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14 July, 2016

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Wr.Tu.Th.: The End?

This Writing Tutorial Thursday has been a long time coming. (My fault. Sorry.) Finally, we’ve reached….THE ENDING.

Writing Tutorial: The End?

Disclaimer: The information presented herein is based on what I, personally, have learned in my educational and professional careers. This tutorial is simply meant to offer some helpful tips.

INTRODUCTION: You’ve done it; you wrote your novel. You—wait a minute! What about the ending?

Admittedly, I have such a hard time with endings. And it’s one of the most important parts! It’s where you tie everything up; where your resolution happens; where everything comes together. So how do you write one? Here are some tips that have helped me in the ending-writing process.

1)As mentioned, the ending is where you resolve the central conflict. It’s also where you tie up loose ends. Make sure you’ve fixed the problems, solved the issues, etc. You shouldn’t leave your readers confused and wondering, “Wait, so what about….?”

2) Nothing new. The ending isn’t the time to introduce a new, surprise character or subplot. Unless these things were foreshadowed in early chapters, they shouldn’t be included. They just make things confusing.

3) Let your reader do the imagining. Try not to get carried away with descriptions of “what happens after.” You don’t have to write a neat and tidy ending; you can certainly let your reader figure it out.

4) Make sure your ending mirrors something in the beginning (or at least ties back to a crucial part of your story). Did your main character grow emotionally? Did he/she learn something since the beginning? Accomplish something? Do that one thing you wanted them to do? Be sure your reader can recognize that your ending somehow relates to an earlier theme or idea presented in your novel.

Hopefully these will help you craft some stellar endings. Do you have any other suggestions? Questions? Let me know!

Keep practicing and happy writing!

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23 June, 2016

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Wr.Tu.Th: Setting

We’re due for a new installment of Writing Tutorial Thursday. This week’s theme is setting.

Writing Tutorial: The Setting

Disclaimer: The information presented herein is based on what I, personally, have learned in my educational and professional careers. This tutorial is simply meant to offer some helpful tips.

INTRODUCTION: So you have an amazing plot and some really awesome characters. Where are you going to put them? Setting is especially important in works of fiction so that the reader has a proper stage in which to imagine your story play out. Now it’s time to figure out the where, when, what details of your novel’s backdrop. What are a few tips to remember when figuring out your story’s setting, though? Have no fear, I’m here to help!

1) One of the first things you may want to do is to imagine the world of your story. Brainstorm. Remember some fundamentals:

  • time (historical, time of day, year, etc.)
  • geography (natural and man-made)
  • climate and weather
  • specific location (country, state, neighborhood, etc.)

2) Show, don’t tell. When describing your setting to readers, don’t just say it was “a rainy Wednesday.” Say the monotonous pitter-patter on the windows added to the dreary weekday afternoon. Use imagery, metaphor, simile and other literary devices to add excitement to your writing.

3) Use your characters to present setting. A good way to bring the setting to your reader is through the eyes of your character. Make your reader feel the spring breeze, hear the truck down the street, and cough in the smoky, crowded cafe. Use your character’s five senses to describe the backdrop of a scene.

4) Use details that make sense to the plot. Your setting should tie into the plot. You wouldn’t want to write a story about a playground bully but have the setting be a circus. That just doesn’t make sense. Make sure the setting of each scene in your novel is there for a reason.

5) It’s all about balance. It’s important to remember not to overwhelm your chapters with pages of setting descriptions. Your setting is meant to be a backdrop, remember? It should only be there as a stage where the main performers act out the play. If you find yourself writing paragraphs about a room, sit back and think about what’s most important about the room. Sure it’s an old room, but maybe it’s the creepy painting over the fireplace. Focus on that.

Do you have any other suggestions? Questions? Let me know. As always, the way to better writing is by practicing!

Until next time. Happy writing!

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2 June, 2016

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Wr.Tu.Th.: Dialogue

It’s time for this week’s writing tutorial. Let’s talk. Literally! This week it’s all about…dialogue.

 Writing Tutorial: Writing Good Dialogue

Disclaimer: The information presented herein is based on what I, personally, have learned in my educational and professional careers. This tutorial is simply meant to offer some helpful tips.

INTRODUCTION:

One of the biggest problems I notice people have, or that I’ve been asked about, is regarding dialogue. I figured I’d send some tips out into the web-o-sphere to help with you on your journey to writing convincing dialogue.

Every kind of story—whether it is a play, TV show or novel—is bound to include some sort of dialogue. It’s what gives your characters life, propels a lot of your plot along, and shapes many of your scenes

1) Observe the interactions between people. Watch a television show, play (or be sneaky and people-watch at a café), and pay attention to their conversations. How long/short are their sentences? What tone do they use? What about their vocabulary? What is their body language like? Facial expressions?

You may not realize it until you start paying attention, but how someone converses is a big reflection of their personality. This is why dialogue becomes so important in writing; it is where a lot of your characters’ development can come from.

2) Be mindful of your characters. You know all about your characters—their age, ethnicity, history, quirks, likes, dislikes, etc.—but it’s no good for them to stay in your head. Now you must bring them to life for your readers. The information you know about your characters is vital in making them talk.

For example, if you’re main character is a 28 year-old man from Louisiana, you better not give him a Boston accent or let him fling “like” and “o-m-g!” around like a teenager.

3) When using dialogue, don’t use it to explain something obvious. If you need to use dialogue to further explain things to your readers, then you should probably consider revising. For example, if your character is an astronaut on a solo mission, you don’t need him/her telling the onboard computer that they are on a solo mission. That’d just be…weird.

4) Act it out. When inserting dialogue, play the role of your character. By reading out loud, you will discover the various speech patterns and gestures that accompany dialogue. It will become easier to then include these attributions, as well.

5) Be real, yo. Similar to the above, be sure your dialogue mimics real-life situations. In reality, you might respond to someone’s comments with a question, so make your character do so, too. Include questions, interruptions, sarcastic comments, etc. to make the interaction seem more realistic.

6) Be judicious with the attributions. “Said” and “Asked” are probably the most well-known attributions, but they can come with a price. If you put “he said” after every sentence your character speaks, it will get hella annoying to read. Remember that attributions should only be used to remind the reader who is talking.

6a) Similarly, be creative with attributions. You don’t have to just say “said” and “asked” all the time. If your character grumbled a phrase, say that!

7) Don’t forget about actions. We don’t just stand still while we’re talking, so don’t expect your characters to, either. Make them pause once in a while, shift their weight to the opposite foot, roll their eyes, furrow their brow, etc. If they cough, say they cough. If they scratch their head, say that, too.

The biggest tip I can give for learning to write good dialogue is to look at other peoples’ work, other books, movies, television shows, plays, and real-life situations. The more you read and observe, the more you’ll be in-tune to how dialogue should “sound.”

Do you have any other suggestions? Questions? Let me know.

And don’t forget: practice, practice, practice!

Happy writing!

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26 May, 2016

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Wr.Tu.Th: Character Development

It’s Writing Tutorial Thursday. Today we’re talking about creating really awesome characters.

Writing Tutorial: Character Development

Disclaimer: The information presented herein is based on what I, personally, have learned in my educational and professional careers. This tutorial is simply meant to offer some helpful tips.

INTRODUCTION:

What keeps us coming back to a story? It’s probably not the creepy house in chapter three (even though it was a damn good description). It’s the characters. Your story wouldn’t be anything unless there was a protagonist to relate to, root for (sometimes against), commiserate with, and follow.

So what makes a good character? How do you make one “come alive?” Well, I’m here to help answer those questions.

1) Know your characters. This doesn’t just mean what they look like. You should have detailed back stories for your characters—even the minor players. Make sure they’re well-developed. Yes, describe that they’ve got hair the color of cornstalks waving in the fall sunlight, but also describe who they are as a person. What are their dreams? Beliefs? Likes? Dislikes? Family history? Quirks? Eccentricities? Mannerisms? Think about who you are. How would you describe yourself or someone you know? That’s how you should be describing your characters.

Note: Don’t forget about your secondary characters. Giving life to many “background characters” is just as important. They might not need as detailed of a back story as your protagonist’s, but their existence needs to be just as believable.

2) Don’t pile it on. Think about character development like a five course meal. You wouldn’t want to eat all courses within the first ten minutes. That’d be crazy. Similarly, you don’t want to bombard your readers with every detail about your character in the first chapter (or paragraph).

Instead, pepper (get it? I’m continuing the food metaphor.) details about your characters throughout your story. Perhaps in the first paragraph you open with basic physical features, but it is not until chapter two that you reveal what your main character does for a living.

You may even choose to point out details as they pertain to the plot. For instance, maybe your story is centered on familial betrayal, and it isn’t until chapter ten that you let your readers know how many secrets your main character keeps from her family!

3) Make your readers care. It’s one thing to make your characters sound out-of-this-world attractive; it’s an entirely other thing to make them relatable to your readers. Ask yourself the question: “Why should my reader care about my character?” What’s your character’s objective? How do they get to that goal/point?

That’s usually where conflict comes in. (After all, if your story hasn’t any sort of action, it’s about as interesting as a used piece of gum.) How do your characters face internal and external conflict? You need to show how they overcome struggles and challenges. This is important in not only helping your characters to grow, but also in furthering your plot.

4) Remember dialogue. I love writing dialogue, so of course I’d put it on the list. But it’s true that it’s also very helpful in character development. How does your character talk? What does he/she sound like? Practice writing out things they would say. Do they have an accent? Do they have poor grammar?

(For more about writing convincing dialogue, stay tuned for next week’s tutorial!)

5) Pay attention. The best advice I can offer is to think about a favorite character from a favorite book. Why do you like that character so much? Is it because of his/her personality? Pay close attention to how the author presented him/her. Read, read, read. Take notes.

Do you have any other suggestions? Questions? Let me know!

And don’t forget: practice!

Happy writing!

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19 May, 2016

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Wr.Tu.Th.: Plot Development

Welcome to today’s Writing Tutorial Thursday. Today it’s all about Plot Development.

Disclaimer: The information presented herein is based on what I, personally, have learned in my educational and professional careers. This tutorial is simply meant to offer some helpful tips.

INTRODUCTION: Usually, works of fiction undoubtedly include a plot. Characters can certainly help, but it is the plot—the story—that draws the reader into the imaginary world you create. It’s no easy task to develop a solid plot, however. Sometimes authors leave their readers frustrated and confused, with many unanswered questions.

Hopefully I can offer some advice to make sure you hit important plot points in your work.

1) What’s the point? The biggest thing you need to figure out is your novel’s main goal. What is your protagonist working toward? You need to figure out what the whole point of your novel is before you can do anything else. Sit down and brainstorm. Think about what purpose you want your character to fulfill, how he/she is going to do so, what obstacles will get in his/her way, and what the outcome will be.

2) Who’s in charge, anyway? Decide how you will present your story. Choose which point of view to use.

3) Know your characters. You should know the ins and outs of the characters you are using to propel your plot. (For information on developing compelling characters, see this tutorial.) Similarly, your characters should not just stand in the background. They should affect the plot through their actions.

4) Conflicts. Conflict is what drives your plot forward. You need your characters to go through constant struggles in order to get to the final goal. Sprinkle conflict throughout your novel so that the characters not only move the plot along, but also grow with the experiences. (Hint: Your subjects don’t need to overcome every obstacle. Show how they learn from failures and mistakes.)

5) Let it flow. As writers, we tend to think five times faster than our fingers can type. (Or, at least I do.) Don’t try to force your plot, though. Let it come naturally. Meaning, each event or action in your novel should lead effortlessly into the next. Nothing should be jarring. Remember your school essays: transitions between paragraphs! Well, don’t forget to link all the events in your novel together.

Likewise, the pace shouldn’t falter, either. It will probably speed up and slow down as the story progresses, but it should definitely not stutter out completely.

6) Proper placement. The climax is an integral part of your story. So far, what has happened in your novel has lead up to this, so make sure it matches the rest of the tone of your story. For example, you don’t want to fill pages with foreshadowing descriptions, convincing the reader that something dire is about to happen to the main character, but then simply say he caught a cold and had to stay in bed for three days. What a letdown.

7) Know when to stop. We all love our characters, but the time comes when we must end the story. Your character has to reach his/her goal sometime, remember? You don’t have to tie things up in a neat little bow (in fact, it’s more believable if you don’t), but you shouldn’t drag things out either. (For example: Your character has overcome the primary conflict of the story, but since you have developed him/her so well, your readers can imagine that he/she can triumph over other conflicts in the future.) If you want to keep writing your characters, consider a sequel. Don’t continue the story when the story has clearly ended.

So those are my tips for good plot development. Do you have any other suggestions? Questions? Let me know! Don’t forget that the way to better writing is by practicing.

Happy writing!