I'm the queen of bad selfies. Even when I do my makeup and apply a number of filters to my picture, I still manage to look weird. I would enjoy being a beautiful selfie master. Heck, I'd even accept one beautiful pic of me at this point.
But is this the kind of mentality you want to apply to your writing?
Of course, you may be saying, What's better than people thinking my writing is beautiful?
Answer: when it takes the reader out of the story.
You've been there, I'm sure. You're reading a novel, completely invested in the characters and plot, and then suddenly you stumble upon a description so beautiful that you have to stop and reread it. You write it down, take its picture, or find it scrawled on Pinterest.
You may think, wow that passage was great, or that metaphor was superb. But really, what just happened?
Answer: you were pulled out of the story.
Even if it's just for a second, losing the reader is losing the reader. Whether they're confused or too stunned by your writing, it's a bad scenario.
So, make sure you're writing for the characters and plot of the story and kill those darling passages you think too beautiful to leave out. Cut them right out of the page and save them in a separate word document. Who knows, maybe you'll need a beautiful Tweet or social media update that you can use that beautiful passage for. But, as strange as it sounds, your fiction isn't the place to showcase just how wonderfully you can write. Fiction is about the story, the emotions, and the actions of the characters. You are simply the catalyst they're using to come to life.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Dialogue Woes
I'm back from my southern vacation. Half of me is glad to be home 1) with my rabbit 2) in my usual routine, and 3) at my job/with my friends again. The other half of me really wishes all these lovely reasons existed in North Carolina right now and I wouldn't have to come back to Wisconsin cold ever again.
It was while contemplating this ambiguity in my own life that I jumped into revising my YA novel and noticed just how convoluted the dialogue in the opening scene was. Yes, that's right - THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF MY MANUSCRIPT - was confusing.
After quickly thanking my mind for forgetting whatever kind of 'artistic statement' I was previously trying to pull off in that dialogue pre-vacation, I got down to a major overhaul.
Now, it's no secret that I struggle with beginnings. (See this post "Beginnings, The Bane of My Existence" as evidence.) But this time, it was different. I knew I was starting in the right place. My inciting incident was clear and defined and I had a complete grasp on it. I had worked tirelessly pre-vacation to make sure it was not-quite-as-subtle for readers.
But reading it over post-vacation, I noticed just how crappy - yes, downright crappy - the dialogue was. I couldn't even make out what the inciting incident was around all the convoluted dialogue. In the scene, the protagonist is having a conversation with her boss about her performance at work. Seems simple enough, right?
Obviously not for pre-vacation me.
When the protagonist spoke, the response from the other character didn't relate at all to what the protagonist had just said.
If I dramatize it, it looked something like this:
Makes no sense, right?
Then, the stage directions (the things happening around the protagonist, or the action of the characters in the scene) were just as convoluted. Sweat was dripping, noses were being wiped, time and space itself was shifting in the dust motes around the refrigerator between every exchange.
Between the confusing dialogue and the excess amount of direction, I'm surprised any of my beta readers got through it at all.
But here's the lesson I want everyone to get from this:
I first tried to fix the dialogue by replacing and rewriting on the old pre-vacation version. However, I kept looking ahead to see, "what I really needed to keep" and "what passages were really beautiful".
It wasn't until I opened a new computer document and wrote the dialogue from scratch that I had a breakthrough. It wasn't until I let my characters free from their dust mote surroundings and artsy, thesaurus-heavy dialogue that the true magic of dialogue burst free. Suddenly, without me worrying about how I would fit in the burnt coffee metaphor, my dialogue and stage business basically fixed themselves. The characters interacted, the dialogue flowed, what stage business occurred was important and interesting, and most crucially, not distracting.
So, if you're stressed and tired and on the verge of tears over a section of manuscript - take a break, forget your intentions, and when you come back, start fresh. It'll be hard, but remember - that original version will always be there. Where else can you take the story? What other great things can you do?
It was while contemplating this ambiguity in my own life that I jumped into revising my YA novel and noticed just how convoluted the dialogue in the opening scene was. Yes, that's right - THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF MY MANUSCRIPT - was confusing.
After quickly thanking my mind for forgetting whatever kind of 'artistic statement' I was previously trying to pull off in that dialogue pre-vacation, I got down to a major overhaul.
Now, it's no secret that I struggle with beginnings. (See this post "Beginnings, The Bane of My Existence" as evidence.) But this time, it was different. I knew I was starting in the right place. My inciting incident was clear and defined and I had a complete grasp on it. I had worked tirelessly pre-vacation to make sure it was not-quite-as-subtle for readers.
But reading it over post-vacation, I noticed just how crappy - yes, downright crappy - the dialogue was. I couldn't even make out what the inciting incident was around all the convoluted dialogue. In the scene, the protagonist is having a conversation with her boss about her performance at work. Seems simple enough, right?
Obviously not for pre-vacation me.
When the protagonist spoke, the response from the other character didn't relate at all to what the protagonist had just said.
If I dramatize it, it looked something like this:
"I hate grilled cheese sandwiches," she said.
"Well, if you jumped off cliffs a little more often, maybe you wouldn't have that problem," he said.
Then, the stage directions (the things happening around the protagonist, or the action of the characters in the scene) were just as convoluted. Sweat was dripping, noses were being wiped, time and space itself was shifting in the dust motes around the refrigerator between every exchange.
Between the confusing dialogue and the excess amount of direction, I'm surprised any of my beta readers got through it at all.
But here's the lesson I want everyone to get from this:
I first tried to fix the dialogue by replacing and rewriting on the old pre-vacation version. However, I kept looking ahead to see, "what I really needed to keep" and "what passages were really beautiful".
It wasn't until I opened a new computer document and wrote the dialogue from scratch that I had a breakthrough. It wasn't until I let my characters free from their dust mote surroundings and artsy, thesaurus-heavy dialogue that the true magic of dialogue burst free. Suddenly, without me worrying about how I would fit in the burnt coffee metaphor, my dialogue and stage business basically fixed themselves. The characters interacted, the dialogue flowed, what stage business occurred was important and interesting, and most crucially, not distracting.
So, if you're stressed and tired and on the verge of tears over a section of manuscript - take a break, forget your intentions, and when you come back, start fresh. It'll be hard, but remember - that original version will always be there. Where else can you take the story? What other great things can you do?
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Planning The Perfect Routine (or, when bunnies are bound to attack)
It was a whopping 50 degrees here in northern Wisconsin and felt downright hot outside. Such a departure from the previous -20 degree nights and 5 degree days. We actually popped a window and felt warm, fresh air for the first time since September.
Spring, for me, means the arrival of warmer weather, puddles, and happier dispositions. It also marks my annual "getting out of here" vacation.
I'll be gone all next week (hint, hint: no new blog post next week - take a break for yourself, too) catching some much needed warmer temps in the southern portion of the USA.
To prepare for this trip, I had to write something new. A care instruction sheet for the person watching my rabbit while I'm away.
It was not more than a page and consisted mostly of bullet points detailing her morning, afternoon, and evening routines, and yet, it was one of the most important pieces I'd ever written. Without this care instruction sheet, the bunny-sitter would have no idea how to properly care for Bun. Without being able to read through her routine, the sitter would not understand why Bun was biting his ankles profusely at seven o'clock in the evening. Without a perfectly understandable and direct care sheet, the unneeded stress inflicted upon the sitter and my Bun would be immense.
And it hit me that something so mundane as writing out a daily routine could mean a great deal if done improperly.
In the moment I reread the care instructions before printing a few copies (in case the first copy was lost, then the backup lost, and the backup's backup lost) I thought of my protagonists daily routines. No doubt he/she has one. Perhaps it's like my rabbit's and takes up, in single spaced font, an entire page. Perhaps their routine is less of an all-day occurrence and more of a morning ritual and bedtime custom.
Perhaps your protagonists lives are so unpredictable that they are reduced to single days in a week - I do laundry on Saturday...I eat fish on Fridays...I get coffee the first Monday of every month...no post on Sundays.
Whatever it is, your protagonists, like my Bun, expect their daily routine to go uninterrupted. And it is when there is an interruption that we have a story on our hands.
So, here's the steps I want you to take:
1. Write down your protagonist's daily routine. If it was the best, most predictable week of their lives, what would they do in the morning, afternoon, and evening of every day? What would their "normal" look like.
2. Implement your inciting incident. What throws the routine out of whack?
3. Document how this will interrupt the protagonist's natural flow of their routine. How will they react to this? What will they do to get things back to their normal?
Trust me, it's one thing to think you know their routine and quite another to have it sitting in front of you. When writing out Bun's routine, I'd thought it'd be simple: feed her this food at this time, clean her soiled litter box, give her cuddles, etc. But actually writing it out in detail caused me to truly focus on how much of a scientific method we have to our coexistence. Your protagonists will have this as well if you intend to make them real, tangible, believable people.
As the weather warms and you air out your house, take the time to stop and air out your novel and its main characters, too. Dive deep into what makes them them. If you do it now, it'll save you a lot of headaches down the road when you're revising for the umpteenth time and still can't get Janet's reaction to event X down pat, or when you're on a twenty-hour car ride to another state and the rabbit sitter can't find the correct bag of veg in the fridge to feed your starving Bun.
Do your planning now. Reap the rewards and relaxation later.
Spring, for me, means the arrival of warmer weather, puddles, and happier dispositions. It also marks my annual "getting out of here" vacation.
I'll be gone all next week (hint, hint: no new blog post next week - take a break for yourself, too) catching some much needed warmer temps in the southern portion of the USA.
To prepare for this trip, I had to write something new. A care instruction sheet for the person watching my rabbit while I'm away.
It was not more than a page and consisted mostly of bullet points detailing her morning, afternoon, and evening routines, and yet, it was one of the most important pieces I'd ever written. Without this care instruction sheet, the bunny-sitter would have no idea how to properly care for Bun. Without being able to read through her routine, the sitter would not understand why Bun was biting his ankles profusely at seven o'clock in the evening. Without a perfectly understandable and direct care sheet, the unneeded stress inflicted upon the sitter and my Bun would be immense.
And it hit me that something so mundane as writing out a daily routine could mean a great deal if done improperly.
In the moment I reread the care instructions before printing a few copies (in case the first copy was lost, then the backup lost, and the backup's backup lost) I thought of my protagonists daily routines. No doubt he/she has one. Perhaps it's like my rabbit's and takes up, in single spaced font, an entire page. Perhaps their routine is less of an all-day occurrence and more of a morning ritual and bedtime custom.
Perhaps your protagonists lives are so unpredictable that they are reduced to single days in a week - I do laundry on Saturday...I eat fish on Fridays...I get coffee the first Monday of every month...no post on Sundays.
Whatever it is, your protagonists, like my Bun, expect their daily routine to go uninterrupted. And it is when there is an interruption that we have a story on our hands.
So, here's the steps I want you to take:
1. Write down your protagonist's daily routine. If it was the best, most predictable week of their lives, what would they do in the morning, afternoon, and evening of every day? What would their "normal" look like.
2. Implement your inciting incident. What throws the routine out of whack?
3. Document how this will interrupt the protagonist's natural flow of their routine. How will they react to this? What will they do to get things back to their normal?
Trust me, it's one thing to think you know their routine and quite another to have it sitting in front of you. When writing out Bun's routine, I'd thought it'd be simple: feed her this food at this time, clean her soiled litter box, give her cuddles, etc. But actually writing it out in detail caused me to truly focus on how much of a scientific method we have to our coexistence. Your protagonists will have this as well if you intend to make them real, tangible, believable people.
As the weather warms and you air out your house, take the time to stop and air out your novel and its main characters, too. Dive deep into what makes them them. If you do it now, it'll save you a lot of headaches down the road when you're revising for the umpteenth time and still can't get Janet's reaction to event X down pat, or when you're on a twenty-hour car ride to another state and the rabbit sitter can't find the correct bag of veg in the fridge to feed your starving Bun.
Do your planning now. Reap the rewards and relaxation later.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
New Writing Inspiration Board
Have you guys been on Pinterest lately? As you know, I'm a self-professed Pinterest junkie. I have the app on my phone which only enables me to use it more often.
Because of this I've started a new Writing Board.
I'll have a plethora of different images and links there. From inspirational quotes, to photos of people writing *in the wild*, to writing prompts, and word charts. If it inspires, motivates, or makes me laugh, and relates to writing, it'll be on there.
So what are you waiting for? Go check it out: https://www.pinterest.com/alyssanedbal/writing/
If you haven't clicked the link above, and still need some convincing, here's a few examples of pins on my Writing Board. I promise there are more where these came from.
Because of this I've started a new Writing Board.
I'll have a plethora of different images and links there. From inspirational quotes, to photos of people writing *in the wild*, to writing prompts, and word charts. If it inspires, motivates, or makes me laugh, and relates to writing, it'll be on there.
So what are you waiting for? Go check it out: https://www.pinterest.com/alyssanedbal/writing/
If you haven't clicked the link above, and still need some convincing, here's a few examples of pins on my Writing Board. I promise there are more where these came from.
Happy Pinning ..... ahem...... I mean, Writing. :)
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