Nancy's First Level 2 Assignment

More General Writing Tips....
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On Characterization:

Character development is important, and something I have trouble with. I would like my characters to seem real and either lovable, sympathetic, or distasteful. Perhaps the character sketch or cheat sheet suggested by Alsobrook would be a good place for me to start. I have not done that in the past because I have only written short stories with few characters, so I could keep character traits in my mind. For a novel, however, I can see that an initial character sketch would be needed.

On Dialogue:

My second assignment in Level 1 turned out to be mostly dialog, and I saw that it did tell the story well as Alsobrook said it would. I got complements on the dialog, and I think that is what got me promoted to Level 2.

On Scene and Sequel:

This is good advice for a multi-chapter novel. In my short stories I have had one scene and one sequel that just flow together without my giving the sequence much thought.

Burn the "Deadwood"

This is good advice. A teacher once told me that, after I had written something, I should go back over it and eliminate as many words as possible without changing the meaning. I have tried to do this and it makes a great difference in readability. At first I thought it made the writing choppy, but when I read it again later I could see it was a lot better.

Let You’re Characters Lead You to Your Plot

This is good advice, and I think it will help character development, which I need.

Dialect

So far, I have not had need for dialect, but this seems like good advice. I do try to give each of my characters a distinctive voice, vocabulary, and way of putting things, so the reader can almost recognize a character by the way he says what he says.

The Pros and Cons of Outlining

In English class I had to hand in the outline along with my story or report to show the teacher I had used it. I always wrote the story first and the outline second, and I still do this. I have found it very helpful, however, to use the standard headings in Microsoft Word. I can then switch back and forth between draft and outline views, which lets me work on both at the same time.

How can I Become a Better Writer?

This is good advice, and I think one learns to follow it by writing. That is why I find the writing that is assigned here in the block to be so helpful. By actually writing I have learned how to do many of the things mentioned here. I especially like: “Every word in your piece should be there for a reason, and you should know the reason.”

Writing Tips from fellow Authors

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JR Parz Writing Tips

I like this advice, and I think many of the stories here in the Library could benefit from it. I also like Parz’s emphasis on erotic fiction. I started writing erotic stories as a way of enhancing the pleasure of my own fantasies. In fact, until I came to the Library, that was my only purpose for writing them. So, I have a few unfinished and unpolished stories on my hard disk. Now the feedback that I have received from the one story that I have posted here (written some time ago) has encouraged me to try to improve my writing for the enjoyment of others. I have always written from the POV of the female character, and I like Parz’s explanation of why this is best. I agree.

I liked Parz’s advice so much that I looked up the only story he has posted in the Library. I think Parz would do well to follow his own advice more closely. Since I don’t like supernatural stories that make impossible things happen, I may have been prejudiced, but I doubt this story will turn on female readers. I don’t think it will captivate female readers to have the heroine screaming in a public restroom to a man she has just met, and whose name she does not know, the following: “Fuck me!” she cried. . . “Fuck me!”

I can't wait to see how you turn out your second assignment. You've three first chapter drafts to choose from; two by Aussiegirl and one from me. I have confidence that you will turn out something quite good. Just remember that this is where the brutality begins in ernest.

(insert evil laughter and scary music here)

Welcome to level two nancy, nice to have a new face here.

Thanks for a great job on the readings. I can see you really put some time and thought into the task. I like your personal take on the readings too. I certainly hope you thought it was interesting and that you found some helpful hints.

I have to ask you to tell me about this statement.

I have found it very helpful, however, to use the standard headings in Microsoft Word. I can then switch back and forth between draft and outline views, which lets me work on both at the same time.

Can you tell me more about the standard headings you use and how to find them in the program, as it sounds very useful.

I had a good laugh at this comment In English class I had to hand in the outline along with my story or report to show the teacher I had used it. I always wrote the story first and the outline second, and I still do this. I love it!! I know I tend to jump into a story and then think of an outline, even though I know it is much better to do it the other way.

Looking forward to seeing your next assignment. Feel free to PM me with any questions or problems.

AG

Thank you for the nice comments, AG, and the welcome to Level Two. I am enjoying it here.

Word's outline feature is very useful. You simply format the heading for each section or subsection as "Heading 1", Heading 2", etc. with the numbers indicating the level in the outline hierarchy. You can put the headings in first as an outline and fill in the body text later, or you can write snippets of body text and give each one a descriptive heading. When you go to Outline View, just the headings are shown down to the level you specify, but you can also show the first line, or all of the body text, under a heading if you want. In Outline View you can move headings around or change their level very easily and the whole document is changed accordingly. You can also edit in Outline View.

One trick that I like is to just write down ideas as they come to mind giving each idea a descriptive heading at Level 1. These are just story fragments in no special order. When I have a lot of these, I then go to outline view and see just the headings. I can drag the headings around into a logical order and make some subordinate to others. I usually then see that additional headings are needed, and I put them in. When I go back to draft view I then have a complete outline with all of the fragments under the appropriate heading. I can then fill in the rest of the body text. When the story is finished, I take out most of the descriptive headings.

I recently switched to Word 2007, and no longer have access to the older version. So I can't tell you the exact way to do it. The new version makes it easier to do than was the case with the previous version.

I hope this is clear enough to get you to try it. You will like it.

nancy

I just went and had a little play with it in word. Wow, I had no idea it could do that!

Thanks again for the tip.

You are welcome, AG. Word's styles and themes are very powerful, and I format all my documents using an appropriate style for each paragraph. You can change the appearance of the heading and other styles to anything you want (type size, bold, centered, etc.) When writing a report or proposal you usually want the reader to be aware of the outline, so I use a lot of headings. When you are finished you can then "Insert TOC," and Word will prepare a Table of Contents from the headings and put in the correct page number.

Fantastic stuff! It is amazing what you can learn each day -- thanks again!