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Posts from the ‘Craft’ Category

Jul 13

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What I learned from Truman Capote about character description

No one wants to be known for writing flat, boring, cardboard characters.  Luckily, I learned from Truman Capote that it’s not the information you tell about a character but how you show it that makes all the difference.

In one of my favorite short stories, A Christmas Memory, Capote builds finely detailed characters by offering interesting and sometimes odd descriptions of them. His character description goes beyond simple physical details. The description propels the story by setting a tone and introducing contrast and tension. Read more

Jul 12

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Ground your readers and they will follow you anywhere

We know the importance of a good beginning. First line, first paragraph, first page is your opportunity as a storyteller to hook your reader, to get them interested enough to want to read more.

Nelson Bentley, wonderful poet and professor at the University of Washington for 40 years, used to say this about poem beginnings, “Give the readers a place to stand, and then you can take them anywhere.” This same advice holds true for all writing.

In journalism, the fives W’s (who, what, where, when, why) and one H (how) is a formula drilled into young journalists for getting the full story. They are instructed to get as many W’s into the lead as possible. But how do we do this in art without turning it into dry, boring facts?  Read more

Jul 8

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Queen of the list: how I transformed compulsive list making into art

I am queen of the list. Hear me roar. I make lists for everything. Maybe it’s my feeble attempt to make some kind of order out of my chaotic mind.

Lists are important—without my work lists, I’d never get anything done: shipping, phone calls, emails, appointments, ordering.

I also make lists for writing projects. Since I’m one of those neurotic artists who needs a variety of stimulation, I list action items under certain categories: Fantasy Novel, Memoir, Poetry, Blog Posts, and Continuing Education. I’ve even made a weekly writing log to check off action items as completed.

There’s something magical about checking off a completed task. I feel satisfied, successful, slightly euphoric. My friends threaten an intervention, but I tell them there are worse addictions. One success begets another and before long, I’m on an upward spiral.

But lists don’t have to be just for organization and keeping your goals on track.

List making can be an art form. Read more

Jul 7

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Write inspired: Seven ways to use your powers of observation

As writers, we all have routines or rituals. One thing we cannot do though is write only when we are “inspired.” We cannot just write when we feel like it.

However, we can write from inspired ideas we collected earlier. Writing doesn’t happen just when you sit down at your computer or with paper and pen. It’s a constant process of gathering ideas and letting them percolate in your subconscious. These ideas can be the fodder for whole novels, snippets of dialogue, or description.

So how do we find those inspired ideas? Live in full observation mode. Take a closer look at everything around you, and take note.

1. Go to the mall — You’ll find all sorts of people at a shopping mall: men and women, young and old, rich and poor. Observe people to collect ideas for how to describe characters. Watch behaviors,  listen to the tone of conversations, observe how people dress.

2. Read the newspaper — Besides reading news and feature stories, scan the ads, including classifieds. Read more

Jul 5

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Test your story’s beginning with these five questions

Writing page one can be daunting considering how important it is to hook readers and reel them into our stories. Beginnings are where we establish a relationship with our readers. We want them to eagerly anticipate the journey we’ve created for them. So what does the beginning of your poem, memoir, novel, or short story telegraph to your reader?

Consider these elements as you begin writing or revising:

1. How can I surprise readers? One way of grabbing readers’ attention is by using contrast, unusual language, or upsetting their established view of something.

2.  What question will I answer? Every story — at its heart — has a mystery or question that we the writer must answer. Does your beginning hint at this mystery or question? Read more

Jun 29

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Masters of emotion: five books that show how to convey character emotions

Recently, I wrote a post about character emotions and how to write about the body. Below are five books from my reading library that show different ways of conveying character emotions:

1. Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison. Note her use of specific detail, imagery, and metaphor to show bodily feelings and her characters’ emotions.

2. The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Notice how his spare language conveys the post-apocalyptic world of his setting and characters.

3. Elegy for Iris by John Bayley. The author writes about his wife Iris Murdoch, a well-known author, and her decent into Alzheimer’s disease. Notice the way he describes both her emotional state and his own through specific details.

4. Road Dogs by Elmore Leonard. Notice how the characters’ dialogue so effectively conveys their emotions and shows us who they are.

5. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. Allende is a passionate Chilean writer. Notice how her passion underlies every sentence of her work and how it pulls you into the story.

I hope you enjoy these! Please share some of your favorite books that are good examples of how to describe character emotions.

Jun 28

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Character emotions: two ways to write about the body

When we experience different emotions, our bodies have physiological reactions. When we’re afraid our heart rate increases, when we’re angry our blood pressure rises, when we’re in love our body releases certain chemicals. As a writer, it might seem natural to describe our characters’ emotions by writing about how their body feels.

The problem is that these descriptions can quickly become overused and clichéd. Beginning writers, especially, make these mistakes, but I’ve also seen far too much published work that reaches for the quick cliché.

Unfortunately, I’m no exception. I wrote poetry for years before I began writing stories. A natural at imagery and metaphor, I had no idea how to do so many other things—like write about the body. I’ll share some of my early examples as long as you don’t “roll your eyes:” Read more

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