Writing 101: Write The Story *You* Want To Read

One of the nuggets of writing advice is "Write what you know." I'm not completely sure I agree with that, because I don't *know* any vampires or werewolves, yet I love to write them. I don't *know* anyone who pilots a spaceship, but I've written about a couple of them, too.

One thing I *do* agree with, as perhaps is illustrated by the above paragraph, is this advice: Write the story *you* want to read. Don't write what you think other people want to read, don't worry about what your mother will think. Write for yourself. The second you start writing to please someone else, or try to censor yourself so you won't offend someone, or writing for money (not that we don't want to be paid--and paid as well as possible--for our talent, that just can't be the only reason), you look outward and not inward. Doing that, you run a very big risk of losing what is unique about your voice.

As you craft your story, be your toughest critic. Face the fact that the first words from your fingers onto the screen will probably *not* be the best ones. Ask yourself: What is there about this character that will make someone else (besides me) care about him? What drives the reader to keep turning the pages? Keep honing your skills and don't be afraid to take risks. And make the story you want to read the best one you can write.

Writing 101: Making Your Characters Sympathetic

As a writer, one thing you need to remember when creating your characters is this: Even the most villainous must have clear motivation.

In other words, all of your characters must behave in a way your readers will believe. Because, after all, the best villains believe they are heroes--they are doing what needs to be done for whatever reason. So, not just for your hero and heroine, you should also know your villain--his background, education, ambitions, emotional events, wounds (real or imagined), fears, obsessions, etc.

You can use physical appearance, dialogue and reactions to events as tools to create characters that readers identify with--even your villain. Physical appearance should be consistent with personality--strength of will, stubbornness and vacillation are often visible in a face. Passion and appetite can show in a mouth, as does indecision or insensitivity. Movement, expression, pitch of voice can say a lot about a person. Body language can reveal a great deal, too--hands, fingers--at rest or moving.

It's a good idea to provide some description of your characters--readers will build a picture in their mind and if it doesn't coincide with something that occurs later in the book they'll be upset. It's far more effective to "show" your characters rather than describe them (or "tell"). Dialogue is one of the best ways of doing this. The feelings that characters express and the words they choose are very strong indicators of personality, and much sharper to the reader than descriptions of vices, virtues, wit, gentleness, etc.

Try to key your descriptions to one or two features--an emotional sketch, an impression rather than a photographic portrait from which characters could be identified. Shape and coloring can be less important than expression. There are also less obvious features--eyebrows, hairline, curve of cheek or throat, ears and teeth. A description--blue eyes, brown hair, straight nose, wide mouth--says less about the person than something more personal like humorous eyes, uncertain mouth, quick to laugh but curiously sulky in repose. And above all, avoid cliches such as "twinkling eyes" or "generous mouth." (I find my heroes all have glittering eyes, especially when they're aroused. Trying to show that arousal in a different way is a challenge.)

Just remember: For the plot of your story to be powerful, the reader has to believe that all of the character would really behave as they do.

Writing 101

I thought I'd take my time here on the DNW blog and post some brief writing tips. Hopefully some of you will find this information useful.

Competition is stiff in the publishing world. (Unless you go with a publisher that isn't too particular about what they publish, or if you go the self-publishing route. But that's a post for another time.) You can follow plot and point-of-view rules, polish and re-polish your manuscript until there are no grammatical errors or typos, yet still get rejection after rejection. What gives? It's the finer points of writing--things like voice and pacing--that may determine if your book will ever be published.

First, you need to snag your reader with the first line. And the first three pages or so are critical in holding the reader's attention. And, after all, editors are readers. So make sure you open with something that will make the reader curious and want to find out more.

Second, make sure you use active voice--meaning action verbs. It's amazing how many times I find myself lapsing into passive voice as I write. Instead of writing "He stared into her eyes" it comes out "He was staring into her eyes." Weak, weak, weak!

Third, you want to add sensory details so the reader feels this world you've created. If your character is poor and a bike is his only mode of transportation, even in the winter time, show your reader how his hands are frozen to the handlebars, or how his warm breath steams in the chilled air.

Fourth, stay away from well-worn cliches. Come up with new, fresh ways of describing things.

If you pay attention to the finer points of writing, you'll give your fiction the creative edge it needs to impress a editor enough to say, "Give me more!"