these words are appropriate, but try as a rule choosing words that describe specifically what you want to communicate. Words that sound and look interesting are also a plus. Tremendous, tiny, frigid, scorching, plodded, sauntered and gulped are more fun to read, and they each lend an emotional overtone to the sentence (if your character gulps his food, you don’t have to tell the reader he’s in a hurry).

And finally, make sure there’s a logical cause and effect relationship between the scenes of your book. Each event should build upon the ones that came before. The plot should spring intrinsically from your characters; nonfiction should unfold because of the nature of your subject and your slant on the material. It’s when everything comes seamlessly together that you have a winning book. Make it look easy, but don’t skimp on all the hard work it takes to get there.

Laura Backes is the publisher of Children’s Book Insider, the Newsletter for Children’s Writers. For more information about writing children’s books, including free articles, market tips, insider secrets and much more, visit Children’s Book Insider’s home on the web at http://write4kids.com

Enjoy that? Read more from the pen of Laura right here at The Cuckleburr Times.

Staying on the Funny Side of Spontaneity

Kelly Swanson — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 05:02:51 +0000

Today I decided to have a moment of spontaneity with my toddler, which is unusual for me to engage in things I can’t spell. Usually I like my spontaneous moments to occur on weekends – not during those precious work hours when I could be sitting by the phone waiting for it to ring. But when Junior asked me for the 147th time if he could do bubbles, I stopped typing, looked up, and much to his surprise and mine said yes, and we ran outside before I could change my mind.

No coats. No shoes. No sunscreen. We just ran out into the glorious sunshine and, despite that moment where I tripped down the stairs, it was like a scene right out of a movie. Until we started arguing over the bubbles – who was going to hold the jar – who was going to blow – who would get to eat the half-eaten candy bar we found on the ground. And what started as a sweet mommy-and-me project of love and togetherness that belonged on the cover of Good Mommy Magazine, quickly spiraled into a devil-mommy-spanks-kid-in-the-front-yard moment that belonged on the cover of Moms Who Shouldn’t Be Magazine. So much for my sweet-lady-next-door image which, according to my husband, disappeared a long time ago somewhere between the time I threw a pot roast at him as he ran to his car and the time I accidentally posted my labor pictures on MySpace.

And so our bubble blowing fiasco ended as quickly as it had begun when Junior spilled the entire bottle of bubble liquid on the ground which left us with nothing to do but just sit – at least that was my plan – to lounge under the oak tree while he lay his head on my lap and I read him excerpts from articles I had written. His plan was to sprint down the driveway and collide into the car in rapid succession (yeah, I’m thinking trade school), see which bricks on the side of the house were loose, dig for worms, and lick bark – all of which he found great delight in while my rear end lost feeling on the cold cement porch, my eyes itched, the wind kept blowing my hair into my lip gloss, I got a bug in my teeth, I was reminded of everything in the yard that needs to be done, and I swear I could hear the whisper of missed opportunities on the breeze. Then the rabid squirrel jumped out of a bush and sent both of us running into the house in a fit of hysterics. I probably shouldn’t have pushed Junior down on my way to the front porch.

We were both sticky with bubble juice and had to break routine and take a bath in the afternoon (no, not together, they won’t let me do that anymore) and I was so worn out that I crawled into bed with him at naptime – the rest of my work day ruined. No emails answered, no phone calls returned. And as he was curled up against me, his hair still wet from his bath, his arm thrown around my neck, he whispers, “That was fun Mommy” and fell asleep. And my heart grew three sizes that day. And somehow I knew that even in my wrong way, I had done the right thing – that years down the road I wouldn’t remember the lost hours of work. I would remember him laughing and running in his bare feet. Before he stubbed his toe on that rock.

You probably don’t have a toddler. You probably don’t work from home. But I’d bet you, like me, miss some of the precious spontaneous opportunities to jump up and go blow some bubbles. Let’s don’t do that anymore. Okay?

(PS Who decided a thirty-seven piece, multi-faceted, battery-operated, monogrammed bubble set with retractable pieces and a matching keychain should be fifty-nine cents at Target – but toilet paper costs me four dollars? I guess the same people who decided to charge us for air at the gas station.)

Professional Speaker Kelly Swanson is an award-winning author and comedian who delivers clean side-splitting keynotes and break-out sessions. Her heartwarming messages about staying on the “funny side of life,” will inspire, motivate, and teach you the importance of cultivating healthy personal and professional relationships. Kelly has opened for Loretta Lynn, performed on Holland America Cruise Lines, and was a featured artist at the Best of Our State Festival and the National Storytelling Festival. Our State Magazine calls her “One of North Carolina’s Funniest Women.” Kelly Swanson, Humorist – Powerful Message, Outrageously Funny. Visit Kelly at http://www.kellyswanson.net or email kelly@kellyswanson.net.

What Do Your Characters Want?

David Bowman — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:12:33 +0000

The most important element in a story is conflict. If your story does not have a central conflict, you don’t actually have a story-you have a picture, a static description of people and places. Without conflict, you won’t have a reason for events to occur. And you will bore your reader.

How does character’s desire relate to conflict?

The basis of conflict is the difference between what your character has and what he wants. Something must be wrong with the character’s personality, perspective, relationships, circumstances, or abilities. The character with a conflict will be in a state of unease and dissatisfaction. The purpose of the story, therefore, is to show how the character reaches a state of satisfaction. This is true for both fiction and nonfiction.

For an easy example, think about the stories of Sherlock Holmes. Holmes reads the papers and notes various crimes and other questionable activities. These do not create conflict for him. However, at some point, he agrees to investigate a particular crime. At that point, he has a conflict. Holmes is in a state of dissatisfaction because he does not know how or why something happened, and he wants to solve that mystery. He doesn’t understand, but he wants to. When he figures out how the crime was committed, he is again satisfied. The conflict is over.

Identifying what the character wants

This was a simplistic illustration, but the concepts expressed in this example are true of all other stories, as well. Think about the books you have read and the movies you have seen. In one sentence, describe what the main character wants. “The main character wants . . . .” The answer may be deeper than just solving some immediate problem. (An example of an immediate problem is being trapped in a burning office building and needing to escape to safety.) In complex stories, the central conflict is represented in many events.

Think about the book and movie Carrie by Stephan King. An example of an immediate problem is when Carrie’s mother refuses permission for her to attend the school prom. Carrie wants to go, but her mother says no. She has a conflict between what she wants (go to the prom) and her current circumstances (her mother’s refusal). In a very, very short story, this immediate problem may be enough, but not in a book-length story. Instead, this immediate problem represents the central conflict, a deeper conflict that governs the events throughout the story.

Carrie wants to be normal, as defined by her society at large, which she sees as a requirement for acceptance by others. She knows that she is different than her peers, and she believes her dissatisfaction stems from her differences. She tries to do things like the “other girls” to reach a state of satisfaction. Ultimately, though, her solution is not to be like everyone else but to accept and employ her uniqueness. Once she does that, she is no longer dissatisfied. Her conflict is resolved.

The writer’s task

Now, think about the story you want to write. What does your main character want? Write it down. If you can’t do it in one sentence, you probably don’t understand your character well enough to write about him or her.

On the other hand, once you understand what your character wants, you can begin to identify the barriers to satisfaction and the actions taken to reach satisfaction. You can begin to create the scenes that represent how the character is affected by and acts upon his desires. This will create a rich story.

Benefits of identifying your character’s desire

With clear knowledge of your character’s desire, you can examine your manuscript as a whole and evaluate whether particular scenes are relevant and necessary, or whether they need to be removed, moved, or revised. This will create a focused, progressive story.

In a great book, one that people will buy and read, the character wants the same things that the reader wants. The reader will be able to say, “I have felt the same way. I want that, too!” This allows the reader to understand the character and be interested in how the character responds to his or her desires. This will create an engaging story. When we review author’s manuscripts, this is first and most important thing we look for.

Before you begin writing, ask yourself, “What does my character want?”

David Bowman is the owner and chief editor of Precise Edit, a comprehensive editorial service provider for authors, businesses, and students. Precise Edit also offers a variety of other services, such as translation, transcription, and website development.

Did you enjoy this? Don’t miss out! There’s plenty more valuable information right here at The Cuckleburr Times from David.

Grab Your Reader With Conflict

Lea Schizas — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:43:45 +0000

What exactly is conflict in a story? Simple…a problem/obstacle your main character needs to overcome by the end of the story. Think of it as your engine that drives your car forward. Without one your car remains idle, collecting dust in the driveway. Give your car a super booster engine and you’ll be coasting the streets with no worries. Well, until the police stop you.

In a story conflict moves your character through various situations he must overcome. This intrigues and pulls your reader deeper into the story, connecting with your character’s predicament. A character needs to have a hurdle tossed at them, makes for an intriguing situation to find out the outcome. Without an outcome, there is no magnetic charge with your reader.

Before writing your story and making up your character profile, ask yourself these questions:

1-What will be the main goal my character will face and need to overcome?
2-Who will be my target audience?

The second question is important because it will help to focus your words and subject matter to suit the appropriate audience. For stories aimed at children, your focus will need to adapt to a child’s view of the world around them. Most of the time the story is told through the character’s point of view aged a few years older than the intended audience. For example, if you aim your story for the 8 – 10 age group then setting a story for a twelve year old character would be best since kids always like to read and associate with kids a bit older than them.

What subject matter can you write about for this age group? Middle grade readers love mysteries, soft spooky tales ( no knife-wielding maniacs, head chopping, blood and core etc, more suspenseful and ‘goose-bumping tales like in the “Goosebumps” books), magical tales (Harry Potter), even teeny bopper stories like “The Babysitters Club” or “Sweet Valley High”. These latter ones are suitable for the Young Adult market, too.

TYPES OF CONFLICTS:

Here are some examples of conflicts in some books:

- the almighty tried and successful ‘good against evil’
Think Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs…yes, these fairy tales were using the ‘good against evil’ method if you sit down and think about it. The wolves in both fairy tales were intent on overcoming their ‘so-they-thought’ weaker counterparts.

In the above examples, something stood in the protagonist’s way:

Harry tries to defeat Voldemort but problems and other antagonists along the way makes this quest difficult for him.

The Lord of the Rings finds Frodo’s quest to destroy the Ring but evil and dark forces stand in his way, too.

Luke Skywalker in Star Wars needs to defeat the new order of evil, and he, too, faces many obstacles and characters along the way.

In each of these examples, these obstacles (new smaller conflicts against the bigger goal they are after) causes a reader to continue reading to find out if he’ll be successful, how he will outsmart them, and what change will this cause in the main character. Along with these obstacles, throwing in some inner conflicts alongside the outer emotions helps to cast them more as three-dimensional beings, for example:

Luke Skywalker deals with the knowledge he has a sister somewhere out there. His inner being and emotions help to make him more sympathetic, which eventually bonds the reader to him. The same with Frodo; his world has been thrown for a loop when he takes on the quest of the Ring…along the way he begins to doubt if he, indeed, is the best man for this job. Also, he questions his will power to avoid succumbing to the dark forces once he has tasted the Ring’s power.

Another example to show you what ‘inner conflict’ means:

Let’s assume your book is based on a police officer who mistakenly shoots a young child while pursuing a suspect. It’s dark in the building and the kid jumped out of nowhere with a toy gun. The police officer is suspended while the case is being investigated.

INNER EMOTIONS:

How he deals and is dealt by his immediate peers
His struggle to remove the visions of the killing
The emotional turmoil as he waits for the investigation to conclude.
His dealings with the parents of the child he accidentally killed.

Throughout all of these emotions the one factor that will bind your reader to continue will be: How will he fare at the end of this book. The way you first portray this particular character in the beginning will be totally different by the end because of the various upsets he’s had to deal with. Show him as upbeat, nonchalant, no change at the end and you will lose your reader’s interest in the book and in you as an author.

Think of real life: if you had to go through a trauma as the officer in the example above, how would it change you? A writer needs to wear his character’s shoes and get inside his head to fully understand him. Write a story with a stick person and you get stale material. Write a story with powerful emotions and you have one interesting read.

THE ALMIGHTY ENDING

By the end of your book all inner and outer conflicts need to have reached a conclusion. Whether your character overcame or failed is not as important as making sure he tried to meet them head on. You cannot place a conflict (or foreshadow) without making sure by the end of the story some sort of a resolution was made. This is cheating a reader and they WILL notice, especially if one of those conflicts was the one he’s been hoping to see the outcome to.

Lea Schizas is founder and co-founder of two Writer’s Digest Top Writing Sites since 2004 and recipients of several Preditors and Editors awards, The MuseItUp Club and Apollo’s Lyre. She is the author of the Young Adult Fantasy novel “The Rock of Realm” and the upcoming paranormal/thriller “Doorman’s Creek”. She is also the editor and co-author of “The Muse On Writing” a writer’s reference book, and the fantasy novel “Aleatory’s Junction”. This past October Lea Schizas along with Carolyn Howard-Johnson hosted the first annual Muse Online Writers Conference where over 1300 Attendees and Presenters took part. For more information on Lea Schizas, go here: http://leaschizaseditor.com

Enjoy that? Read more of Lea’s articles at The Cuckleburr Times here.

Succeeding As a Writer – Confidence and Determination

Carolyn Kaufman — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 06:01:03 +0000

When I’ve written something, and the words have just flowed, I sometimes feel like I’m looking down on the Seventh Day, basking in the warmth of my creation and proclaiming, It Is Good. I’ll feel like I’ve captured the emotion and the angst; or the flavor, color, and texture of the world I envisioned. The characters will be as real as Real People to me. I’ll feel that glow in my chest: Of course I’m a writer. This is something I was meant to do.

Now, as a psychologist, I believe it’s not only okay, it’s healthy to be able to say to yourself, “I did a good job on that.” “I’m a good writer.” You don’t have to announce it to the world (in fact, you probably shouldn’t!), but you’re healthier if you have a secret little place inside with a nice big refrigerator to put up your accomplishments, and where you can nod and pat yourself on the back and think, I Did Good. I even have lots of professional terms to make that all sound more authoritative, like self-esteem, self-efficacy, and adequate mirroring on the Grandiose Pole. But I’m going to skip all that for right now.

If feeling good about what you’d written was as far as any of this went, all would be well. But so many of us have this urge, this drive, this need to get published. And what is that all about anyways? Few people make money publishing. It’s cool, but unless you’re Stephenie Meyer or JK Rowling or whoever this week’s Hot Writer is, it’s a passing cool that others soon forget. Getting published doesn’t make you beautiful or thin or get you a Happily Ever After with whichever celebrity you drool over most.

Yet the need remains. So you sweat blood over a query and open a vein to get the synopsis right and then, hoping, praying, believing you’ve got something others will love, you start sending your work out to others.

Some writers start with crit buddies, some jump straight to agents and publishers; some do both simultaneously. And most soon discover that not everyone else thinks their work is so good.

According to Robert Heinlein, that’s where a lot of people quit. In fact, he believed that only half the writers who actually put pen to paper (or words to screen) and finish what they start have the guts to submit to agents and publishers:

Writers…are inordinately fond of their brainchildren. They would rather see their firstborn child ravaged by wolves than suffer the pain of having a manuscript rejected. So instead they [only] read their manuscripts aloud to spouses and long-suffering friends.

But you’re not satisfied to believe the friends and family who swear your work is fantastic — you have to send your work out to people outside that little circle. And as the crits roll in and the rejections pile up, you look at your work with fresh eyes, and you realize it’s miserable. It’s embarrassingly horrible. You’re embarrassingly horrible, and stupid besides to ever have believed someone else might be interested in the ridiculous stories you make up in your head.

Lather, rinse, repeat. Crit after crit, rejection letter after rejection letter.

Some throw in the towel right away. “The world just isn’t ready for my material,” they sniff, or they decide that all agents are self-important jerks who wouldn’t know a good story if it ran them over. There are even websites that exist for the purpose of ranting about your rejections and throwing mud back at the agents who sent them. (Who are, by the way, human beings who are just doing their jobs as best they can. But that’s another blog post.)

Other writers are worn down over weeks, months, or years of querying. Or by disapproving relatives. Or by savage critique “buddies.” The rejection hurts. A lot.

But some always manage to drag themselves out of the dirt, brush themselves off, and try again. Just like they need to write, they need to keep trying to get published.

“Writing is a calling,” says editor Betsy Lerner. “If the call subsides, so be it. [But] when writers say they have no choice, what they mean is: Everything in the world conspired to make me quit, but I kept going.” She goes on:

Many writers have gathered their marbles and gone home for far less cause. It takes a supreme talent and fierce self-belief to write in the face of such acrimony… If the high wire is for you, if the spotlight is for you, if you believe that everyone should pay attention to you and your work, then you must stay focused. Ambivalence will never get you anywhere.

What it comes down to, I’ve read over and over again, is determination in the face of all that feedback, all those rejections. A willingness to learn, of course, but also determination to overcome and succeed:

The degree of one’s perseverance is the best predictor of success – Betsy Lerner
In all manner of pursuits there’s a tendency to overesimate brilliance and underestimate persistence. Talent is common. Determination is rare. -Ralph Keyes
[The authors of the Chicken Soup books] instinctively understood that all those rejections were simply an uncomfortable part of the process that would eventually get them where they wanted to be. – literary agent Jeff Herman
[Author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Ken] Kesey was not even remotely the best writer in class [at the writing program at Stanford], but he was maniacally determined. – Classmate and writer Thomas McGuane
Talent is extremely common. What is rare is the willingness to endure the life of a writer – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

So where do you find the determination? According to Keyes, you have to hate the idea of being ignored, of never being read, more than you hate the pain of rejection. “It is some combination of ability and ego,” adds Lerner, “desire and discipline, that produces good work.” She continues:

A writer’s success or faltering can usually be traced to some abundance or deficit of those elements. Some of the most gifted writers I’ve worked with were also the most self-sabotaging. Lack of discipline, desire for fame, and depression often thwart those whose talents appear most fertile, while those who struggle with every line persevere regardless.

In many ways, learning to deal with rejection from agents and publishers is just the first step. Because when you do manage to get published, you will have to deal with critics, the bloodthirsty pirahna in the sea of your success. People who have sudden, overwhelming success, are not prepared for it. And that may topple them and keep them from producing good work going forward. So keep running that gauntlet, and be proud of your calluses and scars, because they mean you believed in yourself enough to keep going.

Dr. Carolyn Kaufman is a clinical psychologist who teaches at Columbus State Community College in Columbus, Ohio. A published writer, she recently launched Archetype Writing: Psychology for Fiction Writers). Visitors will find not only articles about psychology tailored to their needs, but they can ask Dr. K their writing/psychology questions. She also blogs on the QueryTracker.net Blog. She is often quoted by the media as an expert resource.

Haunting

Andrew Kunz — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:39:37 +0000

Why was he still chasing me? What did he want from me?

I wasn’t even sure where I was anymore; the hallway I had been running through for the past few minutes still looked the same as it did when I first entered it. I didn’t recognize anything on the other side of the windows, nor did I take any time to stop and look at what was outside, not with him still chasing me. I wouldn’t even look over my shoulder to see if he was still there; I knew he would be, but I didn’t know why. I didn’t even know who he was, or even if it was a he. After what seemed like an eternity the hallway changed and I could see a door in the distance. I pushed myself to run as fast as my legs would allow me, but it didn’t seem like it was fast enough; the door never got any closer.

I could hear his breathing now and I instinctively glanced over my shoulder, but there wasn’t anyone there, just the hallway stretching out behind me endlessly. I turned to face the door that I had been running toward, but before I had started running again I heard the man behind me and felt his breath on the back of my neck. The hairs on my neck stood on end and a chill ran from my crown to the soles of my feet as I listened for the sound of a heart, but never heard one. The instant that I turned around I felt his cold hands wrap around my throat and could feel him trying to choke me.

His hands were like icicles on my skin, sending shivers raging through my veins as the blood pumped frantically to pass through the tight grip he held me in. I gasped and tried to force oxygen down into my lungs, but his grip made it impossible to get anything in or out of my lungs and slowly my sight began to dim away. Tears began to gather in the corner of my eyes as I tried to focus on the man’s face, but it was too blurry to make out any features. My fingers that were around his wrists began to sting and go numb and eventually flopped lifelessly at my side as I continued to gasp for air.

I opened my mouth to say something, but before even a gasp escaped me, I was being pushed in the direction I had been running in. I tried to turn my head to see what I was going to be pushed into, but the hallway hadn’t changed; the door was getting closer to us this time, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it to the door or not. Everything below my neck was stinging; like it was on fire and my head felt like it was spinning around on an out of control Merry-Go-Round. I wanted to be sick, but I knew it wouldn’t get past the man’s grip on my throat and I would choke and die on that before I died from not being able to breathe. I tried my best to focus my eyes on the door as it opened by itself and I was thrown into the opening. The instant I was over the threshold the door almost vanished and I found myself falling through thick, black shadows. My body was still burning, but I could breathe again, so I worked my lungs as fast as I could to get the oxygen and the blood pumping through my body again, but I wasn’t sure how long I had until I wouldn’t need oxygen or blood. If the ground was far enough below me I would be killed by the impact and this attempt to catch my breath would be futile, but if it was only a couple more feet, I would just end up with a few broken bones, stranded in darkness for the rest of eternity.

I tried to manoeuvre myself so that I was looking in the direction I thought was down, which I was pretty sure was down because my hair was flailing around above me rather than in my face as it had been before. There was nothing below me, but more darkness. No differentiation between what would soon become the ground and what were the walls or even the ceiling, if there were even walls, a ceiling, or a floor.

Once I had managed to circulate enough oxygen and blood through my body I opened my mouth and screamed as loud as I possibly could. Once my lungs were empty again and I couldn’t hold the scream for any longer I shut my lips, took a deep breath in through my nose and listened to the darkness and after a moment my scream echoed back to me higher than I remembered it being. I had to cover my ears with my hands to keep my rebounding scream from shattering my ear drums, I could already feel my cold blood running from my ears against my fingers. Then suddenly the darkness below me gradually began to get brighter and brighter as I fell toward it; my screaming was still echoing in the background, but it was slowly fading into a beeping sound. Eventually the darkness below me had changed from absolute black to absolute white and it was getting closer now, the walls of black around me were disappearing into the white blob.

The name’s Andrew, I’m 19, I love to read anything I can get my hands on, and write anything that comes to mind; People say I’m fun, exciting, and interesting, to say the least; I’m an addict of music, can’t live a sane life without it, and I listen to quite a lot of different genres; and I love to watch Movies. My website’s called Anime Gallery. You can read more of my writing there.

Titling Woes

Lee Emory — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 06:43:35 +0000

Does titling your book bug you? Do you have problems conjuring titles for your books?

Titles can be woes or wows, depending on your mindset.

Over the years I’ve heard such complaints from scores of authors. Their struggles are intriguing. Most of my books are titles in my mind before the first character takes a breath on the page. (Maybe authors like me are aliens.) “You begin a book idea with a title? Ridiculous!” Sorry, that’s the way it works for me.

If you’re one of the thousands having trouble with titles, what can you do to make it less troublesome? Let’s begin by saying you already completed your manuscript. If true, then you have a clear idea in your head what your book is about. Right? If you don’t, if you can’t synopsize your book in the briefest terms, then you’ve got a bigger problem. You’re not fine-tuned with what you’ve written.

The best titles are rendered in one, two or three words. Wordy titles are not often memorable. There are rare exceptions, of course. “Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass comes to mind. He used a four-word title and the book is a must read for all authors. Another exception is a little booklet (shirt pocket size) with a BIG title. “A Layman’s Guide to Managing Fear” by Stanley Popovich. It’s subtitle is “Using Psychology, Christianity and Non-resistant Methods.”

I can’t always follow this wise edict in my own book titles, but the challenge is to try.

If you must convey more than a word or two, consider adding a subtitle.

Here are some titles that remain memorable to many readers.

Oliver Twist

Moby Dick

Persuasion

Logan’s Run

Silent Running

Harry Potter

DOA

Carrie

In the above examples, it’s easy to understand why such titles stick in our minds. They make perfect sense with the stories they portray. A title isn’t a title for the heck of it. Titles should mean something pertinent to our theme or main character. Now forgive me for using some of my own examples.

Authors, ask yourself what is the gut/heart of your book? What one, two or three words exemplifies the meaning of your story? Can you identify the essence of your book in one word or two? Is a word like The really necessary? Dig for that gold. It’s there.

Night Freeze, my recent thriller, is an example of what is meant by a title depicting-in the most intriguing way-what’s inside the book. The title came to me and I built the story around it.

My current work in progress is a one-word title, “Perdition.” Perdition literally means Eternal Hell, but translates into singular form. This is a science fiction novel and the word is entirely appropriate to the planet prison I’ve created in the story. My brother suggested the title more than 25 years ago. The concept cooked in my head based on that title.

Lee Emory is an author of ten novels, numerous short stories and articles, who is also a professional editor for 40 years. She is the owner of/Senior Editor for Treble Heart Books Publishing. Lee teaches writing workshops and speaks at numerous writers’ conferences. Visit Treble Heart Books or email leeemory@earthlink.net to learn more.