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Posts from the ‘Craft’ Category

Nov 21

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Using the sixth sense to enrich your story

In my last post, I discussed how to use the five senses to make your story world more believable—even if you’re writing about real-live gods and the dead coming back to life like author Neil Gaiman in American Gods. But what about the sixth sense of intuition? How can you use what is unseen, what is beyond the five physical senses to enrich to your story?

Contrary to what you might think, your character doesn’t have to be a psychic or a mind reader. You can activate your readers’ sixth sense by using foreshadowing or details that set the mood of a scene. Again, it comes down to using telling details based on the other five senses. Take a look at this passage from “American Gods.” What does it evoke in you as a reader? Read more

Nov 14

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Anton Chekhov’s six writing principles

From the beginning of his writing career, Anton Chekhov was recognized for his originality. Writer Leo Tolstoy called Chekhov, “an incomparable artist…an artist of life.”

Chekhov wrote about ordinary events and the relationships of people in small towns and villages. He employed a variety of techniques, including pacing and word choices that paint imagery, create his characters and reveal their changing moods. His style, in stories such as, “The Lady with the Little Dog,” and “The Huntsman,” built a new literary form that was described as impressionistic by other writers of his time.

In letters Chekhov sent to his writing contemporaries, as well as his family, Chekhov often discussed his work and ideas about story craft. His advice is as relevant now as it was in the 1800s. In a May 10, 1886, letter to his brother Alexander, also a writer, Chekhov noted six principles of a good story.

  1. Absence of lengthy verbiage of a political-social-economic nature Read more

Nov 10

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Classic writing advice from Anton Chekhov

As much as writing is a solitary pursuit, most writers improve their craft by brainstorming ideas and learning the perspectives of other authors, editors, and mentors.

One of my favorite writers, Anton Chekhov, frequently corresponded with other writers to offer guidance and inspiration.

Here are a few pieces of encouragement and advice Chekhov wrote in letters to Russian writer Maxim Gorky in the late 1800s.

“You ask what is my opinion of your stories. My opinion? The talent is unmistakable and it is a real, great talent. For instance, in the story “In the Steppe,” it is expressed with extraordinary vigour, and I actually felt a pang of envy that it was not I who had written it. You are an artist, a clever man, you feel superbly, you are plastic—that is, when you describe a thing, you see it and you touch it with your hands. That is real art.

There is my opinion for you, and I am very glad I can express it to you. I am, I repeat, very glad, and if we could meet and talk for an hour or two you would be convinced of my high appreciation of you and of the hopes I am building on your gifts. Read more

Nov 1

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Hook readers with these first-page techniques

Before you can reel readers into your story world, you have to hook them with your first page. I find inspiration from reading other writers and seeing how they created a compelling beginning.

Here are a few concepts to consider as you craft your beginning with examples from three authors.

Narrative and character attitude. Imagine you walk into a room and you’re engaging with people and observing the feeling of the place. Are the people angry, happy, tired, or sarcastic? Like rooms full of people, stories have a narrative and a character attitude or feeling. Readers will sense the attitude of your story in the first few pages and will notice at some level the characters’ and narrator’s emotional spin or attitude about their world. Check your first page to see what attitude your words project. Read more

Oct 31

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How to tame the beast called plot

In honor of Halloween, I thought I’d write about plot. The word plot used to scare me more than the time I was ten years old and my cousin dragged me to the local haunted house our little town hosted for Halloween.

I screamed my head off (cliches are okay at Halloween when the veil between good and bad prose is thinnest)—monsters lurching out of the dark, re-enactments of beheadings and hangings, cobwebs tangling in my hair, but when a hand reached out and grabbed my ankle in that dark hallway, I let loose a blood-curdling scream that would make the director of “Saw” proud. (Not that I would ever see said movie). I nearly trampled all the people in line in front of me to get out of there. I’ve never been in a haunted house since. To this day, I still shiver when somebody mentions haunted house and Halloween in the same breath.

But I digress…. Notice, I said the word plot used to scare me. That was before I started reading James Scott Bell’s Plot & Structure.As a newbie to writing fiction, I’d get confused about the word plot—what does it mean exactly? It sounds like some exotic species of plant that needs to be cared for in an exact, specific way or all will be lost. Read more

Oct 28

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Exercises in memoir: finding your story

We all have a story to tell. Some of us have several. So how do you discover your real story? In memoir, it’s important to sift through the events of your life to discover what’s important.

Below are a few exercises that helped me find the core of my story:

  1. Set your timer for 15 minutes and write 10 sentences that begin with the words, “I remember….” The sentences don’t have to be related, just write, try not to think too much, just let the words flow. When you’re done, read through your list and see if there’s anything that stands out or feels the most honest. Usually, these lines appear later in the list. Read more

Oct 26

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Three tips to writing multi-dimensional villains

At the Surrey International Writers’ Conference this year, I attended a workshop by author Wendy Roberts on how to create a great villain. Judging by her popular Ghost Dusters series, I’d say what she does works. Below are some of Wendy’s tips, mixed in with several of my own.

Books, of course, can have more than one villain (bad guy) but should really have only one main antagonist (the baddest bad guy).

1.     Know your antagonist.  Most of us spend more time developing our protagonist then our antagonist. But we should know our villain as well as, or even better than, our hero. We have to know our antagonist inside and out. To help with this, I ask myself questions. What makes them tick? What in their childhood or past set them on their path? What drives them? Greed? Revenge? Drugs? What do they want out of life? What makes them feel good? What makes them feel bad? Dig deep and find your villain’s motives. But don’t stop there. Read more

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