Is 750 words per day getting easier or harder? January 2012 is a month when I am making a commitment to write at least 750 words each day.

For me, it’s hard to get started, but goes easily once I actually go to 750words.com and log in. Just knowing that it is timed makes me work hard for the 15 minutes or so it takes.

One of the typical creative writing prompts is to think of an embarrassing moment and describe that. I agree that’s a good prompt and here’s why. When you Think Like a Writer, you know that fiction must put your characters into a bad situation and make it even worse.

Without conflict, there is no fiction. But we love our characters and hate to make things worse for them. This time, you must make things as difficult as possible for your character. Put your character into a difficult situation; then make it worse; then make it worse.

Then, make it even worse. No let up.
It can be an embarrassing thing, or stressful, or painful. Just create a scene where the situation gets worse and worse and worse, without relief.

Now that, is thinking like a writer.

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Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

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I am working on a novel revision for an editor and I expect to turn it in by Monday. But today, as I was reading through one last time to polish everything up–oh, my gosh!–there’s still so much work to do.

Last Minute Revisions

At this point, it’s not major structural changes or big plot changes. Instead, I am looking to tighten every scene and make as many connections as possible. And I am polishing language and voice.

Here are some thing that I’m working on:

Connections. I noticed that K gave A something. Now, K is a minor character, and while I like K, the connection here was weak. Instead, I wondered how the story would work if C gave A that same thing. Much nicer! It brought back in a sub-plot/theme with C that I thought would never work into this part of the story.

Conflict and Tension. Yes, the mainstay of fiction is conflict and tension and you’d think I would have that right by now. Instead, I realized that I was relying on the external conflict and ignoring the internal conflict. What I needed was conflict to be within my main character, while at the same time, she is facing external problems. I had to go back paragraph by paragraph and make sure that the internal conflict was present, was related to the external problem and that it grew over the course of the story.

Pacing. I separated one long chapter into two chapters, making sure the ending of the first chapter was a cliff-hanger and the beginning of the next chapter had a good hook.

Verbs. Yes, verbs. As we all know by now, strong verbs make for good story language and a strong voice. And I was doing pretty well. But I noticed in this chapter that I was slacking off some. For example, I replaced “They stared” with “They gaped”, and later with “They gawked.” Subtle differences, yes, but important.

Characterization. I am confident that A is a strong character. But what about B, C, D, E, F, G? As I read through, I am looking for places to characterize them better.

When is a Novel Revision Finished?

Um, never. I think I could endlessly revise a novel and my friends will attest to that. But at some point, I’ve done all I can do without more feedback. With this final pass through, I’ll be at that point. It will be time to send the novel out into the world for someone to read and evaluate. Does that mean I am finished with revisions on this particular novel? Doubtful. Bu until some fresh eyes catch weak areas, I can’t see anything else to do. Soon, very soon, it will be on its way.

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Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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Creating Suspense to Strengthen the Narrative Arc

Great novels grab your attention and never let it go until the reader looks up from reading, “The End.” That’s a given. But it’s not always easy to grab that reader’s attention. What you need is suspense.

Suspense is created by an uncertainty about what happens next in your story. So–what does happen next? Something unexpected, of course. But let’s go back to the basics.

What happens in a story is conflict; without something bad happening you don’t have a story. Suspense is the reader’s worry about what will happen because of that conflict.

How can you increase the reader’s worry?

Conflict, character, details, consequences, emotion, uncertainty, anticipation = suspense

Let readers root for the characters. Likewise, if we care for the characters, we worry more. Good characterization gives us cause to root for a character and his/her eventual success over the conflict. If we know that a woman has been abused, but come out of it and successfully raised two lovely children, then we worry more when she starts dating a man we suspect of being an alcoholic.

Details. In order to characterize well, give readers a person to root for and to evoke strong emotions, you must include great details. This means you must think about what the setting is like in terms of sounds, sights, smells, tastes, and tactile possibilities. Use specific sensory details to evoke the situation and give the reader a blow by blow of the action of the story.

Feel the Consequences. Once you place the reader in the situation with strong details which evoke strong characters set into overwhelming conflict, then evoke even stronger emotions by making sure the reader understands the consequences of failure. This is the, “So What?” question. If X fails to do Y–so what? Who cares? You must provide enough details on the consequences or hint at it broadly enough for the reader to guess the consequences.

How can you escalate the reader’s worry?

At any particular moment in the story, you can use the strategies above to evoke worry. But that’s not enough, because a story isn’t static, it quickly moves from one scene to the next. And it’s not enough to just evoke the same amount of worry, you must escalate the suspense of your story.

Begin at the right place. Looking over the broad picture of your story, the need for escalation requires that you start at a place of strong conflict, but not so strong that the situation can’t get worse. You must find a strong enough place to create suspense; yet, that exact situation and time in the story must allow for a progression of scenes in which things get worse. In other words, make sure the sequence of scenes makes sense.

Conflict must change. In some way, as the story progresses, the character’s situation(s) must change, usually by building on the initial conflict. You must ask how things can get worse. This is often a place where I get stuck and find it helps to take the situation apart. Would it be worse at a different time? A different place? With different characters? Or try it from a different stance: what is the worse thing your character would ever have to face? That is the ending scene and how can you back up from there and soften the conflict?

Add uncertainty. As you work with the plot and conflicts, search for ways to bring in or to imply uncertainly.

• No one has tried this approach before.
• Theoretically, this should work.
• Someone tried this and it didn’t work, but we have no choice but to try it again.

Scene cuts. Try using scene cuts to leave X hanging while you present a scene with Y that leaves Y hanging; then come back to X, finish the first scene and transition immediately into the second scene which–of course–leaves X hanging again. Repeat as needed.

Pacing. Much of this is an issue of pacing, which is merely taking the long picture of your story and thinking about how scenes blend with each other. For example, you might follow two fast-paced action scenes with a scene of simple action but more complex character interaction. Here are some suspense building techniques that come from this idea of pacing.

• Include enough details to spread out the story and make the reader wait for needed information.
• Let uncertainty fester: never give a straight answer when a sideways answer will work.
• Stop at unexpected points.
• Deliver the expected, but in an unexpected way.
• Intrigue, but don’t explain–yet. (But don’t cheat here: If your main character knows something, your readers should know it, too.)

Use Dread and Anticipation

Keep in mind the difference in dread and anticipation.

Dread: bad things have happened and even worse things are possible.
Anticipation: something bad could happen unless. . .

Dread builds on past conflict, while anticipation builds on hope of avoiding conflict. Try to use both as you build the suspense of your story.

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Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

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In my WIP, I’m looking for mini-conflicts among characters. I want to keep the tension high throughout. Donald Maass, agent and author of Write the Breakout Novel, says, “Tension on every page.”

Ongoing Conflicts. These mini-conflicts are the stuff of everyday life:

• The ongoing battle between teacher/student over chewing gum.
• The ongoing battle between brother/sister over hanging up towels in the bathroom.
• The irritation of being the only one in the household to notice that the trash needs to be taken out.

You should give these conflicts only a tiny fraction of space, but they will repay you in big ways as they make the character, setting and plot more concrete and realistic.

Scene beats. Mini-conflicts might just be the tiny beats of a scene. It’s the small actions, dialogue, reactions, movements that are required for a character to physically move in space and interact with other people and his/her environment. You can build in min-conflicts in something as simple as making a cup of coffee. The tap water is too hot/cold; the coffee grounds spill; all the coffee cups are dirty; the sugar bowl is empty and the creamer is sour.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

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Top 5 Tips for Dynamite Scenes

Guest Post By Roz Morris

30 Days to a Stronger Scene Table of Contents

Have you got a scene that’s looking lifeless? Here’s how I pep it up.

Have something change.

No scene should ever go as the reader expects. If you have a character set out to buy a pint of milk and all they do is amble to the shop, buy their stuff and walk back, you’ve hit the snooze button. Instead, take that scene somewhere the reader is not expecting. It needn’t be a big twist. It could be tiny – a change of mood, a resolution to do something. But if nothing changes, the scene isn’t worth showing.
To keep the sense of progress through the story, a scene should always contain change. Otherwise it hasn’t earned its place in the story.

Make that change have consequences for the characters.

Suppose you add something to your milk-buying scene – the character realises her boyfriend claimed he bought a certain brand of cigarette from the corner shop, but that shop doesn’t sell them. So where did he get them? And isn’t it odd that they are the same brand smoked by his ex? Are they seeing each other again?
If a change has happened, it should have a lasting effect in the story. Again, it could be small, or it could set them on a new and dastardly path. Good scenes don’t exist in isolation; they affect what comes after them. And they are affected by what happened before.

If you have to fill a blank, bring something in that you introduced earlier.

In the thick of a scene, you often have to invent details off the top of your head. Where was your minor character John last night? The cinema, you write, because it doesn’t matter where he was, he’s not very important. But go back and look at what you’ve written about John before. Is there something else you already invented that you could bring in instead? Three chapters ago, did you send him, quite casually, to choir practice? Why not send him there again, or to the chemist to get throat lozenges? Now we’re fleshing John out and with very little effort.

Featured Today in Fiction Notes Stores

Bringing back ideas you used before is a great way to make the world of your story feel more solid.

Even if what you’re using is trivial it can build up – and who knows where it might lead? It’s a technique called reincorporation. It makes stories elegant and satisfying. And it adds to the feeling that everything matters.
Keep a list of everything you plucked off the top of your head because you needed to fill a blank space. You’d be surprised how useful it will be.

Have a sense of purpose coming into the scene and going out.

Screenwriters have a mantra: ‘come in late and go out early’. When I’m revising one of the major problems I find is that the first half of the scene is throat-clearing before the interesting stuff happens – the revelation the reader doesn’t expect, the point where it all goes wrong. They’re having a chat on the way to work and then the car blows a tyre. But it would be far better if they got into that car with a sense of urgency from a previous scene – instead of marking time until the tyre causes a problem. Perhaps one of the characters is spoiling for a showdown – and then the tyre ruins the moment because they have to co-operate to get out of trouble.

Have conflict.

Conflict is the engine of story. Whole books have been written about it, but in essence, it’s when things aren’t going smoothly. One person wants something, the other has it. Or is oblivious to the other person’s need. Or is competing for that same thing. This tension creates drama. If a scene needs more sizzle, could you add some conflict?
Change, consequences, reincorporation, purpose and conflict – you may not need them all at once, but these five elements will make your scenes go with a bang.

Roz Morris is a ghostwriter now being represented under her own name. Her blog is www.nailyournovel.com and she is on Twitter @dirtywhitecandy. She critiques for a top literary consultancy and is the author of Nail Your Novel – Why Writers Abandon Books and How You Can Draft, Fix and Finish with Confidence, available from and outside the US from Lulu http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/nail-your-novel/5301103.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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When, How, and Why to Cut from Scene to Scene

30 Days to a Stronger Scene Table of Contents

Importance of Scene Disasters

Are you personally a peace maker? Do you try to smooth out conflict among your friends? Are you in trouble when you try to write fiction!

Scenes must end in disaster, at least a majority of the time. Fiction is about conflict and that means that scenes should end with conflict and tension. The situation just got worse for the main character.

Featured Today in Fiction Notes Stores

I’m emphasizing this point by giving it a post of its own, it’s that important. Too many authors begin first drafts loving their characters so much that nothing bad happens.

Boring.

Something must change by the end of a scene:

• New information comes to light and we suspect it’s important information.
• Someone’s feelings/emotions change for the worse.
• A character fails to obtain something.
• Partial success, but it only brings discouragement; the cup feels half empty, not half full.

Make sure that every single scene has conflict and ends with something worse than before.

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Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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Conflict on Every Page

Literary Agent, Donald Maass preaches the necessity of “conflict on every page.” I’m revising a scene today and realized I was being lazy.

Information Exchange isn’t Enough. In this scene, a daughter comes home and reports on events of the day to her father. There was a short exchange, seven snippets of dialogue between the two. I realized it was just straight reporting, no conflict.

To find conflict, I looked first to the relationship and then to the setting. It’s a father-daughter relationship and I’ve been trying to enrich the relationship with some tender moments. But I also realized that I didn’t have enough conflict between them. What do fathers and teenage daughters fuss about? In the setting, they are eating dinner together.

I finally settled on the daughter’s lack of manners, slurping soup. It reinforces the general idea that she’s a tomboy, raised by a widowed father and a negligent nanny, raised wild and definitely without table manners. But I also made the father slightly greedy: food is fairly scarce and he wants her bowl of soup.

Richer Scene. With that idea in mind, I went back and rewrote the scene. I still had the same exchange of information, the report on the events of the day. But now, the ongoing relationship supplied the conflict and tension. We know more about each character, about their relationship, AND the day’s events. Much richer scene.

I must remember: don’t be lazy. Find the conflict in every scene.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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Conflict, the type that motivates and moves a plot, comes from four sources.

Yesterday, an editor asked for revisions on a very short piece which was meant for a kindergarten or first grade audience. The editor didn’t like the competitiveness between siblings. But when she contemplated taking out that conflict, she correctly understood that the story lacked something. Could I fix it, she asked.

Of course, my first reaction was, “Don’t edit out that conflict!”

But it’s always unhelpful to try to protect your words and ideas from the collaboration of an editor who knows her audience. So, I sat and thought about the story. Sometimes, you just need to apply what you already know, and I know that there are four types of conflict in a story:

1. Conflict with Society. This is a quiet story and it simply didn’t have elements that would allow this option.
2. Conflict with Someone Else. That conflict had been ruled out by the editor. I might could have found some other way to include conflict, but my feeling was they wanted a gentle but fun story, without that kind of interpersonal conflict.
3. Conflict with Self. I already had the character trying something very difficult and sticking with it.
4. Conflict with Nature. Ah, maybe I could add in just the briefest touch of this type conflict. The main character’s task could be considered as a struggle against nature.

In the end, I added a line near the beginning that hinted at conflict with nature, then a line at the end which resolved it.

In the meantime, I tried to add a touch of humor in a couple other exchanges.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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Doing the character checklist this week, I realized that I hadn’t written much about dialogue. Oh, I have a couple times.

Talking About Dialogue

Once, I recorded dialogue (shh! I eavesdropped!) for a morning and talked about what you can learn from doing this.

Or, I did a post on how to make sure each character has unique dialogue.

But I’ve not tackled dialogue in general.
What topics interest you about dialogue?

• Turning talking heads into great characters
• The difference in dialogue and real conversation
• Punctuating dialogue
• Using dialogue to inject conflict
• What else?

So, I’m open for comments, suggestions, input! Where do you go for help on dialogue? What books help you the most? Any posts that help? Sure, put a link to your site in the comments if you’ve done a helpful post on dialogue!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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Use Character Traits to Make Your Character Sympathetic

Yesterday, we looked at 9 character traits that can be used to develop sympathy for your character. Today, we’ll look at using those traits in your story. It’s not enough just to tell yourself, or write on a checklist, that your character has these traits and is, therefore, instantly sympathetic. You must USE these traits. How?

Literary agent Donald Maass is a master of telling us how to use traits to create break out novels. He pushes you to go farther and deeper at ever turn.

Using the Character Traits

• Flaws. For character flaws – a necessary part of a sympathetic character, since perfect characters are not sympathetic – try making the character aware of his/her problem. When the character berates him/herself for being so grouchy in the morning, we have sympathy. When I announced to my 5:45 a.m. spinning class that I was a Grouch, that I had gotten up on the wrong side of bed, they all laughed and were extra kind to me that day. (The instructor still made me work hard, but at least I didn’t have to talk to anyone and pretend to be nice.)
• Hero or Heroine. Take any of the character traits we talked about before and push or shove it until it becomes heroic. Be careful not to become comic or melodramatic; but push the limits of what you can do with one trait.
• Multiply. Remember we said that victims get a certain amount of sympathy and pity. What if your character is a victim of multiple things? Pile it on and we’ll sympathize even more. Not only is your character in a wheelchair from a car wreck, but the bank is about to foreclose on her business; and she’s about to discover the cure for the common cold. That piles it on AND gives it a wider, public scope. Be careful here or we’ll get that contempt for this poor victim who can’t rise above her circumstances. But multiplying conflict is one way to increase sympathy for a character.
• Inner conflict. Give your character conflicting Dreeds and Plopes (dreams, needs, hopes, plans) and you increase sympathy. How can your character possibly choose between justice and the ineptness of the justice system?
• Paradox: While characters should be consistent, if you can add a believable paradox, you quicken our interest. The key is making it believable. What is it that your character would never say, do or think? Have them say, do or think it! But make sure you make the motivations and emotions clear.
• -Er or -Est a Trait. Push the trait to an extreme: Bigger, smallest, most vulgar, funnier, more clever, clumsiest. Make sure the reader notices your character!
• Raise the Stakes. Take their Dreeds and Plopes and make them matter more, put more at stake. The outcome of the hero/ine’s sacrifice will affect their family, their profession, the world. Why do you think evil men are always trying to “take over the world”? So they have the widest possible stakes. Take a cue from that cliche, though: make the increased stakes believable.
• Inner Change is Apparent. Finally, what character quality, trait, attitude, dream, need changes for your character. Yes, many things should change for a character. But your story should show a reader that people can change this one quality. What is it? Can you map a narrative arc for that one quality? From disbelief to faith; from a loner to accepting help; from defiant to accepting; from dependent to independent. Map it out. Raise some stakes and add some -er and -est.

Wow, I have some work to do on my VNovel! Because I want you to love G, even when he fails.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win