More General Writing Tips....

On Characterization:

If you are not one of those writers who believes in keeping complete, detailed character sketches for your main characters, at least keep a "cheat" sheet nearby that lists each character's appearance, main traits, and general background. By having that information always at hand, you will save yourself lots of wasted time and effort searching through your manuscript just to rediscover exactly what color your heroine's eyes are or whether that tiny scar is above the right or left eye.

Also, when you go back for that final edit, having the cheat sheet nearby helps to make sure your hero's hair remains the same color throughout the book. Take it from someone now working on her thirtieth novel, no matter how well acquainted you think you are with your characters, there will be days when such things a middle name or the exact location or the unique shape of a certain birth mark will elude you.--Rosalyn Alsobrook, Author.


On Dialogue:

A good function of dialogue is to give the reader needed information about the characters involved. Never fall into the trap of feeding information to your reader through long, drawn-out narratives when you can give them that same information through lively exchanges of dialogue. Let your characters inadvertently tell your reader what it is you want them to know.

By eavesdropping, the reader not only gains better insight into the characters themselves, the reader can also be informed of the weather, how something happened, what sort of person old so-in-so is, or what type of mood they are all in and why. The reader has more fun "discovering" story details.--Rosalyn Alsobrook, Author.


On Conflict:

The internal and external conflicts must feed off each other. It is the external conflict that can cause the two main characters to come together long enough for the internal conflict to take hold. It is the external conflict that usually does not allow the internal conflict to separate the two immediately and send them on their way.

The external conflicts can force the two main characters toward actions or decisions that directly affect the internal problems. In turn, those effects influence the external conflict as the story goes along---thus both conflicts feed off each other.--Eve Gaddy, Author.




On Scene and Sequel: (this one is lengthy folks)

Occasionally new writers have a real problem coming up with the sequel part of what many writers call "scene and sequel". One way to overcome this is to pause after writing those always easier to write action scenes (and I don't mean a scene full of lots of action, a scene that moves the plot forward with either action, real or inert, is an action scene) and ask yourself, "How did this last scene change things? How does it affect everyone? Who is effected the most? Do I want the reader aware of that yet? If so, what would be the best way to make the reader aware of the results? If I don't want the reader to know the full effects yet, what can I let the reader know? What other reactions were important? Would it be better to go with one of those instead?"

Then give the reader a chance to learn whatever you've decided should be revealed, however you think that information should be delivered. If it is an important change, or throws the situation into a particularly profound quandary, then consider giving the sequel more "stage time". If it is minor or if you don't want the reader to think much about a subtle change, then keep the sequel a short one or focus on other effects. I've been known to skip the sequel all together for the effect I want. (Granted, it drives my reader nuts, so I have to be careful).

I do this by having a chapter end with an action scene, then I jump to another action scene (usually involving an entirely different character) at the opening of the following chapter, thus I leave the reader hanging on purpose. Sometimes I come back and give the reader the missing sequel later on, but if it is something I don't want the reader to know because it adds to the mystery or whatever to keep it a secret, then I skip that sequel altogether. Not every scene has to have a sequel, but if you don't produce a sequel, have a very strong plot reason not to.

How's that for confusing you?

Examples? You way you want examples? Okay, let's say a huge dam breaks and an entire lake comes crashing down a mountain on a likable preacher who has just gotten the courage to ask the woman he loves (who just happens to be a wayward nun named after your sister-in-law) to marry him, and he's on his way to tell her. The wall of water takes him by surprise, pulls him under, and his last thoughts are of the nun, then he blacks out.

A plausible sequel would have been to have him wake up and realize how his close call to death has made him even more determined to marry the flighty nun, which would lead to the action of his later storming her house and her heart.

OR I could have had the preacher decide that the Johnstown Flood was a sign from God--you don't mess around with his nuns. You leave them be. And the resulting action could have been to tell her he can't continue being alone with her because she's too much of a temptation.

OR a plausible sequel could have been to have the nun, as she finds his body, realize just how much she loved him and would have loved to be a closer part of his life and realize she's not really suited to be a nun, which would lead to the action of her giving up her vows.

So many sequel choices, depending on what I wanted the outcome to be.

Instead, in this particular case, I had no sequel. The next scene involving him was a few chapters away. It was a scene during which his body is discovered by the now-searching-for-bodies heroine, who loved him like a brother. That scene did have a sequel. A very long and very sad one.

As for those writers who spend too much time in sequel mode and tend to have their characters analyzing certain actions to death because they just don't know what comes next, consider this: after you've let the reader know the affect of the last scene in the strongest way possible, if the next action doesn't come immediately to mind, then sit back and ask that character in a loud, angry voice, "So, now what are you going to do about it?" Sometimes it might not be what you expected. That can be a bit scary but fun... --Rosalyn Alsobrook, Author

Here are six dependable "rules" that will help track down and eliminate deadwood:

1. Never use an adjective if a stronger, more specific noun will do.
2. Never use an adverb if a stronger, more specific verb will do.
3. Never use a phrase if a single, more specific adjective or adverb will do.
4. Never use a clause if a phrase will do.
5. Never use a sentence if a clause will do.
6. Never use a compound sentence if a compound predicate will do.

In other words, don�t use unnecessary words! For example, if you�re writing about a �wise old man,� call him a �sage.� It means the same thing, but uses one word instead of three.

If you ask the right questions, your characters will tell your story for you.

Let�s say you have a unique, dynamic character in mind, but no story for him or her to tell (yet). How do you get from character to plot? First, ask some key questions:

* Who does this character care about?
* What does he/she value?
* What is the most important conflict or goal in his/her life? (inner and/or outer)
* How does the character feel about this conflict or goal? (resolving it and/or avoiding it)

If you�re not sure how to answer that last question, think of it this way: Your character must have a strong reason to solve the conflict or pursue the objective you establish. Once you�ve decided what that is, invent an equally compelling emotional reason for him or her to give up that objective, to walk away. In many stories, that other emotion is fear, not just fear of physical harm or death, but fear of failure, exposure, loss, embarrassment, intimacy, or just about anything else�as long as it�s important to your character.

Your story�s plot will revolve around how this character goes about resolving the conflict or achieving the goal. You may need to add other characters and conflicts to provide complications along the way, but the plot should always focus on these four central elements.

Dialect and accents have always presented a particular problem to writers. In the 19th century it was common to lay it on thick, complete with phonetic spellings. Not so today. If you drop heavy dialect into the middle of a narrative that has been relatively easy to read, the reader will likely get frustrated. Tread lightly here. When making a dialect decision between verisimilitude and artful indication, many new writers choose the former, rationalizing that this makes the dialogue all the more "real." This is almost always the wrong way to go. Here are some better ways to approach the challenge of dialect:

1. Give a straight, narrative indication of the character's accent and let the reader�s imagination take it from there. Thriller writer David Morrell does this in The League of Night and Fog:

"Have you got any luggage?"

"Just what I'm carrying."

"Then let's get out of here." The man's Canadian accent made "out" sound like "oot."

Most readers are familiar enough with a Canadian accent to mentally "fill in" the dialect through the rest of the dialogue.

2. Instead of trying to recreate the actual sound of a dialect, play with the word order and syntax. Here's a "normal" version:

"Excuse me. Can you tell me, please, how far it is to the ocean?"

Compare:

"Excuse. Please to tell, how far to ocean?"

Only a few words have been dropped or rearranged, but it is quite enough to give the impression of a non-native speaker.

3. Use key words and phrases to imply the dialect. See, for example, Bret Lott's Jewel. Lott, a man, writes in the first person voice of a Southern woman from the 1940s. Here is the opening line:

I was born in 1904, so that when I was pregnant in 1943 I was near enough to be past the rightful age to bear children.

The words "rightful age" are dialect, and dropped in without fanfare. It creates a cadence and sense of place and character. Jewel tells her husband she won�t have another child, and he asks what makes her think so:

I said, "Doesn't take divining, not after five," and I paused.

"Divining" is another indicator of place and time. And so on throughout the book�no strain, but enough indication to keep the reader in tune with the character/narrator.

From the Getting Started in Writing Workshop:

How do you go about planning the plot for your story? One way is to use an outline. Opinions about using an outline as a plotting tool vary widely. Many writers feel constrained by an outline that is too detailed, while many others feel that a well-crafted, scene-by-scene outline�by taking care of plotting considerations ahead of time�actually frees them up to be more creative during the writing process.

How (or whether) you decide to use outlines will ultimately be a personal choice based on trial and error. But we think it's a good idea to start with some sort of plan, so we'd like to introduce you to one writer's plotting method, a simple, straightforward approach that should work for any type of story. It is called the "Triple-O method," described by John Nanovic in the 1945 Writer's Yearbook:

Plotting can be brought down to just three little words. ... They are:

1. Objective
2. Obstacles
3. Outcome

That is your story, no matter how you twist or turn it, or how you color it. Your hero sets out to get something [objective]. The obstacles that are in his path are the things that make your story. The outcome of his battle with these obstacles gives you your climax [and resolution].

The Triple-O method is particularly useful in plotting the short story because it helps you identify the one objective and obstacle your story will revolve around