A Wolfish Smile

You’re driving down the road looking at the flowers lining the sides of the highway…you’re listening to the radio…you’re admiring that sporty car that just passed you. Then it happens. You hit a pothole, and it jolts you. Maybe the pothole is so big it causes you to run off the road or it damages your car.

In order to create a smooth ride for your readers and avoid jarring them out of your story, you have to learn how to keep your story free from “plotholes.” Plotholes jolt your readers out of the story because something is either blatantly wrong or else simply doesn’t seem right.

Plotholes can occur due to insufficient research, unexplained character behavior, inconsistencies, structural weakness, or too much “authoring” and not enough storytelling. In this article, we’ll examine each of these plotholes.

Insufficient Research

Writers can sometimes get so caught up in research they neglect to write their book. At other times, they get most of the details right but err on one tiny thing. Does it matter? If you’re the reader who catches the error, it does.

My editor requested I set my embroidery mystery series (written under the pseudonym Amanda Lee) on the Oregon Coast. Living in Southwest Virginia and never even having visited Oregon, setting the story there was quite a challenge. Thankfully, the Internet can help writers virtually visit nearly anywhere in the world.

I subscribed to an online Oregon Coast newspaper, requested travel brochures, researched various aspects of Oregon living and even watched Oregon Coast videos posted on YouTube.

Book Two of the series takes place in January. I’d speculated it would be cold, but a quick Web search informed me that January on the Oregon Coast is very rainy. Had I not factored the rain into the story, people familiar with how much it rains in that area during the month of January would have known I didn’t have a clue. This would have made them question everything else about my story.

In addition to location, writers need to research their protagonists’ professions and any information relevant to these characters’ professions during the time in which the story is set. The protagonist in my cake decorating cozy mystery series is a baker who works from home.

Upon sending the first draft of the book to my agent, she wrote back and called my attention to the fact that the character was doing nothing to launch her business. She had no business cards, no website, and no advertisements. I’d fallen right into a plothole, and I hadn’t even noticed.

Well, of course, the character did those things, I thought. She just did them…when the reader wasn’t looking. Yeah, sure, that’s it.

Okay, I’ll admit it. I fall victim to the same defensiveness when one of my own plotholes is pointed out to me. I revised the manuscript to include the character’s attempts to grow her business. As the agent knew it would, these revisions added to the veracity and flow of the story.

“But, Gayle,” you say, “my story is fantasy/science fiction set in a world of my own making. How does this rule apply to me?”

This rule applies to you because you must be consistent. We’ll talk further about inconsistencies later on; but with regard to your research, you need to ensure your world either conforms to certain undeniable factors or explain them away.

writingadvice:

by Chuck Palahniuk

In six seconds, you’ll hate me.
But in six months, you’ll be a better writer.

From this point forward—at least for the next half year—you may not use “thought” verbs. These include: Thinks, Knows, Understands, Realizes, Believes, Wants, Remembers, Imagines, Desires, and a hundred others you love to use.

The list should also include: Loves and Hates.
And it should include: Is and Has, but we’ll get to those later.

Until some time around Christmas, you can’t write: Kenny wondered if Monica didn’t like him going out at night…”

Instead, you’ll have to Un-pack that to something like: “The mornings after Kenny had stayed out, beyond the last bus, until he’d had to bum a ride or pay for a cab and got home to find Monica faking sleep, faking because she never slept that quiet, those mornings, she’d only put her own cup of coffee in the microwave. Never his.”

Instead of characters knowing anything, you must now present the details that allow the reader to know them. Instead of a character wanting something, you must now describe the thing so that the reader wants it.

Instead of saying: “Adam knew Gwen liked him.” You’ll have to say: “Between classes, Gwen had always leaned on his locker when he’d go to open it. She’s roll her eyes and shove off with one foot, leaving a black-heel mark on the painted metal, but she also left the smell of her perfume. The combination lock would still be warm from her butt. And the next break, Gwen would be leaned there, again.”

In short, no more short-cuts. Only specific sensory detail: action, smell, taste, sound, and feeling.

Typically, writers use these “thought” verbs at the beginning of a paragraph (In this form, you can call them “Thesis Statements” and I’ll rail against those, later). In a way, they state the intention of the paragraph. And what follows, illustrates them.

For example:
“Brenda knew she’d never make the deadline. Traffic was backed up from the bridge, past the first eight or nine exits. Her cell phone battery was dead. At home, the dogs would need to go out, or there would be a mess to clean up. Plus, she’d promised to water the plants for her neighbor…”

Do you see how the opening “thesis statement” steals the thunder of what follows? Don’t do it.

If nothing else, cut the opening sentence and place it after all the others. Better yet, transplant it and change it to: Brenda would never make the deadline.

Thinking is abstract. Knowing and believing are intangible. Your story will always be stronger if you just show the physical actions and details of your characters and allow your reader to do the thinking and knowing. And loving and hating.

Don’t tell your reader: “Lisa hated Tom.”

Instead, make your case like a lawyer in court, detail by detail.

Present each piece of evidence. For example:
“During roll call, in the breath after the teacher said Tom’s name, in that moment before he could answer, right then, Lisa would whisper-shout ‘Butt Wipe,’ just as Tom was saying, ‘Here’.”

One of the most-common mistakes that beginning writers make is leaving their characters alone. Writing, you may be alone. Reading, your audience may be alone. But your character should spend very, very little time alone. Because a solitary character starts thinking or worrying or wondering.

For example: Waiting for the bus, Mark started to worry about how long the trip would take…”

A better break-down might be: “The schedule said the bus would come by at noon, but Mark’s watch said it was already 11:57. You could see all the way down the road, as far as the Mall, and not see a bus. No doubt, the driver was parked at the turn-around, the far end of the line, taking a nap. The driver was kicked back, asleep, and Mark was going to be late. Or worse, the driver was drinking, and he’d pull up drunk and charge Mark seventy-five cents for death in a fiery traffic accident…”

A character alone must lapse into fantasy or memory, but even then you can’t use “thought” verbs or any of their abstract relatives.

Oh, and you can just forget about using the verbs forget and remember.

No more transitions such as: “Wanda remembered how Nelson used to brush her hair.”

Instead: “Back in their sophomore year, Nelson used to brush her hair with smooth, long strokes of his hand.”

Again, Un-pack. Don’t take short-cuts.

Better yet, get your character with another character, fast. Get them together and get the action started. Let their actions and words show their thoughts. You—stay out of their heads.

And while you’re avoiding “thought” verbs, be very wary about using the bland verbs “is” and “have.”

For example:
“Ann’s eyes are blue.”

“Ann has blue eyes.”

Versus:

“Ann coughed and waved one hand past her face, clearing the cigarette smoke from her eyes, blue eyes, before she smiled…”

Instead of bland “is” and “has” statements, try burying your details of what a character has or is, in actions or gestures. At its most basic, this is showing your story instead of telling it.

And forever after, once you’ve learned to Un-pack your characters, you’ll hate the lazy writer who settles for: “Jim sat beside the telephone, wondering why Amanda didn’t call.”

Please. For now, hate me all you want, but don’t use thought verbs. After Christmas, go crazy, but I’d bet money you won’t.

(…)

For this month’s homework, pick through your writing and circle every “thought” verb. Then, find some way to eliminate it. Kill it by Un-packing it.

Then, pick through some published fiction and do the same thing. Be ruthless.

“Marty imagined fish, jumping in the moonlight…”

“Nancy recalled the way the wine tasted…”

“Larry knew he was a dead man…”

Find them. After that, find a way to re-write them. Make them stronger.

Finding the information you need as a writer shouldn’t be a chore. Luckily, there are plenty of search engines out there that are designed to help you at any stage of the process, from coming up with great ideas to finding a publisher to get your work into print. Both writers still in college and those on their way to professional success will appreciate this list of useful search applications that are great from making writing a little easier and more efficient.

Professional

Find other writers, publishers and ways to market your work through these searchable databases and search engines.

1. Litscene: Use this search engine to search through thousands of writers and literary projects, and add your own as well.
2. Thinkers.net: Get a boost in your creativity with some assistance from this site.
3. PoeWar: Whether you need help with your career or your writing, this site is full of great searchable articles.
4. Publisher’s Catalogues: Try out this site to search through the catalogs and names of thousands of publishers.
5. Edit Red: Through this site you can showcase your own work and search through work by others, as well as find helpful FAQ’s on writing.
6. Writersdock: Search through this site for help with your writing, find jobs and join other writers in discussions.
7. PoetrySoup: If you want to find some inspirational poetry, this site is a great resource.
8. Booksie.com: Here, you can search through a wide range of self-published books.
9. One Stop Write Shop: Use this tool to search through the writings of hundreds of other amateur writers.
10. Writer’s Cafe: Check out this online writer’s forum to find and share creative works.
11. Literary Marketplace: Need to know something about the publishing industry? Use this search tool to find the information you need now.

Writing

These helpful tools will help you along in the writing process.

1. WriteSearch: This search engine focuses exclusively on sites devoted to reading and writing to deliver its results.
2. The Burry Man Writers Center: Find a wealth of writing resources on this searchable site.
3. Writing.com: This fully-featured site makes it possible to find information both fun and serious about the craft of writing.
4. Purdue OWL: Need a little instruction on your writing? This tool from Purdue University can help.
5. Writing Forums: Search through these writing forums to find answers to your writing issues.

Research

Try out these tools to get your writing research done in a snap.

1. Google Scholar: With this specialized search engine from Google, you’ll only get reliable, academic results for your searches.
2. WorldCat: If you need a book from the library, try out this tool. It’ll search and find the closest location.
3. Scirus: Find great scientific articles and publications through this search engine.
4. OpenLibrary: If you don’t have time to run to a brick-and-mortar library, this online tool can still help you find books you can use.
5. Online Journals Search Engine: Try out this search engine to find free online journal articles.
6. All Academic: This search engine focuses on returning highly academic, reliable resources.
7. LOC Ask a Librarian: Search through the questions on this site to find helpful answers about the holdings at the Library of Congress.
8. Encylcopedia.com: This search engine can help you find basic encyclopedia articles.
9. Clusty: If you’re searching for a topic to write on, this search engine with clustered results can help get your creative juices flowing.
10. Intute: Here you’ll find a British search engine that delivers carefully chosen results from academia.
11. AllExperts: Have a question? Ask the experts on this site or search through the existing answers.

Reference

Need to look up a quote or a fact? These search tools make it simple.

1. Writer’s Web Search Engine: This search engine is a great place to find reference information on how to write well.
2. Bloomsbury Magazine Research Centre: You’ll find numerous resources on publications, authors and more through this search engine.
3. Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus: Make sure you’re using words correctly and can come up with alternatives with the help of this tool.
4. References.net: Find all the reference material you could ever need through this search engine.
5. Quotes.net: If you need a quote, try searching for one by topic or by author on this site.
6. Literary Encyclopedia: Look up any famous book or author in this search tool.
7. Acronym Finder: Not sure what a particular acronym means? Look it up here.
8. Bartleby: Through Bartleby, you can find a wide range of quotes from famous thinkers, writers and celebrities.
9. Wikipedia.com: Just about anything and everything you could want to look up is found on this site.
10. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Find all the great philosophers you could want to reference in this online tool.

Niche Writers

If you’re focusing on writing in a particular niche, these tools can be a big help.

1. PubGene: Those working in sci-fi or medical writing will appreciate this database of genes, biological terms and organisms.
2. GoPubMd: You’ll find all kinds of science and medical search results here.
3. Jayde: Looking for a business? Try out this search tool.
4. Zibb: No matter what kind of business you need to find out more about, this tool will find the information.
5. TechWeb: Do a little tech research using this news site and search engine.
6. Google Trends: Try out this tool to find out what people are talking about.
7. Godchecker: Doing a little work on ancient gods and goddesses? This tool can help you make sure you have your information straight.
8. Healia: Find a wide range of health topics and information by using this site.
9. Sci-Fi Search: Those working on sci-fi can search through relevant sites to make sure their ideas are original.

Books

Find your own work and inspirational tomes from others by using these search engines.

1. Literature Classics: This search tool makes it easy to find the free and famous books you want to look through.
2. InLibris: This search engine provides one of the largest directories of literary resources on the web.
3. SHARP Web: Using this tool, you can search through the information on the history of reading and publishing.
4. AllReaders: See what kind of reviews books you admire got with this search engine.
5. BookFinder: No matter what book you’re looking for you’re bound to find it here.
6. ReadPrint: Search through this site for access to thousands of free books.
7. Google Book Search: Search through the content of thousands upon thousands of books here, some of which is free to use.
8. Indie Store Finder: If you want to support the little guy, this tool makes it simple to find an independent bookseller in your neck of the woods.

Blogging

For web writing, these tools can be a big help.

1. Technorati: This site makes it possible to search through millions of blogs for both larger topics and individual posts.
2. Google Blog Search: Using this specialized Google search engine, you can search through the content of blogs all over the web.
3. Domain Search: Looking for a place to start your own blog? This search tool will let you know what’s out there.
4. OpinMind: Try out this blog search tool to find opinion focused blogs.
5. IceRocket: Here you’ll find a real-time blog search engine so you’ll get the latest news and posts out there.
6. PubSub: This search tool scours sites like Twitter and Friendfeed to find the topics people are talking about most every day.

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Writing daily is one of those essential but painful things most writers, published or not, strive to do. Finding the time to write a little bit every day isn’t that hard if you’re willing to sacrifice some time killing, but anxiety often makes getting the words down and out of your brain a huge trial. So, from one of the masters of writing anxiety, a few steps you can take that will make it easier to just fucking write.

1: Acknowledge that not everything you write will be published, or even has to be.
Say it with me: J. K. Rowling has written a whole lot of garbage. I just haven’t seen it.

It’s a fact: You will write a lot, and only a small percentage of that pile of words will be traditionally published. With that in mind, free yourself up to write things you would never send to a publisher. Write garbage, write fanfiction, write the entirely falsified time traveling adventures of the janitor at your work, write what the fuck ever.

You are free from impressing a hypothetical agent and editor. Utilize that freedom.

2: Get it down. Just. Get it down.
Editing is for later. What you need to worry about now is getting the story down on something other than free-floating neurons. If you’re still fiddling with one sentence that doesn’t sound right five minutes later, fucking move on. Don’t edit chapter by chapter, and don’t beat yourself to death over a simile that sounds stupid. You’ll fix it later. Just pull the story out of your head for now.

3: Keep in mind that writing what you like is not a weakness.
Write what makes you happy, not what you think will please or impress people. If you like your story, don’t keep looking at it with the imaginary eyes of judgmental people who don’t like that sort of thing. You might rationalize this as trying to broaden your awareness of other people’s tastes to make your story more appealing, but that begs the question: When does it stop being your story?

If you like it, someone else will. Likely several someones. As per point 1, that won’t necessarily get it published, but there’s always online sharing.

4: Admit that you can’t always work on just one thing at a time.
Sometimes you get bored of things, or have another idea that sounds more fun at the moment. That is, I swear to God, totally fine.

If you want to write spy fiction one day and high fantasy with jetpack unicorns the next, by all means do exactly that. It’s not uncommon or inherently bad to have several projects in the works at any one time. In fact, I recommend it because it makes it easier for you to say “I don’t want to write this right now, but there’s always…” Give yourself options other than not writing by not locking yourself to one story.

5. Above all else, remember that all writing is practice that will make you better.
Even if you have a bad day, even if you only manage to fart out one hundred terrible words that make no sense, you’ve gained some small measure of experience. Even if you write something terrible, you’ve learned another combination of words or elements that should be avoided or used differently in the future.

In short: Crap helps. Crap will be dispersed throughout the good stuff, and vice versa. Learn to accept and value both as learning experiences and much needed practice.

by Patricia Kay

In this article I’m going to talk about WRITING THE LOVE SCENE and/or SEXUAL TENSION IN A ROMANCE. This particular aspect of the book is probably the scariest part of writing a romance for MANY romance writers, whether they’re brand new to the genre or whether they’ve written fifteen or twenty or even forty romance novels. I know that in most of my books these scenes are the hardest scenes for me to write not because I’m afraid to write them and not because I have any hangups about writing them, but simply because they are so difficult. It is all too easy to fall into the trap of thinking a love scene is graphic images of body parts—with the emphasis on physical reaction rather than emotional reaction.

There’s an enormous difference between titillation for titillation’s sake and a slow seduction of the senses, both emotional and physical. As writers, we should strive to make our love scenes tender as well as passionate—scenes that show the developing love between two people who genuinely care about one another and want to make one another happy.

Have you ever read a love scene and found yourself scanning to get through it? Worse, have you skipped it entirely? Worse yet, have you yawned and decided this is a good place to quit reading for the night? What a disappointment!

How can we, as writers, avoid this pitfall? Well, in the very best love scenes, the ones that have held me captivated and evoked all those memories of falling in love and being wildly attracted to someone, the scenes that made me laugh and cry and FEEL, the tension built very, very slowly. The writer milked the prelude to lovemaking for all it was worth, devoting pages and pages to emotional and physical foreplay. She kept increasing the tension until just the right moment when the characters could no longer deny their attraction to one another.

RULE #1: LOVE SCENES SHOULD HAVE A SLOW BUILDUP OF SEXUAL TENSION.

They should tease the reader and make her anticipate what is coming. They should seduce her JUST AS THE HERO OR HEROINE SEDUCES the other. This slow buildup, this ANTICIPATION is fundamental, even, I would say, crucial.

RULE #2 - THE KEY INGREDIENT TO A GOOD LOVE SCENE IS EMOTION.

The author has a chance to reveal not just the characters’ bodies, but their deepest, most intimate feelings. The best books, just like the best movies, have one thing in common. They do not rely on titillating the reader with explicit and graphic sex. Instead, whether the stories are “hot” or “sweet”, have explicit sex or don’t, take us into the bedroom or not, they involve the reader emotionally. No matter what is happening to the people in the story, the reader is feeling everything the characters are feeling.

As an audience, whether we’re watching a movie or reading a book, we want to care about these people. We want to be inside their skins, actually living the experience with them.

As a writer, you must put yourself inside the character: see what she sees, hear what she hears, smell what she smells, feel what she feels. And then you must convey all these thoughts and feelings and impressions to the reader with your word choices. You must let the reader feel the anguish of your heroine when the hero accidentally brushes her hand, then jerks away from her as if he can’t stand the sight of her. You must make your reader feel every accelerated heartbeat, every nervous flutter, and every agonizing moment of uncertainty.

RULE #3: LOVE SCENES SHOULD NOT BE INTERCHANGEABLE.

Cheryl St. John, in an article she wrote called “Individualizing Your Love Scenes” says that to make your love scene unique, it shouldn’t be transferable. In other words, you shouldn’t be able to cut and paste this scene from one book to another. Yes, there are only so many ways two people can make love—the PHYSICAL act of love—but there are thousands of different ways two people can make emotional love.

There should be enough dialogue and/or interaction between the two people involved, enough feeling and internal narrative to make it absolutely clear that this exchange couldn’t possibly take place between any other two people. Every pair of lovers should have their own chemistry.

RULE #4 - A LOVE SCENE SHOULD CONTAIN CONFLICT.

I’ll never forget when I first learned this. It was during the rewrite of CINDERELLA GIRL, my first book with Silhouette. Mary Clare Kersten, my editor, told me that there wasn’t much of an emotional payoff in the first, big love scene in the book, and that I really needed to work on it.

During a telephone conversation with a writer friend from Dallas, I mentioned what Mary Clare had said. I told my friend that I didn’t know exactly what to do to increase the emotional intensity and give the reader a payoff.

My friend said it sounded to her as if I had no conflict in the scene.

“Conflict?” I squeaked. “A love scene should have conflict?”

“Absolutely,” she said. She went on to tell me that it was vitally important to remember that a love scene was like any other scene. It should have a beginning, a middle, and an end and it should have conflict. It should move the story forward.

“But conflict? You mean, like whips and chains?”

She laughed. “Of course not.” She explained that conflict can be subtle or overpowering, but in a love scene it must be a conflict of emotion, and most likely a different type of conflict in each love scene as the relationship between the hero and heroine progressed and built toward the crisis. (…)

RULE #5 - DIALOGUE ENHANCES A LOVE SCENE.

Dialogue is a wonderful tool in a love scene. A touch of teasing dialogue can dispel a woman’s (or a man’s) nervousness, a bit of tender dialogue can make an awkward moment less awkward, a whispered endearment can banish fear. Dialogue also helps the author hint at an action without having to physically describe the action. It can also heighten the sexual tension unbelievably and build some of that anticipation we talked about earlier.

RULE #6 - HUMOR HELPS.

Making love is inherently awkward. All those naked body parts. The impossible positions. The whole idea. It can also be embarrassing to think about. A touch of humor can help dispel some of those awkward moments of taking off clothes, getting into bed, etc. Even in the most emotional, angst ridden scenes, a moment of humor—perhaps a wry remark—can help lighten the tension, because unrelieved tension can almost be worse than no tension at all.

RULE #7 - THERE IS NO RIGHT WAY TO WRITE A LOVE SCENE.

The love scene should be unique to your characters and your story. Some writers take us all the way from the first glance to the last sigh, describing every stop along the way. Other writers close the door to the bedroom.

Some writers are heavy on imagery and sensory details, others rely on dialogue and humor to carry the scene.

Some writers have intensely emotional love scenes. Others write sexy, fun-filled love scenes. Some love scenes are naughty and filled with sexual innuendo. Others are tender and sweet and warm. Some are erotic and make us squirm. Others make us cry or laugh.

It doesn’t matter what kind of love scene you write, as long as it is true to your characters and your story. Only then will it be right.

RULE #8 - A LOVE SCENE IS NOT A COLLECTION OF GYRATING BODY PARTS. WE DON’T NEED A PLAY BY PLAY OF EVERY PHYSICAL ACTION.

Some of the best and most sensual love scenes I’ve ever read contain no graphic words or descriptions at all. They rely on the imagination, which is more powerful than any play by play account could ever hope to be.

If you doubt this is true, just think of movies where there is one scene after another showing open mouths, lots of tongues, lots of body parts—don’t you feel mostly embarrassed? As if you’re a voyeur watching something too personal to be shared?

Then think about movies such as my personal favorite, THE BIG EASY? Does anyone remember the big love scene? Where Remy, the hero, and Ann, the heroine, are in her apartment and they’ve kissed and are going to make love? They go into her bedroom, and the next scene shows her sitting up on the bed, fully clothed, and him laying next to her, his hand under her skirt.

Her head is thrown back, and she’s breathless. She says weakly, “Stop that.” He gives her a wicked smile. “Stop what?” he says. “This?” Pause. “Or this?”

Nothing is shown.

Everything is implied.

As a viewer, you are nearly as breathless as she is, because you KNOW what he’s probably doing, you can IMAGINE how it feels, what she is feeling, and what he is feeling. It’s absolutely wonderful. Their dialogue, their expressions, their tone of voice—all are fueling our imagination. The scene is very sensual, with such impact, that everyone in the audience is probably feeling their toes tingle.

Another favorite is the New Year’s Eve scene in THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS where the Jeff Bridges character is playing the piano and the Michelle Pfeiffer character is laying on top of the piano and singing. Later, when the revelers are gone and the party is over, they are going to make love. They know it and we (the movie goer) know it. That scene is filled with more sexual tension and eroticism and sensuality than just about anything I’ve seen before or since. Of course, I think Jeff Bridges is the sexiest thing on two feet, so I could be just a tad prejudiced.

Perhaps you think it’s easier to build this kind of sexual tension through a visual medium like the movies, but I maintain that as writers, we are supposed to be wordsmiths. We should be able to accomplish the same result with the use of the right words. In fact, we should be able to do it better because the reader’s imagination will come into play more intensely than if she is watching a movie.

Just try to remember: you don’t have to tell the reader about every touch, every moan, every contortion of the hero and heroine to write an effective love scene.

RULE #9 - DON’T BE AFRAID TO TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT, AND DON’T BE AFRAID TO BE A LITTLE RAUNCHY IF THE STORY CALLS FOR IT. FOLLOW YOUR INSTINCTS.

Surprise your reader. Do something different. Something they don’t expect. Shock them a little bit. Remember, romances are supposed to be a little bit of fantasy, something to liven up our ordinary lives, something to get our imaginations working. (…)

RULE #10 - AVOID CLICHED PHRASES AND EUPHEMISMS. TAKE AN OLD PHRASE AND MAKE IT YOUR OWN.

Aim for variation and imaginative use of language, but not so imaginative it’s laughable, and beware of over-dramatization. To read a master at original phrasing and imagery, immerse yourself in Nora Roberts’ category books. I don’t know how she does it, but she manages to make every love scene fresh and wonderful and filled with brilliant writing.

RULE #11 - EVERY PAIR OF LOVERS SHOULD HAVE THEIR OWN CHEMISTRY, JUST AS EACH BOOK HAS ITS OWN TONE AND ATMOSPHERE.

There’s not much to say about this. Just keep in mind what I said earlier in this article. Your characters, like your love scenes, should not be interchangeable. They are unique and the way they relate to one another should be unique, too.

RULE #12 - DON’T FORCE THE SCENE. LET IT EVOLVE NATURALLY.

Just because it’s page 160, and your hero and heroine haven’t made love yet, doesn’t mean you should panic and throw in a love scene. The reader isn’t stupid. The reader knows when you’re forcing the characters to do something they wouldn’t normally do. The best thing to do is just write the story the way you know it should be written. And let the love scene come where it’s supposed to come—not dictated by what page you’re on—but by your characters and how they feel. An editor is not going to refuse to buy your book because your love scene doesn’t appear until the end. (…)

Ultimately, the story and the characters should dictate when, where, how, and what kind of love scene should take place.

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By Crawford Kilian

Different writers face different advantages and drawbacks in forming good writing habits. The circumstances of your personal life may make it easy or hard to find writing time, but time itself is not the real issue—it’s habit. Writing must be something you do regularly, like brushing your teeth. The writer who waits for inspiration will wait even longer for a complete, published novel.

Writing habits flourish best in routine, but the efficient writer also exploits opportunity.

Routine: Set aside some time every day when you can work undisturbed for an hour or two—first thing in the morning, during lunch, after dinner, whenever you can set aside other demands. Ideally, it’s the same time of day.

Your family and friends will soon build their routines around yours. With luck, they will resent your unscheduled appearances during your writing time, and will send you packing back to your desk.

Keep your writing equipment (paper, pens, software manuals, etc.) in your writing place, close at hand. Minimize distractions like interesting new magazines and books.

Try to find a writing time when few people phone or visit. If a cup of coffee and some background music make you feel less lonely, by all means enjoy them.

Use household chores as thinking time: a chance to review what you’ve done so far and to consider where your writing should go next. Walking the dog or vacuuming the carpet can provide more ideas than you expect.

This is really just “controlled daydreaming,” letting your mind freewheel in a particular direction: What the heroine should do in the next chapter, how the hero would respond to escaping a car bomb, how the villain developed his evil character. But the process doesn’t seem to work if you just sit and stare at the wall. You need to be up and moving in some automatic pattern.

Don’t lean on others for editorial advice and encouragement—least of all people you’re emotionally involved with. Spouses, friends and roommates rarely have both editorial perceptiveness and the tact to express it without infuriating you or breaking your heart. Empty praise will get you nowhere; unconstructive criticism can destroy your novel in an instant.

Instead, be your own editor: set aside regular times to write yourself letters discussing your own work, articulating what’s good and less good in it. In the process you’ll easily solve problems that could otherwise grow into full-blown writer’s block.

On a computer, the letters can form a continuous journal, recording your reactions to the evolving work. Checking back to the first journal entries can help keep you on track—or dramatically show how far you’ve moved from your original concept.

Writing a letter to yourself is especially helpful if you’re beginning to have anxieties about the story. Sometimes we try to suppress those anxieties, which only makes them worse. Anxiety turns to frustration and despair, and finally we abandon the whole project.

If you can actually write down what bothers you about your heroine, or your plot, or whatever, the answer to the problem often suggests itself. The act of turning our chaotic thoughts into orderly sentences seems to lead to much quicker and more satisfying solutions.

In addition to these self-addressed letters, keep a daily log of your progress. Word processors with word-count functions are powerful encouragers. The log can give you a sense of accomplishment, especially on big projects, and can enable you to set realistic completion deadlines.

For example, if you know you can write 500 words in an hour, and you write three hours a week, you can have a completed novel manuscript of 75,000 words in 50 weeks. If you write ten hours a week, the ms. will be complete in 15 weeks.

Compile a “project bible.” This is a list of facts, names, and so on that you expect to be using for constant reference. If you have some important research findings you plan to use, put them in the bible along with their sources.

Include lists of characters’ names (with descriptions, so their eyes don’t change color), unusual words or spellings, etc. The best format for this bible may be a looseleaf binder you can carry with you. (A word of caution: If your bible gets too big to carry easily, you’re defeating its purpose.)

Opportunity: If you decide you “can’t write” unless you’re seated at your Gigabyte II computer with Mozart on the stereo and no one else in the house, you’re just making life harder for yourself.

Your ordinary domestic routine will always contain “dead time”—periods when you’re away from home (or at least away from your workplace) with no other task at hand. You might be waiting in a doctor’s office, on a bus, or trapped in a large, dull meeting.

Use that dead time constructively by carrying your notebook bible in which you can record at least a few lines of a rough draft. Or you might jot down some background notes about your project, or a self-editing idea that’s just occurred to you. You can then use these when you’re back at your desk producing finished text.

By Crawford Kilian

If your novel or short story is going to work, it’s going to need all the right components. Used without imagination or sensitivity, those elements may produce only formula fiction. But, like a good cook with the right materials and a good recipe, you can also create some pleasant surprises.

Many writers, like many good cooks, don’t need to think consciously about what they’re throwing in the pot. But as an apprentice you should probably think about how your story matches up with the following suggestions. They all have to do, essentially, with bringing your characters and readers from a state of ignorance to a state of awareness: can our heroine find happiness as a journalist? We don’t know, but we’ll find out. Can our hero found a family dynasty in the Nevada wilderness? We don’t know, but we’ll find out.

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Show us your main characters, or at least foreshadow them: We might see your heroine’s mother getting married, for example. Or we might see a crime committed which will bring in your hero to investigate.

Show one or more characters under some kind of appropriate stress. For example, if the hero must perform well under enemy fire in the climax, show him being shot at in Chapter One—and performing badly. If the heroine must resist temptation at the end, show her (or someone else) succumbing to temptation in the beginning.

Show us who’s the “good guy,” who’s the “bad guy.” That is, in whom should we make an emotional investment? Whose side are we on? Even if the hero is morally repugnant (a hired killer, for example), he should display some trait or attitude we can admire and identify with. The villain can be likable but set on a course we must disapprove.

Show what’s at stake. Editors and readers want to know this right away. (That’s why the blurb on the jacket usually tells us: “Only one person can save the West/defend the Galactic Empire/defeat the vampires…”)What does the hero stand to gain or lose? What will follow if the villain wins?

Establish the setting - where and when the story takes place.

Establish the area of conflict. If the setting is the Nanaimo coal mines at the turn of the century, the area of conflict may be relations between miners and owners, or within a family of miners, or within a single miner’s personality.

Foreshadow the ending. If the hero dies in a blizzard at the end, a few flakes of snow may fall in the first chapter.

Set the tone of the story: solemn or excited, humorous or tragic.

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Tell your story in scenes, not in exposition. A scene contains a purpose, an obstacle or conflict, and a resolution that tells us something new about the characters and their circumstances.

Develop your characters through action and dialogue. Show us, don’t tell us, what’s going on and why (not He was loud and rude, but “Get outa my way, you jerk!” he bellowed.).

Include all the elements you need for your conclusion. If everything depends on killing the victim with a shotgun, show us the shotgun long before it goes off.

Give your characters adequate motivation for their actions and words. Drama is people doing amazing things for very good reasons. Melodrama is people doing amazing things for bad or nonexistent reasons.

Develop the plot as a series of increasingly serious problems. (The heroine escapes the villain in Chapter 5 by fleeing into the snowy mountains; now in Chapter 6 she risks death in an avalanche.) Establish suspense by making solution of the problems uncertain (How will the heroine escape the avalanche and avoid freezing to death in Chapter Seven?).

Make solutions of the problems appropriate to the characters (Good thing she took Outward Bound training in Chapter One).

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Present a final, crucial conflict when everything gained so far is in danger and could be lost by a single word or deed: this is the climax, which reveals something to your readers (and perhaps to your characters) which has been implicit from the outset but not obvious or predictable.

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Remember that nothing in a story happens at random. Why is the heroine’s name Sophia? Why is she blind? Why is her dog a black Lab? The easy answer is that you’re the God of your novel and that’s the way you want things. But if you have a conscious reason for these elements, the story gains in interest because it carries more meaning: For example, “Sophia” means “wisdom” and the name can provide a cue to the reader.

Use image, metaphor and simile with a conscious purpose, not just because a phrase “sounds good.”

Maintain consistent style, tone, and point of view.

Know the conventions of the form you’re working in, and break them only when you have a good reason to. For example, if it’s conventional for the private eye to be an aggressive, hard-drinking single man, you’re going to shake up the reader if your private eye is a yogurt-loving, shy mother of three school-age children. You’ll shake up the reader even more if she goes around pistol-whipping people; as a private eye, her behavior will still depend on her personality and limitations.

By Hope Hammond

“When writing a novel a writer should create living people… people, not characters. A character is a caricature.” ~ Ernest Hemingway.

The first tip for creating fictional character sketches is to make sure they’re actual people. Not just a hollow “caricature” — a real person.

And, here are five ways to create a character sketch…

Bringing Characters Alive With Character Sketches

There are two basic types of story, character-based and plot-based. One focuses on interesting characters and the interactions between them and the other on the events of the story. Action and murder mysteries are plot-based. Literary fiction and feel good stories are character-based.

Just because a story is plot-based doesn’t mean you don’t need good character development. A well-developed character can add depth to any scene and even help writers create new twists and turns in the story.

Give your characters purpose

Purpose is what gives characters drive and determination to move through the story. We’re all familiar with the cliché of an actor asking what their motivation is for a scene. In reality, a fictional character needs this motivation to feel real to the reader. They need a purpose or an ultimate goal in life. This goal can relate to the plot of the story or be parallel to the plot. Make that purpose grand such as staying alive no matter the cost or small and specific, such as getting a new pair of PF Flyers.

Give your characters quirks

Fictional characters, like real people, are weird. They have dreams and hopes and behaviors which are unique only to them. A quirk adds another layer when you create a character. It makes the character stand out. It gives the character faults or virtues that others don’t have in the story.

In my book, I’ve created a character who is extremely loyal to the bad guy, even though it’s detrimental to his own health and leads to the death of another character. This loyalty is also this character’s flaw and virtue.  I have another character who persistently chews on his fingertips when he’s nervous. These little quirks give the characters life, make them stand out in the reader’s mind and give the writer something to write about during dialogue heavy scenes!

Give your characters shadow and light

The ancient Greeks got it right when they developed the tragic hero, the man larger than life with great virtues and giant flaws. Oedipus in the story of the same name becomes King of Thebes. He is clever, strong-willed and intelligent, but his downfall is the result of repeated stubbornness and arrogance. He tries to change the future after learning it from the Oracle at Delphi. He refuses to yield the road to a chariot, eventually fighting with driver and killing him. He ignores several people’s pleas to leave his past, and the mystery of his father’s death alone.

Everyone has both good and bad sides. So, create fiction characters with minor or major flaws as well as virtues. Flaws as simple as not bathing often enough or being too obsessed with cleaning rounds characters out and makes them more interesting for the reader.

Develop your characters fully

When you are creating a character sketch for your story, don’t neglect to develop the main character. Some writers tend to create generic protagonists, especially in first and second person narratives, because they are too close to the character. Objectivity and distance help a great deal in character development.

Look at your characters objectively

Take a step back and really look at your main character.

What is the main character’s motivation?
Why is the character going through the motions of the plot?
Is the character interesting?
Do they have quirks and flaws like everyone else?
Are those flaws visible in the story?

A well-developed main character also leads to more in-depth interactions and conflicts with other characters. Differences between characters are useful for conflict, arguments, evolution and plot development.

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