Thursday, May 31, 2018

Best Advice

Kurt Vonnegut - 

Every sentence must do one of two things - reveal character or advance the plot.


The Hermit WRiter


Tuesday, May 29, 2018

RUE - When Enough is Enough



Resist the Urge to Explain

Browne and King in Self-Editing For Fiction Writers point out four dangers of explaining to the reader. 

  • Condescending
  • Redundant
  • Muddles the writing
  • Interrupts flow

The goal should be clear, succinct writing so you don't have to explain.



The Hermit WRiter.


Tuesday, May 22, 2018

The Believable Character



There are five elements to creating a character or band of characters your reader can empathize with and want to follow to the end.


1.                  Stay "in character" unless you have a very good reason to deviate
Don't let her action interfere with the reader's believability
2.                 Your character needs weaknesses and flaws
Every heard of a Mary Jane?
3.                 Be wary of introducing character surprises
Like the friendly character is a serial killer
4.                Remove unnecessary characters
Every character must have a goal in the plot
Otherwise they clutter the story


The Hermit WRiter.

Thursday, May 17, 2018

Pulling the Reader In


To create a successful scene you must sell the action and setting by pulling the reader into the scene. There are four key elements to engage the reader's interest.

1.               Immediacy
Avoid long narrative blocks that numb
Avoid those nasty interruptions in flow
2.              Appeal to the senses
But beware, a little goes a long way
Must fit scene/POV character and her interest
3.              Detail—should reveal character
Don't overwhelm with unnecessary minutia
4.             Keep the narrative dynamic

Remove the “thought”/ “knew” / “realized” phrases
No agent/editor/reader ever said, “It’s okay to change POV”


The Hermit WRiter.


Tuesday, May 15, 2018

The Point of the Scene



WITPOTS – What Is The Point Of This Scene

Every scene should accomplish one of four things.

  1. Develop the character(s)
  2. Contribute to conflict, plot, action
  3. Portray new information
  4. Portray “Oh shit” moments (interesting, satisfying elements that entertain)
The Hermit WRiter.




Thursday, May 10, 2018

When Does Style Interfere?


There is no Right style. But it is good to analyze your prose for things that will interrupt the reader.


Style
  • Forced or exaggerated writing: too archaic, florid, minimalistic, academic, clipped, protracted, self-indulgent
  • Is it about the writing, or the story?
  • Gets in the way if too noticeable
  • Beware of redundancy of ideas
  • Style abused is self-indulgent


From The First Five Pages


Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Comparisons


My wife often finds my comparisons over the top. (In my defense, she's not a fiction reader; reads more non-fiction.) Well, most of my writing is meant to be exaggerated any way. I write about vampires and werewolves. The art of the comparison/simile/metaphor walks a fine line. Loah Lukeman uses poor comparisons to eliminate submissions.


Comparison
  • Good but can be applied poorly: tell the reader to stop, pay attention; interrupts flow; slows down the text
  • Absence: work can resonate intellectually but not emotionally
  • Elements must deserve the comparison
  • Is it common place/cliché?
  • Is it the most efficient way to illuminate idea
  • Does it meet "specificity?"
  • Does it fit the contextual vocabulary



Thursday, May 3, 2018

How Does Your Writing Sound


Noah Lukeman in The First Five Pages warns about an element that should be obvious to all of us, but which is easy to overlook. Listen to your writing. Pay attention to:


Sound
  • Prose can be technically correct but rhythmically unpleasant
  • Sentences that are too long/short; not well divided; misuse of commas, periods, colons, semicolons, dashes & parentheses
  • Echoes—repeated sounds: character names, pronouns, unusual words, repetitive words
  • Alliteration
  • Resonance—context of a sentence within the paragraph; paragraph within page…


I've published a second edition (heavily updated version) of L1060. Two more in the series to edit.


Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Adjectives and Adverbs


Some notes on those pesky unnecessary words we tend to use, by Noah Lukeman, in The First Five Pages.


Adjectives & Adverbs
  • More is less
  • Allow the reader to fill in
  • Allow reader to use his imagination
  • Overly common description / Hackneyed
  • Weaken their subjects—use stronger nouns and verbs
  • Affect is inevitable commas which slows pace