What's The Word?

Do you know what the word is?  I certainly don’t know myself all the time.  The word is one little part of a whole that we writers put down on paper or screen to say what we want said.  Do we always use the right words?  I don’t because I don’t know them all.

We all search for the right words to use in our writing.  That one word that will add strength to what we are saying.  I was told that the dictionary or thesaurus, could be my best friend.  The English language as drawn words from other languages such as Latin, French, Spanish and Asian and more.  We do have quite an assortment of words to choose from.

We use words to describe what we want to say.  So how do we pick the right one? You and I as the writer determine that word or string of words.  I was told to beware of adjectives, and adverbs because it can lead to weak writing.

She skipped lightly into the large room, swiftly looking about to spot the one thing she wanted from the large ornate desk sitting amidst the shiny mahogany furniture.
The sentence above is just a bit heavy with adjectives that is not needed.  It can be written so simply by leaving out what is not needed.  She skipped into the large room, looking on the desk for the one thing she wanted.

We didn’t need all of the words in the first sentence to make a sentence which had a clearer read.  I had more than I needed.

Nouns and verbs can make a sentence very vibrant without all of the adjectives.  Focus on the best nouns and verbs  the find the modifiers that add to these words.

“Adjectives and adverbs are helper words, what the grammarians call “Modifiers.”  They help refine the impression cast by your true building blocks, nouns and verbs.  At a writers’ conference a few years ago, a supposedly clever expression was circulating:  Are your verbs working hard enough?  Granted, the expression isn’t all that clever, but it points to a truth.  The stronger your nouns and vers are, the better they can support your carefully chosen modifiers.”

This is a video by Adora Svidak which pertains to word choices.  Enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCH3ciUK_X8

What Is Your Point of View

 

 

This is my downfall in the world of writing.  Maybe I should have said, one of my downfalls.  POV or point of view, has been such a headache to me.  I have  people review my writing and they can immediately tell me the where and when I have changed POV in the story.  Poor pitiful me, I am such a failure, NOT!!!

The point of view you choose for your story will affect the way your readers respond to your characters and actions.  The tone and theme of your story is also affected by the POV.

To determine your point of view, you may ask yourself the following questions.

1.  Who will be speaking:  the narrator or the character?

2.  Whose eyes are seeing the events of the story happen?

3.  Whose thoughts do the reader have access to?

4.  From what distance are the events being viewed?

 

The first person POV is a story narrated by the character in the story.  Usually it is the main character or the protagonist.  The story is from the I point of view.  I went, I saw, I felt, so forth.  The reader gets into the story through the narrators eye’s, touch, smell, action.  You write in the voice, words and tone of your character.

An example of first person POV:  I had to find out where Sam was headed, so I hid behind the shrubs next to the house.  I thought Sam would head for his car, but he fooled me.  He took off, on foot, heading south towards the graveyard.

You may also use three other first person POV’s: (1. Multiple vision, which lets multiple narrators tell the story.  (2. Peripheral would be having another character tell the story.  (3.  The unreliable first person is a person telling the story, has all the facts, but can’t be trusted.  It might be a schizophrenic, or a compulsive liar.

I am going to be dividing POV into parts to make it a little easier to digest.  I am posting a video on writing in first person.  Content is good, but the speaker doesn’t speak well, um, you know, um.  I like it, um, but, um, you um, will have to um look over um her bad speaking um.      http://youtu.be/ydlOjhkgr74

 

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I hope everyone is wearing "the green" for today.  One of the best things about today is I get to read my Irish Blessings book.  I am going to share a couple with you, and please know I mean what they say.

PS:  The Author is unknown.....I wish it were me, but was not to be

Here's wishing you the tops O' life
Without a single tumble
Here's wishing you the smiles O' life
And not a single grumble
Here's wishing ou the best O' life
And not a flaw about it.
Here's wishing you all the joy in life
And not a day without it!


May your home be filled with laughter
May your pickets be filled with gold
And may you have all the happiness
Your Irish heart can hold


A special Irish blessing
from the heart of a friend
"May good fortune be yours,
May your joys never end."

Plotting For the Progagonist

Plotting does seem to be for your main character.  Your plot is based around what your protagonist wants.  His/her needs, dreams, obstacles, feelings, any thing that affects your protagonist can contribute to your plot.

The plot has three main parts;  The beginning, the middle and the end.  The  structure of a plot hasn't changed for a couple thousand years.  Each section of the plot has its own role in the telling of a story.

The beginning of your story has to produce three things: 1.) The reader must be in the middle of action 2.) It has to establish the background information, and 3.) establish the major dramatic question.
The major dramatic question is one which can be answered by the end of the story.

 "Does the three little pigs escape from the big bad wolf?"  "Does Harry Potter kill Valdamort?"
 "Does Sleeping Beauty wake up?".  As you can see from my examples, it is the question that will drive your story telling.

The middle section of the plot take most of the space, because it is where you expand your story.  The characters grow, and where most of the problems arise for your protagonist. The middle is also where the core action takes place and your struggles grow.

The final section is the end section.  This is the section where everything comes together. ** "The end generally follows a pattern that could be called the three C"s"--Crisis, climax and consequences.  The crisis is the point where tension hits its maximum, and the climax is where the tension breaks and where we get the answer to our major dramatic question.  Then, the consequences , are alluded to at the very end of the piece."

Enjoy the video for today from Anne Rice: Developing Plot  http://youtu.be/xJX8uX_mjwM

** Writing Fiction by Gotham Writers Workshop

Do You Need Action, Baby?

As a writer, we all want action.  We want the action in our writing.  We want action to keep our readers interested and to keep the story moving along.  Would you read a book that did’t have any action written into it. Even the Bible had action within it’s stories.  Action can be oe of the methods of revealing a character.  Actions are all revealing, but in a crisis your character can reveal his/her true character, intentions.

Flannery O’Connor, once made the statement “If you put fourteen characters in the exact same circumstances, you should get fourteen very different courses of action and approaches to the situation; fourteen different illustrations of what each character will do?”
What sounds better to you?  John walked to the store, hiding as he went, or John ran to the store, dodging in and out of doorways to hide from the men in the black chevy.
Action can also help define your sceane.  Did John walking and hiding make you want to read more?  Did it tell you anything about John?

John running told you he was in a hurry, dodging in and out of doorways, shows you he was trying to be crafty.  Did you want to know why he is hiding in dorrways from the men?  Do you want to read on.  Action gives our stories interest by grabbing the reader and carrying him/her on through the story.
Do you Need Action, Baby?  That’s my two-cents for today.

Video today is Bald Worm on action scenes:  http://youtu.be/SxOD4zMFGzk

Creating Characters Part II

How do you get your characters?  Do you think about them for a long period of time and have them fully fleshed out in your mind before you start writing, or do you let them develope themselves.
I believe I blogged in an earlier blog, my characters in "The Tower" took on a life of their own and just were there.  I would come up with a name, and my main character developed as my story went along, plus several others.  I don't think there is a right or wrong way, unless you tend to have very flat one dimensional characters.

My characters for "The Tower," was not based on anyone I knew.  When my sister read the book she knew my main character was her.  I just let her go on thinking down that line.  Maybe she was, but it was on a unconsious level from me.

When it comes to your characters development there are questions you can ask yourself that will help the development.  Below is a list of possible questions.

1.  What is your character's name?  Is there a nick name?
2.  What is the character's hair and eye color?
3.  Any distinct physical features?  Scar, long eye lashes, birthmark, tatoo, ect.
4.  Who are your characters family and friends?  Who is the character closest to?
5.  Where and when was your character born?
6.  What type of personality does your character have?
7.  What is your characters desires and fears?
8.  Does your character have a secret?
9.  Where does your character live?  What type of abode? House, apartment, tent, ect.
10.  What does your character do when he/she is angry?

The questions can go on and on and with each answer you develop your character.  You man not use all of the information, but you have it, if needed.

If you are writing a story about good versus bad, then you would need to develop two characters, the protagonist(good) and the antagonist(bad).  You want to develop round characters and this can be accomplished with a little bit of thought and time for your characters.
Enjoy the video:  Joyce Carol Oates - On Writing Characters
http://youtu.be/LgJ809QKmas

Who Is That Character?

I decided I want to talk about sentences on today's blog.  So what is a sentence?    I have always thought you had to have a noun and a verb to have a sentence.  You can make sentences simple or compound with multiple clauses.

During critiquing of writings, I have come across a list of words with periods after them.  When I see a period I think there should be a sentence in front of it not a single word.  I am not talking about the alphabet going down the page with a period after each letter.  An example would be a conversation between two people that goes like this:

"I have missed you."
"Yeah, I know."
"A lot."    Is this a sentence?

Complete sentences have five parts to them. 1.) Capital letter   2.) Subject
3.)Predicate    4.) Complete thought  5.) Terminal Punctuation.

Everyone who writes knows the first letter of a sentence is Capitalized.

A predicate of a complete sentence is the action that is going on in the sentence. In other words, a verb shows action, a predicate is a how the verb is used in the sentence.

A sentence requires a complete thought.  It can't stop midway.  An example would be The car drove.  To be a complete sentence the thought process as to be completed.  The care drove itself down the highway.

Terminal Punctuation:  What goes at the end of the sentence.  We have a number of those to choose from: periods, comas, question marks, ect.

Complete sentences help us  convey the message we want conveyed to our readers.  We all are in the habit of making little notes and calling it a sentence.  In this day of Twitter, short cuts are used to convey the twitter message.  I don't believe the Twitter style of writing has helped in educating the young people of today, the importance of being able to write a complete sentence, but that's another blog topic.
Video: Write Powerful, elegant sentences    
 http://youtu.be/HZAofDIkjjo
That's my two-cents for today.

Who Is That Character?

I’ve been told you must know your characters.  Your main characters desires should be known.  If you want your character to gather the sympathy from your readers then give the character a strong desire.  What is being strived for, a new job, romance, riches, knowledge.  If your character doesn’t have a need, do you think your readers will find excitement in your book. How do you say “boring?”

You have to make your character multidimensional, and not leave him flat.  What creates the most vivid picture, 3D or regular television?   It is a matter of contrast in your characters.  As humans we are very complicated and you have to show that complication in your characters also. That way your reader can really get interested in your character.

You may also be tempted to make your character all good or all bad.  Both sides should be shown in your character.  “Dan thought his head would blow off he’s neck at any time.  His night out at the bar  has messed him up one more time.  He has to get up, and get to the church, because he is teaching Sunday School today.”  This sentence showed a man who appears to have a problem with alcohol (bad side), and he teaches Sunday School (good side.)  It shows at least two side of Dan.

Your contrasts should be worked into your story, so they do not become road blocks for the reader.  You want your story to keep moving forward.  You can have your character step out from the usual character portrayed as long as the tendency has been shown before.  That way it is not a stopping point.

Gotham’s  “Writing Fiction” states,” your characters should have the ability to change and the reader should know it.  Change is particularly important for a story’s main character.  Just as the desire of a main character drives the story, the character’s change is often the story’s culmination.”

This doesn’t mean your main character has to change but the reader should always know change is possible.  Predictability is created if you do not give the character the potential to change.
I have covered a few ways to help you create a character that your reader can get to know.  The video today is on creating characters.     That is my two-cents for today.
http://youtu.be/8VoZNlvSpdE   PS this video gives lots of  good information, but there is cafe noise in the background.

Are You Crafty?

I don’t mean making things.  I’m actually going to talk about the craft of writing.  Knowing the craft of writing means knowing the rules such as showing the story, not telling it.
It’s said writing becomes easier if you know the craft behind it.  Knowing the craft can get you to the end product faster, because you aren’t stalled trying to figure out if, what you have written works in the mind of the reader.  It was pointed out in one of my many books I read, you should study the masters of writing such as painters study the masters of painting.

Read what you like to read, because more than likely that’s what you want to write also.  Why do you like to read the particular books you do?  The main thing to watch for  emulating your favorite writers in books is not to imitate the writing.  You have to know the difference between emulating and imitation.

Why do you write fiction?  For me it’s the creation aspect of what ever topic I’m dealing with at the time.  In my Gotham “Writing Fiction,” one person wrote “Writing puts me into a world that has not been created yet.  Another person wrote, “It’s the only socially acceptable way to be a compulsive liar.”  Everyone has their own reason for writing what they do.

Knowing the craft of writing is the “building blocks of creative writing.”  It encompasses the development of your  characters, the plot, the dialogue, style and point of view.  So you can see how important it is to develop the knowledge of your craft (writing).
It’s hard for me to imagine my words may someday cause a person to say “wow,” when they’re read.  I want to learn the craft of writing and develop it to a point it will consistently receive those “wow” remarks.

That’s my two-cents for today.
http://youtu.be/R1TbTCDHKRY