Dialogue is Essential

“I’ve never seen, heard, nor smelled an issue that was so dangerous it couldn’t be talked about. Hell yes, I’m for debating anything!”


That is one of the quotes from one of my (and my family's) favorite movies: "1776."

And if anything summed up our family motto, this quote would do it.

Probably nothing got under my children's stepfather's skin more than their tendency to debate just about everything.

But if you're a person giving feedback to someone's writing, back and forth conversation (and a bit of debate) is essential.

Only then can you understand what the writer is trying to convey and how the writer is trying to convey it.

Don't be the "expert" who feels a story can only by told "this way" or "that way" or must have "these elements" or (horrors!) should not be written at all.

Be the person who can offer useful feedback so the writer can writer his/her/it best story possible.

And if you're the writer, be open but don't blindly accept the criticism of any beta reader/editor who is not also open to healthy debate - or at the very least, your questions about the critique.

One member of WriteOn Joliet wrote a good post about this topic.

It's called "Workshop Warnings" and you can read it here:

http://www.writingandtheprocess.com/2020/03/workshop-warnings.html?fbclid=IwAR2T3EFNF8fCJJrskExxav1K58rnw8BG5r4NrKB4_gjklFkpOicqPIaIZCU

Illustration by Kathleen Rose Van Pelt for "Bryony."

The Satisfaction of Getting It Right

Editor's note: Tone may sound depressing to some. If concerned, skip the read.

Anyone who writes, or is perfecting a craft, often hears (or reads) how he or she is getting it wrong.

Articles with headlines of Ten Ways to Fill In Those Plot Holes, Five Darlings You Need to Kill Now, How To Hit That Daily Word Count, Writers: Stop Doing These Three Things Now all imply we need improvement in in these areas and more.

I'm all for self-improvement. But we rarely stumble upon articles that tell us when we're doing it right.

Well, one found me this morning.

Before I share it, one piece of advice to anyone who is working on a skill: strive for betterment but also seek out those reassuring signposts of progress and perfection.

My lone BryonySeries super fan has told me that a psychology student could write a doctoral thesis based on my books because the character development is that rich. 

While such a compliment is easy to wave away (as opposed to a general bad review that says I suck as a writer, which tends to hand around murkier than mist in Simons Woods), I read a gem of an article this morning that reinforced a nuanced part of Before The Blood in which I got something write.

And it feels good, especially since the book centers on how people live, how they die, and (especially) how they live in such a way to ruin their lives and wind up not quite in the afterlife.

In Before The Blood, one main character has a childhood nightmare that recurs in adulthood during times of great stress. The character always awakens from sleep calling for his mother.

In childhood, of course, she's there. In adolescence, she's there but not really. In adulthood, she's gone.

Here's my little win:

“A nurse from the hospice told me that the last words of dying men often resembled each other. Almost everyone is calling for ‘Mommy’ or ‘Mama’ with the last breath."

Illustration by Christopher Gleason for "Staked!" Follow him at artworkbytopher.com

In Praise of Adverbs

Readers, this post may leave you mystified, but many people who write will understand.

In the "writing world," expert and (non-expert writers) exhort fledglings like me to write neatly, concisely, and to strip sentences of all unnecessary fluff.

And to beware, at all costs, the most useless word of them all: the adverb.

Adverbs, as the maxim goes, are redundant and weaken the power of verbs, diluting a sentence with two words when one strong word is preferred. If you do use them, no more than two or three to a manuscript.

OK.

That is true in some cases. And maybe the origin of Tom Swifties.

But the point of adverbs is to modify the verb, the adjective, and even other adverbs, and I drilled this definition into my children's head when we studied the eight parts of speech.

The right adverbs at the right time (sometimes even several at a time) gives the black and white sentence its color and tone.

Agreed, any useless word, adverb or not, should be ruthlessly removed during the editing phases. But not at the sacrifice of the writing, not to create writing stripped to its informational essence and abandon writing that stirs emotions.

It's nuanced, I know.

Before I submitted the first installment of Before the Blood to my editor, I rewrote the first three paragraphs of the third chapter many times to eliminate the adverbs and most of the adjectives (because they come under suspect, too).

Ever hear of the Peter Principal? It's when a person rises to a level of incompetence. 

For example, a great teacher is promoted through the ranks until he finally becomes a superintendent. But teaching and superintending are different skills, and the traits that made our prototype a great teacher make him a poor superintendent. He has risen to his own incompetence.

The same came happen with over-editing. I finally decided to leave the paragraphs alone and let my editor decide if the adverbs had overtaken the garden like kudzu or of they added a sense of naturalness, like a few dandelion heads in a back yard.

This poison of tallies and figures had spread to his mother, for Lucetta moved more slowly and with greater lethargy, an ethereal presence even in her own suite, as she cared for, and murmured softly to,  her beloved and rapidly multiplying houseplants.

Slate has a hilariously true article that expounds on this more eloquently than I did. And if you want to come away from it with a deeper sense of good writing, please read it to the end.

Because I have clearly broken all the adverb rules in this post.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2016/06/02/abolish_the_adverb_you_seriously_must_be_joking.html

Illustration by Kathleen Rose Van Pelt for "Bryony."

Not Terribly Clever

I like to share particularly helpful posts about writing I find online with my followers.

But here's an insight into my writing style. I usually don't read or consider writing advice when I writing a story. I may use them afterward to polish and rewrite drafts.

However, I don't build certain elements into my story for the sake of writing a "correctly structured" story. Heck, when I wrote my first book, I had only a dim awareness such things existed.

When I write my characters, I'm not making sure I have a predetermined character cast.

When I'm building my world, I'm not making sure I incorporate any canned elements that all good world-building "must" have.

I don't write my stories based on models or structures (snowflake, hitting certain mood or plot beats).

I simply write the story.

That's not to say any of these aren't helpful/useful/beneficial or necessary for writers (including me). Many times, I've had "aha!" moments by reading one of these insights.

It's just to point out there's more than one path to a compelling story. Some writers appreciate guidelines to turn their jumble of thoughts in well-crafted stories. Others write better with a "free range" style.

I think I fall somewhere in between. And I think it's because I've read such a huge volume of material in my life that I've absorbed all this great advice.

I think.

Now I do have my own quirks. I prefer to write in silence, with coffee, on a desk top and, (if I'm writing fiction) in an upstairs room.

But because I'm also a professional writer, I can write in a flash, on deadline, and in a roomful of people. But it's not as enjoyable. And not as efficient.

And BTW: ignore anyone who purports to have "the secret" creating great writing.

There isn't any.

Except maybe one, and it's not a secret.

You do have to write it.

And rewrite it.

And rewrite it.

And rewrite it.

Until the story in your head becomes the story on your screen.

The "Myth" of Writer's Block

I think anyone who engages in creative work has felt that block: we have the time, but the ideas don't flow.

We can call it "writers block" or "painters block" or whatever, but a recent article I read made the point that "bloc" ought not be a thing if writers, even hobbyist writers (of which I am on the fiction side of writing), take their craft seriously.

For instance, the article said, there's no such thing as "nurse's block."

Now I'm certain some nurses have their days when they don't want to go into work. But that's not the same thing as a "block."

Likewise, there's probably no garbage truck driver block, accountant block, informational technology block, firefighter block, etc.

I do get the point of "block." It's hard to be stunningly creative on a whim.

And yet, on my professional end of writing, that's why I get paid.

A bunch of years ago, probably 10 or more, I was stuck in a preview story for the former Waterway Days in Joliet. I had written similar stories over the years and couldn't think of the umpteenth, brilliant way to write it.

I was tired (too many nights of not enough sleep before delivery newspapers in the middle of the night), and I had to leave in 45 minutes to run a small Vacation Bible School 40 miles away.

But I was on deadline. I had no choice but to do it. OK, I guess I did have a choice. I could not make deadline and never write for the publication again. I could not write the story and lose the income I needed to support my family.

Yeah, no.

So, I reviewed my notes for words or phrases that jumped out (or ones I could make jump out). And I wrote that story.

The result wasn't Pulitzer quality, sure. But enjoyable, readable, and "payable."

On my hobby end side of writing, I enjoy the freedom of not writing on deadline. I have time to explore creative ideas, concepts, world-building, and character development without feeling the crunch of the clock.

But that sense of "all the time in the world" is a fallacy.

Because the clock continues to tick away. And so do days, months, and years.

Without any sort of goal or deadline ("I will write that novel this year." I will not stop for dinner until I have a solid outline for chapter eight." Saturday will not slip away until I finish chapter five." "I only have 30 minutes today, but I WILL write the opening scene."), the odds are 2020 will arrive with little writing to show for it.

And BTW, coffee helps. ;)

Illustration by Christopher Gleason for "Staked!" Follow him at artworkbytopher.com.

White Space

According to Merriam-Webster: the areas of a page without print or pictures.

Essential to art to see the work.

Essential to writing to hear the words.

Essential for creativity and clearing the mind.

Essential to life.

Jigsaw Puzzle Writing With Sprinkles of Contemplation

Many years ago when I was a young mother, I read a story about a woman who wrote a book about mothering while she was raising a large family.

When others expressed amazement at her accomplishment and asked how she managed it, this woman said she had learned to "use small modules of time." It's a phrase that has stuck with me and one I've implemented through my adventures in not only writing, but parenting and homeschooling.

And, for now at least, it's become my new normal, for two reasons.

One, I often don't have the luxury of large unscheduled bits of time, except (maybe) one day a week when I'm able to plan for it.

Two, I'm finding the final novel in my Before the Blood prequel challenging to write. Since it's the culmination of the trilogy as well as the prequel, it's not just another novel. The story arc, characters, plot, pace: all of these most have a more compelling tone and "feel." 

And it just ain't happening yet.

So here's what's emerging from the confusion. I focus on bits of the story and write that well and allow the rest to simmer in the back of my mind until it becomes clear and crisp, sort of like assembling a jigsaw puzzle while cooking soup.

They're two separate activities that somehow will fit together in the end. Each has its own time, rushing the process spoils both.

Illustration by Kathleen Rose Van Pelt for "Bryony."

Stuck on Ideas? Writers: Try This Trick

Character Questionnaires.

Yes, I know I've blogged about this in the past.

http://bryonyseries.blogspot.com/2016/03/getting-to-know-my-characters-its.html

But as I'm developing yet another round of characters, I'm fully realizing how great they are  for generating scenes, dialogue, and plot twists.

As soon as I type another trait, I'm ht with ideas: "Oooh, she and he can discuss that," and "Ah, so this is what happened in the past that triggered this," and "I can make this be the cause for that...and won't so and so be surprised when he finds out!"

Skeptical? Try it the next time you're stuck.

Because maybe, just maybe, the reason why ideas freeze is because the characters are too flat to move the story.

Outlander 212: The death of Alexander Randall

Writing Tip: Separate the Forest from the Trees

Nothing clogs a stream of words as fast as stopping to work out a description of a character, scene, object, etc.

One trick that works for me is leaping over that part and returning to it later.

For instance, supposing your character has just entered a room or met a new person. Rather than stopping the action in your mind to develop that room or person, simply write DESCRIBE and keep going.

Later, when you have a spare ten or fifteen minutes, you can return to the blipped over portion with your entire attention.

It often works for me. Maybe it will for you, too.