Adventures in Writing

According to the Chicago Manual of Style: "11.47 Unspoken discourse: Thought, imagined dialogue, and other interior discourse may be enclosed in quotation marks or not, according to the context or the writer’s preference."

I gather whether quotation marks are used and which type varies from publishing house to publishing house. Is that correct?

ANSWER:

The only times I’ve ever seen quotation marks used for interior dialogue in popular fiction is along the lines of -- “Brilliant move,” I said silently to myself.

The standard method is to italicize the thought--

The bell slipped out of my fingers and clanged loudly as it hit the floor. I winced. Brilliant move, Byerly.

Some publishers, particularly of nonfiction, will state the stylebook they prefer, but most fiction publishers don’t. In the case of no stylebook mentioned, use grammar correctly and be consistent.

QUESTION CONTINUED:

In deep third POV, it’s quite common to have a fair amount of interior dialogue.

I try to ask myself whether the person is posing themselves a specific question or stating some fact to themselves. If they are, I put them in italics, otherwise I don’t. Is this the best way to do it?

What if they ask themselves a rhetorical question?

ANSWER:

You seem to have a firm grip on where you italicize sentences. For rhetorical sentences, either way would work.

I tend to avoid italicized internal dialogue because it breaks the reader’s rhythm, particularly if it’s done too much or too little. Instead, I write so that I remain deep in POV.

For example, to remove the internal dialogue of my earlier example, I’d write:

The bell slipped out of my fingers and clanged loudly as it hit the floor. I winced at my clumsiness.

QUESTION CONTINUED:

I also have problems with the verb’s tense in internal discourse.

She loosened her grip, so the rope slid through her hands and let her feet slide over the knot. Shit – rope burn. Her feet reached another knot. She clung to the rope, her body shaking, her palms sweating so hard they felt cold. This wasn’t working.

Should the last bit be This isn’t working.?

ANSWER:

If “This isn’t/wasn’t working” is deep POV, the sentence would use “wasn’t.” If it’s internal dialogue, use “isn’t.”

If you’re confused about the tense, pretend the internal dialogue is regular dialogue and speak it aloud to see if it sounds right.

If it’s a thought, the tense remains the same as the rest of the narrative.

QUESTION CONTINUED:

If you’re trying to signify there is a sound made, does it go inside single or double quotes or can you use italics?

ANSWER:

If the sound isn’t dialogue by a human or other living creature, it is italicized.

The cow said, “Moo,” and its bell went clank.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Links of Interest

SEVEN WAYS AUTHOR SITES IRRITATE READERS:

http://www.authormedia.com/7-ways-author-websites-irritate-readers/

LIST OF VARIOUS GHOSTS AND GHOST TYPES, FICTIONAL AND MYTHIC:

http://www.tor.com/2015/10/29/your-guide-to-ghosts-from-a-to-z/

LINKS TO RESOURCES FOR E-PUBBED AUTHORS:

https://janefriedman.com/how-to-publish-an-ebook/

CUTTING YOUR WORD LENGTH:

http://writerunboxed.com/2015/10/29/losing-the-word-weight-how-to-put-your-manuscript-on-a-diet/

CREATING AN INDIE BOOK LAUNCH PARTY:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2015/10/anatomy-of-indie-book-launch-party.html

USING PRESSURE POINTS TO REVEAL CHARACTER:

http://writersinthestormblog.com/2015/10/pressure-points-angela-ackerman/

TIPS ON COPYEDITING YOUR OWN WORK:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2011/05/do-you-copy-tips-on-copy-editing-your.html

THE ART AND CRAFT OF WHAT TO DELETE:

http://howtoplanwriteanddevelopabook.blogspot.com/2015/10/omission-art-and-craft-of-what-to-delete.html

THE ADVANTAGE OF WRITING FAST. I BEG TO DIFFER IN THE COMMENTS SECTION:

https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2015/11/02/how-writing-quickly-can-improve-your-storytelling/

FIXING A CHARACTER WHO IS TOO PERFECT:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2015/11/5-ways-to-fix-too-perfect-characters.html

BUILDING A GREAT FIRST CHAPTER:

http://writershelpingwriters.net/2015/11/building-a-great-first-chapter-with-nyt-bestselling-author-beth-revis/

CAN YOU OVERUSE “SAID?”

http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/most-common-writing-mistakes-pt-45/

FINDING SNEAKY POINT OF VIEW ERRORS:

http://marcykennedy.com/2015/11/how-to-hunt-down-sneaky-point-of-view-errors

WAYS TO AVOID "SAID" WITHOUT SILLY DESCRIPTIVE VERBS:

http://www.livewritethrive.com/2015/11/04/actions-speak-louder-than-dialog-tags-using-beats-in-writing/

FAULTY PARALLELISMS IN SENTENCE STRUCTURE:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2015/11/writing-basics-fault-in-our-fiction.html

Monday, November 2, 2015

Sameness and the Second Book

QUESTION: I have just finished writing the first draft of my novel, now given to beta readers to test it out.

In the meantime, I am starting a new one, but all my inspiration seems similar to my previous work. Perhaps I am too absorbed in that type of story.

The things that are the same are the team composition of the antagonists, though in my new work they have different behavior and abilities. Also, my new work takes place in a similar fantasy world and has a similar magical system.

First, congratulations on finishing your novel. Of the many who start a first work, very few finish it. Well done!

The truth of the sameness will be in the final products so it's hard to say.

Some very successful writers write the same story and characters with variations over and over again, and some readers don't seem to mind it. Others do.

Each character should have a specific role in your story, and he/she should be written to fit that role. If you want to shake things up with the casting of those roles, you could try what Hollywood calls casting against type. For example, make the bad guy's second in command a charming goofball who has a hidden sadistic streak. Or switch genders.

You may want to do a few major changes/surprises to your world and magic system, but a massive overhaul isn't necessary if the world and the magic fit your story. Or you can set your story in the same world during a different time period or a different part of the world and not worry about the sameness.

One thing it's good to remember is that, these days, a reader will find one of a writer's books, and, if he enjoys it, he will buy the next book by the author immediately and read it. So you want to offer both consistency and surprises.

As a career move, writing similar books is a good thing. Many readers are like kids with a bedtime story. They like what they like, and they want the same thing, but different, each time from the writer.

Successful authors who want to write a second series move laterally by writing subgenres that their main readership would enjoy. For example, Jim Butcher’s extremely popular Harry Dresden series is urban fantasy, but he's written a traditional fantasy series which many of the same readers read, and he's just started a steampunk series.

Then there's writers like me who write all kinds of genres from science fiction adventure to paranormal romance. Many of my readers don't follow me so I have to fight for every reader I get when I switch genres. It’s not a good thing career move, but it keeps me amused.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Links of Interest

THE FINAL BOOK POLISH:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2010/02/re-write-wednesday-spit-shine.html

BODY PARTS BEHAVING BADLY:

http://www.livewritethrive.com/2015/10/21/writers-beware-of-body-parts-behaving-badly

PUTTING TENSION ON EVERY PAGE:

http://jodyhedlund.blogspot.com/2015/10/ten-techniques-for-getting-tension-on.html

HEROIC SELF-SACRIFICE CAN BE EVEN MORE HEARTBREAKING:

http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/how-to-make-your-heros-self-sacrifice-even-more-heartbreaking/

EDITING FOR EMOTION:

http://writersinthestormblog.com/2015/10/the-most-important-edit-that-no-one-talks-about/

A BRIEF GUIDE FOR WRITERS, TALKING WITH THE FBI:

https://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/2015/10/26/working-with-the-fbi-a-brief-guide-for-writers

CREATING PLOT PIVOT POINTS IN YOUR STORY:

http://www.darcypattison.com/plot/scene-pivot

CREATING 3-D COVERS FOR FREE:

http://writetodone.com/design-book-covers/

WHAT MAKES A GOOD PROTAGONIST:

http://fantasy-faction.com/2015/what-makes-a-good-protagonist

GRAMMAR, GENDER PRONOUNS IN THESE DAYS OF BRUCE/CAITLYN JENNER:

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/gendered-pronouns/

HOOKING YOUR READER IN THREE STEPS:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2015/10/hooking-your-reader-in-3-easy-steps.html

BALANCING SHOWING VERSUS TELLING:

http://jodyhedlund.blogspot.com/2015/10/how-to-balance-showing-versus-telling.html

OPTOMIZING FACEBOOK AD COMPAIGNS:

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2015/10/28/5-tips-for-optimising-facebook-ad-campaigns/

HOW GHOSTS WORK IN DIFFERENT GENRES:

http://beauty-in-ruins.blogspot.com/2015/10/ghosts-and-genre-by-gail-z-martin-guest.html

CREATING A COMPELLING NOVEL CONCEPT, PART 2:

https://janefriedman.com/compelling-novel-concept-2/

ADDING EMOTION TO SETTINGS:

http://www.livewritethrive.com/2015/10/28/infusing-your-settings-with-emotions

Monday, October 26, 2015

The Subplot

The main plot of the novel drives the story forward through the whole work. Most main plots are about the main character working to achieve his goal.

Some novels have only one plot. A simple romance's plot is boy and girl meet, one or both screws it up because of some inner flaw or weakness, but they manage to change enough to create a happily ever after.

Other novels have a major story line and minor story lines. Most often, these books mix genres like romantic suspense, or they are more complex in both subject matter and word count.

A minor story line is called a subplot. The two major types of subplot are the parallel and the independent subplot.

The parallel subplot is a smaller element of the overall plot that intersects the major plot with both its major character or characters and the events. The main plot affects the subplot, and the subplot affects the main plot.

In AVATAR, Sully's romance with Neytiri is one of the parallel subplots in the main story of Sully's learning about the planet Pandora and his decision to save it from the other humans.

His relationship with Neytiri is his personal introduction to the planet, its people, and their ways, and his emotional/romantic relationship with her teaches him the value of its people as well as giving him the original impetus to reconsider his decision to spy on the scientists and betray the locals to the corporation and its mercenaries.

In my STAR-CROSSED, Kellen's struggle against sexual slavery, his owner Cadaran, and his search for his freedom parallels Tristan and Mara's sweet relationship and their own fight for Tristan's freedom against Cadaran as the representative of the corrupt government.

A complex novel may have numerous parallel subplots. Some may be almost as complex as the main plot, and others may be short and simple pieces of the puzzle that is the story.

A simple subplot in STAR-CROSSED involves Tristan's relationship with Floppy, the intelligent alien kitty.

When Tristan lives in Mara's house, Floppy sees him as a rival for Mara's time and attention, and the housekeeper has told Floppy that Tristan with his sneaky male ways is a danger to Mara.

Floppy works to prevent a physical relationship between Mara and Tristan, and he's more than willing to kill Tristan to protect Mara.

Floppy and Tristan gradually learn to like each other when Tristan teaches Floppy to read.

After Tristan saves Mara's life at the risk to his own freedom, Floppy is totally won over to Tristan's side.

This subplot not only drives the main story forward by interfering with the romantic relationship of the hero and heroine, it also is comic or scary in contrast to the main story line's tone at that moment to add variety.

An independent subplot doesn't impact the main story. A common use of this kind of subplot is in a mystery where the main character has a home life subplot as well as trying to catch the killer in the main plot.

At its least, an independent subplot gives a fuller picture of the main character or a more complete view of the world he inhabits.

At its best, it reflects the main plot thematically or emotionally. For example, the hero must face the death of his father and their issues of abuse at the same time as he is chasing a serial killer who targets elderly men which may indicate he was abused by an older man when he was little.

The TV show, HOUSE, often used the independent subplot which involved the relationships of the hospital staff to reflect the main plot of discovering what is killing their patient.

In most episodes, House would gain a valuable clue to the illness through his interactions with another character during that subplot

The very strongest subplot, even those that aren't parallel, brings a thematic, characterization, and worldbuilding depth to the novel.