Tuesday's Writer's Tip - Story - Is it a fair fight #BWLAuthor #MFRWAuthor #Writing #Story #Fight

 One thing when you're designing your story is to ask yourself is it a good fight? Who wants to read about the man or woman who has everything, has a glide through life with no problems? This would make for a very boring story. Now if that man or woman came up with something they couldn't have you might have the seeds for a good story. Of course the person or persons opposing him must have as strong motivations to bring the story to the fore.

Having a sweet young person and a overbearing bully don't make for a good story. Your characters must have backbone and strong motivations whether they are the good guy or the bad guy. So make sure it's a good and fair fight with the opposing forces as strong and their motivations are clear. Don't make your hero or heroine a victim. Give them strength. Don't make your villain totally evil. Give him a reason for the choices he makes. These things will make your story grab the reader.

Why? Because the fight is fair. Each character has strengths and they will use them.

By making the battle even, the outcome will be in doubt and keep the reader turning the pages. Of course we all want the good guy to win but keep the tension going and your story will shine.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Craftsmanship Part 2 #MFRWauthor #amwriting

Strive for impact - No matter if the novel is regional or universal make the settings as real as possible. If regional authentic settings reverberate with the readers. Keeping the time period accurate is very inportant.  In universal novels think about the social aspects of the time period. Though the settings are part of the story and are often invented base them on real places.

Try for a pnaoramic view of places honing on the general rather than local can draw the reader into the story. This is good for showing the mores of a particular time and place and can show a variety of influences taking place in the story. Not only the main characters but the impact that where and when has on them.

What about situation? All stories start with a basic situation and all the methods of expression can and should be used to explore the situation. Along the way when writing a novel other situations occur. An argument over dinner, a new acquaintance, a huge problem facing one of the characters. Each situation should be brought to life using exposition, narration, action and narration.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Craftsmanship Part 1 #MFRWauthor #Writing

When I first read abou regional novels versus universal novels I wasn't sure I understood. In Structuring Your Novel :From basic idea to finished manuscript after several readings I understood. and was able to provide this to my own stories.

A regional novel is one that's situated in a particular region about events that can only happen in that place. The writers mention Gone With the Wind as being this type of book. When thinking about my won stories, my fantasy novels mostly fit this description since they can only happen on the world I've created. The elements of magic couldn't happen here.

A universal matter may be set in a particular area but the same things can happen in other places. They mention Madam Bovary. Most of my contemporary novels, though I've chosen a place either real or a town invented for the story but what happens between the characters can happen in other places as well. For example there are hospitals and medical personnel in many places and people can fall in love in my places or in the other places.

This classifying only refers to  settings, events or time periods. All novels can havea universal theme such as intolerance and justice as well as a long list of other themes. So look at your stories and try to decide where they fit in the scheme of things. Knowing can help the writing.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Keeping the Reader interested - Part 2 #MFRWauthor #amwriting

Continuing with what I write last week.

The first one today is - Promises made to the Reader - When you set out to write a book one of the things you need to do is think of the reader and what you're going to promise them. No one wants to promise a boring read but all too often this happens. I've read a lot of books with a great potential only to have them fall apart and not keep their promise. One way to keep the promise of a good read is the characters. Give the reader characters with real problems and real struggles to gain their goals. I real a lot and lately I've been reading books that promise a good story but fall short because the characters solve their problems too easily. I reach the end of the book and say so what. That is a writer I'll never read again. The other thing is to have a plot that makes sense. Since the plot is really the journey of the way one character or more reach the end of their quest there have to be twists and turns. Figuring out what will happen next before it happens makes the story fall flat. So when you promise your readers a good story. Keep at the writing until the story is the best you can do with characters struggling with their problems. Don't jsut wave that magic wand and like that the problems are solved.

The second rather goes along iwth the first. The character or characters have motivations that drive them toward their goals. Make sure this is a strong one. A weak motivation will let the story fall flat. Keep the motivation of the character striving to reach that goal and make the reader wonder if that will happen is the way to go.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Chapter 1 Continued #MFRWauthor #amwriting

More things that should be included in Chapter 1 - Sometimes life makes you feel chapter 1 is the longest in the books and often it is.

Introducing the major characters is a must in the first chapter. Now they may not all be present but there needs to be hints of the important people to come. Inromance the story often opens with the hero or heroine and maybe the antagonist is briefly scene. Thereder needs to know a bit about things like how old they are and their appearance. When looking at my own books I've shown various characters but always one of the main ones. If there are several scenes in the first chapter more than one of the main characters can be shown through action, observation and allow the reader to know who they are at least in the sense that the reader is learning a bit about a stranger.

In the first chapter let the reader know who will be telling the story and if there is more than one viewpoint this should be shown. Is the viewpoint going to be restricted or open. Will there be many characters telling the story. This can be confusing so the writer needs to establish the pattern the book will follow at the beginning. In several of my stories the first chapters are rather long because I want to show each of thecharacters who will have a viewpoint. The character needs to be established and given a voice during the first chapter. And the reader needs to know if the story will be told from one character or many and give the reader time to identify with each of the characters who will havea viewpoint.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - More points to remember #MFRWauthor

You've just about planned your story or you're going back to see if you have covered all the points. There are a few things to remember. If your story is plot or character focused, when the major complication is solved you've reached the end. Sure you can have a few paragraphs to wrap up the mystery, romance elements but don't continue for more chapters. The reader has been satisfied by the ending and going on will only irritate them.

Several other things you must consider is the time line. All stories have this limiting facter whether it be days, weeks, months or years. You need to have your time line accurate. I've had to go back and fix errors in the time line many more times than I'd like to admit. There's nothing more distressing than reading a story and finding something should have been placed earlier in the book.

Continuity is another factor you need to check. Does each scene make sense following the one before? If not the reader will become lost or annoyed. Make sure each incident impacts the focus character or characters in some way. If they don't, they're probably padding. Don't want to do that.
Ask yourself Is this scene necessary? If not delete those words.

The last thing is pacing. Do the scenes drive the story toward that moment when the major complication is solved?

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Plot or Character #MFWRauthor #BooksWeLove

There are two basic kind of story lines. One is plot centered and the other is character centered'

When writing a Plot centered story - the main character changes little from the beginning to the end of the story. Sort of what you see is what you get. This kind of story line focuses on the events. Think of mystery stories. The main character is often the detective who solves the case. The events are what moves the story forward. Other kind of stories can use this as the main story line. Yes, the character may change but not a great deal. One often sees this in a series where the main character grows slowly for the events are what moves the character and the story forward.

A Character centered story  where the emphasis is on a focus character and the reader sees the character become different than he was in the beginning of the story. This character either develops or he or she falls apart. Among the other characters in the story, they may or may not change and that can depend on their importance in the story.

In both types of story lines, there is a moment when the reader realizes the main motivating force will either succeed or fail. The character either will or will not reach this goal

When the plot is the story line, this moment comes as near to the end as possible. When character is the story line, this recognition can occur at any point in the story. To do this the reader must understand the major complications. The one thing here is the focus character may not recognize the truth or see the reality of the situation.

Many thanks to Structuring Your Novel from Basic Idea to Finished manuscript. I have learned so much that keeps me on point as I write.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Defining the Basic Conflict #MFRWauthor

 Since the environment and the hero, heroine or multiple characters interact with this forming a basic conflict let's look at the ways this can happen. Of course there can be more than one kind of environmental episode in a novel.

There can be a change in the character's environment that causes a reaction. Think of a child when a younger sibling in born. Or perhaps someone has been killed. A new marriage. All kind of changes can occur to make the main character or characters react.

The character can be moved to a new environment. Moving can be difficult. What if a child has moved many times. How does he form friendships. A job may take a character from a familiar setting to one that's different from what they have known. This change could be beneficial or the worst thing that's happened to the character. Lots of meat for thought here.

What about an environment in conflict with another environment. Can the character bring these settings together or will the attempt destroy him or her. Families can experience this kind of problem. Think of the man who loses all his money or the family that suddenly has riches. The environment they know is in conflict with the one they must enter.

What if the character decides he wants to change the environment where he lives or works. The woman fighting to progress in her career. The man who wants to see a fair shake for his co-worker.  The nurse thinks a union will be the answer for her colleagues. The administrator who things the status quo is the right one. Brings the characters into conflict.

A character who wants to conquer the environment where he or she dwells. This can also be a physical boundary. The person who needs to conquer the jungle to live. The student who wants to be the best and the first. Conquering becomes the force behind the story.Five more possibilities will be explored the next time.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Using emotions. #MFRWauthor

"Feeling is the place where every story begins."  Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain.

Each time you begin a story an event is the trigger but the real start is how the hero or heroine responds to the situation. Their emotions are involved. So knowing your characters is a key to bringing the reader into the story. Just what do they feel. Not everyone reacts in the same manner and this is one way to develop the characters in your fictional world. Contrasting their emotional reactions can set up a conflict. Exploring the reason for their reaction can give you the reason they react the way they do.

For example say your hero learns of a death of a relative. How will he react? Depending on his closeness and the state of the relationship to this character. Say the person who died was his favorite brother. He will react in one way. Or the death could be of a brother who had tried to destroy him. The reactions would be different.

What if your heroine discovers the man she loves and hopes to marry has married another just a few weeks before the date of their wedding. She would have different emotions toward the man and toward the woman. Exploring these emotions could help give your readers a real view of the heroine.

So decide how each of your characters will display their emotions gives the reader a hook into the character. One of the characters may react rather with indifference. Another with fury. One might evidence understanding. The key to making your characters live and breathe is to give them feelings, and not your feelings necessarily. Saying I wouldn't react in that manner might not be true to the character. So deal with the character's feelings and leave your own ones at the door, except for this you need to feel something for your characters be they hero, heroine or villain.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - More on tension in romance #MFRWauthor

Karen's Weisner's From First Draft to Finished Novel has a lot of good tips. This is the finish of her points in creating romantic tension, an important part of a romance novel.

Humor can play a good part. This is helpful when the tension builds to a point where there needs to be a release. When tension builds to a high point without some kind of release the story could plunge to the depths and cause the reader to put the book aside. So a bit of laughter could provide the release and perhaps a moment of magic.

There are two kinds of romantic tension. There is the physical and the emotional. To avoid one or lean to heavy on one kind leaves the romance lacking. So look at both sides of the attraction and show what's happening on a physical level but also what the viewpoint character in a scene is feeling.

Don't write love scenes just to put more words on a page. There are some characters who seem to need many love scenes but there are others books when you want to scream, Not another one. if the love scene can come out without changing the story, you may not need it but need to find other words to bring your story to a good conclusion.

Less can be more. I've written love scenes that take pages and they work. I've also written very short ones that  fit the story. So think about shortening these scenes,

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Continuing with Tension in Romantic Scenes #MFRWauthor

Here are 3 more tips taken from From First Draft to Finished Novel by Karen Wiesner.

1. Write love scenes chronologically. For me this is an if you can. There are some times when I'm so involved with nailing the plot I don't have time to write the love scenes. Stopping to do this would block the flow of the story. There are also other scenes I don't write when I'm setting the words of the book on paper. Fight scenes and sometimes confrontation scenes. So here is where the advice from the book doesn't work for me. But if you do follow this route the scene can be used to develop what has gone before between the characters.

2. Focus on a trait or a part of the other character's body that appeals to the hero or heroine. Show the fascination with this from the opening and when the love scene happens let the reader know how the character feels about the chosen part.

3. Dialogue can be used to heighten the sexual tension between the characters. They may not be talking about making love and the words may be ordinary words but there can be a subtle acknowledgement of what is occurring between the pair.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - More on building tension in Romances #MFRWauthor

Still garnering tips from Karen Wiesner's From First Draft To Finished Novels. These particularly concern love scenes.

What's your sub-genre of romance? This is a good way to build the tension. Look at what action is occurring that is particularly specific to that particular type of story. Writing a suspense story or mystery and perhaps the heroine isn't sure the hero isn't the villain. She feels attracted to him but she shouldn't be until she is sure of his motives. Writing a science fiction romance and have the two being on opposite sides in the conflict. Looking at what's right and what's wrong with the pair finding a romantic bond can add tension. So consider your sub-genre.

What are their backgrounds. Use the language specific to their chosen careers to build a picture that's different. I often use people involved in medicine and they have a different way of looking at the human body than say a teacher or a lawyer. Knowing where your characters were born and the kind of life they've lived can add a layer of difference to your love scenes. Making them belong to the characters' natures is important.

Now we come to point of view. Is the love scene written from the hero's or the heroines' view. This can make the scene more vital since the character you choose can only know what they're thinking and feeling. They can also gain clues from people's physical reactions. For me when I sit down to write a love scene usually one or the other of the characters decides this is their scene. I'm usually more comfortable in the heroine's viewpoint but have done the hero's view in some. For me when I come to this vital kind of scene I usually know who must tell the scene. What I don't do is switch viewpoings several or many times during the scene. These kind of scenes always make me feel as if my attention is being batted like a tennis ball during a game.

Wednesday's Writer's Tips from From First Draft To Finished Novel - Karen Wiesner #MFRWauthor

Last week we looked at three ways to bring sexual tension into stories. Today we'll look at at least three more.

4.Start the tension at once. From their first meeting, no matter what the sub-genre you're dealing with. This doesn't have to be too up front but you need to show the interest.  This is called setting the stage for the future love scene whether it takes place in the open or behind closed doors, the reader needs to believe these people really want each other and have from the start. By seting the attraction up early you avoid those awkward moments. You don't make the reader think this scene was inserted for no reason at all.

Use your characters senses of sight in particular here. Other senses can also be used. The rasp of a voice, the allure of a perfume. Just show the attraction.

5. Now we come to exaggerated prose. This can destroy the mood, particularly when words are used grandly and bring not sighs of excitement from the reader but giggles. I've read these kind of things in books and I can't help grinning. I'm sure you have too. It's sometimes easy to get caught in using gaudy language to describe something that is nearly undescrible. So if you've found yourself sprinkling these sort of words into your love scenes, back up a bit and tone down the words.

Let the characters try to describe what they're feeling and maybe all they can do is stumble around thinking wow and not being able to describe.

6.  Set the scene. Now this can be easy or hard. Remember the senses. Think of touches, aromas, visions, spoken words or sighs. Use the senses to set the scene for yourself and the reader.  Let yourself as the writer enter the scene and be the characters.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Tension and Suspense + Free book #MFRWauthor #BooksWeLove

Horu's Chosen (An Alternate Egypt Book 2) is free until February 14th

Still reading and gleaning things from From First Draft To Finished Novel by Karen Wiesner.

Tension and suspense are needed to keep the reader turning the pages. We've all read books when you say to yourself "Just one more page." The writer has caught you up in the tension and suspense of the story. You want to know what happens next. Without these elements, the reader will toss the books aside.

Is there a difference between the two elements. It's a matter of degree. Tension makes the characters worry and the reader anxious about what will come next. Some stories have a lot of tension and little suspense. The decisions the characters make aren't earth-shattering. They may not be the right decisions but their choice brings tension to the story.

Now we come to suspense. This brings major worry for the characters and to the reader. They really worry about what is going to happen. Will the character's decision bring them into danger?

Both tension and suspense need to be built from the first page until the conclusion and the story ends. They need to be brought to a conclusion that allows the reader and the characters to be satisfied.

Though both need to be present at all times there is also a need for a break for the reader and the characters. Give them time to breathe. Give them time to relax. Remove them from the growing tension or suspense to experience something that eases them and the reader. This is particularly true with suspense. If the characters are kept on edge every moment of their story. The reader will become breathless and perhaps decide they can's read another world.

I've read books where the suspense almost makes me ill and I usually put the books aside. I've also read, especially romances, where the tension drags on forever. I stop reading. There are other books i've tried to read that lack either element. I stop reading.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Setting Background or Foreground #MFRWauthor #BooksWeLove

Setting is important to the stories. The setting can be a background against which the characters are portrayed. Setting can be the foreground and actually become an integral part of the story.

So how do you use setting. An important element of the story is the atmosphere. One can go through paragraphs and paragraphs where the setting is shown in detail. Now this can be boring to the reader.

A better way is to show the setting as the characters view it or as they interact with what is there. Suddenly the setting becomes important to the characters and to the story.

The setting can also define the mood of a story. You can use a house to create a scary moment or one of wealth. Using the senses during the writing of the setting. There's a restaurant. What are the aromas. The vase what does it feel to the touch.

So define your setting to draw the reader into the story and to show the atmosphere of the story.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Ways of Revealing Your Characters #MFRWauthor #BooksWeLove

Now that you know who your major players are and you've forbidden them to do all those things characters shouldn't do, how do you let the reader know who this person is?

There are many ways. One of my favorites is to have other characters give their impression of the character. This can be done by their observation but better in a conversation between, say the heroine and her best friend or the villain and his crony. Of course the heroine's best friend could be kind of a villain or just one who has her doubts about the hero. As for the villain, he wants to paint the hero black for the heroine, but he might be more subtle when talking to a crony.

Another way is to have the character, hero, heroine or villain do some introspection to reveal what he or she is really like. Don't have them look at themselves in a mirror though. This has been overused. Also be careful about the heroine who talks about her glorious blonde tresses. She probably wouldn't think about hair color, eye color of herself but would relish hearing someone else praise her assets.

Showing the character at work can also give a bit about their character. Having someone dash off a note or send a dozen emails might show one kind of character. I've often used this when I'm writing about nurses and doctors. Characters can be one way on the job and different in other ways. I used this contrast in Pursuing Doctor West. The heroine is very serious at work and her life becomes a comedy of errors off the job.

Giving a character something that's important to them and becomes their symbol is a good way to show character. This could be a word, an object but something that belongs to the character and appears when they do.

So there are many ways of revealing the characters. Try to use one of more as you show the readers jsut what your character is like.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Those Tricky Characters #MFRWauthor #BooksWeLoveAuthor

While reading From First Draft To Finished Novel by Karen Wiesner a came across some things about characters that she mentioned may make the reader or worse an editor scratch his or her head. I've had a character of many try to pull one of the tricks. Sometimes it's the same character doing this.

The main character flees when things get interesting. Is it the character or the writer who chickens out on writing that intense scene. I'm afraid in my case it's the writer. This could be part of the character's character but this isn't always the case. You need to grit your teeth and write the scene.

Head-hopping. Now I've seen this done skillfully by a few writers but bouncing from head to head can be confusing. Whose eyes are showing this scene. That's a way to look at the story and decide which character's viewpoint would strengthen the scene. Sticking to one viewpoint per scene gives the reader an eye-view of the action. Using multiple viewpoints can muddy the water.

The character's emotions aren't really theirs. If you know your character, their emotions will be what they're feeling. If they're replaced by things not in character, the reader will shake their head and want to move to a different story.

Secondary characters suddenly become more interesting than the major characters in the story. You need to slap them down and show them the major players are the interesting ones. If it gets too bad, you can promise them a story of their own. I've fallen into this trap and I know some of my friends have done the same. Work on the main characters and just let those scene stealers fade.

Allowing some magical power to solve the main character or character's problems rather than having the major players find the solution. Called the "God in the machine," something to avoid at all costs. The reader may finish the book but they won't be satisfied with the results. If there's something that might seem like this to end the story, make sure you've written enough before to show this is possible,

Choosing the wrong characters for the story or having the setting be totally wrong for the characters. You might be able to pull this off but it makes for harder work. Advice is don't put the bull in the china shop. He doesn't belong there. The same with your characters. Make sure the setting and the characters can work hand in hand.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Step 4 in Planning Your Novel #MFRWauthor

This step may be the hardest particularly since you have all this wonderful material gathered and you're ready to go. But if you can put aside your plans, your outline or however you have planned the material. A week is good but longer than that really helps.

I've done this many times just as Karen Wiesner suggests. This is hard. So I've a scheme to allow the material to coalesce. I do the planning session during the time when I;m refining my current WIP. I've found this short break from the extensive planning allows things to steep and when I start to write the rough draft, things occur that I didn't consider during the planning session or something pops into my thoughts that allows me to see the material as fresh and new.

Once the wait time is over, then I begin the rough draft. Sometimes this sounds smooth and seems flawless but working on the next draft, I find little things to expand the story and make it really come alive.

Letting the material you've gathered sit in a folder or a notebook or anywhere that the material isn't in eye view. Your unconscious will work on it while you're doing something on the story you've nearly finished. Taking a break can make the finished novel gel and make the writing much smoother.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - More on Step 3 for Planning your Novel #MFRWauthor

Now you've collected all these pieces like characters, settings and incidents, what do you do with them. Combining them and establishing a time line for your story. I used to write this all down. I came upon an old plan for a story that may never been written where I had all these steps written down.

The characters were complete with physical descriptions and their goals. Why they wanted to reach the goal and what inside them might keep them from reaching that goal. I also had written how they reacted to each of the other major characters in the story,

There was a huge block of descriptions of the town, the various residences and the businesses. These descriptions included rooms I thought I might use, the gardens and for some reason the cars in each driveway or parking place.

There was a description of the time or year, month and what the days would be like. Though a month was mentioned, the descriptions were more of seasonal ones including the plants that might be seen.

From there I went to a chapter synopsis and this is how the various bits are collected together. Often when writing this, I would refer myself to one or other of the sketches I'd written. This chapter synopsis contained some dialogue. I'm not sure this would remain when the story was written but the words came to me so they went down.

I seldom do this much elaborate preparation these days but I've been at the game for a long time and often things are in my head and I go straight to the chapter synopsis. Something that can be changed when I'm writing the rough draft.

As a beginning writer, being this organized can be helpful. From First Draft to Finished Novel by Karen Wiesner is a good place to begin when you're putting your first steps on the road.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Step 2 From First Draft to Finished Novel #MFRWauthor

 In From First Draft to Finished Novel, Karen Wiesner talks about after brainstorming comes Research. Her take on research is more extensive than my take but more on that later.

During this phase of the story the first thing is to discover the areas where you'll need to do Research before beginning. The place you've chosen, the occupations of the main characters, the era you've chosen. Anything that needs to be discovered about person, place or thing. Once you've discovered all the things you'll need to discover while writing the book, you can Collect the material you need. For me, this often means books or on-line sites marked to return to again and again. Those are written down, though I do love books to leaf through and force myself not to start reading and reading. Reading is the next step in the process Karen speaks of. This is not a good time for many writer since one interesting fact leads to another. From here you go to Using. How and where in the story you're planning to write will you use this material? You may also find doing this research ideas for other stories. That's a good plus.

For me, I begin my stories by fitting a set of characters to plot and the plot to the characters. Then I decide what I might need to know and do my research after the story is roughed on paper. There are notes throughout my first drafts that say things like. Look up. Talk to. Find what can be used. But I always know before I begin what the story features, where the story takes place.