Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - Z is for zeal #MFRWauthor #Writing #Zeal

Finally reached Z and this was another struggle until I hit upon Zeal. Every writer has to have this when they're starting, finishing or revising a story. With out that bit of excitement, the book slows to a halt. It's the enthusiasm you bring to your story that makes the journey worthwhile.

I've known writers who have lost this quality. The reasons are many. Poor health that keeps the writer from the computer. Not having sales of their stories. Receiving a poor review can slow a writer down.

What a writer must do is find that zeal. One of my ways is to look at each story as a new adventure. When I write the end, the story I send off is done and so am I - with that story. What happens to is is up to the gods of writing. The new story is the all.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - Y is for Yesterday

The end of the alphabet has been fun finding what to post but Y is for Yesterday. All your characters have pasts. What happened to them in the years before the story happens has an effect on the present in the story. Yesterday can refer to what happened the day or days before the story begins and this is part of the characters pasts. Yesterday can refer to where they were born, when they came into existance and all that happened to them in their growing years. Now you may not want to start your story with the character's birth and upbringing but you must understand their pasts to write about the present and to look to the future. Now you may not want to write all these things but you should have ways to hint about what the yesterdays had to do with what they are today.

Maybe your character was rich or poor. These things have something to do what they have become. They may be educated or not. Also this will play in the character's development. Discovering the yesterdays of your characters will make for a stronger story. So think about the yesterdays of your characters and feed this inot the way they act and react to incidents in their present.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - W is for Words #MFRWauthor #Words #Writing

W is for words. As writers, words are important and choosing the right words can pose problems. Words chosen need to do a number of things. They need to show the characters, show the setting and carry the reader into the world you are creating. Words advance the story.

Words can build tension. They can show bits of humor. Words can tell the reader about the story.

Choosing the wrong words can sink a story. Suppose you're writing a suspense story and all the words you choose are beautiful and the sentences flowing. The reader will be left lying on the chaise instead of sitting on the edge of the seat.

Writing historical novels. The words must fit the era. Putting in words that sound modern will tear the reader out of the story.

There are many more things the right words or the wrong words can do. Especially when there are words used wrong. Take flair and flare. Used wrong can make for humor when it's not intended. Anger flaired in her eyes or anger flared in her eyes. There are other words like this that may sound alike but mean very different things.

So choose your words with care.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - V is for Voices #MFRWauthors #voices #writing

V is for voices. When you're writing this means the characters' voices. I've read some books where the dialogue of the characters could be said by any of the story people. When you're writing dialogue try to hear the character speaking in your head. Suddenly the characters take on specific tones and the character sounds just like you imagined. There are a number of ways to do this. Perhaps you have one character who rambles on and on. Another speaks in clipped sentences. There could be a third who constantly makes jokes. Or one who has mastered every cliche in the book. This is all right in dialogue but keep cliches out of your prose. Some characters have a favorite expression. Some character's voices resemble their careers.

Listen to the people around you carefully. You might realize every one of the people you know has a different voice. This is what you want for your characters. There's also a fun thing to do with a character's voice. Have the character say aloud one thing but have the inner dialogue be something completely different. I don't often use this technique but when I do a touch of humor is added to the story.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - U is for Unexpected #MFRWauthor #writing

In the food world U stands for unami ( I may not have spelled this right ) but I've heard the term said to be a mysterious extra flavor to the food. In writing U is for the unexpected. There's something that happens when you're writing and something suddenly flavors the story. You can sit back and say aha, or isn't that interesting. This has happened to me a number of times. I'm writing away and suddenly I see something that has multiple connections I didn't realize I'd made. The very unexpected feeling makes the story zing.

The unexpected doesn't happen in every story and it's not something you can plan to occur. Suddenly there's this gut feeling and you know something mysterious has happened. Have you ever had one of these moments? Wouldn't writing be more wonderful if the unexpected popped in every story?

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - T is for Time #MFRWauthor #Writing

T is for time. Most stories take place over days or weeks or months and sometimes for years and generations. Keeping a timeline is important. It isn't fun having an editor or a reader pointing that the hero or heroine is performing two actions miles apart at the same time. Better for the editor to catch the time glitch than a reader.

Keeping a time line schedule can be very useful. Start with the opening scene. When does it begin. Perhaps a Saturday. So you note that on your piece of paper. You also make note of the month. You can even give this a specific date of the month.

As you move the character from scene to scene, make sure you note when the day has changed. Or you could have skipped several days but make sure you note the time lapse in case you want to go back and add a scene. By keeping a record, you can also see if enough time ahs passed between incidents.

So think about your time line as you write the story so your characters aren't performing impossible feats.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - S is for Setting #MFRWauthor #writing

S is for setting. After I submitted my first novel to an editor, I received this comment, "Your characters are operating in a vacuum." The kind editor went on to explain about setting. She also took a small passage of my mss and showed me an example of using setting. I was really happy and went on to put elements of the setting in every scene in the story. I sent the story out again. There were other comments from other editors and finally I had a mss. But that was in the days when not everyone thought they could write a story and become published. Editors wanted full mss and they often read parts and made comments. This was better than any class I ever attended. But back to my original thought. S is for Setting.

Setting is made up of many things but is designed to show where and when the characters exist. The setting can be sued to show time of day. The morning sun... Season of the year. Snow fell in swirls... Or the season. Children searched the lawn for those illusive eggs. This is one part of setting.

Showing where the characters live  or work is another part of using the setting. How many people have been in a bakery. Most of us have at least been present in a home bakers. Using the sense of smell and even taste can evoke that bakery. The senses play an important part in the setting of a story.

So when you're placing your characters in somewhere, remember to use all the senses and especially more than just sight to bring the setting to life, making the scenery almost another character in the story.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip Writing ABC R is for Reasons #MFRWauthor #Writing

R is for reasons. Now this may sound strange but there are a number of ways reasons are important to writers. First, the writer needs a reason to write a particular story. Why did you choose to write a romance, mystery or a paranormal? Some times you don't know but thinking about it may show you the reason. The answer could be found in what you're reading orsome writer you particularly enjoy. Maybe you want to read what you like to read. These are some of the reasons.

Another is finding the reason why the characters who are pushing for  a story help you decide what genre this story will fit into. Many of us write stories that may be a combination of genres. Why did you decide to fit romance and science fiction together? Or to fit mystery with fantasy? If you aren't sure of the reason the story may fall flat being too much one genre and not enough of the other.

There is a third way for reasons to fit into your writing. What reason does the character have to pursue a particular goal. If the reason is unclear, so will the story fall into the unsure category. Why does Mary want to succeed in her chosen career> Why does Joe want to head for the stars?

So when you're writing think of your reasons and those of the characters.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - Q is for Quests #MFRWauthor #Quests #Writing

One usually thinks of quests in stories as belonging to the world of fantasy. I've had friends tell me I'm great with these kind of stories. But there is more to quests than fantasy.

A quest is a search for something. In romance the hero or heroine is questing for love and a happy ever after. In mysteries, the hero or heroine seeks to find the criminal and the villain is seeking to avoid capture. In science fiction, the space crew is searching for a world or there are many other things they can be searching for, In historical novels, the quest can be the search for many og the above seekings.

So when writing, think of what the characters are seeking and know that the quest is the journey to reach the place they are seeking.

What's your take on Q as far as writing goes?

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - O is for Organize #MFRWauthor #Writingtips

There are a lot of writers who might disagree with me about this. O is for Organize. These are the writers that don't do an ounce of planning but sit down and let the characters take over. But do they really not plan. I think they don't put their plans or organize their books on paper but they do in their heads.

Or they don't. Then they end up with a draft that goes every which where and they have to sit down and look at the book from the beginning and try to decide what works and what doesn't work. Why not try to organize?

Organizing a book isn't hard and doesn't take much time. First you need to know what kind of book you're writing. Say you decide on romance but there are many kinds of romance. Is this a  contemporary, historical, paranormal or other kind of romance. Say you're writing a romantic suspense and then you decide if it will be a sensuous or a sweet kind of romance.

Next comes the characters and if you've chosen the romantic suspense sensual or the sweet, you know you'll need a hero, a heroine and a villain. Once you know their names and their motivations, you're well organized but you need a bit more to be organized

You need a setting and this includes time, season as well as the place.

Your organization is nearly done. You need to know how the story begins and how it ends. This is important, al least it is to me. When you have both of these, you can sit down and write remembering that you need to stay on the road that takes you to the end.

So organize whether on paper or in your head and you'll find you won't be tearing up page after page.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - N is for Names #MFRWauthor #writing

Names are very important and choosing the right ones for your characters is something to consider seriously. Choosing a strong name for a hero helps give a picture of him to the reader, but going overboard can make the hero seem like a joke. Lance is a good strong name but Lance Ready will bring a smile to the reader's head. Heroines need strong names as well and the same thing applies to their names. Villains names also need to be chosen with care for though the name should perhaps show strength, also the name can suggest weakness that doesn't suit his nasty nature.

One thing about names is choosing one the reader can pronounce. This is especially true for those who write fantasy and science fiction. I've read some where the name can't be pronounced and I find myself skipping the name when I read. So choose the names with care.

Names of places can also use some study especially if you're writing of a place you know but you've chosen to make some changes in the setting. I do this and often use the town where I live but I've been known to change stores or add ones that aren't there. So I give the town a new name.

Names when you're writing paranormal stories takes em to the naming of things. Sometimes I want to suggest something like chocolate or coffee and have used chocola or kaf to bring a hint of the essence of the thing to the reader's mind.

So remember the naming of persons, places or things is vital for the writer to consider.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - M is for Motives #MFRWauthor

M is for Motives and all characters must have them. Motive is a reason for the goal. Why does the cop want to catch the killer? Why does the heroine want the hero? There are dozens of other things that motive can cover.

Just as each character has a motive for their desires, so are there motives in the smaller scenes that occur in a story. Finding and making the motives or reasons clear for the characters actions and reactions is important to the story.

A weak motive can make a weak story and turn a reader off. When strong motives between characters conflict drama is born. So seek to make each characters motives strong. Remember even minor characters have motives and they can be in conflict with those of the major characters. For example, a mother can have a strong reason for not wanting her daughter to marry the hero. This brings her into conflict with her daughter, the one she wants happiness for.

So as you're writing look at your motives and make them strong and in conflict with the motives of the other characters.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - L is for Logically #MFRWauthor #Logic #Amwriting

Sure, L could stand for many things but Logic and logically are very important to the writer and to the reader. I've read books that make me want to toss the story against the wall but since I mostly read on my Kindle this is not a good idea. Why does this happen.

One can ignore the spelling mistakes and punctuation errors. At least I can unless the misspelled word makes me laugh but that's another and different subject. What drives me up the wall (I know that's a cl8iche bit it says just how I feel) are those times when one or more characters doesn't act logically. This means they're acting out of the established boundaries of their characters. The character who has seemed intelligent says or does something that is not intelligent is acting illogically. The logicality of the character is destroyed and suddenly the reader is faced with a dilemma. Is there a reason for the illogic action? Often there isn't.

So when you're revising go through your story and make sure all the actions and reactions of the characters will be seen as logically to the reader. If you don't you could be responsible for dents in the walls, scattered pages of a book and a lost reader.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - J is for Jeopardy #MFRWauthor #Jeopardy # amwriting

J is for Jeopardy. Just what does this mean. In every story one or both of the main characters has to face some kind of jeopardy. Now this doesn't have to be the chase by the villain trying to end the life of the main character or characters though this does happen in some stories.

Jeopardy means the character has to face a threat of some kind. This could be a little as losing an important document or a single shoe. Though those don't call for high drama, they can give the character a bit of danger in not being able to reach their goal. In a romance the hero or heroine must face some kind of jeopardy in that they will lose the one they love. In a fantasy it could be being lost in a maze with no seeming way out. Or being on a space ship in danger of crashing.

So find a way to put your characters in jeopardy and also have a way for them to overcome this event to reach a satisfactory ending.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - I Is For Image #MFRWauthor #amwriting

I had to think about this one a bit since I wondered what I considered Image in writing. There are many ways to look at image. Often an image is a thing and that's one way I use it. I spent time looking over my writing and realized there were several images I use often. One is gems. Many of my books have gems, not all are precious stones or even semi-precious but gems that have other powers. This makes them images of the paranormal. They can also be concrete. Another thing I realize occurs frequently in my books are caves.  Caves can be used to symbolize a number of things but we're not speaking of Symbols, just of the things that appear frequently in my stories.

How about you? Do you have recurrent images in your stories? One of my favorite writers has towers in many of her stories. Another has swords of many kinds. So think about your body of work and think of what your images are. I also try to understand the why of my use of these images. Caves is fairly easy since they're dark, mysterious and can be dangerous. I've used them to show each of these situations. Gems has been more difficult to decide the why of them. Perhaps one reason is the hypnotic quality of gems. Also there is their reflective quality. Gems can also be mysterious.

So look at your stories and find your images.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - G is for Goals #MFRWauthor #Writing

 G is for Goals. Now we can look at this two ways. The characters and the writer.

Each of the major characters and sometimes the minor ones have goals that are shown through the story.  The goal is what does the character want? Some characters keep their eye on the goal at all times. Sometimes they waver. The fun thing about characters and goals comes when two of the characters want goals that put them into opposition. This could be the hero or heroine and the villain. The hero and the heroine can have opposite goals. Fun especially when one of them wants to catch the other and one doesn't want to be caught. So when you're writing make sure the goals you choose for the characters are obtainable and are logical.

That's where the writer's goals come in. The writer's goal should be to make this the best story they've ever written. To do that they have to keep their eyes on the character's goals. Sometimes this is like juggling a number of balls. For me that's fun for me as an author. So G is for Goals.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - F is for Friends #MFRWauthor #amwriting

When I came to F, I had few ideas but two came to mind. One is friends since the characters in a story need friends as well as those who stand in opposition. The other was Finishing. Perhaps another time I'll look at that.

Friends come in a variety of disguises for the characters in a story. The friend can be one who the main character uses to bounce ideas off or the one they talk to about their problems. There can be a pitfall here. The friend can come close to taking over and the story becomes theirs rather than the hero or heroines. Care must be taken to keep the friend character as a secondary one.

The friend can be older and even younger. The point is to keep them interested in helping the character with their problems. They can be a sounding board or a mentor.

So F is for Friend. Make sure there's someone in the story who has the hero or heroine's back. To reach the satisfactory ending the friend can be vital.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - C is for Characters #MFRWauthor #writing

Today's letter is C and though there are other things that could be involved the obvious is C Is For Characters.

Without characters there would be no story. There are kinds of writing that don't have characters but for fiction, a Character is a must.  Actually there should be a number of characters in each story. Though I once read a story told all from the viewpoint of a man who had suffered a stroke and the story involved, not really his memories but a bunch of people who were things like the doctor, the nurse, the wife, the children. None of these had much to do with the story other than the main one's meanderings through not really being conscious and not being able to talk. This was an interesting but but I'm not sure it was a story.

Back to characters. Every good story needs a strong hero, heroine or villain. Sometimes all three. Some times the character is his own worst enemy. When developing the primary characters, the writer needs to pit strength against strength. To have one of the characters as being weak doesn't draw the reader in.

Also the character or characters need to have traits that make them unique. They need problems that will appeal to the reader and they need goals to strive to achieve that are within reach. Making the goal an impossible one for the character isn't a story people would like to read.

There are many other things about character development I've addressed before. What's your take on character. Do you have another idea what C is for...?

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - B is for Back Story #MFRWauthor #writing

Last week I garnered a lot of friends bringing their comments so here we go with another letter.

B is for Back Story - Like Topsy characters aren't just born. The back story gives a lot of information about the main characters in the story. A writer wants to know the life story of the characters they create. Where were they born? When were they born? What social standing did they have or lack? How much education have they had? There are so many little facts that may or may not mean anything when the character takes stage front in a story. Still this info is needed.

Some writers have long bios of each character in their book. This can become unwieldy. Some writers develop the back story as they rough draft the story. The many details creep into the writer's mind and suddenly the character becomes more alive.

Back story does a number of things in the story. Often the reason for the character's goals in written in his or her back story. Even the goal can be there. A poor man wants to become rich. His back story would be different from the rich man who wants to become richer.

There is one thing that the writer needs to remember is though her or she needs to know the character's back story there is no need to write pages and pages about the character's back story. Feeding in the important facts bit by bit gives the character depth.

So what's your take on B is for back story or do you have another B you would like to share?

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - The Ending

You've explored the middle of the story and have all those scenes full of action that drive the characters and the story. The tale is almost ended but you can't just write The End. The ending a a story is more complicated than that. So let's start to look at the plots.

There is the Black Moment or the time when one of the characters believes he or she has no chance to reach the goal. This period needs to be strong and the character must believe and make the reader believe. Achieving this might be hard but it's a necessary part of the story. Pulling out all the stops here is a must.

One thing you must remember is that during the middle and those action scenes you should feed in the seeds that will grow into that black moment. The character's belief that all is lost has to be triggered by his desires and his developed personality. So work on this scene hone it until the emotion grips you. There are some books that when you read, even though you know the character will succeed, you as the writer or the reader will feel that bit of despair then you know you have found this point and realize something must follow.