Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Balance


Greetings from the Hermit WRiter.

I speak a lot about my SPACe Model, of Setting, Plot, Action, and Conflict. There is a sweet spot for the tone the author is shooting for.

Not perfect Balance. A fitting balance.

I love Janet Evanovich. But I don't read Janet because of her plots. It's her characters, humor, twist of words, and ridiculous situations which enable me to plow through her novels in one sitting.

But if a novel is propped up to be "realistic," and premise after premise is simply plain stupid, then all the great characters and great use of language isn't going to make it a good read.

The writer must keep all of the elements of fiction in mind, balance their needs to the genre, mood and voice.

The realism of plot must fit a drama, while it may take a back seat in slapstick and light paranormal.

It doesn't bother me at all if Evanovich is all over the place. But if Sandra Brown's characters or plot wander, I close the book and find another.


Characters, scenes, dialogue, and description don't all have to be exquisite, as long as on balance, there is enough there to carry the reader from plot point to plot point.


Thursday, January 25, 2018

Backstory


Greetings from the Hermit WRiter.

Nancy Kress in Write Great Fiction says the following about backstory:

"Like a TV commercial, it lacks immediacy and interrupts the story line. What it does do…"

  • Supply history
  • Foreshadow
  • Characterize
  • Tantalize
    • Brief detail inserted into current scene
    • Inserted paragraph
    • Flashback
    • Expository lump

Use it judiciously. Best to let it trickle into your exposition when the information is necessary.


The best place NOT  to use backstory … first pages of your story. Start with immediacy.


Leave me a note. What would you like discussed?

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Archaic Grammar Rules


Greetings from the Hermit WRiter.

There are a lot of writing rules. It's nice when an expert says you can ignore some of the older ones. From my most favoritist grammar and style book, Woe Is I, by Patricia O'Conner. She doesn't give me a pass on my fragments and run-ons, but I forgive her.

  • Splitting an infinitive ...he decided to discreetly mention dating in the workplace.
     
  • Ending a sentence with a preposition
     
  • Plural forms of: data (datum), agenda, erotica, insignia, opera
     
  • Verb does not have to come after subject
     
  • Sentences may begin with and or but
     
  • While technically more correct...but stuffy...the alternative is grammatically correct

  • It is I ... It is me
  • That’s he ... That’s him
  • It’s she ... It’s her

  • I too ... Me too


Leave me a comment and suggest a post.


Friday, January 19, 2018

Setting and Description

Greetings from the Hermit WRiter.

Setting (and Description) is one of the cornerstones of writing, what I call the SPACe Model of (1) Setting (2) Plot (3) Action (4) Character.

A story can have the best action, characters, and plot, but if the reader isn’t placed into the scene, the story will fall flat. Important. Fundamental. And like every element of the craft, requires a lot of skill to balance how much the reader needs.

One key observation: Describe only what your character would notice.

The more unique and far-flung the setting you find your character, the more you must layer the description. Is she in a burger joint? Everyone's been there. You can just tell. But the desert of Sudan? It is more important to show.

Be prepared to describe the goat herd flowing over the nearby hill, the smell and sounds, the texture of grit in the wind, the color of the huts, the straw sticking out of the mud walls, the arid feel of her garment against her flesh, the emotion of being far from home, the stillness of the empty sky, the bite of the sun, the scritch of her boots in the gravel.

You must anchor your reader in a place and mood. You don't have to explain the muzack at Mickey Dees.

A possible checklist to use as you balance your setting/description:

·         Sight (color, bright, dull…
·         Smell
·         Sound
·         Taste
·         Touch
·         Emotion (agony, annoyed, anticipation, anxiety, arousal, confusion, desire, despair, dismay, distress, distrust, dread, dismay, distress, eagerness, excitement, fear, foreboding, frustration, giddy, helpless, horror, insecurity, jittery, loss, queasy, restless, resentment, sorrow, sorry, spiteful, suspense, tormented, trepidation, uncertainty, unease, wariness, weariness, worry, yearning
·         Balance
·         Motion
·         Sense (agony, anguish, pain, ache, discomfort, relaxed, sore
·         Time (ahead, behind, concluding, late, delayed, defunct, deferred, early, eventual, final, former, haste, last, latter, new, overdue, ripe, subsequent, trailed
·         Temperature (muggy
·         Direction
·         Interpersonal (conversational, cultural, intimate, racial, intercultural, introvert, familiar, empathetic, nonverbal, innate, sexual, sensual, subconscious, collegial
·         Context


Tags (Direction) - A Checklist


Greetings from the Hermit WRiter.

  • Minimalism is good
  • Get it early in the dialogue block
    It doesn't have to come at the end of a complete sentence
  • Mix initiating dialogue blocks with the tag
  • They should disappear to the reader
    Said Tiffany - is jolting - counter to how we speak
  • Never, Ever, Ever use verb-noun attribution
    "I'll see about that," said Tom.
  • They should be simple
  • Have a good reason to use anything but 'said'
  • Use either attribution or direction, not both
    "I'll see about that," Tom said.
    "I'll see about that." Tom winked.
  • Mix attribution and direction judiciously
  • Don't overdo either attribution or direction
  • If context identifies the speaker, skip the attribution
  • Don't forget punctuation between dialogue and tag
  • Keep consistent
  • Each speaker gets her own paragraph (attribution)
    Never mix another character's direction/monologue unless writing in deep POV and the action can't be confused between characters
    "I killed him." Wait. What? "He hurt my feelings."
  • If your tag uses an adverb, you aren't selecting the right verb

Tags serve only one purpose. No other. They are to clue the reader which character just spoke. Tags ideally disappear. Studies show readers completely ignore Joe said, Mary said constructions. 


Direction is the description/setting/environment between our dialogue.


The Hook - A Checklist


Greetings from the Hermit WRiter.

  • Debut the Story-line
  • Create an Image that raises a question
  • Define the POV Character
  • Define the Initiating Incident
  • Immerse into –concept –character –theme
  • Include the Protagonist interaction/introduction
  • Include Strong emotions that can be identified with
  • Identify risk / bad thing / secret revealed / desire denied
  • Target the Unique / non-typical
  • Open on first conflict
  • Include all the senses
  • Quickly introduce other key characters
  • Everything must relate
  • Make it Interesting