Fiction Writing

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I was very eager to develop my style. Not that I understood what style was, but everybody else had one, so I wanted one, too.

Style is defined in several ways: it is a way of expressing something (in language or art or music etc.) that is characteristic of a particular person or group of people or period; it is how something is done or how it happens; it is the popular taste at a given time.

If those definitions are a little unclear, it’s because style is unique to each individual.

One of my old writing teachers wisely said, “Don’t worry about your style. It will come in time and it will be your own.” She was right. But if you’re wondering if you can influence your style as it develops, or even change it, the answer is yes, depending on how hard you try.

It has been said that you will write like your favorite author if you read enough of his work. That was the part that scared me. I wanted to have a new, different voice. I didn’t want to sound like anyone. I didn’t realize that my own style would come through strong enough that I would still be me, even if I patterned myself after Hemmingway.

You will always be you. You will pick up a little from this author, and a little from that, but you develop a unique blend that is all your own. Your voice will come through loud and clear. You will always be you.

Do you want to change your style? That’s hard, but it can be done.

If you have a favorite author and you want to sound more like him, read everything he has written, over and over. That will put you into his thinking pattern. Analyze his best sentences. Did he use snappy verbs? Alliteration? Assonance, consonance, irony, polysyndeton? What makes him so special? Figure it out. Read a paragraph of his writing, and then set down to your typewriter and (without looking), phrase it in your own words. Compare the two writings and look at the difference. Some of the differences may lie in techniques you haven’t learned yet, and that could be an indicator that taking writing classes would highly benefit you. The particular class that would aid you in this kind of evaluation would be Wordsmithing.

If I could recommend only one class for an intermediate writer, it would be that class. Reading the book that we use in the course took my writing to another level. After you become a wordsmith, you can quickly identify what makes one author better or worse than another.

When you get familiar with the techniques of the masters, you will look over your own writing and think, “I need to speed up this sentence. It drags. I’ll use a little alliteration there.” Or, “This ending isn’t just right. I’ll put a twist in it with irony.” These are only two of dozens of techniques.

Take your writing to the next level by signing up for Wordsmithing!

About the Author:

Click here to see the first fully mentored writing school on the Internet!
http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com. Ms. Deb is the CEO & Founder of Creative Writing Institute. If you would like to receive The Writer’s Choice newsletter, or receive a free short story (or article) analysis, send a 1,000 word story or a 200 word article to deborahowen@cwinst.com.

I was educated by an order of St. Joseph nuns who demanded outlines, those bewildering subsets of bulleted letters and numbers for term papers. The concept of outlining was similar in my mind to looking up a word in the dictionary I didn’t know how to spell. How could I outline when I didn’t know the topic? So after I completed the assignment, I did the outline. Of course, the outline was supposed to be done before the report. But what was the point? I still had to write the darn thing. Anyway, I didn’t come easily or willingly to the planning concept. No, that took me years of aimless writing.

My first manuscript was written after reading: See the scene as if it’s on stage, watch what happens, then write it down. Brilliant, I could do that. And I did. However, the end result was a meandering of the worst kind backstory with no forward movement. So where did I go wrong? Metaphorically speaking, I built a house without a blueprint.

A blueprint? For a story? you say. But that’s so contrived. What about the unpredictability of the characters? What about their freedom to express themselves untethered? Besides, if you know the whole story, you’ll give too much away. A story isn’t a term paper. It’s creative.

Yes, precisely; fiction is creative. Even more, it’s boundless, it’s imaginative, it’s where pumpkins turn into carriages. And it’s exactly for these reasons that a general framework is needed. Stories do take on a life of their own. They can spiral out of control or drop like stones. Every innocent line of dialogue, narration, exposition, and description has the potential to draw the story off point. Sometimes you won’t even realize it until you’re pages ahead, pulling out your hair, wondering how events got so tangled, so lost.

I spent two years rewriting my first manuscript. Actually, I spent two years rewriting the first chapter of my first manuscript. Yes, I said first chapter, two years. That’s about as brainless as one can get. Naturally, during that time, I had some serious questions about my sanity and ability to write. For some reason, the thought of planning the story never entered my consciousness. No, that came later, much later.

Eventually, I took on another story. This second manuscript had forward movement, but ran out of steam at page sixty. I had the general sense of where I was headed, but for some reason stopped cold. Ditto for two subsequent manuscripts. It wasn’t until I was asked by a member in a writer’s group to give him an idea of where the plot was going that I decided to put a brief narrative down on paper. Suddenly, the clouds cracked apart and I understood what the nuns were asking.

Writers do a lot of thinking. In fact, we do more thinking than writing. Thoughts are lightning speed, transitory, winsome. And it is from these wild synaptic pulses that writers attempt to fashion a comprehensible story. Writing fiction is also a creative process of honing, shaving, twisting and turning ideas. It’s first brainstorming, then funneling down. It’s evaluating and deciding. Fiction breathes, grows, and mutates before becoming a finished story. In the process, some sorting out needs to happen.

And so goes my vote. Outline? Yes

Linda’s Website

About the Author:

Linda Lavid is an award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction. She has published two books on writing: Composition: A Fiction Writer’s Guide for the 21st Century and Publishing Tips: Weekly Strategies for the Independent Writer.

Creative Writing Tips

It should.

A theme is a one-line explanation of your story.. Every story should have one because our stories are about something.

When I say should, I mean that this isn’t always the case. Especially so for beginner writers, who may not know, that the theme carries the story. Or even those who’ve been writing for years may not be aware of the importance of a theme.

And a theme is important.

A theme is what will keep you on track as you write the story.

What happens if you write without a theme in mind? Two things&

1. You stray from the subject

or

2. You write more than one story.

Let me give you an example of a story written with a theme in mind&

The theme to a story I once wrote was, “Vanity Leads To Destruction.”

Very briefly, this story is about a female character that believed herself to be so beautiful, in the end she lost everything.

Writing this theme on a post-it note and sticking it on my computer, I was always reminded that my story had to revolve around this theme. Having a theme helped me stick to the story I had intended on writing and not stray from it, not even a little. It also helped me to focus only on what was essential to my story.

So according to my theme, “Vanity Leads To Destruction”

* Every action my character performed was to show her vanity
* Her goals sprung from her vanity
* What motivated her was her vanity
* Her words (dialogue) showed her vanity
* How she handled situations showed her vanity
* The interaction with other characters showed her vanity
* The conflict was a result of her vanity
* The highest peak in my story, the climax, showed an intense moment of whether her goal would be met (whether her vanity would work for, or against her)
* And the ending? The ending showed how she was led to destruction because of her vanity

By following my theme, everything in my story was precise.

If I showed my character not being vain in any instance, then I would’ve strayed from my theme.

Does your story have a theme?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you didn’t consciously write with a theme in mind, then your story won’t have one. Chances are, your story isn’t focused. But then again there is the other possibility. At times we fluke things.

Perhaps without consciously knowing, a theme is running through your story.

Check your story to see if this is the case. If it is, are you sticking to the theme?

If you find that some parts of your story are straying from the theme, those parts will need to be changed to accommodate the theme.

Now the other possibility&

You don’t have a theme and none is running through your story. That’s okay. We can still save it. Read through your story and see what it’s about. Then come up with the most appropriate theme to it - A theme that makes sense yet won’t mean too much work to change the story.

Rewrite those parts that don’t accommodate the theme.

It is easier if we come up with a theme while we are at the plotting stage. It saves all that rewriting but not to worry. You won’t make the same error again in your next story!

About The Author

Besides his passion for writing, Nick Vernon runs an online gift site where you will find gift information, articles and readers funny stories. Visit http://www.we-recommend.com

Everyone loves a successful book signing! When I had my very first book signing it was a total flop! Well, maybe not totally, the book store did order six books and I did sell two of them! But success comes after failure only if you try again.

So what went wrong? I asked myself. Several things went wrong. First, I didn’t invite anyone to come to the book signing; I didn’t have any promotional material with me; I barely spoke to the customers because I “foolishly” thought they would all run up to my table to see what the book and author were all about, and the worst thing I did, was to stay sitting behind that little table for the whole two hours! Wrong — wrong — wrong.

Today, because of that failure, I have not had a book signing anywhere that has not been a complete sell-out!

So, how did I go from being a complete flop to becoming a complete success? Here’s how!

Where I live, all of the Barnes and Noble Bookstores are independently run, whereas Border’s Bookstores are centralized. That means that each Barnes and Noble bookstore decides independently on who, what, when and where and if they will authorize book signings. In this case, it is important to get to know the “store” and the manager at each store. Establish a rapport with him or her, and give them a little background about yourself and your book. Don’t be afraid to ask if you can have a book signing at their store, or to emphasize the fact that you are a local author.

Because Border’s Bookstores are centralized, that means that the Regional Manager decides on all of the book signings for all of the stores. Here is where you really want to establish a rapport. I made it a point to do so with our Regional Manager and since then, she willingly books me at any of the Border’s bookstores that I want. One consideration in choosing a store is demographics. Apparently, each bookstore sells a particular type of genre more than others. For example, where I live, the community is very family-oriented, so books on fantasy, child-rearing, and especially children’s books are hot items. A few miles further south, there is a university town… and believe it or not, romance books are a hot item at that store!

Although The Regional Manager books all of the book signings for all the stores, each Border’s Bookstore handles the mechanics of the book signing independently. Here again, it is important to get to know the store and the Store Manager because that means they give you a better location, more traffic gets directed to you, and more announcements are made about you over their loudspeaker.

Next, prepare… prepare… prepare. I can’t say enough about this. We are published authors, which connotes “professionals”… Prepare for your book signing just as a professional would:

“Always check with the store before contacting any media. It has been my experience that they do a great job with the media and advertisements. If you want to send a press release to a local paper, ask them who to contact. They are very nice about giving you that information, or they will tell you that they are going to do it.

“Make invitations and give them to all of your friends, acquaintances, and family members, and e-mail everyone you know who would be interested. I also give them to my dentist, doctor, people I know at the local grocery store, and people I know at church.

“Have a framed 8×11 or 11×17 picture of your cover on an easel for display.

“Prepare flyers… not just black and white blurbs about your book, but jazz it up and make it look professional. Include a short “eye-catcher” blurb about your book, a list of one liner endorsements, a short bio about yourself and the availability of your book. Be sure to always include your web page on every piece of paper that you have for handouts.

“Always have bookmarks to give the customer with every book you sign.

“Have a candy dish at your table filled with candy. However, always ask the store manager if it is alright. This is important because some store managers don’t like food in their store. I’ve never been turned down; however, I do always buy the individually wrapped mints.

“People love “free-bies.” Here is a list of what I take to every book signing:

1. Framed Book Cover on a stand. Not all bookstores have signs printed for your book signing.

2. A transparent bookstand to show off the books. They show off the book better as opposed to just having the books lying on the table.

3. Postcards to hand out — with your book cover and a short blurb, availability and web page.

4. Flyers printed on colored stock so that they stand out. Ask the store manager if you can put a few up on their windows. I’ve never been turned down. After all, they want to sell books too.

5. Brochures. This is up to you. I have brochures with me, but I don’t put them out because of the expense. However, every now and then I do run into a librarian or a school book buyer and I do give one to them.

6. Business Cards — have them in a nice business card holder next to your book cover — make sure your cards list your web page.

7. Pens with your book title and web page printed on them — this tip I picked up at a book conference. When a customer buys my book, I sign it with one of my pens and then I give them the pen along with the book.

8. Bookmarks — This is a must. Every book should include a bookmark. Have them made with a small picture of your book cover, a list of very short two or three word endorsements and your web page.

9. A table cloth — It has been my experience that some book stores have already set the table with a table cloth and some don’t.

I always carry one with me just in case.

This may seem like a lot, but believe me, when it is laid out on the table, it isn’t much. Keep in mind we are professionals, so everything you do, think like a professional.

Last but certainly not least… never sit at your table. Don’t be shy; greet the customers as they walk by, smile, introduce yourself, hand them a flyer, and tell them that you are a local author who is having a book signing today on behalf of (name of bookstore). Tell them a little about your book.

If you are like me, book signings are a lot of work, but they are also a lot of fun! You meet a lot of very interesting people, and even if they don’t buy your book, they walk away with a flyer or a postcard and they will either read it or check your web page.

More importantly, when you are done, always thank the store manager and the staff who participated in your book signing. Never leave without a thank you and a hand shake.

Since I have practiced this… I have been invited back several times to most of the bookstores in my area, and now they order a minimum of about 25 books, and I always sell-out!

Good Luck and Happy Book Signing.

Copyright @copy; 2007-2008 Judy Azar LeBlanc

About The Author
Award Winning Author, Judy Azar LeBlanc was born in Raton, New Mexico, and was raised and educated in Albuquerque, and is an Honored Member of the Cambridge Who’s Who, Toastmasters International, and the Arizona Author’s Association. She is a graduate of San Jose University, in San Jose, California, where she did graduate work in Industrial Psychology. An award-winning author, her fourth and favorite title “Many Faces to Many Places” is preceded by “Things My Father Never Taught Me”, “The Compromise,” and “The Unveiling.” LeBlanc is internationally published in the FONATUR Tourist Magazine, sponsored by the federal government of Mexico. Visit her website at http://www.manyfacestomanyplaces.com

The right kind of music sets the tone in movies. That’s no secret. Think about it, could you image some of the fight scenes in Gladiator to the tune of “Marry had a little lamb”? It just won’t fly. Now at some level it is kind of surreal to play somethinglike “Somewhere over the rainbow” during a shootout like they did in the movie “Face Off“. But that is the exception not the rule.

So my question to you is do you use music in your witing? I do. It helps me write faster, it can also help me write more slow, if the scene calls for it. There’s no point in writing a dramatic scene to some fast techno music cause it just won’t work. Setting the tone is key, you want your reader to feel the way you feel when you listen to the right music that fits the scene you are writing about.

I listen to Magnatune.com. They offer free streaming music and new albums are being added all the time. And you can post it on your blog or web site. Just listen.

Distant Activity by Adam Fielding

Ever read the book “The Richest Man in Babylon“? At the end of each chapter there is a statement that summarizes the chapter. One of the chapters says, “The Man of Action has Luck on his side.”

The idea is that if you make a plan and take action, you will be in a much better position toreceive the fruits of your labors. A lot of people talk, and a lot of people plan of doing work and talk about doing the worked they have planned. But it is the man of action that gets the golden goose.

I encourage to read the book. It’s sold over 2 million copies. It must be good if that many people wanted to read it.

I check my RSS stats everyday. Of all the blogs and web sites I have the one that I put the least amount of time and effort into (this one) has the most readers on it. Not sure why that is.

I wasn’t sure if anyone is actually reading this blog, because no one ever leaves any comments. So if you’re there please let me know it.

This is the story that I wrote a while ago. It was the one I sent off to analog. They decided not to publish it, for whatever reason.

Get out of the way of drop hatch. Yelled Hawk.

Everyone on the yellow line, we go in five. Master Sgt. Fillerman barked.

This is my first real jump into hostile combat. Sparrow said to Baxton.

Relax; it’s not bad until we start to enter the sun’s corona. Baxton Laughed.

The Sun’s Corona?

The drop hatched of their ship opened and ten men where shot into the open vacuum of space.

Baxton, you mean to tell me were going into the Sun’s Corona without hardened solar pods? Sparrow asked over his person to person helmet com.

What does that tell you rookie? Baxton pointed above them to the glowing yellow mass.

Wait a second. I thought this was an attack run on a Niguyan 3. Sparrow asked.

It is, but the planet is hidden in subspace in the center of the sun. Baxton said.

The sun reached out and slowly grabbed the ten men with its massive gravity, pulling them closer and closer. Sparrow’s eyes widen in disbelief. Sure he’d been space diving off of ships before onto planets, but never a sun.

Relax rookie, just set your suit shields to max when I tell you. Not before, if you set them too early they’ll get drained before you really need them. Baxton replied with a stern look that ended with a smile when he saw Sparrow’s scared face.

Our velocity’s approaching 1,500 miles per second. We’ll be there soon. Master Sgt. Fillerman reported over the helmet com.

Remember men we’ve only got ten minutes of shield use. That’s enough to get us to the center of the sun and enter subspace. Once we enter subspace we should be on or very near the surface of the planet. After we touchdown I’ll activate my com locater and everyone will center on my location. Any questions?

There silence for a moment. Good. Baxton it’s on you.

Alright guys. Let’s remember to keep our formation tight as we pass through the different layers of the sun. The currents in there can be very strong. Baxton is the only scientist to join the special forces of the Sol Federation after the attack at Mon Artemis. His goal was to fight the Garreni and bring justice to the men who had destroyed so many lives. He’s also the team’s resident solar expert.

Here we go. Shields On! Fillerman commanded.

The coronal emissions were still several hundred miles below them, but the suits base shields could only protect them to a certain level. The SF solar shields have been specifically designed for probes and other scientific experiments. The military wisely took the option of fitting their suits with them when they saw the Garreni’s ship enter the sun and then reappear for another attack run three days later.

Sparrow you alright? Baxton asked.

Yeah, I’m alright. For now. The ten men soon passed through the corona. Faster and faster they begin to be pulled into the sun. Each layer passing quicker than the one before.

Sir, how many layers are there? Sparrow asked.

Baxton? Fillerman redirected.

We use to think there were only about ten, but after the initial probes came back there appeared to be about twenty and each one has a series of layers within it. Baxton reported.

How far till we get to the center? Warez asked.

We’re not heading for the center. Fillerman answered.

That’s right. The center is a solid core of iron. Baxton replied. If we hit star center at this velocity these shields won’t help us at all.

Sparrow’s scared look came back as he looked below him at the different passing shades of red. Well how far are we going then? Warez asked.

Just above the carbon core. Fillerman responded.

I thought you said the core was made of iron. Sparrow asked.

It is, but there are several outer cores that are also solid at these pressures. Baxton explained.

Oh, man. I should have stayed in bed this morning. Warez stated in his Latino accent.

Yeah, this job is hell ain’t it? Michelson asked laughing.

Hardens. As I have been told by Baxton, we want to jump into subspace just before we hit the carbon core. It’s still several thousand miles below us, but it’s coming up fast. Fillerman explained. Captain, you’re on from here till touchdown.

Thank you Master Sgt. Alright men let’s get it right. Everyone sync your STDs (spatial transition device) and sound off.

Ha ha. This is the only time I would ever want to have one of these babies. Michelson laughed.

Michelson. Cut the chatter and sound off. Baxton barked. Everyone synced their STDs and sounded off one by one.

Hey boss, is it me or we getting longer. I can’t see my feet anymore. Sparrow asked.

Yeah at this velocity our mass is actually being affected. We’re still alright though. Baxton explained yelling.

It’s affecting the COM too. Michelson added.

Yeah, that was expected. Baxton replied.

Jackson, the team’s medic, crackled his reported in over the COM. All heart monitors still in the green sir.

Roger that. Baxton replied. He was a Captain in Military Intelligence. He has seen his share of combat and the men treated him with respect. He was smart and just as tough as they were and they knew it.

Fillerman, thirty seconds and we jump. Baxton reported. I’m locking all STDs into mine so we all jump at the same time.

Sir my shields are almost gone. Jackson screamed.

It’s getting harder to breathe. Michelson added.

I think my shields are shrinking. Oh man, they’re crushing my lungs yo. Warez added.

It’s fine. I’m monitoring everything on my HUD. We’ll make it in time. Baxton replied screaming over the COM.

Sir, I can see it. I can see the core. Sparrow yelled looking toward the direction from where he last saw Baxton.

I can see it too man. It’s like dark or something. Warez said.

Baxton! Sparrow screamed. Where the heck is Baxton? He’s got us all linked up to jump. If he’s gone we won’t make it.

None of them could see anything. The liquid helium was extremely thick. If they weren’t connected to each other by their center shield spar they would have been separated long ago. I’m here. Baxton screamed. I’m still here. His voice crackled over the com. Five seconds&

Sparrow checked his HUD. All his team locater lights were still on. Everyone was still here he just couldn’t see them. He checked the countdown time. It said four seconds. He could feel the heat burning through his suit. He could hardly breathe. I’m not going to make it. Aaahhhhh. He screamed.

Then after what seemed like forever he hit the bottom with a hard thump. This was it he was dead. Just like Baxton said. He shields held but if they hit the core it was over.

Sparrow?…. Sparrow?..  Someone called. Sparrow blinked a couple times and then looked up through his HUD to see a shiny silver helmet just like the one he wore.

Yo man, wake up. We made it. Warez laughed as he pulled up Sparrow by the arm.

Dude, I thought you were a goner. Warez said. Michelson said he heard you screaming like a little girl over the com.

Sparrow blinked a couple more times took a deep breath and checked out his vitals through his HUD. He was still alive and in one piece. Yeah, I thought I was.

Doc says we’re alright but I still feel a few inches shorter. Warez said with a laugh.

Hardens on me! Fillerman commanded. Everyone checked their HUDS and saw the blinking light of the Master Sgt. Most of the lights were converging on his location.

Let’s move. Sparrow said to Warez. The two Hardens turned and headed in the direction of the Master Sgt.

I was thinking of writing my own software application for short stories. I mean I know they have other software applications out there now, but most of them have a huge learning curve.

So if I can write something that’s easy to use and easy to understand, then perhaps it would be a lot easier for people to use.

I’m going to make some designs and post them so you guys can see them.

Creative Writing Software Review 2008

This site has a breakdown of available writing software. There’s a breakdown of products with features and benefits listed to help you choose the best one.

For ease of installation and ease of use it looks like Storybase is the best. But if you need support and large feature set, some of the others may be more suited to you.

Technorati Tags: writing software, storybase