Tuesday's Writer's Tip Ways to Avoid Detail dumps #MFRWAuthor #BWL Publishing Inc, ##Writing #Details

You have all that lovely research. You've pages of descriptions of the house, the garden, etc. ready for your story. You've described your characters from head to toes. How do you keep from swamping your readers with all these details;

One way is to intersperse the facts with fiction.  Show the characters interacting with the facts and each other. Use dialogue. Use a character's curiosity. Find ways to pur the information in bit by bit instead of long passages.

Cut down those fact filled bits. This comes under revision. As you're revising and you come to a long prose passage filled with facts and information. Look to see which ones are vital to the story. I know how wonderful all these new facts you've learned and taken notes about are but think of the poor reader forced to read on and on before the story returns. Think of those commercials, not an informational when you're laying on the facts.

Don't turn your character into a teacher. Having one of the characters run on and on about something that interests them is one way to have the reader put the book aside. A long sermon on dieting or on cutting a gem into shape or any number of things slows down the story not to mention the reader's patience.

Next time I'll show a few more ways to keep from turning your story into a marsh waiting to suck the reader down with facts.

Tuesday's Writer's Tip _ A Matter of Detail #MFRWAuthor #BWLPublishing #Details #Revision #amwriting

When we're beginning a story, we've done a lot of research. I know I have pages and pages of material that may or may not have something to do with the finished story. There are times when the use of detail gives a definition to a scene or a story but there are also times when this detail bores the reader. I'll be talking about some areas of detail to be used and when to beware. Descriptions dealing iwth characterization, setting and information gleaned talking about careers are places when a writer can go on and on in great detail. I know because I've done this myself and have had to tear down pieces of the story.

Matters of characterization is the first area I'll discuss. One of these areas of backstory and another is physical data. Often the person who really has to know the backstory in detail is the writer. Beginning writers often start a scene totally in one character's head. They go on and on talking about the things that happened in their past that make them the people they are when the book begins. It's find to write this out but not fine to put all these details in the first chapter of the story. Nothing turns a reader off more than pages of prose with no action happening. Starting the story with detailing all the character has dealt with in their lives is problematic. One way to get the information is through dialogue or perhaps those stray thoughts we all have. It's also stronger to put this information in bits and pieces during the story when the information is important to a scene.

Physical description is another place where detail can slow the reader down. The heroine meets the hero and she begins an appraisal of him. She describes him from head to toes and everything in between. By the time the reader reaches the end of this long-winded description, they know all about the hero but they've also lost the thread of the story and can't remember why he's so important.

Play attention to these two areas as you work on revisions and you'll discover a tighter, and more action filled story.

Tuesday's Inspiration - Detail the lifeblood of fiction

"Detail is the life blood of fiction." While reading On Becoming a Novelist by John Gardner I came across this quote and started to ponder on what it meant. Detail is part of the Writer's Eye. So what does it mean?

As a writer developing characters is an important part of what a storyteller does. That means seeing the world through a person crafted for the story. How does the character developed see what's happening around them? How do they react in any situation? What are the little tells that show the invented character could be someone the reader knows and either loves or hates?

The writer has to become that character in some way. Putting oneself aside when writing is often hard but with practice it becomes easier. I often find when I'm writing a scene from a character's point of view I may smile, laugh, shrug my shoulders at a particular point and these words appear on the paper. That's exactly how the character should react. This doesn't happen over night but often when I'm rereading, rewriting or revising a particular scene. Suddenly I'm not myself but I'm the character I've brought to life.

Having this happen is magical and sometimes funny, especially when I've managed to stay in the character. There are times when the real people in my life look at me and think I've slipped off the edge of reality. But those times fill me with joy for I know at least for me and hopefully for the readers, the character has become a person. So work hard to become the people you're creating to tell the story. This is the Writer's Eye.