Tag Archives: Writing Fiction

Squash Your Outer Adult to Write For Your Inner Kid

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Help!  I’ve lost my imagination. I know I had it not that long ago.  Then all of this adult-life stuff kept happening and adult-life does not play nice with writing for children or creativity.

Just warning you, there will be no acting like adults here.  These times are too desperate.  It’s a matter of life and death.  I love my characters too much to let them die from a deprived imagination.  It may call for some rather awkward moments, but for the sake of the story, I must do what must be done.

Eight Ways to Push Down the Adult in You

1.  Ever notice how children dress themselves when they are first given permission to pick out their clothes?  They pick out the stuff they love best and makes them feel happy.  Go to your closet and pick out something that makes you feel twirly or like you could take down Megatron on your own, or whatever mood you are trying to establish in your story.

2.  Get out an art medium and paper.  crayons, oil pastels, finger paints, etc.  No oil paints.  Those are far too adultish.  Have at it, but don’t think.  Play.  See what pops into your head all on its own.

3.  Laugh.  What makes you laugh?  What makes kids laugh?  Surround yourself with it.  My kids need to laugh every night before they can go to sleep.  Bodily noises will always be funny.  But what really gets them going is pretending, especially if it involves taking down their dad.

4.  Pretend.  (You knew that was coming, didn’t you?)  Be your character for an hour, an afternoon, at dinnertime.

5.  Play with kids.  If you’ve got your own it’s beneficial in so many ways.  If you’ve got nieces and nephews offer to babysit.  Just play.  Let the kids lead.  NO MULTI-TASKING!  That’s an adult habit, not allowed here.

6.  Dance.  I don’t mean the kind of moves you tried at the club when you turned 21.  Have you ever watched kids dance?  They just get into it.

7.  Build a fort.  Bring your computer in there.  It’s too tempting not to try, isn’t it?

8.  Sit for five minutes before writing.  Imagine the mental movie of your story.  Listen to your story soundtrack.  Or listen to your story.  (You have to record it first.  Maybe after you write a piece, when you go back to read it, pull out the dictaphone and record it.  So when you are ready to start writing again, listen to the last bit you wrote.)  Imagine the story.  Fall into it.  Where does your mind take you?

Okay.  Did you shake off all that thick adultish scabby stuff that blocks creativity?  Good.  Have fun playing with words.

Top Ten Little Things to Edit Away

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Here’s a list of small things to pay attention to when editing your Work in Progress (WIP).

1.  Do you have any ticks?  I seem to like the words but and just a lot!  What words do you overuse?  A neat way to find out is to take a chapter of your WIP and copy it to Wordle. Wordle.net will take your text and make a word cloud of it.  The size of the word correlates to the frequency of its use.

2.  Examine your minor characters.  What makes them stand out as the unique individuals that they are?

3. Check your chapters for sensory description.  Have you used all five senses at least once per chapter?

4.   Does your main character, antagonist, sidekick have any nuance?  If so, do they carry it through the whole story?  Or do you throw it in heavily in one area then forget about it?

5.  Try writing a scene that still gives you trouble from a different point of view.  If your story is written from first person, write the scene in third person omniscient so you can get a broader perspective of what’s going on.  If it’s written in third person, switch to first person.  Get inside your character’s head and understand what they are thinking and feeling.

6.  Try to reduce word count by 10%.  Ya, that’s a tough one!

tongue out clip art

7.  If your not sure about the direction your story is going, try making a what-if tree.  Kind of like a family tree, but instead of people, give each event 2 or 3 possible outcomes.  For each outcome, give 2 or 3 new situations.  Go crazy and push your brain.

8.  Check settings.  Is the setting clear in each chapter.  When you shift settings, what does your character notice there?

9.  Write out the major character traits you have for each of your main characters (protagonist, antagonist, sidekick).  Do they stay true to the core of who they are throughout?  If not, are any changes justifiable and believable?

10.  Dialogue: Can you take out the dialogue tags and tell who the speaker is?  If not, fix it.  There’s very little room for neutral lines.  (Like “Ya, I know).

What is missing from this list?  Write a comment and share your wisdom!

Not Just Coincidence

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I never cease to be surprised when things line up in such an amazing way that you know it could not have worked out so well if it was purposely planned.  As a person striving for deepening faith I credit most coincidences as God-incidences.  And that is true as I sought out readers who could peruse my manuscript for historical and technical accChicago's Forgotten Tragedyuracy.

As part of my research, I came across a little gem, Chicago’s Forgotten Tragedy, by Bill Cosgrove.  Though it is primarily an account of the 1910 fire at the Chicago Stockyards that claimed twenty-one firemen, it also includes a wealth of information detailing the history of the Chicago Fire Department.  This was information that all the research I had done had not uncovered.  Being a retired Chicago firefighter, Mr. Cosgrove has extensive knowledge and access to historical content.  Then the thought occurred to me that I should ask him to read my MS and be an expert reader for both the technical side of firefighting and the historical content of the Great Chicago Fire.

You know, as a writer you’re supposed to have a one line summary of your story.  Mine is: It a histocial fiction novel where Backdraft meets Pursuit of Happiness.   As I was researching Mr. Cosgrove to contact him, I learned that he has three other books as well: The Noble Breed, Accident or Arson, and  Robert De Niro and the Fireman.  I also learned that he served as technical director to Robert DeNiro on the movie Backdraft which inspired one of his books (you can probably guess which one).  Did I say Backdraft? Yep, Backdraft!  As in my book is Backdraft meets Pursuit of Happiness!  Holy Toledo I was now very intimidated to ask.  But I sent an email into the mysterious internet world not confident of the outcome.  A few days later I received a voicemail saying that he would love to read through my book.  What??

After he read it he talked me through my book, one major scene at a time.  He was very fond of my book, impressed with my research, and offered minor things to change.  (Thank God I do not have to do a major revision as a result!)  As it turns out, Mr. Cosgrove is also a south side Irish, from a firefighting family.  He, too, lost his father in the line of business.  He was enamored with Mam, my MC’s mother, and how much she reminded him of his own mother.   He said that I really knew the Irish.  I then told him that I’m actually a McDonald myself, though very Americanized, maybe it’s something deep in the blood.  He also honored me by asking his sixth grade grandson (my target reading audience, by the way), to read it.  This young man was not intimidated by the 276 pages to get through.  He enjoyed it as well.

When so many coincidences line up like that, you must know, they are not coincidences.  I will fly high on this praise for a bit and let it give me the confidence to stomp into my next phase: looking for an agent!

Thank you, Mr. Cosgrove.  I hope to send you a polished and published copy of my first edition sometime soon!

 

MRUs, they are nothing like MRIs

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Motivation-Reaction Units! oooh!

In last week’s post I shared about a strategy about how to analyze your scene/sequel structure.  Every chapter contains scene-sequel cycles, my chapters average 2 or 3.  But within every scene and every sequel are motivation-reaction units.  (This phrase is used by Dwight Swain in his book, Techniques of a Selling Author and is well-summarized in the blog Writing the Perfect Scene.   Where I lack creativity, I make up in resourcefulness!)

The nuts and bolts:

Motivation: What your MC sees, hears, feels, tastes, or smells.  It is observable and objective.

Reaction: begins internally and may end internally or externally.  The MCs reaction should mirror real life.  Initially, we react to things emotionally, something we can’t control, and to varying degrees depending on the motivation.  Sometimes the emotion is followed by a knee-jerk reaction.  Again, something we can’t control.  This happens usually in more dramatic or surprising situations.  Sometimes we skip the reflexive response and have a thought, or say something, or do something.  And there are some situations when all three occur.  When that happens, it usually follows: emotional reaction – reflexive reaction – thoughtful reaction.

Common sense, isn’t it?

As you are analyzing your scenes and sequels for their larger structure, you can mark down the side of the page when you are reading a motivation or a reaction.  This reveals story parts that are not motivation or reaction, and therefore don’t belong.  I have read nearly a full page in which my character is not reacting to anything.  A full page of motivation is too much.  The reader has identified with the MC and wants him to be engaged, not just an observer.  I also noticed, despite Swain’s suggestion that Motivations and Reactions alternate paragraphs, that my writing often had one, sometimes two, MRUs, within one paragraph.  (I’m not usually a rule breaker, but I’m okay with this one.  Especially since I have looked at other children’s books and noticed that accomplished authors have done that too.  Nonetheless, MRUs fill their pages.)

The only place that I ignore the MRU pattern is when I am establishing setting.  For the sake of my reader, this needs to be done swiftly and the action needs to get going again.  There are certainly more patient readers who like a thorough picture painted for them.  Know your reader and their attention span!

An example from the bookcase: Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Velchin

     I’m almost at the first floor when I hear the door open upstairs.  It’s my aunt.  (motivation – M).  I stop and wait for her to catch up.  I knew she’d come, (Reaction – R) and she does, arms reaching out and pulling me in.  (M)  With her face so close, I see she looks like my dad.  Though my dad never cries, of course. (R)

     “He’s wrong,” I say.  “My dad’s not an enemy of the people.  You know that, don’t you?” (Still R)
     She nods and pats my head, or tries to arrange my hair (M) – I don’t know which (R).  “I’m sorry, Sasha,” she says  “If we take you in, they’ll arrest us, too.  We just had a baby.  We have to stay alive.”  (M)
     She pushes something into the palm of my hand, folds my fingers over it, and runs upstairs (still M).  I know it’s money.  I’ll need it.  I’m grateful.  When I look, it’s not much, but at least in the morning I can take a streetcar to school (R).
 While alternating paragraphs for motivations and reactions is clearly not followed here, the MRU pattern certainly is.  Study some text for yourself.  Pick a favorite book off the shelf and see if that author uses MRUs.
 Well, January is research month for me.  So next time I will share some research tips I’ve picked up along the way.
 
Til then,
Enjoy playing with words!

Revision Process: scenes and sequels

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First off, where have I been?  I noticed my last post was in October.  My apologies.  I spent October and November in revision and took December off to focus on my primary job: SAHM (stay at home mom.)  But a new year is here with brand new motivations.

Pre-published authors are keenly aware that we are not to submit our work to agents until we get it as good as we can.  To perfectionists, that is a cruel task.  So we have to learn to let go of ascertaining perfection on our own (if ever), establish a plan, and stick to it!

In brief – the steps that got me this far:

  1. Write the rough draft like a crazy person.  Finish the darn thing and celebrate.  Really celebrate.
  2. Take a month away from it and read a craft book.
  3. REVISE: see this blog on what you can do in the first revision.
  4. Rewrite – time to fix all those things you didn’t allow yourself to look back at during the frenzied rough draft.
  5. Get eyes on it.  Yep.  Be brave!  Do you have a critique group?  They are the perfect people to do this.  They have willingly sacrificed hours of their time to read your writing and critique it because they know you will do the same for them.
  6. While your critique group has it start the next revision.

That’s what this post will focus on.  My process, in general, is an inverted triangle: start broad and become more narrowed through the revision.  Every writer has a process.  This works for me, for now.

On the first revision I was focusing on story arc, plot, characterization, what chapters can go – big picture stuff.  Now, I am getting more narrowed.  I am breaking the chapters into scenes and sequels and I am looking for specific elements.  And what I’m doing is not original.  I have taken what I have read in craft books, learned at conferences, and researched online to synthesize my process.

This step of my process was largely taken from a blog that was summarizing a book.  The blog:  Writing the Perfect Scene (beckons all perfectionists!)  The book: Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight Swain.  (Admittedly, I have not read it yet.  As a SAHM my writing time is very limited.  But perhaps that will be the craft book I read after my next rough draft.) Refer to either or both of these for expanded information.  I will hit the highlights.

Tools: 3 different colored highlighters, a fourth marker of a different color, a red pen, green pen, tablet with Index Card app (By the way, this is a revised method.  My first was even more involved and I quickly realized I was working harder not smarter.)

Each chapter is compiled of scenes and sequels.

In a scene there is:11170843-highlighter-pens-in-desk-organizer-for-home-business-back-to-school-projects

  • a goal: the MC (main character) goal for just this little moment in time, which ultimately is somehow tied to the big goal/story arc – when I identify the goal I highlight it in blue.
  • CONFLICT! – internal or external, obstacles stumbling blocks the MC is dealing with in the scene. (I uses yellow highlighter – like warning road signs)
  • DISASTER!!!! – the thing that keeps the MC from reaching the goal (I like a pink highlighter for his one, it’s close to red. – I know, I am a very deep thinker!)

After the disaster the sequel begins:

  • Reaction: an emotional response that follows the disaster, will probably include dialogue or internal thoughts. (back to blue highlighter)
  • Dilemma: the MC is in a situation with no perfect solution that will allow him to reach his initial goal.  The MC sorts out his options. (yep, yellow highlighter!)
  • Decision: MC has weighed his options and chooses a path, therefore a new goal.  (red again. though sometimes it is also blue for my next scene.)

Most of my chapters have between two or three scene/sequel cycles.  Some had just one, the most was probably four.  Keep in mind. my chapters run about 9 or 10 pages.  So what I’m calling scenes may be what someone else calls a beat.  I’m not going to get hung up on vocabulary.  The important thing is that I am analyzing my text for the good stuff it needs to have.  My book is also an action story, fast paced.  Stories that are slower paced or focus more on building suspense or scene setting may have longer chapters or fewer scene/sequel cycles.  With my target reader in mind, I need to keep the pace up!

The purposes for the other tools:

  • Purple marker: noted flashbacks, internal monologue, and transitions (all of which were used SPARINGLY!)
  • red pen, to do what red pens always do!
  • green pen – to record MRUs – ooooh what’s that? I’ll get into that in my next blog.
  • Index Card app: After I completed each chapter I recorded for each scene: the number of the scene, the chapter it belongs to, the act it was from, the headline, the goal, conflict, disaster, the number of words and MRUs (oh! there it is again!) and humor.  And for each sequel I did the same thing, but recording the reaction, dilemma, and decision instead.

What good did it do?

I quickly realized when I was missing key components.  Sometimes an entire sequel was missing.  I have at least 5 scenes or sequels that need to be written – and one entire chapter.  And the opposite is true too.  I am able to see what isn’t a scene or sequel that is moving the story forward and can be discarded.  Repetition, lack of scene setting, drifting from the plot,  wordiness – it all stands out more.    I noticed my habit is to often skip past a reaction by the MC to the disaster.  And I’m sure there is more too.  Thankfully, it’s all recorded on my index cards!

Next time – MRUs. They are nothing like MRIs!

Til then,

Happy Writing!

By the way, what it one thing you always include on your index card when you are analyzing your story?

Westview Questions of the Week

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This is the last set of questions from my visit to Westview Elementary.  I have been surprised by the level of questions the students have posed and have enjoyed answering them.  Here are the last five questions.boy reading to snake

1.  What if you don’t know what to do at the end?

There is a saying that the end is in the beginning.  The main goal that the character wants to achieve must be figured out by the end.  If it was resolved, but you kept writing, it’s time to do some editing.  If you are not sure what your character wants to accomplish you probably have to rewrite the beginning.  It’s in the beginning that the main goal is set.  Through the middle conflict gets in the way of meeting that goal.  By the end, the character has figured out how to solve the problem and reach the goal.  If you’re having a problem with the end, look at the beginning.

2.  What kind of story is it?

The story I am writing is historical fiction novel for middle grades.  It’s historical fiction because the setting of the story is a true historical event, but the characters are made up.  True history and setting + fictional main characters = historical fiction.  It is intending for students in fourth through sixth or seventh grade.

3.  Why does it take so long to write a story?

It depends.  Short stories don’t take very long.  Novels take longer.  If a person writes for six or more hours a day, the story gets done faster.  If they are inconsistent it will take longer.

4.  How long have you been writing?

Most of what I have written has been academic, meaning I did it because I had to for school.  Even so, I still liked it.  I enjoy the relaxation that writing brings me when it’s going well and overcoming the frustration when it isn’t.   I liked proving my point through writing.  I also appreciated the things I learned through research. There is no better feeling than the one that comes upon completion!  Now, I entertain myself when I create a scene of my book.  I  didn’t start writing for the purpose of creating a manuscript to publish until a few years ago.

5.  How do you publish it?

There are two major routes.  The first is self-publish either online or pay a company to turn your manuscript into a book.  When you self-publish you are completely on your own with producing a great story.  The other way is to go through a publishing house.  Most publishing houses don’t take work from just anyone, so a writer needs to find an agent who will help get their books to an editor at a publishing house.  Another way to get access to a publishing house is to attend conferences where publishers also attend and invite you to submit your story to them.  They do this at writer’s conferences because they know that the people who attend are serious about their story and making it the best that they can.

That’s it, folks!  Thanks for the great questions.

Stop by anytime and enjoy Playing with Words!

Documentary Novel vs Historical Fiction

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identity crisisYou write about what you already know, right?  But, you also write about things you want learn more about.   Admittedly, after researching this topic I may be more confused than when I started.  Let me see if I can work it out!

The easy part: Historical Fiction

  • The setting of the story is historical, a real time and place of years past.
  • Characters: Most of the characters are fictional, some may be real
  • Plot: Events through the plot will be a blend of true and created.
  • Historical: The writer presents historical information accurately.
  • Fiction: The plot is the engine of the book, history is secondary, but must be accurate.

Examples

  • Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
  • The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
  • The Watson’s Go to Birmingham – 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

Goodreads has a list of 653 of the Best Children’s Historical Fiction.

The hiccup: (and something I learned in my research!)

In order for a story to be historical fiction, it must be historical to the author.  If I were writing a novel set in London 2013 about a girl who desperately wanted to become a nanny for the future king, it would be contemporary fiction right?  In twenty years it would still be contemporary fiction from a different time.  So the argument then is books like those written by Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Laura Ingalls Wilder would not be historical fiction because at the time they were written they were contemporary fiction.

What do you think? Agree? Disagree?

Onto documentary novel – the waters get a little more muddy for me here.

I have seen three different definitions for documentary novel.

1.  True event + real people told in a narrative format.  (plot, dialogue, characterization)

  • From this definition, I have only found one title that keeps appearing, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.  I have not read this book, so I can not speak accurately to it.

until . . .

  • Loving vs Virginia by Patricia Hruby Powell came out in January 2017. Loving vs VirginiaAnd this one I have read. It is written in verse and alternates between the two lead characters, who are historical figures. I spoke to Patricia regarding this book. It is as historically accurate as is possible considering the main characters have both passed away. Through in depth interviews with friends and family she was able to ascertain specific details to the events of the story. The area that the author must take a little liberty is when there is dialogue.

2.  A historical fiction novel that includes articles of history within the pages.  These may include quotes, advertisements, and the like.

  • Countdown by Deborah Wiles is an example of this.  Newspaper clippings, advertisements, and quotes are scattered between the chapters.

3.  A historical fiction novel in which the format appears like non-fiction articles.

  • The title that came up most often for this genre was Nothing but the Truth by Avi.  This is written as a series of diary entries, dialogue – as it would be seen in a play, memos.  Again, I haven’t read this one, but I am curious and it’s made my list of books to read.

So now that I see these definitions of documentary novel, I am wondering if that is the genre my book will fall into.  I have considered the idea of including bits from newspapers in my Chicago Fire book.  So now my question is, is that my choice or the editors?

What kind are you writing? Historical fiction or documentary novel?

Next time I will share the strategy I have been using to dissect my novel.  And boy, has it been eye opening!

Until then,

Enjoy Playing with Words!

School Visit: Questions of the Week

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kids with booksThis week I embarked on something that I didn’t think I would do for a while: visiting a school as a writer! And boy, did I learn a lot!  The fifth grade students at Westview School in Champaign were a great and patient audience!  (My timer was accidentally set to vibrate so I never heard the darn thing go off!) Nonetheless, I enjoyed the visit a great deal and hope the students got something from it too.  I was asked to speak on the writing process.  My adventure in writing coupled with my years teaching gave me the confidence to do this.

Just as I do with my kids at dinner or bedtime, I will share my highs and lows.

High: Learning new technology!  Thank you, Donna Moores for introducing me to Prezi!  Love it!!!

Low: The darn timer!!!!!

High: Favorite part of the presentation was when the students helped me create an impromptu story to demonstrate goal-conflict-disaster followed by reaction-dilemma-decision (and of course that decision creates the next goal!)

Low: lack of concrete examples that the students could relate to (next time – get a list of books in advance that the children are familiar with)

High: Take home questions that I will answer ON THIS BLOG!  There were a ton of great questions that I didn’t have a chance to answer (ahem, use an actual kitchen timer next time!), but will answer a few every Friday until they run out.  There are two questions, however, that will not be answered here: What’s the title?  What are the names of my main characters? As I am keeping most information about my actual story fairly private while its still in creation, I would rather not post that here.  But I will tell Mrs. Moores. 🙂

So here are the first five questions (names will not be posted for security purposes).

1.  What inspired you to write a story?

I have been fascinated by the Great Chicago Fire for a long time.  The more I’ve researched, the more compelling it has become.  It’s a story that should be told and there are not many children’s books on this topic.  When I was in high school, an English teacher was very complementary of the things I had written.  That coupled with my own pleasure of reading and writing gave me the courage to go for it.  Thanks Mr. Pusateri!

2.  How hard is the process when you don’t think you have any more ideas?

This is similar to writer’s block.  When you are feeling stuck go back and look at the conflict.  Did you have the steps? Does the main character have a goal? Does conflict get in the way? Does a disaster occur that knocks the main character off track? (Disasters don’t have to be big, just a big deal to the character.)  How does the character react to the disaster?  What emotions come out?  Is there a dilemma?  What choice does the character make?  His decision will lead you to the next goal.  Then you can figure out who or what will get in his way.  (more conflict, more disaster).  So, in short, conflict keeps the story going.  If you are stuck CHECK THE CONFLICT.

3.  Why would you walk away if your still working on it?

While I was busy writing the verbal vomit (rough draft) I would write for forty-five minutes and then do brainless activity (like laundry, dishes, take the dogs for a walk) for fifteen minutes.    I did this to give my brain a chance to rethink what I had written and think about where to go next.  Writing is mentally exhausting and it is good to take breaks.  But if you are on a roll, keep going.  Once I finished my whole rough draft, got all the way to the end of the book, I took a month off of writing.  I read a lot, but I didn’t look at my story at all!  I did this so I would be able to look at it through fresh eyes.  Since you are writing a short story, you won’t need to take so much time off.  A good night’s sleep should be enough to give you a fresh look at it.

4.  How long does it take to write it and publish it?  Also, how much time does it take until the book is in the stores?

Different writers take a different amount of time to finish.  Since this is my first book and I’ve had to do extreme research it is taking me three years of working on it inconsistently.  Some writers do this for a living and are very quick.  I’m hoping to get faster for my next books!  Finding a publisher can be tricky – so I will answer that question in a future post.  But once you find a publisher it takes between one and two YEARS before it’s on the shelves in bookstores.

5.  What is a good beginning sentence?

Authors battle this same question every time they start new! First of all, take the pressure off of yourself.  It’s okay if it’s garbage at first.  Just start with what comes to your mind.  You can always go back and change it once you see how your story is coming to life.  But there are some things to think about.  What kind of story are you writing?  Is it action? Then you may want to get your character moving from the start.  Is it a mystery? You may want to give a hint that all is not right in your main character’s world.  Do you want to shock your audience?  Do you want to ease your audience in by painting the setting?  Remember you are the creator of the world your main character lives in.    So consider the type of story you are writing and how you want your readers to feel from the very first sentence.  That should give you direction.  Then give yourself peace of mind because you can always change it!

Also look at how some of your favorite books were started.    I guarantee those authors questioned their beginning and probably changed it a few times too.

Great questions Westview!  I will answer more next week.

Until then,

Enjoy Playing with Words!

Five things children look for in a good book

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boy reading to snakeMy favorite part of the school day was most often literature circle.  There was something very special about talking about a good book!  It connected people to each other, even students who didn’t always see eye-to-eye.  It gave them a chance to vent about their own lives when a character went through something they could relate to.  It was always therapeutic, informative, and bonding!

While children’s interests are as varied as their personalities, there are some elements that are consistently attractive to children.

1. Humor – Children love to laugh and they should! How many times has a child told you a joke that made absolutely no sense, but they burst out laughing anyway?  So make sure you include moments of humor.  Even if you’re writing a serious drama of a dark world, you must include moments of levity.  So what’s funny? That’s up to you.  Keep a little notebook handy and write down the things that amuse you.  What cracks you up?  Books reveal much about the author.  The humor you include must be funny to you in order for it to be funny to others.  Did you ever see a comedian delivering a joke he didn’t think was funny?  It just doesn’t work.

2.  Intrigue – Keep them guessing! Cliffhangers, twists, how will the character ever get out of the mess they got themselves into?  As adults we may think the plot is predictable, but that’s because we have read so much and we are not easily fooled.  And if you can pull off the unexpected and surprise your reader you have them hooked! I bet you will even figure out how to fool the well-read reader because you are that good.

3.  Something to talk about – Let’s face it, kids love to gossip!   The worst thing that can happen, has to happen IN EACH SCENE.  Don’t make anything easy for your MC and kids will be talking about it.

4.  Identification – Your reader needs to relate to the MC on basic struggles, so they care about the big struggles.  Most children have limited experiences to build from, but the core of children is the same.  They want to be loved, accepted, have friends, succeed, not embarrass themselves, privacy, have fun, to be safe, and more! That’s a lot of basic stuff to work with.

BUT, you still have to . . .

5.  Suspend reality – Your MC has to do things a typical child will never have to do.  Who wants to read a book that is as ordinary as life? We read to experience things we never could, to go places that are out of reach (some that don’t exist on this plane or in this time period), to be someone so very different (yet similar).

It’s so easy, isn’t it?

What’s missing from this list?

Next time I’ll compare historical fiction to documentary novel.  Which one are you writing? Are you sure?

Until then,

Enjoy Playing with Words!

On Dialogue

. Writer's Craft . , , , , , , , ,

dialogue bubblesThere is much for me to learn!  So very much to learn!  The more I read about writing dialogue, the tougher it seems to do well.

So here is what I’ve figured out so far.

What dialogue isn’t:

  • a way to relay information to your reader.  That really stinks, because we aren’t suppose to “tell” our readers either.  Somehow we are suppose to sneak information into the text without being obvious about it.
  • a recap of street dialogue.  Real conversation often gets heavy in the kind of details that would bore a reader to no end.  We can probably think of a friend that could use adding commas and periods when they talk.
  • natural.  Alice LaPlante said, “You want to make it sound natural, but that doesn’t mean that it is.”
  • filler space

What dialogue is:

  • reader friendly.  Dialogue quickens the pace, puts white space on the page, and gives the reader a little relief.
  • balanced with action and description.  You are not writing a play (talking to myself here).  Dialogue cannot stand alone.  The full picture is painted when dialogue is followed with action and description.
  • moves the story forward.  It has to have a purpose that is related to the plot.
  • filled with subtext.  Trust your reader to be able to read between the lines.
  • built on the history of the characters.  Consider the things that you don’t need to say when talking to your best friend that you would if you were talking to an acquaintance.  Or when you are meeting someone new, the guarded superficial dialogue still carries a tone.  There is hidden dialogue built on history, intentions, and hopes and that will be true with characters.
  • conveys emotions without telling the emotion.
  • elliptical.  I heard Lin Oliver say this before, but I’m not super clear on it.  What I understand this to mean is speakers respond not just to what was said, but also to what wasn’t said.  They interpret the line, the subtext, the history, the intentions and tone, and reply with all of this in mind.  So the characters are filling in the gaps in the conversation in their minds and reply to each other in this form.  Is this right?
  • unique to each character.  Each character must be well defined in your head so the dialogue sounds like him/her.
  • brief
  • what is said is a glimmer of what isn’t.  And sometimes it is a complete fabrication.  Our characters are far more mysterious than most people are in real life.  But if we write dialogue that is true to how people really sound, our characters are flat, puppet-like, and the veil that has been hiding the author is ripped to shreds.

I think there is a giant asterisk over this whole thing.  Know your reader.  If you are writing for young readers, even as old as middle grade,  a little more needs to be transparent.  We don’t want to frustrate our reader to the point they put down the book.  Especially when they may only be reading because it is SSR (silent sustained reading) time and they have to read, so they picked your book off the stack.  Writing for kids is tough.  There are many who are resistant to reading for many reasons.  We want to intrigue, but not frustrate.

That was the ol’ teacher slipping out.  But as I write, I keep in mind very specific students who struggled to read, would never do it on their own, but nonetheless enjoyed literature circle.

So with that it mind.  Next time: Making your story worth talking about.

Til then, enjoy playing with words!

One more thing – What children’s book has great dialogue that is worth studying?