Author Emotions

I always find myself, when frustrated, thinking of how I could write said frustration. I don't know why that thought pops into my head with this emotion so much more than any other. Perhaps when I'm happy, I'm focused on that happiness more than anything else. Or perhaps I'm just not a happy person and I don't get truly happy enough. Or maybe because I feel more curious about frustration than happiness.

Regardless, I think I have learned to distance myself in the hopes that when I go to write a character's frustration, I can remember that tightness in my chest, the sinking disbelief as the blood drains from my face when I realize the thing my dog is chewing like a rawhide treat is my handcrafted, seal-skin Alaskan mukluk.

My German Shepherd. I love her--I do. At least, I tell myself I do. (What is love, really? But that's another topic.)

Back on point. I love my dog. But there comes a time, like tonight, when I wonder what I'm getting out of this relationship. She gets food, water, a bed, healthcare, love, discipline... And I get...a dog that chews up my slipper. Hand beaded, handcrafted by a wonderful woman, friend of my mother's, who recently died.

In retrospect, I should have known the dog was into something. While in the bath, I heard her collar jingling too much to be normal, but...I just thought she was scratching. Alas, no. She had already eaten one mukluk and was on to the second by the time I found her. I was so stunned, I stared at her for several seconds before I could take it all in. The only remnants of one slipper was the cotton interior and the felt beaded portion. The rest, evaporated. Consumed by the dog who happens to be allergic to most meats. (I.e. including rawhides, chews, treats of any kind.)

Since becoming a writer, I find myself distanced from emotions. I've heard it said that writers must be emotional and close in tune to their emotions, but I disagree. I think writers must be close observers of emotions, whether their own or others.

I don't have to suffer the death of my spouse to write about it. I don't have to experience drugs to write about their effects. Sure, it may lend some authenticity, but as humans, our emotions and bodies are limited. We can only feel so much, in so many different ways. The way those emotions are described, however, are positively endless. I think this is why I distance myself, why I step back in the midst of a strong emotion to ask myself what I'm feeling and why. I want to be able to describe it to others, to give a written situation that hint of authenticity that makes my character jump off the page, jump into life, into my reader's soul. Emotions do that.

A little emotional distance not only saves me a lot of heartache, but gives me a tool in my writer's toolbox to use later. And one day, perhaps my dog will become immortalized in a novel or short story. Perhaps with the end result being the immediate death of the dog. Or a slow, painful death as she chokes on seal skin. Or maybe the dog will be cast out of her family only to later redeem herself? I can only hope.

So this entire ordeal begs the question: do you think she's allergic to seal? I have the foreboding feeling that I'll find out tonight.

"Toward" Versus "Towards"

Photo Credits: the_munificent_sasquatch's on Flickr.com

I never used to wonder about this until I started actively trying to learn how to write. For the past year, ever since I wrote "towards", I would engage in an inner dialogue, wondering if it should be "toward" and not "towards". Then I would wonder how I could tell the difference between usages--did it have to agree with the subject? Object? 


I no longer wonder. I finally Googled this very question today, and found this highly amusing post by Grammar Girl.


Now, let me say, the post itself is not amusing, but the comments afterwards are. Enjoy.

Just bleed

There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. *

Ernest Hemingway.


Exactly how I'm feeling of late.

Tips for Writing

Want to be a better writer? Here are the ten most important tips that I can think of to grow as a writer.

Number one: Write. 

Every day. Even when you don’t feel like it. Write until your fingers are bloody stumps on your hands. Keep writing until you hate the story you’ve written.  Don't stop writing. 

Number two: Read. 

A lot. And many genres, many authors. Every book that you read expands your knowledge of the written language. Reading popular books informs you of the publishing market, it shows you what types of authors and writing are well received. When I read, I find myself admiring or criticizing the language and, sometimes, being inspired by the book. This does not lead to stealing ideas, as some think, but to stronger writing. I can take that sentence I admire and break it apart to see why it works for me, in the hopes of replicating that in my own writing.

Number three: Don’t stop to edit.

Do that later. Keep writing the story that’s in you until it’s out completely. Only then, should you go back and edit. This prevents you from getting discouraged and stopping before you complete the first draft. Once you reach the end of your first draft, give it a couple of weeks (days at the least), then start editing.

Number four: Do write what you know.

By writing what you know, you are lending authenticity to the plot and characters. However, although I suggest this, I think that there are times you can write what you do not know. Be warned, however, that when you write about something you are not familiar with, research is a must. The Internet is a wonderful tool that writers have nowadays to begin their research with.

Number five: Don’t use passive tense.

Passive tense creates doubt in the reader’s mind about the narrator. Which sounds better? If the narrator says, “I seemed to think he was lying”? Or “He lied”? Using active tense creates immediacy and instills confidence in the narrator. In active tense, we trust that the narrator knows what is going on. A reader likes to feel like they’re being led by a confident narrator.

Number six: Do be sparing with adjectives and adverbs.

These are words ending in -ly or describing nouns. I didn’t say “avoid” using adjectives and adverbs, as a properly placed adjective or adverb can be useful in describing the scene. However, too many draw attention to themselves and become not only distracting, but lazy and laughable.

Number seven: Do use correct grammar.

Some writers say that’s what editors are for, but, let’s face it, an editor cannot catch everything. It is only beneficial for you to take the time to write correctly. It’s not only easier to read, but it strengthens your writing and makes your story smoother.

Number eight: Don’t be afraid to cut.

You know that scene that you’re not sure about? Cut it. That scene that even you start to skim? Cut it. Ditto on the scene with that character that you thought was going to turn into a main character, but didn’t. Cut as much as possible--and you’ll be left with the strongest part of your story, the real story.

Number nine: Do show, don’t tell.

This is a pet peeve of mine. The one thing I hate the most in reading a book is when the author stops to tell me what already happened. I’m flying along, getting into the story, then I hit a brick wall: the author starts telling me what’s already happened to the character. Instead of showing me the action, I’m told about it. Granted, there are times that a recapping is better than action, like when the action happened a long time ago, or we’re merely switching from one location to another. I don’t need a play-by-play for how the protagonist got from their apartment to their office, but I certainly want to see how the protagonist broke up with his girlfriend.

Number ten: Do have a neutral party read your story.

A word of warning: do not let anyone read that first draft you’ve written. It is far too fragile for a critical eye. Only after a second or perhaps third draft is your story ready for anyone else’s eyes. And don’t think that you’ll get an honest answer from your family or friends. If possible, find a writer’s group that can give you impartial feedback. Find several people, if you can, in a variety of circumstances with a variety of talents to read and give you feedback.

Notes on Editing: Consistency in Timeline and Characters

Copyright Terry Bain:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/axis/

Lately I’ve been increasingly frustrated with my work-in-progress (WIP). It’s like every time I get one problem figured out, another rears its ugly head. 

Perhaps one of the reasons I’m so challenged with my current WIP is because I never outlined when I began writing it. I’ve outlined since my first draft, and plotted endlessly. However, I’ve also made plot adjustments and added new thoughts, scenes, characters, etc. So in the end, I feel overwhelmed by the changes and hopelessly frustrated by the timeline. 

I’ve found one way that allows me to keep this all straight in my mind, and breaks my editing up into shorter chunks, so I thought I’d share. 

1. I’ve broken down and titled the scenes in my WIP by character and select just those scenes in Scrivener.
2. Looking at only those scenes, I read through them--quickly--looking for timeline issues as well as character issues. Is the character of Joe being consistent throughout the novel? Or halfway through, is he showing characteristics that aren’t like him? *By timeline, I mean progression of events as well as dates and times of the novel. In Scrivener, I make comments on the side as I go, notes to myself to return to a certain paragraph or sentence later, or check on a fact later. (Note: I’m a compulsive editor, so big-picture edits are extremely difficult for me.)
3. After a quick review of the character’s scenes, I go through and edit more closely. Taking only these scenes as a whole allow me to read just those events and make sure that everything for that character is smooth and consistent.

I don’t know whether this is an unorthodox solution to timeline issues and consistency in characters, or whether it’s old news. But I’ve struggled to find a way to keep track of important events keeping my characters consistent at the same time. This way, I can compare one scene with another and check for inconsistencies.

Also, it gives me a piece of editing that I can focus on without getting overwhelmed by the entire picture.

Don't Forget the Detail

There is only one place where I never forget to look up: cathedrals. Like in York Minster, where the photo to the left was taken. Cathedrals are something special, something so ornate that to ignore the detail that has been painstakingly etched into it, is to ignore the very essence of the building itself. 

Novels are like that. To only look at the big picture, i.e., the plot, we ignore so much of the ornate detail that has been painstakingly placed between the covers by the author. So much of a novel is not the plot, but the characters and their personalities, the setting, the descriptions...it’s much more than the big picture.

When you write a novel, I think you should be concerned with the big picture. If the big picture is blurry, then the novel ultimately fails. However, I think too many authors forget that the entire picture is composed of many different, and smaller, things. In a picture, if there is poor lighting, dull colors or no contrast, and too little texture...the picture is not worth looking at for long. 

Lighting, contrast, and texture are equivalent to character development and minor characters, setting and description. If the characters are underdeveloped, if description is lacking, no matter the plot, the story is hardly worth reading. And if you do make it through to the end, then it’s probably not a novel that will stick with you for long.

The challenge, as an author, is to not perfect the big picture and think that you’re done, or that everything else is perfect because the plot is strong. Yet you also cannot get bogged down with the little things at the expense of the big picture. If you focus too much on the details, the overall plot begins to suffer. 

An author must balance many, many things in writing a novel, but perhaps grasping the importance of details is the greatest. A strong character can carry a weak plot, but a strong plot cannot carry a weak character.

Method in Writing

"Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't.". - (Hamlet, Act II, Scene II).

Of late, it seems there’s more madness to my writing than method. 

Every time I think that I have my novel figured out, some new idea occurs to me that sounds better than the last. If I made every change in my novel that I had thought up, I’d never finish. Which leads me to my question: Is writing method or madness?

It appears that there are two general approaches to writing: outlining and “pantsing.” Usually, I fall into the latter category. I have, of course, attempted the outlining. Outlining is difficult for me, and I always stray from my outline when I write. 

I find outlining, in many ways, too confining. If I were to restrict myself to following an outline, I would never find out other things about my characters. When I write, my characters constantly are revealing more about themselves to me, and constantly changing my perception of them. If I were to keep to the outline, some of my best scenes would never have gotten written.

After many failed outlines, I have come to accept that I find outlines restricting, and recognize that I do not have to outline. When I write, my characters lead me down the path that they have already chosen, and my attempts to outline their paths merely constrains them. 

However, in the same sense, I have found much value in outlining. My outlines usually occur after I have written the first draft. I outline the draft in progress, which helps me to identify what is not working in the draft and realize what I need to work on. In this sense, outlining has proven valuable to me.

I cannot argue that the method of outlining has merit: when you write with an outline, you know your goal, your end result. When you write with without an outline, you waste a lot of time writing scenes that are often tangents. Writing without an outline certainly seems like madness. 

But even when I do not outline, I find that I need to know where I am headed with my novel--even if in just the most general, abstract of sense. If you start with no idea other than a character, you cannot expect to end up with a novel that anyone would want to read. So I follow an abbreviated outlining method, which consists of me knowing just the most general sense of the change in the character I want to show throughout the novel and knowing the end result of the book.

Yet, if you outline, you must allow that outline to be flexible and fluid, changing with your characters and with the novel as it progresses. 

There is both method and madness to writing. You must be able to see the value of outlining and writing according to plan, with a method, while utilizing the madness of writing with abandon, with no outline, with only your character to drag you along. There is both method and madness, but it is up to you to embrace them both.