Posts Tagged "Writing Tips"

Pacing: Too Much Space Between Us and Five Fast Fixes

Posted by Lori Freeland on May 31, 2013 in Featured, Writing Tips | 5 comments

Pacing.

The dictionary lists “pace” as rate of movement or progress. For writers, pacing stretches beyond that simple definition into a finely crafted art form.

There are three crucial points of pacing in a novel—paragraph, chapter, and story.

Writers are often reminded to consider pacing at the big-picture, story level. On a deeper edit, critique partners may point out slow or mismatched pacing at the chapter level. But how many of us stop to think about pacing our paragraphs sentence by sentence?

Why is line-by-line pacing crucial?

The sum of the paragraphs equals the chapter. The sum of the chapters equals the novel.

Building pace, one brick at a time, provides a tension-filled foundation and a page-turning work of brilliance.

Tension is created by layering stimulus/response sequences on the page. Something happens. The character reacts. Over and over.

Notes, News, and Knowledge

Posted by Lori Freeland on Mar 14, 2013 in Featured, The Blog, Writing Tips | 4 comments

Notes

I have recently become the incredible Margie Lawson’s assistant. If you have never taken a Margie Lawson online class, read her lecture packets, or sat in on a seminar,head over to her website. Best thing that ever happened to my writing.

MargieLawson.com

News 

Yesterday, I opened my mailbox to this!

KNOWLEDGE

Looking for writing tips? Not sure where to start?

Are you beginning your journey? Stuck in the middle? Nearing the end?

I am right there beside you.

Tips are listed below in alphabetical order by topic and all have links.

Posts On Writing

Backstory–How to Avoid the Dump

Be Professional in Everything You Write. Always.

Don’t Give Up Your Voice

Five Quick Fixes When Things Aren’t Working

Head-Hopping Woes

Multiple Points of View

On The Side: Etiquette for Finding A Mentor

Overwhelmed? When Great News Feels Heavy

Paragraphing Just for Fun

Simultaneity

Telling Versus Showing or the Perpetual Thorn in a Writer's Side

The One Thing that Produces Pretty Words Now and Leaves You With a Huge Mess Later

The One Thing Required for Success

What Happens After That Great Idea Flashes in Your Head?

White Space

Writing Pitfalls Series

Writing Pitfalls Series:

Mechanics and Grammar

Point of View

Dialogue Part One

Dialogue Part Two

Power it Up Part One

Power it Up Part Two

Things That Get in the Way

Worthy Beginnings

Forming a Critique Group Series:

What’s So Great About a Critique Group? Part One

Part Two: Helpful Ideas

Skinning The Onion Series

Part Three: Things to Watch Out For

Part Four: Tips

How to Critique Series:

Skinning The Onion Layer One: Basic Level Edits

Skinning The Onion Layer Two: Middle Layer Edits

Formatting Series

Formatting Helps:

How to Get the Most Out of Your Critique

Tips:

Do You Really Need Back-up?

Why Critique?

Join a critique group.

But go a step further–encourage each other to learn. Read books, attend seminars, and learn. Bring all that wonderful information back to your group. Ideal size? I’ve heard the “magic triangle of three.” We have seven, which gets a bit long, but we each bring something different to the group. Wouldn’t give up any of them!

Be an encourager for newer, younger writers.

When you teach, you learn! Plus, you never know when you might need a mentor. Someone is always the newer, younger writer.

Don’t give up!

This is not an overnight career. Unfortunately. Hard work and many hours do add up to something. Keep pushing yourself to be better. And don’t quit. Quitting is the only time we fail.

Keep a “happy folder” in your email.

Save all the positive responses you get. On a down day, click the file open and be encouraged!

Worthy Beginnings–Writing Tips Tuesday

Posted by Lori Freeland on Mar 4, 2013 in Featured, Writing Tips | 3 comments

How many times have you walked through a bookstore, opened a book, and read the first few lines of a novel only to quickly re-shelve and start your search for the perfect read all over again? Even on Amazon, the option to browse the first few pages makes or breaks a sale.

The title, cover, back cover copy, and endorsements are important. But those first few lines? Those first few paragraphs? Crucial. And worth the time to get them right.

I never end up with my original opening. It takes the journey of my story and the growth of my characters to point me back to the beginning so I can do the book justice. But when I’m ready to decide on and polish my opening, I keep five things in mind.

1. Hook my reader with a lead sentence.
2. Introduce the main character.
3. Stage the setting.
4.  Set the tone.
5.  Establish my unique voice.
6. State what my main character wants or needs.

The Lead Sentence:

The first sentence makes a promise to the reader. The first sentence lets them know what kind of ride they’re getting on. What if I stood in line under the Texas Teacups sign at Six Flags and when I reached the head of that line, what I actually found waiting was the front car of the Texas Giant. Or vice versa. That wouldn’t be fair.      

If don’t enjoy horror, I don’t want to read horror. And if I open a book that makes me feel as though I’m sitting in a cozy teashop and then I get a serial killer with a machete—I’m mad. Not to mention disappointed I spent money on a book I won’t read.

The first sentence is also your pitch to the reader. Make your story shout, “I’m worth your time.”

How much more compelling is a first line that begins—Frank killed Gloria on a Tuesday, rather than, Tuesday was sunny, with a small haze of clouds moving in from the west.

 Be fair to your reader. Make a promise. Then deliver. And make them salivate for your story with your first few words.

Introduce the Main Character:

Once you’ve hooked them, your reader will want to know whose journey they will be taking. I love to connect with characters, become them, live and breathe in their world. In order to do that, I need to know who they are.

What do they look like? Are they old or young? Male or female? What kind of personality do they have? How can I relate to them?

Introducing characters can be tricky. A person can’t see himself. He wouldn’t think to describe himself either. But with the right words and a few gestures or expressions, you can give your reader a feel for whose eyes they will be looking through for the next three hundred odd pages.

Remember that personality is just as significant as appearance. What someone wears, the way they speak, the things that are important to them, and the way they treat other people can be just as telling.  

Introduce the Setting:

Your reader will want to know where and when the story takes place. Is your story in the past, present, or future? Urban? Suburban? On another planet? In another world? Where are the characters when the story opens? Where will you take them throughout the book?

Build your world from word one. Whether it’s our world or a fantasy world. I want to know where I will be living as I look through the main character’s eyes.

Set the Tone:

Do you want your readers to refuse to read your book at night due to high creep factor? Or are you going for a lighter mood? Will I laugh out loud at your character’s snarky comments or will I cry when family relationships are torn apart? The way you describe your characters and your setting will set the tone.

If you’re writing creepy. Open with creepy. Give me what I paid for on the first page. Set up my emotions, prime me to accept your world building and the relationships between your characters.

In other words, put me in the mood.

Establish Voice:

Your voice can be hard to find. Voice is one of those elusive things all writers have to discover for themselves. Somehow, when you stumble on your unique sound and style, the rest clicks into place.

Finding the right genre can be key. I know many authors who’ve penned everything from historical romance to high fantasy. Once you hit your groove, your writing flows more naturally.

Ask yourself:

Do you feel most comfortable writing in third person or first? Do you feel comfortable with light or heavy themes? Is your natural tendency to write with humor or does solemn describe your style? Play with different ways, try them on, see how they feel. And then pick your most natural voice and let it shine in those first few sentences.

State What Your Main Character Wants or Needs:

Everybody wants something. If your character doesn’t want anything, the engine driving your story has fizzled before it even got off the runway. What your character wants on page one does not have to be what she desires in the end. Life changes. Needs change. And so do wants.

In fact, as the plot twists and turns, your character’s wants and needs should change. Maybe they believe they want one thing only to find that’s not what they wanted at all.

But give us something to drive the plot on the first page. And make that something worthy of our time.