tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75457242765875199072024-03-13T06:22:34.479+00:00All Write - Fiction AdviceAdvice on creative writingAllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.comBlogger507125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-50207153859643483142022-01-23T15:53:00.000+00:002022-01-23T15:53:11.806+00:00Emotion in Writing – Part 2
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Part 1 looked at how to get the reader
to invest in the main character to help establish an emotional bond and create
characterisation so that they care about what happens to these characters.</span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">To continue to build emotion in
writing, writers must show the readers what to care about. Simply telling the
reader how a character feels doesn’t work because there is no emotion involved.
You have to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">show</i></b> emotion to your readers for them to feel what’s happening
with the story. To achieve that you need some well-worded description, which helps
to strengthen a story, but also evoke emotions. Without <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">showing</i></b>, you end up with ‘telling’.</span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">If you resort to ‘telling’ throughout
an important scene, then there will be no immediacy, no connection with the
main character and, ultimately, no emotion. The reader won’t care what happens
to the main character. That’s why it’s vital to describe a character’s physical
responses to the things going on around him/her, whether that’s a car chase, an
armed robbery, an accident, a birthday party or a wedding. All are reactions to,
and because of, emotion.</span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">In essence, the more you can give to
the reader, the more they will feel, because they will be totally immersed
within that scene or that character – they will be sharing the main character’s
journey, right from the opening paragraph of the story. Make them feel the sadness
of a situation, make them react with happiness to good news or show their anger
at something. Make use of physical descriptions and evocative imagery to
highlight or suggest emotion, nut also remember to use dialogue and internal
thoughts to also convey emotion and sentiment.</span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Description works because it brings
the reader closer to the story and the characters by <b><i>sharing </i></b>emotions.
</span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Something else that will bring emotion
to storytelling is the use of themes, because whatever the genre, there are some
themes that are, themselves, very emotive – things such as war, hatred, racism,
betrayal and love, as well as other themes like grief and death, discovery, growing
up and puberty, greed, jealousy and so on. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Emotive themes make for emotive
writing. For instance, a novel about the atrocities of war will create an
emotional impact with readers because of the subject matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A novel detailing the betrayal of an innocent
person’s battle with justice is also evocative, because the reader will
empathise and support the main character’s struggles and they’ll want fairness
and honesty to win the day. A light hearted story of growing up will likely be
amusing and invoke similar memories for the reader because of shared emotions. </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Every story has a theme, and each will
be emotive in some way, and some will really resonate with the reader because
they may have experienced something similar. Emotion brings familiarity,
because they are a shared experience, so remember that the more you give your
readers, the more they will feel.</span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">In Part 3, we’ll look at how conflict,
fear and the writer’s own experiences help to create emotion in writing.</span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-41281561166734488642021-11-14T17:44:00.000+00:002021-11-14T17:44:32.197+00:00Emotion in Writing
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">A story without emotion isn’t a story
worth reading.</span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Emotion is an undercurrent that runs
throughout a story, it’s the glue that holds together certain scenes and
situations and it also represents the sentiments and feelings each of your
characters at any given point. That’s because emotion can create a sense of
immediacy with your readers, a closeness that makes them empathise, understand
and care about the characters. </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">But why is emotion so important in
writing? </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Emotion is very closely linked to
conflict, so where’s there’s conflict, there’s emotion and where’s there’s
emotion, there is often conflict. They’re almost intertwined, and in fiction,
one entity cannot exist without the other. Conflict can therefore create an
endless list of emotions. </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">There are several ways that writers
can put emotion into their writing. The first thing is to ensure is that the
readers care about the protagonist. They want to be there for every step of the
journey, and to achieve that, you need a character that the reader will identify
with, someone who can be an intentional hero, someone ordinary who could be
extraordinary, someone who wants something so badly that they’d do anything to achieve
it. If the reader doesn’t care about your hero, they won’t care for the story
either, so establish a connection with the reader through shared emotions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, they might have had a bad
childhood. Or maybe they lost a loved one. Or maybe they were betrayed by
someone. Perhaps they have suffered a terrible trauma. Or maybe they’re trying
to find the truth about something. These are all shared emotions – we’ve all
experienced the same, in some capacity, and so will readers. They will
understand and empathise with the character, and so immediacy can be established.
</span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">In addition to the characterisation,
writers should provoke their readers by putting the main character in danger
throughout the story. Give them seemingly impossible dilemmas and obstacles and
put them through physical and emotional trauma. Make things difficult. Why?
Because whatever they go through, the reader also goes through it with them. </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">The act of overcoming obstacles, facing
problems, adversity and trauma will create a wide range of different emotions
for the characters involved, and the situations within the story make for
powerful emotional moments, the kind that the reader may also be familiar with
and maintains their emotional connection to the story. Readers will feel the
pain, the fear, the shock, the joy, the relief...everything you describe, they
will feel it. </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">In Part 2, we’ll look at how
description and emotive themes help with emotion in writing.</span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-11837393425418445632021-10-31T14:59:00.000+00:002021-10-31T14:59:08.753+00:00Pronouns and Descriptors
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Normally, pronouns tell the
reader who is speaking or doing an action – He/him, she/her, them, they, etc. Writers
can also use character names. Descriptors are what writers use to tell the
reader what or who<b><i> </i></b>the character is – usually a one or two word
description, for example, ‘the manager’ or ‘the victim.’ </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The use of pronouns means that
‘he said or she said’ are used extensively. This might sound intrusive to the
reader, but they’re not as invasive as writers think. That’s because readers
are so used to seeing them that they fade easily into the background without
distracting them. It’s only when writers detract from this pattern that pronouns
become less unobtrusive and more of a problem. They overuse descriptors and
pronouns. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">One common dilemma occurs if
all the characters in a scene are the same gender. This presents the problem of
differentiating between which character is speaking or doing the action as a
way to avoid them all being, ‘He said/he did this’ etc. If they’re all male,
which ‘he’ is speaking?</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">In this case, the use of character
names interspersed with a few well-placed descriptors can help the reader
distinguish between characters, without needing to overuse them, for example:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">‘There’s nothing on the
board about a meeting,’ Tom said. ‘Can’t attend if I don’t know about it.’</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">‘It was there, I can assure
you,’ the foreman, Tony, said.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Young Caleb’s voice filled
the room. ‘He probably took it down himself.’</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">‘Did not.’</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Tony sighed. ‘All right, you
two, knock it off.’</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The youngster peered at Tom
and chewed his jowls, but the older man didn’t respond to the bait.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">In this example there are
three men – Tony, Caleb and Tom, so to help readers follow who is talking, and
to avoid confusion, there’s a mix of a descriptor – in this case ‘foreman’ –
and the character names. That way, the writer can show each character talking and
the reader can easily keep track of who is saying what, without it being too confusing.
</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">This can be further improved
with descriptive beats between dialogue, which helps to pace the narrative and
break up dialogue, for example:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Amy pulled the bags from the
car. ‘This is it.’ She looked up at the cabin, then her two friends. ‘For the
next five days.’</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Jane got out the car. ‘Did
you remember everything?’ </span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Donna, eldest of the
sisters, shuffled from the back seat. ‘I hope so, otherwise we’re stuck.’ She
straightened. ‘We have wine, if that counts.’</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">‘I packed everything, trust
me,’ Amy said. She peered at Jane. ‘Including the wine.’</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The youngest sister smiled
back at Amy. ‘Exactly. The most important thing.’</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">In this example, where all
the characters are female, the writer has balanced the use of character names, pronouns,
descriptors and narrative beats between the dialogue to show who is talking and
doing an action. This keeps the flow and avoids confusing the reader.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Another common problem can
arise if the writer uses more descriptors than what is necessary to show which
character is talking or doing an action, especially when there are already <b><i>established</i></b>
characters within a scene. This happens because the writer doesn’t understand that
they don’t have to describe the speaker every time he or she talks, rather than
using a pronoun or their name, for example:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The</span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">prisoner</b> looked up. ‘I’m getting outta
here.’</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The
guard</span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> peered at David. ‘Sure you are, kid.’</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">‘I am.’</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">‘And how exactly you gonna
do that?’ <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the officer</b> asked.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The
condemned</span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> man shrugged. ‘You’ll see.’</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Here the writer has used too
many different descriptors – <i>the prisoner/ the guard/ the officer</i> –
rather than using their names, even though the characters would have been established
from the beginning of the story. These can sometimes be distracting for the
reader, but it also has a negative effect on establishing immediacy. Too many
descriptors tend to distance the character from the reader. It doesn’t create
any immediacy, so the reader will feel disconnected if you keep referring to
your character as ‘the prisoner’, ‘the guard’, ‘the condemned man’ etc. That’s
not to say you can’t use a descriptor from time to time, because one or two
sprinkled throughout the narrative keeps things interesting and breaks up the
‘he said/she said’ pattern, as the pervious examples have shown. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The idea with well-placed
descriptors is to maintain the emotional connection with the reader, for
example:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">David looked up. ‘I’m
getting outta here.’</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Officer McKinley peered at
him. ‘Sure you are, kid.’</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">‘I am.’</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">‘And how exactly you gonna
do that?’</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">David shrugged. ‘You’ll
see.’</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">In this example, the
character names have replaced the different descriptors. This shortens the
bridge from the character to the reader and creates immediacy, which is vital
to every story. Names are personal – descriptors are not.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">As with everything in
writing, it’s about balance. Make sure you use descriptors in the right
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t overuse them. Balance them
with the use of pronouns, character names when needed and narrative beats
between dialogue. That way, your reader will have no trouble with who your
characters are, and who is doing the talking and the action. </span></p>
AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-81893200813908739912021-10-17T16:26:00.000+01:002021-10-17T16:26:16.312+01:00Creating Tone
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">How
often do you think about the tone of your writing? You probably don’t, but it’s
something that enhances the story and creates different layers within the
narrative. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Tone
can work on different levels. There’s the main tone of the story and then there
are undercurrents of tone, or undertones. The overall tone of the story is normally
set out in the opening of the story and provides the reader with an idea of
what kind of story it is – a horror, a romance, a thriller etc., and it can
provide the pitch and resonance of the story to come. You can create the feel
of an entire novel with tone. For instance, the tone of horror novel could be
portrayed as dark, sinister or oppressive. The tone of a thriller might be shown
as fast and exciting, while a romance novel might be light and flowery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are overtones – they highlight to the
reader the type of novel they’re reading.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Then
there are undertones – the mood, the attitude and the presence that your words
can carry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Often, it’s all about <b><i>how</i></b>
we say things, rather than what we say, so the right words, in the right way,
help to express something explicit, or they infer something that is hidden
within the narrative. This allows you to create the tone for important scenes,
by focusing on different elements within the narrative, such as the background,
individual characters and also the kind of description you use. This helps to create
mood, atmosphere, emotion and context, which readers will notice, which in turn
will draw them deeper into the story.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">The
background can be used to subtly hint different things to the reader, for
example, there might be two characters meeting in a dark alley in the rain, so
the underlying the might be one of trepidation and anxiety, or it might exude a
sense of fear. In comparison, you might have a scene with characters sitting in
the sun by a harbour, so the tone might show a calm and relaxed undercurrent
and might show a sense of affection or love. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Vivid
imagery is also a great tone builder – how you describe things, as well
choosing the right descriptive words, can show the reader different
connotations, shades, emotions and moods. The dark alley example might use
longer descriptions that make use of a slow build up, with visuals the draw
from the environment, such as dark colours and shadows and different sounds
etc. The harbour scene could also make use of colours and sounds with colourful
descriptions, but might also highlight scents – the ocean air and the smell of
food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">In
addition to background and description, character attitudes or actions are also
useful to show tone. Their behaviours and traits and how they react to things
can evoke different moods and emotions, which layer the narrative with an
undercurrent – a certain tone. One character, for instance, might be moody and
overbearing with another character, so the tone could be seen as fearful. Or
you could have a character who is full of zest with others, which creates a warm,
fun tone.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">So when
you’re constructing your scenes, remember that the background, the characters
and the description can affect the tone of each scene. The overall tone of the
story doesn’t change, but undertones</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> can
change as the story develops, with different themes and moods that expand
within the story. These tones evolve as the story evolves, and that means your
story can develop deeper and more complex layers for readers to enjoy.</span></p>
AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-51903385707762021972021-09-26T15:43:00.001+01:002021-09-26T15:43:27.897+01:00Background Information
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Background information shouldn’t be confused
with backstory. When we talk of background, we’re referring to the peripheral
details that writers use to colour certain areas of the story. It provides
extra information for the reader and therefore makes the story more immersive. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Backstory refers to past events which form
the development of the character and story arcs, while background provides a
little bit of context to the action taking place in the present. <span><span style="color: #202124;">Background is all about the details that
can help layer a story and provide some depth, such as where and when the scene
is taking place, or subtle things that are happening within the scene. </span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">It’s important that you show the reader the
background for each scene, otherwise they won’t be able to build a picture in
their mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Writers often forget to
describe where the characters are in relation to a particular moment in the
story, which can make it difficult for the reader to follow what’s going on.
Readers need details. If there are no details, then there’s little point to any
story.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Hinting at the background needs only a few
sentences of description, but it lets the reader know that a particular scene
is taking place in a certain location. If you don’t tell the reader, they’re
left guessing, so it’s important to impart background information, for example.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">From his vantage point along the platform, he
noticed the haze of the sun that nipped into sight rom above the sloped roof of
the train station and coloured the sky with an inky blueness. The glow
highlighted contours on his face, and also the indentations of the clouds that
hung over the city, its underbelly a warm, golden hue. And then he noticed her
as she rushed towards him.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">‘Hope you haven’t been waiting long,’ she
said, breathless...</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">With this example, the reader knows instantly
that the characters are on a train platform, perhaps about to catch a train,
and it’s early evening. Imagine the same scene without any of that background:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">From his vantage point he noticed the haze of
the sun and coloured the sky with inky blueness. The glow highlighted contours
on his face, its underbelly a warm, golden hue. And then he noticed her as she
rushed towards him.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">‘Hope you haven’t been waiting long,’ she
said, breathless...</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Without the hints about where the characters
are in the scene, it makes it difficult for the reader to imagine it. It’s
unclear where the scene is taking place and it’s hard to know what time of day
it is. Snippets of information that provide background also give the reader
context. Your job as a writer is to ensure the reader is fully immersed in your
story, so it’s important to offer hints in the background to help them do that.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Remember that whenever you change scenes, provide
some details to the reader about where the scene is, and what is happening
around the characters, but also give them some interesting description so they
can picture that scene in their minds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Remember to show, rather than tell.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span><span style="color: #202124; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Background
can also refer to a character. </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Character background and character backstory
are pretty much the same, as someone’s past will always influence them in the
present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s all about the finer details
that the reader needs to know about each character so that it helps them build
a picture of them. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">A character’s background shapes who they are
in the present story, so certain bits of of information – things like the
people they have known, or events that have happened in the past – can be
weaved through the narrative at the right moment to help continually build an
image of the character in the reader’s imagination. Did they have a skilled job
in the past, which might help them in the present story?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do they have skills and experience in
different things, which they can call upon? How has their childhood shaped who
they are? Are they happy, sad or troubled?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What drives them?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">These kinds of elements can provide
background to<b><i> who</i></b> your main character is. That’s why it’s
important to know your characters well before you begin writing the story, that
way you won’t fall into the trap of stalling or hitting a writing blockage. Information
gives your reader context to the why and how of a story. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">So when you write each scene in your novel,
think about the background information that the reader needs and how they can
use that information to build a picture in their mind. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-29889225770415586842021-09-19T17:09:00.000+01:002021-09-19T17:09:39.455+01:00Fragmented Sentences – Are They Really Bad?
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Every writer who has used Word will be
familiar with the phrase ‘fragmented sentence’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s usually flagged up because it thinks the sentence is incomplete and
therefore not grammatically correct, for example:</span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"><em>A lot of rain.</em></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"><em>The children outside.</em></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">A fragmented sentence is a clause that is
missing a subject and a verb, so it appears as though it’s an incomplete
thought. The subject is the who or what of a sentence and it gives the reader extra
information within the sentence. And without a subject, there is nothing and no
one to complete the action, which means the sentence is expressing an
incomplete thought – it appears fragmented, for example:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"></p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">A lot of time and effort.</span></i></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></p></span><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">As it stands, this sentence doesn’t form a
complete thought – it’s doesn’t have a subject or a verb.</span><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">The verb tells the reader what the subject is doing, so
if there is no verb, readers won’t have a complete picture. The inclusion of a
verb provides the action in the sentence, for example: </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"></p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">A lot of time and effort would bring him
results.</span></i></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></p></span><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">In this revised sentence, a subject (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">results</i>) is now included, as well as a
verb (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bring</i>), which turns the sentence
into a dependent clause. The sentence is now grammatically correct and shows
the reader a complete thought.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Some fragmented sentences are easy to spot
when you read back through your work, while others are not as easy. Word will
point out all of fragments, but some will be correct sentence fragments and
others will be incorrectly flagged as a fragment. This is where it becomes less
black or white, because not all sentence fragments are bad or necessarily
grammatically incorrect. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">There are occasions where writers use deliberately
use sentence fragments to their advantage to create context or dramatic effect,
for example:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">He</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> remained cold,
somewhat detached from his swollen anger. He was glad of John’s demise. Drowned
in a pool of his own blood.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here
the effect is dramatic and blunt. The deliberately fragmented sentence adds to
the tone, so ‘drowned in his own blood’ is a bold statement to the reader. But
while it may not be entirely grammatically correct, and it’s not a complete thought,
the preceding sentences have a relationship with the fragment, so when read as
a whole, it all makes sense because it’s telling us that the character is glad
of John’s demise, and then tells us how it happened. If the sentence were
placed on its own, then it wouldn’t make a lot of sense, because it has no
tangible relationship to any other sentences.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Fragmented
sentences can also be one word, for example.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Voices. He was sure they were there.
In the shadows. </span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
this example, ‘Voices’ is a fragment because it doesn’t have a verb or a
subject to complete a thought. Also, ‘In the shadows’ is also a fragment. But
to create the right dramatic effect, the writer has deliberately fragmented
them to show the reader the mood and tone.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Context is everything. It’s up to the writer
to decide if they want to use a fragmented sentence to create a specific effect
for the reader, or whether to correct the fragment. Writers who use them correctly
show an awareness of how to create tone, and can command the reader’s attention,
but used incorrectly, they could have the opposite effect.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Fragmented sentences are not all bad. They
can enhance the writing. Just know how to use them to your advantage, and when
not to use them.</span></p>
AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-33886451347854290692021-09-12T16:54:00.001+01:002021-09-12T16:54:38.516+01:00Finding Connection
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Finding
connection is all about the ability to connect with the reader through your
story and your characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why? Because
everything within the story should be relatable to the reader – something they
understand, sympathise with or have experienced.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The moment
the reader makes that connection with the story and the main character, that’s
when then the story takes on a deeper meaning – the moment the reader will care
and become emotionally invested in what happens to the characters and the
story. They’re not just reading a story; they’re being part of it.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Finding connection isn’t as difficult as it sounds. It happens when you
create a sense of <b><i>immediacy</i></b>, which is like an invisible bond; a
sense of familiarity. Immediacy can be achieved through your characters, so the
characters you create play an important role in establishing a connection with
the reader. They have to be likeable and believable people. That’s why readers
are drawn to ordinary people whose circumstances they can understand and relate
to, people they can empathise with and feel emotion towards, and grow closer to
as the story progresses. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In a 3<sup>rd</sup>
person story, immediacy can also be achieved by showing the reader a character’s
emotions and vulnerabilities using a combination of dialogue, internal thoughts
and description. Used together, these elements provide the reader with valuable
insights into the character; it delves into their inner emotions and thoughts;
those not always visible on the surface. It shows the reader the real aspects
of someone’s character and makes them understand them better – it allows the
reader to delve into a character’s head.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The 1<sup>st</sup>
person viewpoint creates a much closer connection than is found with 3<sup>rd</sup>
person, because the main character, the ‘I’ of the story, is communicating <b><i>directly</i></b>
with the reader. The reader will see things only through the protagonist’s
eyes, so those inner thoughts and feelings are more exaggerated and focused.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Emotion is
another way of finding connection with the reader. That’s because all emotions
are relatable – readers will have experienced the same emotions as your
characters, which </span><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">makes them sympathise and empathise with your character’s
struggles. That’s because familiarity creates connection. The more things we
have in common with others, the closer the connection we feel, so by showing more
emotion within the story, writers can draw the reader in through that sense of familiarity,
and therefore make them care about those characters.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The element
of danger is something else that pulls the reader closer to the story and your
characters. If you put your characters in danger, you create circumstances that
build tension and drama – which, like emotion, are both relatable to the reader.
While immediacy and emotion help make the reader care about the protagonist, the
added element of fear </span><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">and danger will lure the reader into the story
because they <b><i>need</i></b> to know what will happen to the hero/heroine;
they will need to know if they will be okay.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">That sense of connection can also be accomplished with your story’s themes,
because all themes are relatable to the reader, whether it’s love, loss,
betrayal, forgiveness, revenge, friendship and so on. Once again, it’s
familiarity that brings the reader closer. In this case, strong themes create a
stronger connection. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">So if you want to find a way of connecting to your readers and making them
care, create believable, multifaceted characters, utilise immediacy, use emotion
and use strong themes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></p>
AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-45783323220644392182021-09-05T16:24:00.003+01:002021-09-05T16:24:53.950+01:00Use Semicolons to Your Advantage
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">It seems that many writers
don’t understand the semicolon, or they don’t know how or when to use it. Some
writers just don’t like it and never use it in their writing, which is a shame,
because the semicolon is such a versatile little thing, and when used
correctly, it can change the dynamic of a sentence. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The semicolon (;) isn’t a comma
and it’s not a full stop. Whereas a comma indicates a brief pause to separate
two independent clauses, and a full stop indicates the end of a sentence, the
semicolon is considered stronger than a comma because while it can act as a
brief pause, it can draw the reader’s attention to something specific in the
narrative and can add context and it can bring clarity to your sentences. Writers
use it to emphasise a connection of elements within a sentence, as well as to
separate those elements within the sentence.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">A semicolon is most commonly used between two
independent clauses (stand-alone sentences), in the absence of a co-ordinating
conjunction (words such as <i>for, but,</i> <i>and</i>, <i>so etc.</i>), for
example:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The street lamp glimmered; shadows curled in wait.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In this example, the semicolon separates the two independent
clauses, yet it also links them together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This creates a different feel – a sense of immediacy. The dynamic of the
sentence would be different if treated separately, for example:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The street lamp glimmered. Shadows curled in wait.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The use of a full stop
separates the two sentences, and this presents a slightly different context to
the narrative. The full stop is literal – the reader will stop, and then read
the next sentence, so there is no sense of immediacy. These two sentences can
also be further separated by a co-ordinating conjunction, for example:</span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The street lamp glimmered and shadows curled in
wait.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Here, the co-ordinating
conjunction ‘and’ links the two sentences, and again, the feel of the narrative
is different to the other two examples. This is why it’s important for writers
to choose <b><i>how</i></b> they present sentences to the reader, because emphasis
and meaning is everything, and semicolons are a great way to emphasise the
connection and immediacy between words within sentences.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">In a similar way, writers
can use a semicolon where there are lists separated by commas, for example:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">John picked up the
flashlight, rope, knife, and hooks; he knew the fear, determination, <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">and the pain it would cause, but it
would be worth it.</span></span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text1;">The map showed the north side, south side, ground floor, and upper floors;
areas of interest, places to investigate; doors and shafts and huge empty
halls.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;">The examples show
how the semicolon not only separates independent sentences </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">joined
with a coordinating conjunction (<i>and, but, yet etc.</i>), but helps to limit
the number of commas required. This</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"> highlights the
slight pauses where they need to be, but also the semicolons separate the
clauses without making the narrative stutter. It’s a good way to make a sentence
complex, yet smooth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;">Another way to use
the semicolon is to place it between two independent clauses which are linked
by a transitional expression. A transitional phrase or expression contains conjunctive
adverbs that are </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">used to join independent clauses (words such as <i>accordingly</i>,
so, <i>consequently</i>, <i>nevertheless</i>, <i>thus</i>), </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">so
when you when you join the independent clauses, use a semicolon, </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">for
example:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">She hated the way he had spoken to her; consequently, she tried not to
let her emotions show.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The need to keep track of him seemed difficult; nevertheless, a new strategy
appeared likely.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Of course, some sentences just
don’t need a semicolon because they don’t have linked elements, or they can’t
be connected in any way, so commas or full stops do the job.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">One very common mistake that
writers make is to use the semicolon in place of the comma, usually by placing
a semicolon between a dependent clause and an independent clause, for example:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Because the flowers were in
bloom; the colours became so vibrant. </span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The example is
ungrammatical. In this case, the dependent clause (<i>Because the flowers were
in bloom</i>) should be separated from the independent clause (<i>the colours
became so vibrant</i>), by a comma.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The same is true for
separating items in a list – that’s also the job of a comma.</span></p><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Pay
close attention to the placement of semicolons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If used correctly, and sparingly, they can change your narrative in
different ways by making certain things stand out to the reader or by adding
context or depth to create the right effect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They’re useful for a reason, so don’t for get to use them.</span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span></p></span><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><br /></p>
AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-14174932032440407612021-08-05T17:29:00.000+01:002021-08-05T17:29:14.695+01:00Give Your Novel Structure
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Give Your Novel Structure</span></span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Story
structure is the basic framework for the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How it’s constructed is down the writer, but to give your novel a good structure,
you need to know all the working elements of a great story – a tight plot,
underlying themes, unforgettable characters, an exciting beginning, escalating
action, drama, conflict, emotion, plot twists and, of course, a satisfactory ending.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The
narrative structure should allow the reader to understand what is happening to
the characters and understand why the story is happening by using an almost
invisible step process. Most people think of story structure as a three-act
type of framework – the beginning, the middle and the end, but that’s quite
vague and doesn’t truly capture the different aspects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Story structure doesn’t have to be very
complicated. </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">A
basic narrative framework follows a general pattern, something that has a catalyst - an instigating incident that starts the story, followed by escalating actions as the story progresses, with high stakes for maximum tension, with lots of crises and a catastrophe or two, which all leads to a denouement, the conclusion, and then finally, the resolution. </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">The
catalyst</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"> – This is the incident that
begins the story and immediately changes the protagonist’s life. It’s a
definitive moment that establishes the main story and themes. It’s the hook
that grabs the reader’s interest and it shouldn’t let go. </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Escalating
action</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"> – The protagonist must pursue
their goal (save the world, fall in love with the girl, or whatever the goal
happens to be).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At each turn, he or she will
face different problems, dilemmas and obstacles designed to thwart their
efforts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Some
writers talk about plot points – plot point 1, then 2 and so on, but plot
points are not formulaic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plot points
only occur <b><i>because of the preceding actions</i></b> of the main
characters, so they could come at any time during the story. So rather than
count plot points, it’s easier to understand escalating actions and crisis
points, which are designed to build tension, create conflict and provide the
reader with lots of nail-biting drama.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">High
stakes – </span></b><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Someone or something will be
at stake if the protagonist doesn’t reach his or her goal. Failure would be
catastrophic, so it’s imperative the main character does whatever he or she can
to reach that goal. The higher the stakes, the higher the tension, atmosphere,
conflict and drama.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Crises
and Catastrophe</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"> – A great story
should have a moment within the story when the protagonist thinks he or she has
failed in their quest – all seems hopeless. It’s the lowest point for your
protagonist. An impending catastrophe or inevitable crisis looms - how will he
or she possibly get out of the situation?</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Well,
that’s the question the reader will ask. It’s also the same question that will
keep them glued to the story.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Denouement
– </span></b><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">The story races towards its
conclusion - all the tension, conflict, drama, revelations and plot twists
culminate into the conclusion of the story, which is usually defined by a final
conflict with the antagonist, and results in the protagonist defeating the
antagonist and ultimately, reaching their goal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Or not, as the case might be. (No one said there must be a happy
ending). </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">At
this point, a new dynamic is established – the protagonist will have lost
something or someone, won the fight and developed as a person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They will have learned something about
themselves or others. </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Resolution</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"> – All the plot threads are briefly resolved, and any
remaining questions for the reader are answered, leaving them satisfied with
the ending.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">There’s
nothing complicated about story structure. It’s the simple step process all
writers can follow as a template. How it’s constructed is down to the writer,
but it will give the story a basis to work to.</span></span></p>
AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-83999262578020914922021-07-25T17:12:00.000+01:002021-07-25T17:12:17.730+01:00Creating Anticipation<p>
<br /></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Anticipation isn’t at the
forefront of a writer’s mind, but it’s an equally important element for creating
a good, page turning story.</span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Isn’t anticipation the same
as tension?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not quite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Writers use tension like a rubber band, they
flex it to heighten tense moments during a story and then loosen their grip
when they want to relax things or lull the reader into a false sense of
security, but creating anticipation is a little different. </span><br /></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">A sense of anticipation is
all about <b><i>expectation</i></b>. The reader is expecting something to happen;
they’re expecting Character A will do something drastic, they’re expecting the
story to conclude with a showdown…and so on. In a way, the reader is quietly
predicting what will happen as the story unfolds, so writers need to divert
that expectation so that the plot isn’t as predictable as readers think. And
the way writers do that is by creating uncertainty and doubt to develop a
different sense of anticipation.</span><br /></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Think of a football
competition – one team will win, and one team will lose. That part is certain.
But it’s the anticipation of <b><i>which</i></b> team will win or lose that
creates the uncertainty, because nothing is certain until the final whistle. We
expect our team to win, but they could also lose. </span><br /></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Expectation and doubt create
anticipation. </span><br /></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">In other words, the story
shouldn’t be what the reader expects. It should generate that doubt and
uncertainty, because maybe the protagonist might not be able to reach his or
her goal, maybe an important character dies, or perhaps there is a possibility
that the bad guy could win and possibly the protagonist might die.</span><br /></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">That doubt about what might happen entices the reader to keep turning
the page, because what they think is a certainty actually isn’t – so they have
to keep going to see if their intuitions could be right. By introducing doubt
to outcomes, the reader will feel more of an emotional impact with the
protagonist as they deal with the different problems and dilemmas – and more so
if you have created a sense of immediacy and a strong connection right from
chapter one. The reader needs to care about the characters and what will happen
to them, otherwise that sense of anticipation won’t work.</span><br /></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Writers are master manipulators – they constantly exploit the reader’s
emotions, play on their inner fears, give them false hope and deliberately lead
them. They introduce doubt that nothing is certain, which makes it hard for the
reader to predict what might happen. They won’t really know what’s coming<a name="more"></a>.</span><br /></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There are a few ways to introduce doubt to outcomes and create some
anticipation:</span><br /></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Don’t let your main character win all the time. No character should be
successful all the time. The reality is that everyone fails at something at
some point – whether that’s through behaviour, making errors, being
overconfident or just not paying attention.</span><br /></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Make your characters vulnerable - they will have emotions, fears and
anxieties that we all experience. Vulnerability leads to weakness. </span><br /></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Don’t make scenarios a sure thing. For example, the reader will expect
the hero to crack the bomb code and save the girl…but what if he doesn’t crack
the code? What if he’s thwarted? What if someone finds him? By not cracking the
code, he can’t save the girl…yet. Everything is thrown into doubt, which
creates uncertainty. But because of the doubt, the writer can create a new
sense of anticipation to control the reader – will the hero escape and still
save the girl? Even though that could still happen, it’s not a certainty.</span><br /></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Make it so that that the reader can expect the unexpected. Don’t let
them get too comfortable, and don’t make your writing predictable. Instead, create
doubt. Rip that sense of certainty from them. </span></p><p>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Make the reader
question everything.</span></p>AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-41449077542656527002021-07-13T16:22:00.000+01:002021-07-13T16:22:25.640+01:00How To Recognise and Avoid Heavy Narration
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Every story requires
narration – it’s the glue that binds the dialogue and the description to the
framework of your story, but if not done correctly, it can cause problems for
writers.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The narration in a novel is
most often either first person or third person. It’s the informative stuff that
the reader needs to help them follow the story – background information, facts,
non-active description and character revelation. Narration is the ‘telling’
part of writing, not the showing.</span><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">It fills the gaps between description, active
scenes, and dialogue. It’s an essential part of storytelling, but as with so
many things when it comes to writing, it’s easy to provide too much of it.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">When used correctly,
narrative can help to control pace – it can slow the story when necessary. This
allows the reader to take a breather from the action while they process prior
information or events. It also gives the writer time to establish background
details, give more information, move the story to the next scene and so on. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">A good story should have a
balance of narration, dialogue and description. If there is more dialogue than
narrative or description, then it’s dialogue heavy, which can overshadow the
other working elements. The same is true if there is too much narrative or too
much description. The idea is to maintain all three elements in equal measure
to give the reader a rounded, good story. One should not dominate the other. So,
too much narration can cause problems with the flow of the story. It can slow
the pace in places where it shouldn’t need to slow down, and it can inadvertently
suppress active scenes. When we’re in the flow of writing, we don’t always pay
attention to how much or what we’re writing, so how do you recognise too much
narration?</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The easiest way to spot narrative
problems is to read back through your story. You’ll soon notice if there’s too
much tedious narration that doesn’t tell the reader anything useful, or whether
there are too many pages of overly long narration (info dumping), without much
else happening.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">It is possible, however, to
spot problems during writing. Try to take notice of what you write. If you
think there doesn’t seem to be enough dialogue or description, yet the
narrative plods on for page after page without anything particularly happening,
then this is a strong indication that there is too much tedious narrative. This
happens when a writer describes mundane things in detail, for example, a
character leaving the house to drive into town – they will describe the
character picking up their keys, checking the house, stepping out, closing the
door, walking to the car, getting into the car, starting the car and pulling
away etc. In truth, all that’s really needed is a concise sentence:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">He grabbed his keys, left
the house and drove into town.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">If you see heavy narrative
passages or long blocks of narration, simply pare it back, because most of it
will be surplus to requirements. Instead, allow some more dialogue and
description into your scenes to balance things. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Another thing you should
learn to recognise is an info dump. Info dumping is when a writer floods page
after page with background information – usually of past events, near the
beginning of the story or even the first chapter – in the belief that the
reader won’t understand the story without it, and that it also enhances the
plot. The reality is that it doesn’t enhance the plot and readers don’t need
huge chucks of information thrown at them to make them understand what’s
happening. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Instead, use <b><i>indirect
exposition. </i></b>This is a way of drip-feeding vital information to the reader
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">when
it’s necessary</i></b>; a little morsel at a time. That way, it’s possible to
keep the narrative brief and to the point so that it doesn’t clog the flow of
the story and doesn’t send your reader to sleep.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The art of good narration is to balance it with your description and
dialogue and remember to keep it fairly brief. Don’t info dump at the beginning
(or anywhere else in the novel) and don’t make narrative passages overly long
by describing everything that’s happening in a scene. </span></p>
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Impart the reader <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">only </i></b>with
information that is necessary to move the story forward. Keep it brief, keep it
concise and keep it pertinent, and always keep an eye out when you read back
through your work. That way, you’ll learn to spot when you’re writing too much
narration.</span>AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-2657658098748326452021-07-06T16:31:00.001+01:002021-07-06T16:31:30.056+01:00The Ability to Control Time – Part 2
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
</p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br /></p><span style="font-family: Arial;"><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">The great thing about fiction writing is
that writers can manipulate time to move the story forward; however, there are also
times that need to move the story <b><i>backward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></b></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">This is the premise of a flashback or
indirect recollection.</span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Part 1 looked at how to move the story
forward to clearly show the reader the passing of time – known as transition –
so that they understand a period of time has continued from one scene or
chapter to another, without confusing things. That ability to control time in a
novel gives the writer the freedom to <b><i>show</i></b> much more to the
reader than reality would allow. </span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">In order to tell the entire story, time
must be controlled, whether that’s going forward or backward. That way, the readers
can that see that some events that have happened in the past directly relate to
the present story. If used correctly, the use of flashback – known as analepsis
– is a good way of providing necessary or vital information to the reader to
keep the story moving forward, and to retain the reader’s interest. A well
written flashback provides more context and depth, not only to the story, but
also to the characters, since what has happened to them in the past directly
influences how they behave in the present.</span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">The structure of a flashback, while not
complicated, means that most of them slow the pace, because they’re recollections
(unless the flashback is actually action packed), so it’s important to know
when to place a flashback without interrupting the flow of your story. For
example, don’t place a flashback during or just before an action scene because
this will disrupt the story, kill the pace (and the action) and it will frustrate
your reader. </span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Think about <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">why</i></b> the flashback is
needed and what it wants to impart to the reader and how it affects the
present. Often they are most effective towards the beginning or in the middle
of your story.</span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Flashbacks are distinguished by way of
their structure – the verb tense changes to past pluperfect tense, which is<span style="background: white; color: #191919;"> the past tense of the verb </span><em style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">to have (had)</span></em><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> + the past participle of the main verb.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;">
This shows the reader that time has moved from present to sometime in the past,
for instance: </span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">He sipped his coffee and thought about the
photograph in his hand. </span></i></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">He
</span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">had</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> seen that symbol before. At school. It </span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">had</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">
adorned the halls in pictures and flags at the time, and he remembered the old
headmaster’s signet ring also </span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">had</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">
the same cross key emblem. </span></i></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The narrative – written in
past tense – shows the character in the present, drinking coffee, but then
moves effortlessly into a flashback. The use of ‘had’ is past pluperfect. It shows
the reader that the event being described is in the distant past, rather than
the recent past. It also describes a school and the headmaster, so it gives the
reader more clues as to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">when </i></b>this happened. In other words,
it’s part of the character’s distant memories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Flashbacks
– as long as they’re not overused and are not overly long – give the reader tantalizing
glimpses into the past. Along with transitional scenes, they allow some
narrative time travel – forward and backward…minutes, days, months and even
years.</span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">How
you use time within your novel is down to you, but the ability to control time
is what gives a story more depth and perspective. </span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p></span><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br /></p></span><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br /></p>AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-16206240822721544272021-06-28T17:30:00.000+01:002021-06-28T17:30:23.789+01:00The Ability to Control Time – Part 1
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">One
of the things I see when I edit other writers is the inability to control time.
</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">But
what does that mean?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The
notion of time in a novel is different to time in the real world. That’s
because in the fictional world, we can jump from point to point in time –
sometimes whole generations. We can move forward or back, we can speed up time
and manipulate it, but it needs to be done properly, otherwise it can cause
problems with the pace of the writing and cause the reader to become confused
as to when time should have passed, or not, and what might have happened in
between.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The
biggest problem with controlling time is a tendency for the writer to rush the
narrative, because that means the sense of time is also rushed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, when one scene zips to the other
without the slightest hint to the reader that three weeks have passed, then it
blurs the sense of transition. This will confuse the reader. Has time actually
passed? By how much? </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Of
course, this does not need to happen with <b><i>every scene, </i></b>because
often scenes follow on from each other consistently as the story is told. But
there will be times when you need to show that many hours, days or even weeks
have passed, without breaking continuity – the transition of time.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">For
example, you might have a character that is wearing a plaster cast in the one scene,
but is fully recovered in the next scene. We know time must have passed, but
there’s no indication how much. Or you might have one character working on his
car in his garage in one scene and by the next, he’s driving through France.
The reader will have no idea how long has passed between the garage and being
in France. Short of teleportation, the reader needs an explanation.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Every
scene advances the story in time – it might only be slight, like a few minutes
or hours, or it might be days or weeks, but that transition of time <b><i>must</i></b>
involve the reader. They need to see that time has moved on, otherwise they
won’t be able to follow the story properly.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The
way to do this is to simply tell them. There’s a golden rule to writing - the
more a reader knows, the better they will understand the story. How you tell
them is down to you, but as long as the reader is aware that a period of time
has elapsed, then the continuity remains. </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><a name="_Hlk75787389"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">(Last scene)</span></span></i></b></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk75787389;"><i><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> John looked at the envelope
and checked the address on the back. He recognised her writing. He peered at
the weather-beaten flowers in his garden and the grey skies overhead. He
figured she would have fled without a moment’s hesitation.</span></span></i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk75787389;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">(New scene)</span></i></b></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk75787389;"><i><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"> The cold
pressed against his skin as he walked the long path to her front door and rang
her doorbell. If he didn’t talk to her now, he wouldn’t be able to pluck up the
courage again.</span></i></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">With
this example, the reader has no idea how long has passed between the last scene
with John looking at the letter and then turning up at his wife’s front door.
Is it an hour?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A day? A week?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s because one scene has rushed into
another without so much as a clue about time, which makes it hard to
distinguish what has transpired.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Without
a hint about the transition of time, the reader won’t know. When that hint is
missing, that’s when time slips by unnoticed. You as the writer will know time
as moved on, but your reader won’t. If a clue is given to the reader, it
changes the context of scenes, and the reader will understand there’s a passage
of time. </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">You can be direct and tell the reader that time will move on, or it can be a subtle hint, for example:</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">(Last scene)</span></i></b><i><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"> John
looked at the envelope and checked the address on the back. He recognised her
writing. He peered at the weather-beaten flowers in his garden and the grey
skies overhead. He figured she would have fled without a moment’s hesitation.
He had to fight for her, even if it meant the long drive to London.</span></i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">(New scene)</span></i></b><i><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"> The cold
pressed against his skin as he walked the long path to her front door and rang
her doorbell. He’d had a few days to think over his plan - if he didn’t talk to
her now, he wouldn’t be able to pluck up the courage again.</span></i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This
time we can see that a few days have gone by, so we understand that time has
moved on and the story has moved forward as it should, without disturbing the
pace. The transitional scene speeds up time to the next scene.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The
same is true when chapters jump forward in time without hinting anything for
the reader. It leaves the story feeling rushed and disjointed. </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Be
in control of time. Make the reader aware that time has moved on from one scene
to another. </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In
part 2, we’ll look at flashbacks and how they affect the passage of time in a
novel.</span></span></p>
AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-88463329393924823732021-06-20T16:58:00.001+01:002021-06-20T16:58:45.785+01:00Intensifiers and Qualifiers
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">There are certain things in writing that should be avoided wherever
possible, such as clichés, passive sentences or info dumping, but there are two
things writers should also look out for, which are intensifiers and qualifiers.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">But what are they and what do they do?</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Intensifiers and qualifiers are words or phrases that </span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12.5pt;">can be </span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.5pt;">added to another word to modify its
meaning, by either limiting it or enhancing it. </span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">They are placed before adjectives and adverbs in an attempt to intensify
or modify its effect, but u</span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.5pt;">nless they’re a part of dialogue and form the way a character might speak,
intensifiers and qualifiers can weaken the writing if overused, or make it look
lazy and amateurish.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">A qualifier <span style="color: #222222;">can change the
meaning of a verb by limiting it, and so it</span> changes how absolute or
certain something is, for example:</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">‘She was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">somewhat</b> flustered by his invite.’</span></span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In this example, the word ‘somewhat’ is qualifying the word ‘flustered’
and it creates doubt about any certainty. It has changed the aspect of the
sentence, but I you look at the sentence, it is not necessary to qualify it. ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">She was flustered by his invite</i>’ is
adequate and absolute, and so it doesn’t need that modification.</span><a name="top"></a></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="mso-bookmark: top;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It’s common to use qualifiers in
writing, because the way we write often reflects the way we speak in everyday
situations. We use qualifiers all the time when in conversation. But for fiction,
try to avoid overusing them, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unless </i></b>you want to create a sense of
uncertainty with the reader, for example:</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-bookmark: top;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.5pt;">John was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">sometimes</b> late for
meetings – </span></i></span><span style="mso-bookmark: top;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.5pt;">This tells us John isn’t that punctual
on some occasions. Now compare it with an absolute:</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-bookmark: top;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">John was late for
meetings</span></i></span><span style="mso-bookmark: top;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> – There is no uncertainty here, John is a bad timekeeper.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="mso-bookmark: top;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The most common qualifiers are: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">somewhat,
sort of, rather, occasionally, sometimes, possibly, most, slightly, hardly,
basically, essentially etc.</i></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="mso-bookmark: top;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Qualifier examples:</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="mso-bookmark: top;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">She was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">most </b>upset.</span></span></i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="mso-bookmark: top;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">He <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">possibly </b>should have stayed quiet.</span></span></i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 3pt 10pt 0cm;"><span style="mso-bookmark: top;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">He was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">hardly</b> an expert.</span></span></i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 3pt 10pt 0cm;"><span style="mso-bookmark: top;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">He found it <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">rather </b>concerning.</span></span></i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 3pt 10pt 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-bookmark: top;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Intensifiers</span></span><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">, on the other hand, are adverbs that <span style="color: #222222;">have
the opposite effect of qualifiers, because they can </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">enhance</span><b><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">the meaning of the words or phrases that they
modify</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">, rather than </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.5pt;">limit</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> them</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.5pt;"> - it</span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.5pt;"> tells the reader about
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">intensity</i> of another word and
they can be positive (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">absolutely,
totally, extremely</i> etc.) or negative (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">seriously,
never, at all etc.).</i> The most common intensifiers are </span><i><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">absolutely</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">, <i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">completely, extremely, strongly, highly,
rather, really, so, too, totally, utterly, very</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">at all</i> etc.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 3pt 10pt 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">As an example, I’ll use the same example
as previously for the qualifier, but this time as an intensifier.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 3pt 10pt 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.5pt;">‘</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.5pt;">She was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">totally</b> flustered by his invite.’</span></i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 3pt 10pt 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The word ‘totally’ gives a positive
emphasis to the sentence – it intensifies the word ‘flustered’, but even so, it’s
not necessary within the sentence, which is why they should not be overused.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 3pt 10pt 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">One thing with intensifiers is that
sometimes writers double intensify. This is when they use two intensifiers to
emphasise something within the sentence, for example:</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 3pt 10pt 0cm;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">She
worked <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">very very</b> hard on her exams.’</span></span></i></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">He was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">totally, utterly</b> shocked.</span></i></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">As with double adjectives, avoid using double intensifiers because
it not only do they weaken the sentence structure, they also make your writing look
amateurish.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Check through your manuscript and try to see just how many
qualifiers and intensifiers there are. If you can weed them out during editing
stage, your sentence structures will be stronger without them. </span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 20.4pt 10pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></p>
<br />AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-91871722808338331412021-05-30T16:55:00.000+01:002021-05-30T16:55:55.523+01:00Use Motifs to Make Your Novel Interesting
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Motif is a literary device that is repeated
throughout a novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has symbolic and
thematic significance that can add an extra dimension to your writing because
it can evoke a mood, highlight certain aspects of the story, act as
foreshadowing, underscore themes, provoke the reader’s senses, and provide
depth and meaning beneath the surface of the story.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">A motif can be anything – a recurring phrase,
a colour, a character, a scent, an action, an object, a specific image or even an
idea. It can be absolutely anything, as long as it’s repeated throughout the
story and is apparent to the reader, but more importantly, the motif <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">must relate</i></b>
directly to the story. For example, in a crime story, the image of blood could
be a relatable motif. Maybe a particular piece of jewellery keeps appearing in
your romance novel. Maybe the sound of a grandfather clock is repeated.
Whatever the object or image, make sure it relates to the story so that it
emphasises your theme or something significant.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Motifs shouldn’t be mistaken for actual themes
and symbols. They’re not the same thing. They complement each other, in that
they represent similar aspects, but motifs work to enhance the story in
different ways and provide different qualities to it, which is why it’s useful
to have a least one motif appear in your novel.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Themes are the main topics that run through the
entire story, such as betrayal, rites of passage, greed or desire etc., whereas
a symbol is (usually) an object that represents something much deeper within
the story, for example, a specific colour to symbolise a particular mood, feeling
or emotion. A snake could represent danger, a flock of birds might represent
foreboding or perhaps a dark forest might symbolise fear. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Motifs, on the other hand, work to enhance
those themes or symbols. But the fundamental difference is that, unlike themes
and symbols, the motif must appear <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">repeatedly</i></b> throughout the story to
reinforce that theme, or feeling or emotion etc. It acts as a constant reminder
for the reader.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Writers often create motifs without realising.
They subconsciously pick a certain image or object and repeat it to reinforce
an aspect of the story. But motifs can also develop or appear naturally during
the writing process, which help to deepen the layers and themes within the story,
and they only become apparent when writers read through their work and spot
them.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">But what if you want to create a motif?</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">As you’re writing, think about the main themes
that appear in the story – how might a recurring motif tie in with a particular
theme? What would best represent it? Perhaps it’s an object, a sound, a person,
a colour, or maybe something else? Look at the elements within the story and
see what draws your attention.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">What about the key events that occur with
your characters? What is the mood in these scenes? What is described with these
scenes? Is there a specific action happening? If so, what things around that
action could be used as a motif? Again, look at <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all </i></b>the elements within
scenes and see if there is something you could repeat within the story that
would deliberately gain the reader’s attention.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">What happens within your story, with the
characters and with specific, important moments that a motif best represents?</span><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Read your favourite books and see if you can
spot any motifs, and why they might be there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most novels have them – hidden in plain sight, and you don’t have to
crazy with them – one motif is more than adequate to add another dimension to
your novel.</span></p>
AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-18058916583471826692021-05-25T17:50:00.000+01:002021-05-25T17:50:17.015+01:00Laying Story Foundations
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">On
the surface, writing isn’t just about stringing words together. It’s much more
than that, and it goes deeper than the surface. Think of a story like a house
that needs to be built. You cannot build the walls or roof until you have sound
foundations and the supporting structure in place. The same is true of
storytelling – the foundations of any story always support the plot, subplots, themes,
characters and everything else contained within the story.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Laying
solid foundations for a story is vital, otherwise the core of your story might
crumble. We all know that a structure won’t support itself unless it has firm
foundations. The same is true for a novel. It may not hold up too well without
something firm to shore it up. </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The
idea of laying your foundations shouldn’t be confused with creating the
framework from which your story hangs. Instead, it encompasses the major
building blocks required for the novel, like genre, plot, strong main
characters, a main theme and a setting. From these, writers build up their
stories.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">So
how do you lay those foundations?</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Firstly,
start at the beginning – know what type of story you want to write and what genre
(generally writers write the genres they enjoy reading and are familiar with).
Also keep a target length in mind, for instance 80,000 to 90,000 words. Novel
length will determine how much you write, and how complex the plot might be.
Longer length novels are often more complex than 50,000 word novellas, because
they have more characters, more subplots, more twists and more conflicts. A
target length also helps writers to keep on track – there’s less editing and
cutting to do at the edit stage.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Another layer to your story foundations should
include when your story is set, because this will have a direct impact on the
type of story it is and the amount of research you will have to do. Is the
novel set in the 1900s? Or maybe it’s a contemporary novel with a modern-day
setting. Be sure the moment you start writing exactly what era the story takes
place.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It's
important to know your plot. It needs to be tight and well-thought out, so plot
your novel before you start any writing. Know which direction it needs to go,
and how it might end. The plot is the framework from which everything will hang,
and without it, the story won’t have the strong foundation to work from.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Know your main theme. What message are you
conveying to the readers? If it’s a crime novel, then the main theme is death/murder.
A horror novel might be the main part of your horror story. Betrayal could be
the main theme of your mystery novel. It’s important to know the central theme
that will run through your entire story. Sub themes will develop as you write,
but the main theme lies at the heart of your story and forms a firm layer to your
story foundations.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Of course, no story is without its characters. Strong
characters are memorable for readers, and every great story has unforgettable
characters with whom the readers can identify. That’s why a robust story
foundation requires a solid protagonist and antagonist who normally hold
opposing goals, as well as a strong supporting cast. Get to know your
characters well before you start any writing – build them into believable
people who are motivated by the need to achieve their goals and who are,
typically, ordinary yet flawed. </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Each
layer builds a foundation – the genre and length, when it’s set, a solid plot,
a main theme and well-drawn characters. From these layers, the rest of the
story elements should emerge, such as sub plots, sub-themes, conflicts, emotions,
dilemmas, obstacles, twists and turns, hints or red herrings, characterisation,
story arc progression <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and so on.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Laying
story foundations helps to avoid problems later, like writer’s block, a
sluggish middle section, the lack of direction with plot or characters, or a
lack of satisfactory ending. What it does do is provide a solid base to develop
the story, and it keeps it logically connected and consistent. This advances
the plot and ultimately, it produces a tighter and meatier manuscript.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></p>
AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-69472494150281759252021-05-16T16:00:00.000+01:002021-05-16T16:00:05.296+01:00How to Create Atmosphere
<p style="margin: 12pt 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Like tension and mood, atmosphere is a key component in
fiction writing. It’s a way of creating a particular emotional feeling with the
reader and makes use of different elements to achieve this.<span style="background: white;"> It elevates the narrative and keeps the reader
engaged, but it also means the writer can manipulate the reader’s senses.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Let’s start with setting. Various scenes will take place in
different locations, so the environment is key to setting the tone and mood. Is
the location dark woodland, a deserted beach, the ruins of an old house or
maybe a road in the middle of nowhere? Or what about a cosy restaurant, a coffee
shop or even the sofa at home with a blanket and some popcorn? </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">How does the location affect the way your main character
acts? Are they comfortable in their surrounds, or are they apprehensive, scared
or curious about something? Their emotions should enhance the mood and
translate to the reader. They should pick up on those sentiments, too. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">With the right setting for a scene, it’s then a matter of creating
the right description to enhance the tone. The right word choice and correct
sentence structure helps to paint a vivid picture for the reader, and thus provide
atmosphere, mood and underlying emotion. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">You have to describe things so that the reader can<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></b>see,
taste, touch, smell and hear everything happening in that scene, so include
sensory details (the use of senses), visual details, which covers the way the
reader <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">perceives</i></b> the description of setting, place and objects to make the story
believable, and emotional details, so that the reader understands how your
characters are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">feeling.</i></b></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Remember to “show, don’t tell”, so use strong verbs and nouns
to build up the description and tone and to keep the narrative active rather
than passive. Give it different layers so there is depth, and use the right
words to evoke the right reaction, for example, a dark country road would be
better with words that describe the weird sounds, the dim light, the sense of
isolation, the creeping shadows and so on.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Remember to pace the narrative, because this also affects the
mood of the scene. Scenes that have more action within them require shorter
sentences and staccato words to create a quicker pace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Romantic and emotional scenes benefit from
longer sentences and words to create a slower, reflective or calming pace. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Tense, moody or scary scenes require a balance of both short
and longer sentences, and a mix of the right descriptive words to evoke a sense
of rhythm within the sentences. And where possible, use some well-placed similes or metaphors to enhance the narrative.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Remember, atmosphere is a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">feeling</i></b> that your writing
creates for the reader – what type of atmosphere you want is dictated by each
scene, setting, pace and the right description.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></p>
AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-5350992737850824272021-05-11T19:54:00.000+01:002021-05-11T19:54:06.616+01:00Creating Tension – Part 2
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
</p><p style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;">Part 1 looked at the importance </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">of creating immediacy, conflict, emotion, escalating problems and
generating lots of drama to help develop and maintain tension, but there are some
more elements to consider, too, such as pacing, providing twists and turns, and
probably the most fundamental thing – description.</span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
</p><p style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A sense of pace works by seemingly speeding up the narrative and then
deliberately slowing things down. Varying the pace is a great way to intensify
things for the reader. Think of their narrative journey like a roller coaster –
it’s never constant and never stays still, it’s up and down, slow and fast, all
at the right moments.</span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
</p><p style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Tension often works best when the pace is slowed right down (as opposed
to fast paced action scenes, which heighten drama). That’s because it allows
the reader to take in <b><i>everything</i></b> being described to them – the
tone, the atmosphere, the words, the emotions and the conflict. It forces
everything to become focused within the scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
</p><p style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For instance, imagine if a scene takes place in a large house at night
and everyone is asleep, but downstairs a shadow makes its way through the
house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A slow pace lends a darker
atmosphere and tone, which allows the unease of the moment – a sinister
stranger lurking in the home – to deepen and draw the reader in. If the scene is
rushed, then any tension will be lost.</span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
</p><p style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">By controlling the pace of a scene, you can control the tension you
create.</span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Another thing to consider is key revelations, sub plots and story twists.
They can help heighten tension in a different way than pacing does. For
instance, there might be a revelation of a family secret which shocks everyone.
This might create anxiety and anger and other emotions, which in turn generates
tension.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps there’s a plot twist
that takes the story in another direction to deliberately wrong-foot the
reader. The by-product of these types of events is disagreement, discord,
conflict…all the stuff you’d expect to find to create tense moments.</span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">There is, of course,
one thing that you can’t do without, and that’s description. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
</p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The <b><i>way</i></b>
you describe what’s going on in a scene is vital if you want to create a sense
of tension for your reader. The right words and the arrangement of those words
is the difference between a dull flat scene that doesn’t generate any emotional
response and a scene that is atmospheric, tonal, full of conflict, emotion and
makes the reader sit up and take notice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For example:</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
</p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">A stench clung to the
rat-infested, concrete hallway as the lightbulbs above flickered. A tall shadow
parted the darkness and hunched forward as his footsteps echoed down the
corridor. </span></span></i></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
</p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">He turned a corner
and saw a thin shaft of light at the end of the darkened hallway. The light
wavered, and a shadow moved…</span></span></i></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
</p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The description sets
the scene and creates some atmosphere, but there isn’t much detail to help the
reader – there’s no pace variation and no sense of anxiety, so there isn’t much
tension. But by using the right descriptions to pace the scene and heighten the
atmosphere and mood, it’s possible to generate a sense of tension, for
instance:</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
</p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Dark, fetid
handprints led a path down the hallway. A piss-tainted stench lifted from the
cold floor and wafted through darkened, rat-infested passageways. Bits of paper
scuttled against the cool air, then settled again. Distorted reflections
shimmered from corners as a line of dangling light bulbs flickered in tandem. </span></span></i></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
</p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Bare concrete, cold
like ice sheets, sucked the dim light from the narrow corridor as the tall
shadow parted the darkness and hunched forward, each footstep an empty echo
that reverberated long after his presence had drifted into the shifting umbra.
He turned a corner and focused on the thin shaft of light at the end of the
darkened hallway as the muffled rhythm of fear filled his head. </span></span></i></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
</p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The light wavered; a
shadow moved…</span></span></i></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
</p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Tension
can be physical, psychological, emotional or atmospheric.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the tautness of a scene, the anxiety,
the emotion, the atmosphere, the tone, the depth, pace and the amount of
conflict that all come together to give the reader that sense of, “Oh no,
what’s going to happen next?” It works by manipulating the reader; it evokes a
response. A story without much tension is a story with no life to it. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
</p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Sometimes
the unknown and fear itself creates all the drama and tension you need.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
</p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></i></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
</p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></p>
AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-46636408152209429552021-04-26T18:10:00.000+01:002021-04-26T18:10:04.938+01:00Creating Tension – Part 1
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Tension is an
important aspect of storytelling – it helps to create nail biting moments within
the story and works in tandem with suspense and atmosphere to keep the reader
turning the page. It not only heightens the reader’s sense of anxiety, but it toys
with their emotions – it keeps them gripped to the story.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Tension comes
in different guises, but works like an elastic band – it can be stretched to
make things taut and then slackened to ease things. In much the same way, writers
continually stretch and slacken certain elements within the story. They create
quieter, calmer scenes which are interspersed with faster paced, exciting,
atmospheric or suspenseful scenes. This keeps things interesting for the
reader.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">There are different ways to create tension in your writing – from making
use of </span><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">description,
characterisation, problems and obstacles, to injecting pace, emotion and conflict
to create that mixed sensation <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">of
unease, pressure and friction.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">One thing to do early on is create a sense of immediacy with your
characters. For the reader to feel any tension with certain situations within scenes
or around the characters, they need to connect with your characters first,
because any tension, atmosphere and suspense that you develop will be felt
through them. That’s why it’s important to have fully developed characters from
the outset; the type of people the reader can become</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">
emotionally invested, because if the reader is invested in your characters,
then that increases the sense of emotion in them and the situations they find
themselves.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Another element that creates tension without any help is conflict</span><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Disagreements and fights and arguments can
create drama and tension. Characters will experience different conflicts, such
as external conflicts - things that are out of your character’s hands,
including things in the surrounding environment. </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Of course, it’s
not just external conflict between characters – conflict can be internal, like
a character that must battle with his own thoughts. Maybe a character must face
a personal dilemma or contend with a heavy choice, so whether it’s external or
internal, conflict – just as in real life – causes all sorts of friction, and
when this is shown in scenes, it should provide tension, which also creates emotions
and reactions. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Another way to create a sense of tension is to raise the stakes for your
main character. Things need to get progressively bad for them as the story unfolds
and they shouldn’t get their own way all the time - they must fail at some
things before they can reach their goal, so don’t make things easy for them. </span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What will they lose if your MC fails? What possible outcomes are there? This
will increase tension. Drama should shroud your characters at every
opportunity. By raising the stakes, you can increase that tension and make the
reader continually ask, “What are the consequences?”</span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When we know what’s at stake, that’s when emotion and conflict come into
play, because both these elements together can create a powerful, tense mix.</span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The same is true with obstacles placed in your character’s path.
Complications – and possible consequences from these obstacles, create tension,
because of the uncertainty of their outcomes. For example, if your character is
backed into a corner with no possible escape, the tension in the scenario is, “Will
he escape? What will happen next? Is he going to die?”</span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Then of course, something happens that enables his escape, and the
tension can ease. Until the next time, and another complication. And so on. And
when you’ve complicated things, escalate the problems to whip up even more
tension and drama.</span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Don’t be afraid to toy with the reader’s emotions with uncertainty,
anxiety and friction. Look at the situations you create in your scenes and
emphasise conflict, emotions, problems and consequences.</span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Part 2 will look at the importance of description to enhance tension,
pacing, twists and turns and that all important sense of fear. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<br />AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-17014681533147647942021-04-18T16:02:00.000+01:002021-04-18T16:02:03.421+01:00Keep Your Main Character Front and Centre
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do you keep the spotlight on your protagonist?</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One of the keys to good storytelling is to ensure your
main character is front and centre – he or she is the star of your story, so
whatever happens, that person should be the main focus of the story, even if
they’re not in some of the scenes or chapters. The story must always revolve
around this character.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s common, however, for writers to lose sight of the
main character. That’s because some scenes swallow them, or they’re
overshadowed by other characters. I recently edited a story where the main
character vanished after the first two chapters and didn’t re-appear until
midway through the story. In that time, other characters had taken over the
story and had grown more prominent. This meant the main character had
inadvertently slipped into the background and had almost become forgotten. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The spotlight had shifted. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When that happens, the main character stops being a
main character and they become a secondary character. Then whose story would
you be telling? </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">That’s why it’s so important to keep your
main character at the forefront of the story, wherever possible. You’re telling
their story, mostly from their perspective, and that means they need to be
present in the majority of the scenes/chapters. That’s especially true for
character driven stories. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Multiple character viewpoints are fine, but
the main thing is to ensure the other characters don’t take over, and the main
character doesn’t slip from the limelight. That’s why the main character should
be part of the story 70% of the time, while other characters take up 30%. Keep
that ratio in mind when redrafting – if the main character doesn’t appear to be
at the forefront as much as you thought, redress the balance.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">There are a few ways to ensure your main
character remains front and centre within your story:</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Know Your Chapters</span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">If you’ve planned your story, you’ll have
made a brief chapter outline that not only plots the course of the story, but
also gives an idea of which characters appear in which chapter. It then becomes
much easier to plan and write scenes around the characters that matter most.
This is why planning makes the writing process much easier.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Character POV </span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">In 3<sup>rd</sup> person, most of the events
in the story will take place from your main character’s point of view. (Of
course, in 1<sup>st</sup> person, the entire story is from the main character’s
viewpoint). If using multiple POV, the viewpoint will change to other
characters in some scenes, but just remember the 70/30 ratio and that will keep
your main character in the spotlight for most of the scenes and chapters.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Control Secondary Characters</span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Don’t let your secondary characters,
including the antagonist, become dominant, otherwise this could interfere with
the story. Writers sometimes let other characters take over, without realising,
by giving them more action and dialogue within scenes. The more stuff you give
a character, the more they do, which increases their prominence, so this kind
of imbalance of characters is easily done. The writing process can, for some,
be non-linear, while some writers don’t write their stories chronologically, which
means that some of the secondary characters sometimes seem to grow more
important than the main character.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The way around this is to keep an eye on the
balance of scenes shared by your characters. If you notice that your secondary
characters somehow end up in more scenes than the main character, then this can
be easily amended during the redraft stage.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">70/30 Ratio</span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">As already mentioned, the 70/30 ratio is
useful when it comes to looking at the balance of character versus
scenes/chapters. It’s not a rule set in stone. It’s simply a guideline to help
writers keep the main character in at least 70% of the scenes/chapters, while
the other characters make up 30%. It can be 60/40. It can be 80/20, as long as
the main character has the lion’s share and remains the focus of story.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Internal Thoughts</span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Another good way to focus the spotlight on
your main character is to use more inner thoughts. This will bring the main
character into focus and it also creates a connection with the reader. Letting
the reader in on what your character is thinking and feeling is a great way to
connect with the reader – known as immediacy – and it helps to keep your main
character front and centre.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Your main character is the driving force
within your story, so it’s important to make sure that they remain the key
focus, that they are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always</i></b> telling <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">their </i></b>story, even when
they may not be in some scenes. Let their presence be felt. Always try to keep
your protagonist front and centre.</span></p>
AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-12503154721858499342021-04-05T15:32:00.001+01:002021-04-05T15:32:56.402+01:00The Perfectionism Trap – Part 2
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">For
writers, perfectionism is all about irrational fears and self-doubt – fear of
rejection, fear of criticism and fear of not being good (or perfect) enough for
success. For those who strive to be the best they can be, that need for
perfectionism can sometimes prove to be non-constructive and can limit them
from achieving their goals, because they always feel the need to keep tweaking
their work, to keep (in their mind) improving what they’ve written and constantly
keep adding stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One draft soon turns
into ten drafts, and so on.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Fear
is the primary cause of perfectionism. I know writers who have spent years
writing, editing and polishing their novels, which are never submitted to agents
or publishers. Why? Because they’re fearful of rejection, that the work isn’t
good enough, or that it just isn’t ‘ready’ yet. The only thing that does is
take the writer in ever decreasing circles, and why many are very apt at self-sabotage.
</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">There
are ways, however, that could help you avoid the perfectionism trap:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">1.
Being a good writer isn’t about being perfect or the best. It’s about being
honest about your limitations and achieving realistic goals based on that.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">2.
Perfectionism is a vicious cycle, a barrier between you and success. To break
that barrier, don’t give yourself unreasonably high goals. Give yourself <b><i>realistic</i></b>
ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Approach your writing sensibly and
practically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be satisfied with your work,
because writing is about the <b><i>process,</i></b> not just the achievement.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Allow yourself to make mistakes. Failure is equally
as important as success, because without some failure, you can’t learn or
develop as a person, or a writer. Learn to accept mistakes and flaws and weak
areas. Look at how you made them and why. Accepting them is a step forward in recognizing
room for development. Mistakes can be corrected.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forget about trying to be the best, but
instead focus on trying to do your best and allow yourself to improve naturally
and gradually without the need to put yourself under pressure ‘to achieve’.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">5.
Enjoy the writing process and the result at the end. Perfectionists are so
concerned about meeting their self-produced criteria that they don’t enjoy the
process of writing, creating, developing or growing. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">6.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t be too hard on yourself, and don’t take
yourself too seriously. Have fun and enjoy your writing.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The
key is to find a balance between positivity, development, learning,
constructive criticism, and just a tiny ounce of perfectionism.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The
reality of writing is that sometimes the self-doubt, procrastination and undue
inward stress can overwhelm. Dismiss those fears and start sending out your
work to editors, agents and publishers and get yourself on the path to writing
success. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><a name="_Hlk68250008"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Remember, your writing doesn’t have to
be perfect, because no one is, and no one expects it to be. </span></a></p>
AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-59652869671118190702021-03-30T19:46:00.001+01:002021-03-30T19:46:19.615+01:00The Perfectionism Trap – Part 1
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Every writer
aspires to be the best they possibly can, which makes them work hard to achieve
it. For some people, however, that aspiration represents more than an
objective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some writers go beyond doing
their best – they want perfection, and while it might drive them to create
exemplary work, it will also drive them to failure.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Why do they
fail? Many writers spend hours pouring over one short sentence, or days
polishing a paragraph to get it absolutely right. Some take hours, if not days,
to write a cover letter, when the majority of the population can reel one off
in half an hour. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Some keep
returning to their 80,000-word novel to tweak it to their satisfaction, which
is now in its 10<sup>th</sup> draft. And some never send their work out to
publishers or agents, because of the fear that it’s just not good enough (in
their eyes).</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Perfection is
rather like dark matter – it exists in our conscience, but it isn’t always
detectable. It’s the belief that perfection <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">can</i>
be attained, and that anything less than perfect is unacceptable and not good
enough. It feeds on fear because it needs nothing less than<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>the<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>best, and because of
that reason, it will actually prevent the writer from reaching their goal or achieving
what they set out to do. It acts like a barrier between what’s possible and
what’s impossible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Writers get
trapped by perfectionism, and it’s very common among writers because they seem
to be more sensitive to criticism than most creative types, but where some
writers can take that criticism and improve their writing; perfectionists see
it as a weakness in their work and will harbour inward negativity because of it.
That might lead them to write and edit a novel repeatedly, ad infinitum. The
novel just never sees the light of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It always
needs a few more tweaks.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">If you notice these traits within yourself, how will you
cope with a critique of your writing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How will you feel when others, such as editors, assess what you have
written? How will you respond to rejection from publishers or agents?</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Imagine that
novel you’ve written. It’s in its 5<sup>th</sup> year of editing and polishing
and rewriting, and you’re (almost) ready to submit it, but not before you’ve
changed a just a few more words here and there. And the odd sentence. But then
you keep going, and you realise how dissatisfied you are with the whole thing and
so you end up going through it all again, just to be sure. The perpetual cycle
continues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sound familiar?</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">This is the
reason so many writers don’t send out their work, or they delay it over months
and years. It’s because their irrational fears have taken control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But perfection isn’t just about being the<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>best. It’s a fear of rejection, a fear
of public or personal criticism and a major cause of self-doubt. It’s also about
control, a coping mechanism, a way of remediating those irrational fears and
fooling the mind into believing it’s normal behaviour. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Criticism is normal
part of writing, none more so than when an editor casts their eye over a writer’s
work, and writers fear negative comments more than anything, because that equates
to failure to a perfectionist – they will only see the negative aspects rather
than any positives they may encounter and they may be unhappy a lot of the
time, simply because they don’t actually achieve anything. There is a continual
cycle of fear, self-doubt and unhappiness, which in turn causes undue stress,
anxiety and low self-esteem.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Some writers will
never get to send their masterpiece to editors, agents or publishers because
they’re constantly trying to attain what isn’t possible to achieve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A perfectionist’s work will be exemplary, yet
it will also fail. It’s a strange paradox, because they strive so hard to be
the best, and yet they are doomed to fail in almost every instance.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Is it possible to
break free from perfectionism? Yes it is, but it’s about giving up the deep
seated fear of rejection and criticism, and making positive changes to
eradicate the underlying self-doubt. It’s about relinquishing control over
irrationality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In part 2, we’ll
look at ways to help avoid the perfectionism trap.</span></p>
AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-12958399397946029772021-03-21T15:55:00.001+00:002021-03-21T15:55:33.070+00:00Method Writing – Part 2
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Method
writing is about how a writer approaches writing rather than what they write,
and they can do this by getting closer to the characters - they can step into their
shoes and spend time being their main characters. It’s the fun of role play,
in order to make them multidimensional, real and emotional.</span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Sometimes
it’s better to fully integrate into this side of building each character.
Writers can then understand the physical, emotional and sociological structure
that makes up the psyche of their characters.</span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Method
writing/role play can encapsulate the following:- </span></p><p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;"></p><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></p><ul style="direction: ltr; list-style-type: disc;"><li style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><p style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Realism</span></p></li><li style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><p style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Emotion
</span></p></li><li style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><p style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Props
</span></p></li><li style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><p style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">In-depth
research </span></p></li><li style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><p style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Improvisation/role
play</span></p></li><li style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><p style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Sensory/
perception.</span><br /></p></li></ul></span><p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Realism in writing means bringing life to your story and
your characters that is realistic and believable. That means adding extra
dimensions – giving them fears, goals, flaws and foibles, emotions, problems
and dilemmas – everything that real people have.</span></p><p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Emotion is important in writing. Method actors try to
employ what’s known as ‘affective memory’ or ‘emotional recall’ when eliciting
emotion. This means remembering key moments in the past, however painful, to
convey a character’s emotion or state of mind, so key emotional scenes could
invite you to recall emotive memories and<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
feel</i> the sensations that your character is going through in order to
translate that to your scenes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Props are useful, too. This
strategy is very similar to that used by actors. You can use and play with
props that can help you add extra dimension and additional layers to
characters, with simple things like wearing glasses, moving around with a walking
stick, maybe a blindfold to feel what it’s like to have a character who is
blind, or ear protectors to muffle sound to mimic deafness. The list is endless
and the experimentation can be interesting and enlightening. Being your main
character for a day or so can be eye-opening.</span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">In-depth research is
essential not only for getting the general facts and background right, but also
to provide accuracy with characters, too. That means doing more than surf the
internet for information, or making notes from a book – it could mean speaking
to ordinary people, different authorities, organisations or leading experts.</span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Improvise with your story
and characters. If you become your character for the day, try to find out how
they would act and react to people and situations. What would they say?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What would they do? What behavioural traits
do they show? This kind of exercise allows you to step into your character’s
shoes to try to gain a better understanding of who they really are. From this
you gain a valuable <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">motivational</i>
insight. You can discover what really drives your character.</span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Sensory stimulus relies on
all the senses to aid the writer. That includes memory recall, smell, touch,
taste, observation and even perceptions of the world around us. Acuity with
your characters and your writing makes for a deeper, definitive story.</span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">‘Method’ writing only works
if writers are prepared to infuse themselves and lay bare their personality
within the character and essence of the story by using every available tool. Essentially,
a method writer is prepared to travel along an unknown road with his or her
characters. </span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">It means to go beyond what
is ordinary and come up with the extraordinary.</span></p>
AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-36865686324634948882021-03-14T14:42:00.002+00:002021-03-14T14:42:51.258+00:00Method Writing – Part 1
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br /></p><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Method
writing shouldn’t be confused with writing method - <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">how</i> we write - but rather the way a writer <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">applies </i>writing strategies to stories and novels, in a similar way that
is employed by actors when Method Acting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">The
‘method’ technique refers to the system used by actors to immerse themselves,
their thoughts and their emotions into their characters in an effort to develop
lifelike, realistic performances. They achieve this by drawing upon their own
emotions and memories for the right character portrayal. </span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Method
writing works in a similar way. It goes beyond that of normal research into
subjects and characters and requires a writer to draw deeply upon their thoughts,
emotions and their life experiences to fully realise their characters and
situations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all have life experience,
but in order to give that realistic edge to their writing, some writers delve very
deeply into their personal experiences for that extra dimension.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">It’s a
way of expression, beyond the usual descriptive narrative, because it allows
the writing depth and gravitas of having lifelike characters who are not just multidimensional,
but who react to and overcome realistic situations. Method writers are able to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">completely
immerse</i></b> themselves into their character’s mind and their character’s
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">This
type of character building simply means the writer and characters live and
breathe each other in a complete cohesive manner; you ‘become’ your character
while writing. It’s about extracting realism and emotion, and to a certain
degree, exposing a little of ourselves within the character, without inflating
the ego. It’s about the study of other people, the observation of mannerisms,
how people react to each other and their surroundings, their flaws, behaviour,
their environment. It’s about in-depth research and continually asking, ‘what
if?’ and ‘why?’ Your character should be a living, breathing being. </span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">We
all know the old maxim, ‘write about what you know’. This has always worked
well because we can write about our life experiences; the people we know, the
places we’ve visited and the things we’ve done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We have a memory bank of relevant information which we can call upon
when needed to help flesh out our narrative, to shore up our descriptions and
help build characters, but method writing goes a little further by asking not
‘what do I know?’ but rather ‘what <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will</i>
I know?’</span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">This
means a writer may want to experience for themselves what the character will
experience, the high and lows, the happiness or sadness, the painful and
darkest moments, the different emotional feelings. (There are limitations of
course - the pursuit of a deeper experience with your character should not lead
you to break the law or stretch the boundaries of reality for the sake of art
or to ‘feel’ the character). But that’s not to say you cannot delve a little
deeper into your character’s psyche or deepen your research. </span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Method
writing requires you to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">live and breathe</i>
your character for a day, or several days or as long as you want. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Be </i></b>that
character.</span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">This
might involve visiting places your characters might go, or a place they might
live, and perhaps the place they might work. It might be that you want to go to
the kind of places your character might often frequent in the story – a popular
bar, a nightclub or pub, a casino, amusements etc., in order to get a flavour and
feel of these places, and why or what motivates your character to visit them. As
a writer, you need to completely understand why your characters behave the way
they do, so these places might provide the emotional connection to them that you
need.</span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">What
would your character think the moment they got up in the morning? What would
they have for breakfast? Would they cook it or just go out a grab it on the go?
What are their thoughts? How to do they look at the world? How do they react to
others? </span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">What
if your character is a karate expert? Researching it is one thing, but what
about being part of it, being able to feel the movements, the fluidity and the
power behind it? </span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">What
if your character is in the wilderness, starving and trying to survive? Spending
the day in the woods and going without food is no great hardship, but maybe it
might help you delve into the mind set of your character. How would they feel –
would they be afraid of the silence? Would they be scared of the strange sounds
of the forest? Would they feel lonely? And what about those hunger cramps and the
feeling of needing food, but unable to have it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">This
is simple method writing. It’s about being your character. Remember, when in
character, they are not you – you are being them in that moment.</span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">In
part 2 we’ll look at how you can make your characters multidimensional through
the connection of method writing, by using emotion, realism, props, role play
and research.</span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<br /></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><br /></span></p></span><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br /></p>
AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545724276587519907.post-69850609749177996622021-02-28T15:13:00.001+00:002021-02-28T15:13:56.437+00:00Passive Writing - Should You Use it? Part 2
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">It’s
widely accepted that passive writing can look awkward and can weaken the
writing considerably, and sometimes it just doesn’t look right. That said, it’s
important to tell writers that not every sentence you write will be active.
There will be times when you simply can’t avoid the passive voice, or a passive
sentence is a deliberate choice to create an effect, for instance: </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">The
park had been full of people.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">John
was hit by the metal, and he fell.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">These
examples are not grammatically incorrect, but because passive writing creates a
distance between the narrative and the reader, some writers choose to do that
to create that effect. They may want the reader to feel a different emotion or
sentiment, maybe see a character in a different light, or establish a tone or
mood, for example:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">The time
was something he ignored…</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">There
may be an instance where you want to make more of an impact when you end a
scene, so a passive sentence can be preferable, for example:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">John
was stabbed.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">This is
better than the active version: “Someone stabbed John.” There is no punchy
impact that would draw the reader. So, in this instance, passive use is a
better option.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Also,
dialogue is often passive because characters are recalling things that have
happened and might say something like, <i>“I checked; the note was left by
John.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is very normal in
everyday conversation. The character could also talk in the active voice, for
instance: <i>“I checked; John left the note.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Either is perfectly acceptable.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">It’s
about knowing when to use passive sentences and when to avoid them that give
the narrative the right effect. It’s not about eradicating use of passive
voice, but more about how to limit its use so that you can make your writing
more effective and the sentence structures stronger.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Overall,
passive writing is something to avoid unless it is used to create an effect. Readers
like active fiction, they want to be right in the moment, and passive sentences
don’t allow much immediacy – it creates distance instead. Also, passive
sentences are not as tight or pacey, which are more desirable.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Is passive
writing ungrammatical? The truth is, no, it isn’t – even though it looks and
sounds clunky at times – but that’s because it’s more about writing style than the
functionality of grammar, and the kind of effect you want to create.</span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">Just remember</span> <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">that passive voice generates a
sentence in which the subject receives an action, whereas active voice produces
a sentence in which the subject performs an action.</span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">If you keep an eye on the
use of ‘was’ and ‘were’ when writing, and use less of them, then you will
create more active voice. </span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.5pt;">The general advice is to ensure you
understand when to use passive voice and when to keep the active voice; it
makes all the difference.</span></p>
<br />AllWriteFictionAdvicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03381125356850555606noreply@blogger.com0