Thursday, December 29, 2016

Links of Interest

LINKS TO MARKETING ARTICLES:


HOW TO RELAUNCH YOUR CAREER, PART 2:


APOLOGY LANGUAGE:


BACK UP YOUR WRITING!


WORDS OF THE YEAR, POPULAR AND ANNOYING:


USING MISDIRECTION:


USING CINEMATIC TECHNIQUES IN YOUR WRITING:


THE ANTIHERO:


FACEBOOK 101 FOR AUTHORS:


THE EASIEST WAY TO CREATE CONFLICT:


ALL ROMANCE EBOOK VENDOR TO CLOSE:


DID AMAZON’S ECHO HEAR A MURDER AND WILL AMAZON HAND OVER THE RECORDING?


DESCRIBING CHARACTER EMOTIONS WITHOUT THEM BEING TOO SELF AWARE:



Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Waking the Reader Up

"Keeping the Reader Reading," Part 11

John Gardner, the author of GRENDEL, created the perfect analogy of writing in THE ART OF FICTION. He said that the writer creates a dream for the reader, and the writer must do nothing which wakes the reader up. Getting viewpoint right is a major part of keeping the reader within your dream.

Here are some other mistakes which will wake the reader up.

Author intrusion. The author uses language in such a way that the reader is aware of the reading and the author. If writing fiction is like photography, then author intrusion is the finger on the lens, the blurry focus, etc. The problem can be anything from writing that is too flowery or filled with too many obscure words to poor grammar or spelling. It can also be overuse of dialect or words made up for the world you create.

Wrong word choices. Pick strong verbs and avoid adverbs. Avoid "felt," "noticed," "seen," "thought," and other words like this. They distance the reader from the reality of the viewpoint character. Watch out for piled-on participial phrases and clauses which slow and break the rhythm of reading.

Repeating the character's name over and over again. Don't feel a need to constantly use the character's name in narrative. "He" or "she," is perfectly adequate except for clarity and the beginning of a scene. Name repetition reminds the reader that he is reading about a character, and it jerks him right out of that viewpoint character's head.

Overuse of characters addressing each other by name in dialogue. Don't constantly use names in dialogue. Listen to conversations and notice when people address each other by name. You won't hear many. Names are most often used at the beginning of a conversation as people greet each other. "Hello, Mary, how are you?" Or they're used to impart important or emotional information. "He's dead, Jim."

A plot that goes nowhere because the character has no goal. This is covered in my article, "How to Use Index Cards to Plot a Novel," so I won't go into it here.

Fight scenes that don't work or are meaningless to the plot. This is covered in my article, "How to Write Fight and Battle Scenes."


Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Links of Interest

SCHEDULE NOTE:  Because of the holiday weekend, I'll be posting my article on Tuesday, and my links post on Thursday.  Have a lovely holiday, whichever one you celebrate.  


HOW TO RELAUNCH YOUR CAREER, PART 1:


THE FIVE STEP BOOK EDIT:


WORDPRESS PLUG IN TO FIGHT HACKERS (NOT FREE) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NON USERS INCLUDED:


SALES DATA FOR SELF-PUBS:


CREATING AN INTENSE STORY:


CRAFTING A BELIEVABLE ROMANCE:


CREATING CHARACTER WITHOUT DIALOGUE:


FIGURING OUT THE TITLE OF YOUR BOOK:


WRITING SCENES INVOLVING FANTASY MAGIC:


THE PERFECT AUTHOR PHOTO:


FINDING YOUR WAY WHEN YOU LOSE YOUR STORY:



Monday, December 19, 2016

Beginning a Scene's Viewpoint

"Keeping the Reader Reading," Part 10

In each scene, a writer should identify the viewpoint character immediately in some manner then place that character within the scene itself. Have him think something which shows that he is now the viewpoint character. In the scene above, the word "forced" is the reader's first clue that we are now in Gard's viewpoint. The rest of the paragraph reinforces his viewpoint.

Gard forced his right fist back into a hand before he knocked Mark's teeth or the side of the door in and pushed the front seat back into position. He locked and closed the door then nodded curtly to his former partner. "I'll call you."


Even if the scene is primarily introspection, the character should still be in a physical place at the beginning. In other words, first show that the viewpoint character is Hamlet, show that he is standing on the battlements of the royal castle, and he's staring at clouds, then let him think about whether he should believe the ghost of his father or not.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Links of Interest

 TOO MANY CHARACTER FLAWS?


PROOFREADING AND EDITING TOOLS ONLINE:


MAKING YOUR WRITING COME ALIVE:


CREATING SINGLE-AUTHOR BOX SETS:


WHEN YOUR BAD GUY HIJACKS YOUR STORY:


HOW TO BE YOUR OWN BOOK DOCTOR:


HORSES 101:


USING POLICE CALL SIGNS:


WORDPRESS PLUG INS:


WRITING AN ACTIVE PROTAGONIST:


THE HERO’S JOURNEY AS EXPLAINED BY (YOUTUBE) PUPPETS:


TIPS FOR RESEARCHING YOUR NOVEL:


USING INTERNAL DIALOGUE:


HOW TO SHOW:


WRITING STRONG CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS:


CREATING A GREAT AUTHOR NEWSLETTER:


CRIME, PREVENTING A PARENTAL ABJUCTION:


DOES  YOUR STORY HAVE TOO MANY WEAKNESSES:


A REALLY EXCELLENT SURVEY OF SELF-PUBBED AUTHORS’ INCOME, BEST PROMO EFFORTS, ETC.:



Monday, December 12, 2016

Viewpoint Changes Within a Scene

"Keeping the Reader Reading," Part 9


I've said that you shouldn't have more than one viewpoint within a scene, and that's usually true, but you can shift viewpoint to another character for the remainder of a long scene.

In this scene from my GUARDIAN ANGEL, the heroine has been the viewpoint character through a long chase scene and an interrogation by FBI Agent Mark Faulkner. She and her bodyguard who is Mark's ex-partner are ready to leave. Mark kisses her to make Gard jealous. At that point, I switch to Gard's viewpoint for the remainder of the chapter.

Stepping back, she resisted her urge to glare or hit Mark in his presumptuous teeth. Despite his obvious desire to sleep with her, he had meant that kiss more for Gard's reaction than her seduction. He'd coldly and secretly studied Gard during the whole supposedly passionate exchange. She shoved the car seat forward, his Machiavellian maneuvers beyond her comprehension at the moment, and slid into the back seat. "I'll sit in the back."

Gard forced his right fist back into a hand before he knocked Mark's teeth or the side of the door in and pushed the front seat back into position. He locked and closed the door then nodded curtly to his former partner. "I'll call you."


How did I show a viewpoint change? That's our next subject.

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Links of Interest

WHAT YOUR FIRST 50 PAGES HAVE TO HAVE:


WHAT ARE YOUR NEWSLETTER PLANS, PART 5:


WHY GENRE MATTERS:


TEN SELF-EDITING TIPS:


AUTHOR BEWARE, THREE SMALL PRESSES:


THE ELLIPSIS AND DASH:


DEVELOPING A STORY, PART 2:


NEW BOOK PROMO SITES, MAINLY SELF-PUBBED:


SELF-PUB COSTS AND TIPS:


FACEBOOK ADS, CASE STUDY:


DEALING WITH THE EDITORAL LETTER:


HISTORICAL RESEARCH RESOURCES:


USING A CHARACTER AS A FOIL:


10 TIPS FOR WRITING ROMANTIC SUSPENSE:


THE COST OF SELF-PUBBING:


YOUR BOOK HOOK IN ONE SENTENCE:


USING LIVE PERSON RESEARCH SOURCES:


TEN MINUTE MARKETING:


MORAL STAKES:


PROMOTING YOUR FRIENDS’ BOOKS:


THREE THINGS TO CONSIDER, AUDIOBOOKS:


GETTING YOUR RIGHTS BACK USING THE 35-YEAR CLAUSE:


CANADIAN COPYRIGHT INFO:


DEEP POV:


BACKSTORY:


ADDING CONFLICT TO YOUR STORY:


SECONDARY CHARACTERS AS ARCHETYPES:


USING FIVERR TO CREATE A BOOK TRAILER:



Monday, December 5, 2016

Narrative and Viewpoint

"Keeping the Reader Reading," Part 8

Narrative is the prose in a story as opposed to the dialogue. It tells the reader what is happening and gives her images to visualize what is happening. It also tells her even more about the viewpoint character because what is seen and how it is described tells as much about the character as the dialogue.

One character might see a plane crash scene and visualize it like this--

The plane's pieces were scattered over the valley like clothes dropped by a drunk on the way to bed.

Another character who is more analytical would think--

The gouge of earth left by the plane's moving fuselage led him to a boulder. The left wing tip lay against it. The furrow veered violently left there, and bits of wing then fuselage littered the area around it. When there was nothing left of the plane to break apart, the gouge ended.


Narrative is one of the most important tools you have to hook the reader.  Make it visual and use the senses, and make it reflect the viewpoint character which will make both the setting, action, and the character more real to the reader.