Starting this week, coincidentally beginning with the resurrection of the school year, we're going to be "studying" the ABCs of writing. :-)
Each week I'll focus on tips such as A for "action," B for "back story" and C for "character." We'll work our way through the alphabet as best we can (not sure about Q, X, Z) until we've completed our ABCs.
Let's start at the beginning: A.
ACTION is essential in every story. Action shows the reader what is happening rather than telling him. Action is much more exciting and engaging for the reader than narrative is. Example: Harry thought the joke was funny. (telling; no action) Harry laughed until tears rolled down his cheeks. (showing; lots of action)
ADJECTIVES (and adverbs). Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly. Strong nouns and verbs make for better story telling.
AUDIENCE. Remember who your audience is and write appropriately. Your voice, the words you use, the way you unfold the story should be suitable to your genre readers.
On to B
BEGINNINGS must hook the reader. They must be provocative and engaging. If the reader is bored by the opening lines, paragraphs, pages, why would he continue reading?
BACK STORY. Giving too much back story up front will bore a reader, maybe even irritate her. Filter in back story a little at a time as needed for clarification, characterization or any other reason which is necessary to the plot. Do not give background information just because it interests you. Back story must have an influence on the character or the plot or it is not needed.
BRIDGES. Make transitions from one scene to another, one point of view to another, etc. as clear, smooth and easy to follow as possible.
And, finally, C
CONFLICT. Without conflict there is no story. Who cares if Mary has a crush on John, and he likes her back? However, if Mary is in love with John, and he is married to Mary's sister we have conflict. And when Mary starts to plan how she is going to get rid of her sister so she can have John for herself, we have more conflict--we have a story we can sink our teeth into.
CHARACTERS. As with conflict, we have no story without characters. In the above example, if we were to write Mary's and John's story, we'd need to clearly identify who Mary, her sister and John are. Unless we know these people intimately, we writers would have no idea how they would react in whatever circumstances they meet.
CLICHES do not belong in stories, most of the time. We're writers. We ought to be able to come up with better phrases than "quiet as a mouse," "hard as a rock," or "cool as a cucumber." However, our characters may not be as clever as we are, and, once in a while, our stories may contain people who use cliches rather liberally because that's just who they are.
We've got a good start now on our ABCs. Next week, in part two, we'll cover D-F, including dialogue, editing and flashbacks.
Fran
Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff
Monday, August 15, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Clouds and Rainbows
When was the last time you "wasted" time staring at clouds or rainbows?
It seems we always have a ton of things to tend to on our "to do" lists, so many things, in fact, that we forget how important it is to take time to stop a while and just relax.
Stare at clouds, sniff fragrant flowers, examine the colors of the rainbow, pull a leaf from a tree and notice its veins, color and texture. Take hold of your child's (or grandchild's) hand, feel her warmth, look into her innocent eyes. Pet your dog, play with your cat, laugh at your pet's silly expressions and activities.
Fill your heart with a sunset, catch a breath of August evening air as it cools from the heat of the day, walk through an orchard or a garden.
It is in relaxation that we are refreshed in mind and spirit. When our spirits are refreshed we feel better, look better and produce better.
In other words, just in case you need an excuse to make yourself take some time off, know your "to do" list will shrink much faster if you relax a while and refresh your spirit because you'll be more productive after a soothing break.
Sound good? I think so.
Have a great week, and don't work too hard.
Fran
Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff
It seems we always have a ton of things to tend to on our "to do" lists, so many things, in fact, that we forget how important it is to take time to stop a while and just relax.
Stare at clouds, sniff fragrant flowers, examine the colors of the rainbow, pull a leaf from a tree and notice its veins, color and texture. Take hold of your child's (or grandchild's) hand, feel her warmth, look into her innocent eyes. Pet your dog, play with your cat, laugh at your pet's silly expressions and activities.
Fill your heart with a sunset, catch a breath of August evening air as it cools from the heat of the day, walk through an orchard or a garden.
It is in relaxation that we are refreshed in mind and spirit. When our spirits are refreshed we feel better, look better and produce better.
In other words, just in case you need an excuse to make yourself take some time off, know your "to do" list will shrink much faster if you relax a while and refresh your spirit because you'll be more productive after a soothing break.
Sound good? I think so.
Have a great week, and don't work too hard.
Fran
Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff
Monday, August 1, 2011
Reunions and Love
Like many of you, we had a couple of reunions this summer.
I won't mention exactly which year my husband and I graduated from our two high schools, but it was in 19 hundred something, and we just returned from reuniting with our classmates.
I suppose to an outsider the people we went to school with aren't anymore outstanding than those you knew growing up, but to us they are TOP NOTCH. They are real, humble and proud, hard working, loyal, friendly, sweet, strong, God loving and lovers of their country. They aren't perfect, but they are none-the-less wonderful.
While it was sad to know some of our childhood friends couldn't be with us because God had called them home, we understood they were with us in spirit, sharing their humor and their love with us.
Those of our classmates who were able to return to their roots shared warm hugs, heart-felt smiles, a few tears, tremendous joy and a few drinks and eats.
Life is full of so much sorrow and pain at times. Having lived for a number of decades, our former classmates and we understand this well. So do you, even if the number of decades you've lived is no more than two. That is why, when we are fortunate enough to reconnect with people from our past we are gloriously willing to put behind us the sad things from our childhood and rejoice in each others' successes in family, hobbies, love and friendship.
NOTE: [and this comes from a former teacher :-)] The most important part of our education has happened since high school.
In the years since graduation we've learned that loving and holding onto each other is better than anything else life has to offer.
Receiving love from and giving love to God, our families, our friends, our countrymen and our classmates--this is the secret to happiness.
Fran
Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff
I won't mention exactly which year my husband and I graduated from our two high schools, but it was in 19 hundred something, and we just returned from reuniting with our classmates.
I suppose to an outsider the people we went to school with aren't anymore outstanding than those you knew growing up, but to us they are TOP NOTCH. They are real, humble and proud, hard working, loyal, friendly, sweet, strong, God loving and lovers of their country. They aren't perfect, but they are none-the-less wonderful.
While it was sad to know some of our childhood friends couldn't be with us because God had called them home, we understood they were with us in spirit, sharing their humor and their love with us.
Those of our classmates who were able to return to their roots shared warm hugs, heart-felt smiles, a few tears, tremendous joy and a few drinks and eats.
Life is full of so much sorrow and pain at times. Having lived for a number of decades, our former classmates and we understand this well. So do you, even if the number of decades you've lived is no more than two. That is why, when we are fortunate enough to reconnect with people from our past we are gloriously willing to put behind us the sad things from our childhood and rejoice in each others' successes in family, hobbies, love and friendship.
NOTE: [and this comes from a former teacher :-)] The most important part of our education has happened since high school.
In the years since graduation we've learned that loving and holding onto each other is better than anything else life has to offer.
Receiving love from and giving love to God, our families, our friends, our countrymen and our classmates--this is the secret to happiness.
Fran
Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff
Monday, July 25, 2011
Using your Mind and Spirit
A very wise man pointed out centuries ago that in religious practices one must be committed to his beliefs in both mind and spirit.
This commitment of mind and spirit is essential in other walks of life too. Our relationships might benefit from steadfastness, for example. Where would Olympic athletes be without an all consuming focus on perfecting their performances?
When a writer uses her mind and spirit to produce her stories we readers are treated to rich plots and very human characters. We feel everything happening to our characters. We experience love or hate for the characters. When their hearts break, we cry with them. We root for them or against them. We have a stake in their lives and in the outcomes of their actions.
A writer who isn't using both his mind and heart to write his stories is shortchanging his readers and himself.
The next time you read a story, see if you can tell whether or not the writer fully committed himself to his storytelling.
I'll bet you can!
Fran
Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff
This commitment of mind and spirit is essential in other walks of life too. Our relationships might benefit from steadfastness, for example. Where would Olympic athletes be without an all consuming focus on perfecting their performances?
When a writer uses her mind and spirit to produce her stories we readers are treated to rich plots and very human characters. We feel everything happening to our characters. We experience love or hate for the characters. When their hearts break, we cry with them. We root for them or against them. We have a stake in their lives and in the outcomes of their actions.
A writer who isn't using both his mind and heart to write his stories is shortchanging his readers and himself.
The next time you read a story, see if you can tell whether or not the writer fully committed himself to his storytelling.
I'll bet you can!
Fran
Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff
Monday, July 18, 2011
Rain Man's Characters
Recently I saw "Rain Man" with Tom and Dustin. I hadn't seen it in a few years so I really enjoyed it. Both Cruise and Hoffman are absolutely outstanding in this depiction of brothers who are reunited in adulthood after having been separated in their youths.
As I watched Charlie Babbit's (Cruise) outlook regarding his brother change, I couldn't help but think what a rotten SOB the father in this story was.
His arbitrary decision to isolate his sons from each other robbed these boys of a great love they could have experienced throughout their lives.
And it really ticked me off!
Whether we're watching a movie or reading a book, stories of lost love affect us deeply. All of us have a need to be loved--by our parents, our friends, our children, our siblings. A great love like the one which grew between Charlie Babbit and his brother Raymond (Hoffman) is precious, more valuable than gold, as Charlie realized before the end of the film.
We writers need to keep in mind these powerful emotions which readers seek. As we craft our stories we are guaranteed to hitch up a reader's interest whenever we include strong feelings and actions like greed, hate, sacrifice, lying, telling the truth at all costs, sadness, depression and, most importantly, love. The more in touch with emotions a reader is while she's reading the more completely entertained she'll be.
And providing fine entertainment is the goal of every fiction writer.
Fran
Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff
As I watched Charlie Babbit's (Cruise) outlook regarding his brother change, I couldn't help but think what a rotten SOB the father in this story was.
His arbitrary decision to isolate his sons from each other robbed these boys of a great love they could have experienced throughout their lives.
And it really ticked me off!
Whether we're watching a movie or reading a book, stories of lost love affect us deeply. All of us have a need to be loved--by our parents, our friends, our children, our siblings. A great love like the one which grew between Charlie Babbit and his brother Raymond (Hoffman) is precious, more valuable than gold, as Charlie realized before the end of the film.
We writers need to keep in mind these powerful emotions which readers seek. As we craft our stories we are guaranteed to hitch up a reader's interest whenever we include strong feelings and actions like greed, hate, sacrifice, lying, telling the truth at all costs, sadness, depression and, most importantly, love. The more in touch with emotions a reader is while she's reading the more completely entertained she'll be.
And providing fine entertainment is the goal of every fiction writer.
Fran
Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff
Monday, July 11, 2011
Life More Difficult for Kids Today?
When I hear people comment that life is tougher for kids today than it was 30 or 50 or 100 years ago, I have to wonder why someone would say such a thing.
The fact is growing up has always been difficult, and it always will be. However, life in general is, on the whole, much easier for children of the later Twentieth Century and early Twenty-first Century than it was for kids who grew up in the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century.
Children of the past often died in infancy and early childhood. They were struck with diseases which are often curable today.
One of the problems which plagued the children of a hundred years ago was homelessness and the loss of parents. Diseases, unsafe working conditions and other events caused the deaths of their parents and these children were then left to fend for themselves. Many of them were immigrants who had difficulties with new languages and different ways of life.
"A Partner's Promise," one of my historical novels for young people, details life for an 11-year-old boy who was orphaned at 8 and eventually placed on the orphan train after he'd been arrested for stealing a loaf of bread. This books clearly illustrates just how difficult life on the streets could be for a young boy.
"The Trading Game," another of my historical novels for young people, tells the story of a young girl who struggles to take care of herself and her little sister. Here is a snippet from the novel featuring Lacey at one of the worst moments of her life. She's in an alley in New York where she lives with her baby sister.
-----------
Gina’s forehead was hot. Her cheeks were fire red. Each breath she took sounded like it was being dragged over rocks.
Lacey held her sister closely and prayed she’d be well again very soon.
A rat nibbled at the garbage sitting near her, and Lacey envied the rodent the food he enjoyed. Hunger tore at her insides. The last time she and Gina had eaten was when they’d visited Salina two days ago. Gina came down with the fever the following night as they’d hovered together in their alley during a rainstorm.
Since then, Lacey could not leave her little sister to earn their daily food. If she did, who would keep the rats away? Who would protect Gina from the bad men who smelled of whiskey? Who would dry her sister’s tears?
Lacey began to cry. Gina needed to eat. She’d never get well if she didn’t eat.
She wiped her cheeks. She couldn’t cry. She had to be strong. Gina needed her. She depended on her.
Gina cried out. Her arms flailed around.
Lacey knew she was having another bad dream. Fevers often brought about bad dreams.
She settled Gina back to a quiet sleep.
She leaned her head against the building supporting her back and closed her eyes. She needed to sleep. Exhaustion consumed her. She promised herself she’d close her eyes for only a few minutes.
As she rested, she held Gina close. Slumber quickly overtook her and held her in its grip until she felt something walking on her leg.
Lacey’s eyes popped open. Two rats were crawling through Gina’s hair and one was nestling inside the skirt on Lacey’s leg.
Lacey sat up and pulled the rats from Gina’s hair. She threw them against the wall of the building on the other side of the alley. She kicked at the rat on her leg, and it scurried away.
She stood, holding Gina tightly.
This misery had to stop! Failure bore down on her. She was not taking care of Gina properly. Neither was she caring for herself properly.
She had to do something, and she had to do it now.
----------------------------
Growing up has never been easy, but conditions such as these (and even worse circumstances) have been a living reality for children for thousands of years.
Let's hug the children in our lives, help them endure whatever hard knocks life sends their way and love them each and every day.
Fran
Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff
The fact is growing up has always been difficult, and it always will be. However, life in general is, on the whole, much easier for children of the later Twentieth Century and early Twenty-first Century than it was for kids who grew up in the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century.
Children of the past often died in infancy and early childhood. They were struck with diseases which are often curable today.
One of the problems which plagued the children of a hundred years ago was homelessness and the loss of parents. Diseases, unsafe working conditions and other events caused the deaths of their parents and these children were then left to fend for themselves. Many of them were immigrants who had difficulties with new languages and different ways of life.
"A Partner's Promise," one of my historical novels for young people, details life for an 11-year-old boy who was orphaned at 8 and eventually placed on the orphan train after he'd been arrested for stealing a loaf of bread. This books clearly illustrates just how difficult life on the streets could be for a young boy.
"The Trading Game," another of my historical novels for young people, tells the story of a young girl who struggles to take care of herself and her little sister. Here is a snippet from the novel featuring Lacey at one of the worst moments of her life. She's in an alley in New York where she lives with her baby sister.
-----------
Gina’s forehead was hot. Her cheeks were fire red. Each breath she took sounded like it was being dragged over rocks.
Lacey held her sister closely and prayed she’d be well again very soon.
A rat nibbled at the garbage sitting near her, and Lacey envied the rodent the food he enjoyed. Hunger tore at her insides. The last time she and Gina had eaten was when they’d visited Salina two days ago. Gina came down with the fever the following night as they’d hovered together in their alley during a rainstorm.
Since then, Lacey could not leave her little sister to earn their daily food. If she did, who would keep the rats away? Who would protect Gina from the bad men who smelled of whiskey? Who would dry her sister’s tears?
Lacey began to cry. Gina needed to eat. She’d never get well if she didn’t eat.
She wiped her cheeks. She couldn’t cry. She had to be strong. Gina needed her. She depended on her.
Gina cried out. Her arms flailed around.
Lacey knew she was having another bad dream. Fevers often brought about bad dreams.
She settled Gina back to a quiet sleep.
She leaned her head against the building supporting her back and closed her eyes. She needed to sleep. Exhaustion consumed her. She promised herself she’d close her eyes for only a few minutes.
As she rested, she held Gina close. Slumber quickly overtook her and held her in its grip until she felt something walking on her leg.
Lacey’s eyes popped open. Two rats were crawling through Gina’s hair and one was nestling inside the skirt on Lacey’s leg.
Lacey sat up and pulled the rats from Gina’s hair. She threw them against the wall of the building on the other side of the alley. She kicked at the rat on her leg, and it scurried away.
She stood, holding Gina tightly.
This misery had to stop! Failure bore down on her. She was not taking care of Gina properly. Neither was she caring for herself properly.
She had to do something, and she had to do it now.
----------------------------
Growing up has never been easy, but conditions such as these (and even worse circumstances) have been a living reality for children for thousands of years.
Let's hug the children in our lives, help them endure whatever hard knocks life sends their way and love them each and every day.
Fran
Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
How Long Does it Take?
Writers and non-writers alike want to know "How long does it take to write a novel?"
Writers may think they're working too slowly, and non-writers who have never attempted to write a novel plainly have no idea how long such a process should take. Thus they ask--how long does it take?
I've got a great answer for this question--that depends...
(Sheesh, I sound like a politician, don't I? Ugh!)
Realistically, determining the length of time it takes to write a novel truly does depend on a number of things such as:
1. The writer's level of experience
2. The intended length of the novel (50K words? 100K words? 300K words?)
3. The amount of research needed to give the book authenticity.
4. The writer's general work habits.
5. The writer's level of commitment.
6. Many more possible factors.
Once or twice a year writers challenge each other with a "write a novel in a month" program. Everyone who enters this program hopes to begin a novel and complete it within a single month. I don't have stats on how many people actually write a book from start to finish in this time period so I don't know how effective it is in attaining its goal. However, I have no doubt this challenge is quite helpful to many writers who may need a little encouragement with jump starting their next project.
Karen Wiesner, a prolific author whom I've had the pleasure of meeting a couple of times, wrote a book a few years ago titled "First Draft in 30 Days: a novel writer's system for building a complete and cohesive manuscript." It was published by Writer's Digest Books. [I have an autographed copy. :-)] This book is a great resource for anyone who'd like to have a little support while pounding out their first or their next book. Writer's will find it full of helpful advice.
Ultimately, it is each individual writer who determines how long it will take to complete her novel. For me, the length of time it has taken me to write a book from start to finish depended on the book. I've completed a first draft in as little as 3 1/2 weeks. On the other hand, at least one book took me a couple of years to write as it continued to evolve.
If you're a writer, best wishes in completing your novel in your own time. If you're a reader like me, let's be happy it takes a lot less time to read a novel than it takes to write one.
Fran
Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff
Writers may think they're working too slowly, and non-writers who have never attempted to write a novel plainly have no idea how long such a process should take. Thus they ask--how long does it take?
I've got a great answer for this question--that depends...
(Sheesh, I sound like a politician, don't I? Ugh!)
Realistically, determining the length of time it takes to write a novel truly does depend on a number of things such as:
1. The writer's level of experience
2. The intended length of the novel (50K words? 100K words? 300K words?)
3. The amount of research needed to give the book authenticity.
4. The writer's general work habits.
5. The writer's level of commitment.
6. Many more possible factors.
Once or twice a year writers challenge each other with a "write a novel in a month" program. Everyone who enters this program hopes to begin a novel and complete it within a single month. I don't have stats on how many people actually write a book from start to finish in this time period so I don't know how effective it is in attaining its goal. However, I have no doubt this challenge is quite helpful to many writers who may need a little encouragement with jump starting their next project.
Karen Wiesner, a prolific author whom I've had the pleasure of meeting a couple of times, wrote a book a few years ago titled "First Draft in 30 Days: a novel writer's system for building a complete and cohesive manuscript." It was published by Writer's Digest Books. [I have an autographed copy. :-)] This book is a great resource for anyone who'd like to have a little support while pounding out their first or their next book. Writer's will find it full of helpful advice.
Ultimately, it is each individual writer who determines how long it will take to complete her novel. For me, the length of time it has taken me to write a book from start to finish depended on the book. I've completed a first draft in as little as 3 1/2 weeks. On the other hand, at least one book took me a couple of years to write as it continued to evolve.
If you're a writer, best wishes in completing your novel in your own time. If you're a reader like me, let's be happy it takes a lot less time to read a novel than it takes to write one.
Fran
Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff
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