RESEARCH REVISITED
In my now, long line of “revisited” articles, I once again harken back to 2011 and one of the originals. The chances are, if someone brings it up on a forum, I’ve already got an article to back it up. The other day, someone did just that on one of my Facebook forums and asked about research. Though I’ve covered this subject not only in 2011, but 2012, 2014 and 2019, in various forms, I thought it would be fun to go back to the original and give it a fresh update.
After posting over five hundred articles dealing with the subject of writing and publishing, things are bound to come full circle. Also, being a grandpa, I take full rights to be able to repeat things occasionally.
NOBODY WRITES IN A VACUUM
Nobody can write something in a vacuum. There has to be some kind of source. True, a story can sprout solely from your imagination. There’s nothing wrong with that. Fantasy is a good example. A memoir is another. However, even within those confines, there are times when one must get the facts straight. In a fantasy, conducting a sword fight, for instance, may require a touch of realism. Slashing a sword against a monster is fine and dandy. What’s that going to do to the wrist of our hero? What about the weight of that sword? What kind of wound is it going to leave? Little things you as a writer take for granted may stand out as a fatal flaw to the reader. What about your fantasy world? Are you deriving it from a well-established convention, or is your world unique? By unique, I mean totally unique. It would have to be to avoid all research.
In a memoir, despite copious notes you may have taken in a diary, you may describe something, yet have missed a detail. Do you need to call the hotel you stayed at and find out the name of that suite? Or, what day was it that they served crab? What year was it that the town you visited in 1975 had a major fire? The one where you saw the city hall burned to the ground?
WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW
Unless I’m writing in my fantasy world, when I write, I prefer to write what I know. It makes the research that much easier. However, as I’ve stated before many times, I know where I want to start and where I want to end. Everything in the middle is a total surprise. Because of that, I sometimes write myself into situations where I have to do some research. For example, that means my characters may travel to New Orleans but later, after a bit of digging, I discover they’re better off going to Morgan City. That’s why research is so important. I mentioned in an earlier article that the little things really count. For instance, one writer had a character using a silencer on a revolver. Anyone with basic gun knowledge knows you can’t use a silencer on a revolver!
For a seat-of-your-pants writer like me, research is a result of where the story takes me. When I get to a spot where the research doesn’t pan out, I either change the story or I follow my friend James Rollin’s advice. He once told me that if you can’t find out the exact details, or if they’re too complex, be vague. You obviously can’t be wrong, but you don’t have to be exactly dead on with descriptions or minutiae. Don’t get into so much detail you get yourself into trouble, just make sure what you describe is accurate.
RESEARCH CAN BE FUN!
Research can be a lot of fun. It can also be frustrating, hazardous and expensive. The Internet is a great tool. I’ve accomplished a lot with a mouse and creative searching. On rare occasions, I’ve taken a short trip. Most of my on-location research has been from places I’ve already been. Like I said, I like to write what I know. I’m not the rich author that goes all out to take trips around the world just to glean some minor detail to throw into an adventure. Sorry, maybe one day, but I’m not on the New York Times best seller list yet.
I’ve interviewed people by writing them and talking on the phone. For the most part, people enjoy being asked, especially if they know it’s for a book. Once in a while, they don’t and that’s when you have to back away. Know when to shut up and back off. This isn’t life or death. This isn’t the CIA. I’ve asked and visited a few people and places and had to cut and run, all to get a detail I didn’t end up using. For the rest, as a courtesy, it’s nice to remember who you talk to and acknowledge them at the back of the book.
If you’re writing non-fiction, the story is all about the research. No question. However, if you’re writing fiction, the story is the most important part. I read a lot of thrillers. In that genre, I’ve noticed a trend where there seems to be more importance put on the technical research and less on the story. It seems that the authors spend months researching and plotting out everything long before they ever sit down to write. Most of the time it seems to work but half the time, I feel like I’m getting a history lesson or I’m being lectured on politics or religion rather than getting a good story.
BALANCE
Ultimately, it’s up to you to set a balance for how much effort you want to put into research versus story. Are you out to entertain your readers with a good story, educate your readers, or a little of both? It’s a balance you have to decide. I’m not one for needing to include an extensive bibliography at the end of a fictional adventure story, yet some authors either do, or should. How many of you would actually read a bibliography?
Whatever you write, especially if it’s fiction, make sure it rings true for your genre. Do whatever research is necessary to make it real for your audience. If you do, it’ll not only make it real for them, but it’ll keep it real for you. If you don’t, they’ll surely pick up on it and they’ll let you know in the reviews! Check the one, two and three star reviews on Amazon. Discount all the ones that are there just to complain about Kindle this-or-that and look for the ones that say the author didn’t do their research. They stand out like a sore thumb.
“The author is a good story teller but should have done at least the most fundamental research. He should know that the town of Lompoc is pronounced “Lawm-poke” and not “Lawm-pock.”
“If the author had actually visited Russia in the new millennium, she would know that the KGB is no longer called the KGB.”
Don’t be embarrassed by making those big mistakes. Also, don’t forget that in almost every book, no matter how much research the author does, at the front you are likely to see a disclaimer where the author always says people and places are fictitious and that any mistakes are solely the fault of the author. CYA, of course!
Happy writing!
BETA READERS REVISITED
NOTE: This was another one of my original articles from when I started this blog site in 2011. Yup, seems I’ve thought of just about everything in nine years, even beta readers. This very subject has come up on the Facebook forums of late and inspired me to dig in the archives rather than just repeat myself willy nilly without checking first. I know, because before I had a publisher, I was still seeking agents and publishers. Beta readers, even from day one, have always been key to seeing if what I wrote is what I intended. Another related article I wrote in 2011, Forest Through The Trees, covers the same thing, but on a more immediate level, addressing the day-to-day chapters and scenes.
Now, off to the races.
BEGINNINGS
You’ve found a decent writers group. It’s been a year or more, and you’ve been able to read almost every week. You’ve gone through your entire manuscript and you’re getting the feeling you have a top-notch novel ready to submit to the world.
The problem that you now face is that though you may have some great individual chapters and your writing has improved tenfold, there’s still one important element missing from the equation. The big picture.
Your group has heard your novel over the span of a year. Some may have heard all of it by now, while others have only heard bits. During that time, they may have given opinions and advice that are a bit myopic. They may have said that one character should have done this or done that, while you defended some action as justified because this or that happened, or because something is going to happen later in the book. You forget to check up on one detail and before you know it, the logic of why your character did something or why something happens gets lost in the shuffle.
For instance, during one critique of a critical chapter, you may use a certain dialogue tag that bugs one member and your critique time is taken up with a discussion on that aspect of dialogue tags, while an important plot point that you should’ve been called on is missed.
THE BETA READER
This is where you need to cultivate friendships with other members of your group. You need a few trusted friends that are willing to be beta readers. A beta reader is someone willing to read the entire manuscript from start to finish. This someone must be willing to read it as a whole and critique it as if they were reading it for the first time. Remember, screen out those “brutal” types! You don’t need any of that grief, yet you need someone that can be honest. A little tough love wouldn’t hurt as long as it isn’t destructive.
BETA READER’S JOB
A good beta reader is someone that will read the entire MS (that’s short for manuscript), look for the plot holes and other flaws, and let you know what’s wrong with the big picture. They may also look for superficial grammar problems if you want (called line editing), depending on the person, but that’s not necessary. The idea is to get someone to look for the plot holes, flow and consistency, issues that can make your story come to a screeching halt. These are the things an agent or editor will zero in on. These problems can kill your chances when you submit. A plot with a fatal flaw is no plot at all.
Remember that second set of eyes? This is where it really counts. Your best bet is to find several beta readers. I have two and sometimes three trusted people that I trade MSs with. We read each other’s work and perform the “stink test.” It can save some embarrassing moments. As writers, we’re all in this together, so find those few you can trust to tell you straight and trade favors. It’s well worth it!
SUMMARY
Since I wrote this in 2011, not much has changed. My beta reader pool has changed due to life circumstances, but that’s inevitable. I still use the same rules but they’re maybe more sophisticated. I go for not only plot holes, but overall vibe. Did the reader see plot holes? Did stuff make sense? Did they see too much fluff? Did they enjoy the story? Most important, were they able to close the book with a smile on their face?
Keep in mind that not all beta readers will necessarily enjoy your book. That’s a bonus, but there are caveats. When the reader normally enjoys your work and all of a sudden doesn’t? That may be a red flag. When they normally don’t and do this time? That could be a plus.
Things to think about. Beta readers may seem like a luxury to some of you, but what you have to do is not be shy and ask people. If you think this is difficult, just wait until after you get published and into marketing!
Happy writing!
TAUTOLOGIES – REVISITED
I got a shock when I saw the file date of this, one of my first articles for Fred Central. It was dated in 2011! I’ve been at this for nine years. Wow, and I’ve been under the impression I started this blog site in 2012. Go figure.
What inspired this particular revisit was a batch of B-movie icky bug novels I got for Christmas. I normally can’t find this genre at the brick and mortar bookstores, partially because the stores never carry them, or rarely do. The other issue is that most of them are self-published, and unfortunately, to be blunt, it shows. Case in point is the subject of today’s article, tautologies. I wanted to revisit it because given the self-published quality of the editing and writing of my precious icky bug novels, I saw blatant examples of tautologies.
TO BEGIN WITH…
One of the things every writer must do is get to the point. It’s your responsibility not only to entertain your reader, but get there with the fewest words possible. Your job is not to impress your reader with how many words you can spew out, or how big a word count you can use to describe what a flower looks like, it’s how you can convey your word picture in the most efficient way possible. GET TO THE POINT!
GET TO THE POINT
Word economy is a huge factor in the writing and editing process. One of the tricks of the trade is to look for unnecessary words and phrases that can be eliminated, redundancies that don’t add anything, words that bog down the flow of the prose. One way to clean things up is to look for tautologies.
TAUTOLOGIES
Now, you might ask, what’s a tautology? A tautology is using different words to say the same thing, even if the repetition doesn’t necessarily provide clarity. I had no idea I was doing this until a member of our writer’s group did a presentation on it several years ago (several years ago, in this case, meaning around 2008 or so). It stuck with me. I want to give her credit, but I can’t remember her name. If I come across it later, I’ll announce it because she changed my life! (NOTE: I never have recalled that person…sorry.)
Once I became aware of tautologies, I discovered that I’d embedded many of them into my writing, embarrassing myself in the process, I found several hundred words I could eliminate from an average manuscript. It came as a wakeup call. I think it did the same for many members of our group.
I’m about to list a series of examples to give you all your wakeup call. I’d venture to guess some of you are going to have a bit of a rude awakening. How many of you have phrases like:
Stand up
Sit down
Whisper quietly
Slam hard
Hit hard
Scream loudly
Run fast
Dig deep
Jump up
Jump down
Crawl slowly
Climb up
Drop down
The list goes on. Every one of those word pairs contains chaff at the end…a tautology…an extra word. Dump them! They’re redundant, they’re obvious, your reader already knows!
Of course, there are always exceptions. Or, are there? For instance, what if a character jumps up on a ledge? Instead, how about the character jumps onto the ledge? Or the character jumps down into the pit? Instead how about the character jumps into the pit. See? Was that so hard?
Now, it’s time to slash and burn. Try this. Check the word count of your MS before you look for tautologies and write that number down. Now do a word search or just do an edit and look for them. When you’re done, check the word count again. You might be surprised.
Happy editing!
WRITING HABITS REVISITED
I originally posted this article in February, 2015. Because parts, if not all, have come up lately on several of the forums that I frequent on Facebook, I thought it would be a good time to revisit it with a few updated tweaks.
At our Henderson Writers Group that month, we had a presentation by a guy that talked about writing, and his approach. What I got out of it, more than anything else, was his view on how to write, when and where. Now, five years later, with almost 500 articles on writing, I’ve covered this before, but not quite in this perspective. That inspired this week’s installment of Fred’s Guide To Writing.
FIRST, YOU HAVE TO LOVE IT
Before we go any further, hands down, you have to love to write. There’s also that need, the drive, and deadlines, some that are self-imposed while others may be contractually obligated.
Writing should be a passion, NOT a hobby.
‘Nuff said.
NO TWO PEOPLE ARE THE SAME
This is a big caveat that I don’t think the speaker conveyed enough to the audience. He assumed we should all follow pretty close to his footsteps, or seemed to imply that (okay, he was pressed for time).
If you don’t write every day, you’re never going to get anything accomplished.
What he said was you should write every day. However, he implied that if you didn’t, you’d never accomplish what he did. That was my interpretation.
Was he wrong?
No two people are the same.
ENVIRONMENT
The speaker told us he had to write in complete silence, locked away with no internet (or to that effect) or any other distractions, or he’d never get anything done.
That would probably be the case for a lot of you.
This is a subject that comes up a lot on the forums. Answers vary quite a bit.
I’m not a monk. I can’t isolate myself in a cave and expect my Polka-dot Sewer (inspiration) to jump out at me. My ideas crawl out of the woodwork (don’t give me no crap about clichés, either). I can be driving, cutting wood in my garage, half dreaming in bed, be busy at my job at work, eating dinner, watching TV, you name it.
When I work, a nuclear bomb could be going off. Total chaos can be going on around me and it doesn’t matter. When the muse strikes, I write. Period. The only thing that distracts me is when the wife calls. Then all bets are off!
I like loud music, very loud, from psychedelic to death metal. To have that blaring in the background would be nice, but I can’t do that because the rest of the family is usually around. The other thing is that I cannot stand headphones. After two decades in the Air Force and wearing hearing protection, I’m a little jaded to headsets. So, I have to be content to write with background noises like the TV, the toilet flushing, shower running, dawgs barking or roughhousing, slamming doors, traffic outside, the usual. All are comforting, normal sounds. That’s my music.
Or, I may write, like I am right now, when everyone else is asleep, early in the morning.
I certainly can’t tell anyone else to try and write that way, and you shouldn’t either, if it doesn’t suit you. You have to find what works. If dead silence, white noise headphones, Kenny G, or Cannibal Corpse is the key, do that!
Some people are fine going to the local coffee shop or library with a laptop and headphones. That’s a double whammy for me. Besides an aversion to headphones, I cannot stand working with a laptop!
You have to do what works for you. Experiment around a bit, see what gets you the best productivity and work for that method.
HOW MUCH OUTPUT?
Quite a few of us write every day. We may not write a lot, but something to keep the muse going, if not in an effort to meet some deadline.
I personally see no use in self-imposed deadlines. I find them counterproductive to my creativity. I have no need for them. While I’m still bursting with stories, even after twenty-five years at this passion, I’ve learned to pace myself and with patience, I stick to one thing at a time. The only exception is if I divert for the occasional short story. In fact, right now, one’s brewing in my subconscious. One day, I’m going to put the brakes on everything else and go for it.
I write every day I’m home except Monday nights because I’m at the writers group meeting, or the odd night I have an appointment or an astronomy club meeting. I’ve mentioned many times what I write. The fact is, I just write. My muse is almost always active, and I can’t help but take advantage of it.
I must make it clear that I don’t always work on my current MS. I have plenty of other things to write, like these articles, plus marketing for the novels I already have published.
What should you do?
My only suggestion is that if writing is a real passion to you, you should be looking forward to this, not dreading it. That means, you should be writing not only when you feel the muse, but when you want to. However, there’s such a thing as procrastination. It’s a million dollar word, but the meaning isn’t too expensive.
You can have all the inspiration in the world, but if you never sit down and put it into practice, you’ll be left with nothing but blank pages. In that way, I agree with that speaker. You may not have to force yourself to write every day (see, I hate that word force), but you also need to accomplish something, or you’ll never get anywhere.
RESULTS
The bottom line is that you need to develop a habit, a consistent approach that fits not only your passion, but follows your muse. It’s a habit that also accomplishes something, or there’s no point. Whether it be daily, every couple of days, or weekly, you need to make it a habit and stick with it and your muse will get exercised sufficiently, if you have a muse at all.
If you reach an occasional dry spell with your major project, use that established writing frequency habit to exercise those writer’s tools. Keep writing something, then go back to your project when the muse hits again. Either way, follow your passion you should be just fine.
Happy writing!
CHARACTERS GET WOUNDED BUT NOT SICK
First off, that’s not an absolute statement. Characters quite often get sick, but not like we do. Not if they’re going to carry on the story.
Let me explain.
In a fictional world, stuff needs to happen. That means, you, as the writer, can’t take time out for a character to loll around and suffer. There has to be something moving the plot around.
Unless that suffering is specifically part of the plot.
EXCITEMENT FACTOR
Everyone gets sick. It’s inevitable. For some, it may be quite often while for others, it may happen only once every few years. When it does occur, the reality is that while some inconsiderate people soldier on and make everyone else around them sick as well, most give in to their bodies and go home (or stay there) and suffer it out.
Being sick is a miserable experience. We lay around, sleep a lot and don’t do anything, depending on what we caught.
Now, ask yourself, does that make for compelling reading?
On the other hand, to get wounded, such as banged up, shot, stabbed, means a stay in the hospital, surgery, recovery, rehab, maybe being wheelchair bound, and other things far more dramatic. The reality of that is far different from fiction.
In the case of fiction, we, of course as writers tend to dramatize getting wounded a lot better than getting sick. The dramatic factor or excitement factor with a wound versus getting sick is much higher, especially if that wound came from doing something heroic in pursuit of the plot.
OKAY, CHARACTERS DO GET SICK
There are plenty of examples of characters getting sick in stories, however, not the normal sick.
It has to be dramatic sick, something to move the plot along, or your bout of the flu or pneumonia or strep throat is a momentum killer.
Can you just see your story plugging right along when your character catches strep throat. He or she then has to lay around for a week in their pajamas, stuck watching daytime TV, taking antibiotics and feeling like crap.
Yup, makes for a compelling read.
Now, if a character gets exposed to ebola, and has a day to find an antidote, then starts to show symptoms…we have a clock ticking and there’s some skin in the game. Now we have plot tension and something to work with.
WOUNDS ARE FAR MORE COMMON
While it’s almost cliché that one or many of the characters in a thriller get banged up at the end of a thriller, during the course of almost any story, what about your character? Will they get wounded for some reason for dramatic effect? Is this wound beyond dramatic effect?
Is this wound specifically part of the plot?
While you could get that broken arm fixed, then sit around in your pajamas and watch daytime TV for a week before getting back to the world, just like being sick, this instead, gives you the opportunity to use it for more dramatic effect.
NOTHING SHOULD GO TO WASTE
Reality is something that should not be taken for granted. As writers, we should also be readers. We all should know that in fiction, everything is exaggerated reality. If we wrote reality, our stories would be pretty boring.
The reality of being sick, the reality of getting wounded is far more mundane and boring than what’s needed for a good story.
If you want to write reality, that might be a different thing altogether. Being shot, suffering from pneumonia, getting cancer, all of this and many more things in reality make for compelling stories on their own. However, when it comes to fiction, they’re distractions unless woven properly into the plot. If you can do that without distracting from said plot, killing the momentum, or changing the entire focus of the story, so be it. Don’t waste it.
Otherwise, leave it alone and stick with the unreality.
SUMMARY
The whole point here is that whatever physical barriers you place on your characters, they can’t sit around in their pajamas, watch daytime TV, and feel miserable. This is the reality of either being sick or being wounded. While most authors use being wounded in their prose, being sick can be used for either color or a plot point if used correctly.
Happy writing!
AUTHOR VOICE
On the forums, there’s been some chatter about people stealing your work. While plots can be stolen, the fact is that there are a limited number of plots. Therefore, EVERY plot has been stolen since that magic number, whatever it is, was reached way back when. That means that every writer out there today is a plagiarist, plot-wise.
Now, as for specific story details, or specific story ideas, they can be stolen to a degree. There can only be one Gone With The Wind, right? However, there are probably a hundred other stories almost the same, almost exactly the same, but they’re not.
Why?
Author voice.
Sure, it’s basically the same plot, same setting.
However, it’s a different author telling the story. Therefore we have differences in the telling. We don’t have Rhett Butler, we don’t have whoever the other characters are. They’re different people. We may still have the same settings, basically the same plot, but there are enough differences that fan boys and fan girls are going to dismiss these other stories as “similar genre.”
Yup, similar genre.
Where we have plagiarism is if every single detail, right down to the name of the town, the name of the estate, the names of the characters are the same or so similar, you’re reading the same book. THAT’S plagiarism.
REALITY
While some authors may “steal” your idea about the great train robbery with Elvis alien babies, when they get down to writing it, it’s going to be in their voice, not yours.
Your great train robbery with Elvis alien babies is not going to be anything like his or her version except the general concept. Whichever gets to print first may supposedly have dibs on the “original idea,” but that doesn’t give them the copywrite on the plot. It only gives them the copywrite on their version of the story.
Look at how many sparkly vampire stories came out (gag) after Twilight?
Every time a bandwagon comes along, look at how many people jump on and try to cash in on a trend?
You can copywrite your voice, but not a plot.
WHAT IS VOICE?
Good question.
Voice is you. It’s how you go about telling (or showing) your story.
Voice is your personality shining through the words, the way you communicate with your audience/readers. It’s like a fingerprint, or DNA. No two are quite alike, no matter how much training or molding or editing you’ve had.
While sometimes the homogeneity of writing styles can make it hard to tell, voice shines through in the end. Each writer is unique, and no two tell a story in quite the same way. Even when there are two or even three co-authors, each has a unique style that can be spotted. Careful editing and of course, close collaboration blurs these lines. Some author pairs are especially good at blending together (Preston & Child for instance), and their combined voices work as one. Individually, they’re subtly different, but together, it can be hard to tell who wrote what.
That’s not usually the issue for the solitary writer. You either have or are developing your voice. Even as you work your way up, you evolve and shine through, taking your particular quirks through the editing process to the final product.
Your stories are you. Nobody else will be unless they’re deliberately emulating you.
GHOST WRITING
There have been cases where a famous author has passed away and someone has taken up the mantle in their stead. It might be another established author, or maybe a relative. They attempt to emulate the style of the author. Some are more successful than others. Even then, the super fan can usually tell the difference from the original. The differences may be subtle, but the sharp individual can tell.
Voice is unique.
SUMMARY
While plots and unique ideas CAN be stolen, it’s not likely, at least in the world of novels. Screenplays is a different matter altogether. However, we’re not here to discuss that world.
You, as a writer, have a unique voice. Use it.
Happy writing!
MIXING TENSES
I’ve made no secret that I cannot stand to read (or write) present tense.
I once experimented with it when our writer’s group had a thing going on called “Who Wrote It.” It was where members wrote something either in or out of character and the other members tried to guess who the author was. I wrote in a style so alien to me that nobody ever figured it out until the big reveal.
Funny how I have since taken that seed and turned it into a regular short story, but (of course) written correctly in my style.
I wrote the story in present tense. Nobody in the group had a clue it was me!
I can tell you it was a real struggle for me. I cringed at every sentence.
I bring this up because as many of you know, I usually screen every book I buy at the bookstore BEFORE I buy it.
Unfortunately, there have been a few times I’ve been burned by an author because while I’ve been expecting third-person, past-tense out of them, given their history, a few of them have decided to mix things up. One in particular, John Grisham decided to go all out and wrote his latest in first-person, present-tense.
I’d assumed, to my chagrin.
I couldn’t get past three chapters, and took the book back for a refund. It was horrible.
MY AVERSION TO PRESENT-TENSE
I know this is personal. Some people can tolerate, and even like present-tense. While some may think this is a millennial or young adult thing, think again. While that may be true, to some extent, it’s not new.
I was a reader LONG before I was a writer. However, it wasn’t until I was a writer that I started to analyze WHY I didn’t like certain writing styles, and loved others. It wasn’t until I became a writer that I figured out why with certain books, the writing didn’t get in the way of the story.
I found I never really liked first-person. It was too myopic. However, I could almost tolerate it if the writing was exceptionally good.
I found I never liked literary fiction that droned on and on about description and emotion and internal bla bla bla. I liked a story to get to the point.
I never the liked omniscient point of view with a cast of thousands, where head-hopping reigned supreme.
However, the most irritating style, the one thing that turned me off and made me stop reading, was present tense. It not only made me anxious, it made me feel rushed, like the author was trying to drag me through the story and force me along. It was highly annoying and made reading nothing but work. I’d lose interest in the story. This was something that bothered me way back in the early 60’s, so don’t think it’s a modern-day phenomena.
Since 1995, as a new writer myself, I wanted to see if I was the only one with these feelings. I did unofficial polls with other readers.
I’m not alone in my feelings. Not at all.
However, there are some authors that write exclusively in present-tense, like Patricia Cornwell. She has her fans, which is fine with me. I avoid her like the plague since I suffered through Predator many years ago. At least that entire book was solid present-tense and didn’t switch around.
With that out of the way, time to move on to mixing tenses.
MIXING TENSES
Sometimes an author wants to change the writing style to make certain characters stand out from the others.
The one hazard with doing such is that it can turn off the reader.
A radical change in style to highlight a new character is a good way to get someone to close the book and move on to something else.
It doesn’t happen to everyone, but for some, it’s at least from a mild irritant to a show-stopper.
When you get right down to it, it’s completely unnecessary, and is more of an effect than a necessity.
Switching from past to present-tense throws the story off-kilter.
The book I just read has done just that. The author went from past-tense to present-tense for the bad guys. I’m skipping chapters because I don’t want to deal with it.
In Dean Koontz latest series, he’s done that with a certain character. I skipped those chapters as well.
When you radically change style, whether it’s from past to present-tense, or third to first-person, you’re radically changing the reader’s flow. This can be very jarring.
Now, on the subject of a diary, or a letter, that’s perfectly fine to switch from third to first-person, because it’s to be expected. However, that’s a short passage, or should be, not entire chapters, over and over again.
SUMMARY
As I’ve stated many times here at Fred Central, I’m not everyone. I don’t have everyone’s personal taste. However, I’ve talked to countless people over decades who feel the same way. Unfortunately, not everyone does reviews or expresses their true feelings like I do. I have over a thousand reviews to reflect how I feel about it. I just wish more people would also express their feelings as well. Maybe writer’s and publishers would get a more accurate picture of what their readership thinks.
Happy writing!
INFLUENCES PART 2
Since I originally wrote this article in 2014, it’s time I brought it up again, plus there have been some updates I want to add to it.
Since I read a book to a book and a half a week, I keep my eyes open for the best writers. While I’m always seeking new voices, I also like to stick with what I like. These writers become influences on my own writing. Whether minor or major, they reflect what I’m doing in some way. As I’ve said over and over again, the best stories out there are the ones where the writing doesn’t get in the way of the story. It’s not just the story that counts. That’s total bull. While that lame excuse works for some hot button topics (which I won’t name), when it gets down to it, for the long run, the authors that endure do it the right way from the onset.
There’s a big difference between influences and inspiration. Inspiration is coming up with ideas, where influences are people that you model your writing after, in some big or small way. I’ve talked about both, but not so specifically about influences. If I have, I don’t apologize because most of you probably weren’t reading this blog the last time I did talk about it in 2014!
THEY’RE HARD TO IGNORE
Since I’m a failed musician and music lover, I’ve read a lot about certain bands and musicians, lately in the metal world, that refuse to listen to either the radio or other records (well CDs now or USB sticks) because they don’t want other music to “pollute” their muse. They’re afraid of someone thinking they’re copping licks or ideas from another band or musician. They want their sound to be purely their own. Bull. Total bull.
Richie Blackmore, former lead guitarist for Deep Purple once said that despite being considered one of the top guitarists of the era and a supposed trend setter, he wasn’t afraid to admit that even he copped licks off other musicians. Then there’s Jimmy Page and his whole band Led Zeppelin who’ve been sued numerous times, and continue to get sued for flagrantly copping licks from others, even decades after they stopped recording.
It’s almost impossible for a musician to lock themselves up in a cave and come up with un-influenced music.
The same for a writer.
TIME TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND EMBRACE
It’s time to stop being silly and pretentious and accept the fact that you didn’t grow up in a vacuum. You gained your chops somewhere. To be a writer, it stands to reason you probably started as a reader, right? If that’s the case, you’ve read something, somewhere that inspired you to take up writing on your own. Maybe you loved an author or authors so much you wanted to emulate them in your own way. On the other hand, maybe you felt you could do better than any schmuck out there. That’s still an influence. You doing better than anyone else means all those “crappy” writers influenced you to do them one better.
Why not acknowledge these people?
ACKNOWLEDGE DON’T COPY
Some writers get accused of copying their influences. There can be a fine line between an influence, a clone and borderline plagiarism. It just doesn’t happen in legitimate publishing. No publisher worth their salt is going to let an author write a clone of another author. That manuscript would never get that far. That might not be the case with self-publishing, where there are no controls like that, but it’s still not likely.
There’s nothing wrong with emulating a genre or general style of your favorite author, but the best thing, which I believe is what we all do, is make it our own. We don’t want to ghost write another author’s story…well not unless we’re asked. We want to be acknowledged as our own self. Just because we love an author doesn’t mean we want to be them.
MY INFLUENCES
I make no secrets about my influences. The following authors all inspired me in overt to subtle ways and include: Carol Davis Luce, Rhondi Vilott Salsitz, Clive Cussler, James Rollins, Lester Dent (Kenneth Robeson), Dean Koontz, Andre Norton, Ron Goulart, R. Karl Largent, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Bentley Little, Franklin W. Dixon, Carolyn Keene, Jack DuBrul, F. Paul Wilson, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, Lee Child, David Baldacci, plus a few others I’m probably forgetting at the moment.
Every one of these people played a part in the development of my style, yet my particular brand of wordsmithing is all my own. It’s none of those authors, all of them, and all Fred Rayworth.
I may or may not write in their genre. However, something about their writing caught me, inspired me, and helped me along the way. I wouldn’t be here today if not for them.
How about you?
Happy writing!
TOEING THE LINE
Because of a personal experience, not mine, but one I witnessed, I thought it was time to bring up this subject.
What I mean by toeing the line, is that say, you get accepted by a publisher. However, once you get turned over to the editorial staff, it’s nothing but grief.
Maybe the agent or publisher never did their due diligence when they accepted you in the first place. During this time, they not only look at your work, but should talk to you about writing philosophy, and what they expect out of you. What are their standards? What are yours? You all should meet somewhere in the middle, at least, if not totally agree philosophically as to how to do things.
IT ALL GOES DOWNHILL FROM THERE
The next thing that happens is that you’re turned over to the editor and you two constantly butt heads. You can’t agree on anything. You become a source of grief for not only the editor, but the publisher.
Say, you get through the initial editing.
It gets to the final stages, yet you’re not satisfied and start demanding changes.
However…
You’re under contract, and while the publisher would love to publish the book, because they think it has potential, they’re also in the camp that you’re looking less and less like it’s worth the hassle.
You make demands.
The publisher pushes back.
You two reach a compromise.
DUE DILIGENCE
The thing about avoiding all of this is that the writer and publisher have to come to an agreement on writing and editing philosophy, BEFORE ever signing a contract.
Getting a publishing deal can put a lot of stars before the writer’s eyes. However, if you let that blind you to the details, you may be in for a rude awakening.
From the publisher’s side, the last thing they want is a pain in the ass. That’s a quick way to find a reason to drop the author, contract or no contract.
The publisher SHOULD do their due diligence, but you as the author, need to step back and be honest with the publisher. You need to rein back the enthusiasm and excitement and listen to what they’re saying.
Once you’re committed, you need to toe the line.
TOE THE LINE
Keep in mind that they (the publisher) invited YOU to be part of their team, not the other way around. Therefore, you’re only in a limited position to make demands. You can only push those limits so far.
They see a potential in you, and you DO have some power in that you have a product they want to sell. A potential profit making machine. However, THEY have to develop it, and it’s up to you to go along with their sage advice and make it work.
Now, does this mean, compromising your integrity and changing your story, or re-writing it?
Of course not. We’re not talking that at all. They never should have accepted you if that was the case.
However, editorial tweaks, cuts, grammar, etc., are all reasonable things to expect from an editor. That’s normal editing.
Major re-writes are not. Completely re-writing the plot are not.
The publisher is supposed to do their due diligence with the synopsis before they ever except your story in the first place. However, let’s make it clear that you have to be very honest with your synopsis in the first place. It needs to match your story and not try to glorify and try to sell it on some false pretense!
However, to argue every little comma, every dotted i or crossed t, change the plot in mid-course yourself, change your mind constantly, be a general pain in the ass, that’s what I mean about toeing the line.
Everyone is going to have philosophical discussions about certain things. That’s what they are, discussions. However, you need to go by house rules. Plain and simple. If you don’t like them, tough. You signed the contract. You need to toe the line and not make yourself a pariah.
SUMMARY
If the publishing of one book ends up being nothing but misery, stop right after that one and find another publisher. However, if you’re able to toe the line, it could turn into a productive relationship.
Happy writing!
OVERCOMING WRITERS BLOCK
This subject came up on one of the forums I attend on Facebook.
My immediate answer was that I couldn’t relate to it because I’ve never had it. EVER. However, I have to say that with a caveat. I’ve never had it since I took up writing seriously in 1995.
Before that time, when I not only didn’t have the muse, but didn’t have the mental or technical tools to take on the task of writing much, writers block was only a natural.
Once I found my muse, discovered I had the skill, it only came natural and I never had writers block again. I just had too many ideas to ever worry about it again.
I also write so linear, from A to B that I don’t write myself in a corner, or get off on sidetracks that veer far away from B.
That’s not to say I don’t run across hurdles and errors in my writing that I need to fix. Sure I do, but that’s not the same as writers block. I never get to the point where I stop, put the brakes on, or simply can’t think of anything to write.
I’m not like many of you out there.
TOUGH LOVE
Another author I know takes the tough love approach. His opinion is that there’s no such thing as writers block. When a writer blames it on their muse or whatever, they’re just being lazy and are procrastinating and making excuses for hitting a difficult area. They need to suck it up and think through the hurtle.
I don’t abide by that philosophy, but it works for him, as he’s a mercenary writer and gets paid for what he does. In fact, he won’t write anything unless he gets paid for it.
I write because I love it. That’s one of the keys to why I never get writers block.
WHAT TO DO?
While I’ve never had the issue myself, I’ve heard and seen methods others have used to get out of the rut, to break the cycle.
Probably the best thing to do is stop what you’re doing and walk away from it for a bit. Not just a few days, but weeks, months, maybe even a year or more. Whatever it takes to give you a fresh take on what you were writing.
What do you do during that break?
Maybe you write something else.
Maybe you just read.
Watch TV or movies.
Maybe you do nothing at all.
Research.
When you feel the time hit you (or muse), go back and re-read what you wrote, get a feel for what the issue is, if any, and pick up from there. The key is to forget about it during your time off. Take that time to reset your brain.
There’s nothing worse than stewing over that stumbling block which gave you the problem in the first place.
ALTERNATIVES
Seek out similar stories and read them. See how others did it and determine if you can work your story that same way. Maybe seeing how others did it can give you the impetus to do your own twist in a different fashion.
Maybe those similar stories will inspire you to take up an entirely different project, setting this one aside for another time. There’s nothing wrong with that. At least you’re writing!
Then again, there are those of you with drawers or hard drives full of half-finished stories. Yeah, that happens. You can’t complete anything.
Then there’s the inspiration. During your time away, planned or unplanned, you find something that sparks you back into the story. While you intended to give it a break for a set time…say a year, six weeks later, you’re driving down the freeway and pass a truck and something written on the side sparks your imagination.
BAM!
There’s the end to your writer’s block.
You never know.
All those plans down the toilet and you’re back in the game again.
SUMMARY
Sometimes, you just have to shut down for a while and reboot. Other times, you need to wait it out for a bit until something comes along. The key is don’t let the frustration build until it becomes the main issue.
Happy writing!
