HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU DESCRIBE WHEN WRITING FICTION?

You’ve all read books where the author goes on and on about the room, the furniture, the heroine’s hair or the way she’s dressed. As a writer, you want the reader to picture your character and setting, but don’t go overboard. Decide what’s important.  If you describe a sofa, covered in a paisley print, make sure that sofa has a critical role in the scene. Is the room old-fashioned? Were blood spots hidden in the design? Did it indicate the lack of style or clash with the rest of the room? Maybe your heroine can’t afford matching furniture or she has inherited a rag-tag furnished house. Unless that sofa in some way pushes the story forward, omit it.

I once began reading a novel where the first two pages described the ivy climbing up the side of the house and pots of flowers lined the porch.  Ask yourself if that information is important. If one of your characters hides in the shadows of hanging plants or places notes in the ivy for his/her lover, it might be useful information. If you are describing a country cottage, take a critical look at your description. Don’t overdo it.

Sometimes, your character is completely out of his/her element. A city dweller might be intrigued with the flowers and garden of a country estate. Mention it, and then go on with your plot unless that’s where your character meets the love of his/her life, or discovers a dead body.

Don’t bore your reader with pages of description. Dribble it throughout your story. For instance, let’s say your heroine has long blonde hair and blue eyes. She’s five-six and weighs one hundred-twenty pounds. Writing those facts sounds like she’s filling out papers to apply for a driver’s license. Don’t tell it, show it.

“Angela gathered her blonde hair in a ponytail and covered her blues eyes with dark glasses, as if that would provide a disguise.”

If Angela is five-six, maybe she’d tower over her petite sister. No one really wants to know how much Angela weighs unless it’s important to the plot. If you feel it adds to the manuscript, you might allow the hero to describe her to one of his friends.

Insert descriptive phrases throughout your novel, but don’t make the reader suffer through boring pages of unnecessary facts.

Keep writing. Joyce    

   

Drama in a Small Town: Step out of your comfort zone and have fun with yo...

Drama in a Small Town: Step out of your comfort zone and have fun with yo...: Step out of your comfort zone and have fun with your writing. Learn to change your habits. Write something new and different from your ...

Step out of your comfort zone and have fun with your writing.

Learn to change your habits. Write something new and different from your normal genre.
Start with little changes in your regular stories. If you write in third person, try the same story in first person. Play different music when you write to change the atmosphere.

Step outside of the box.
You don’t have to do anything dramatic like writing erotica if you’re used to writing children’s books, but try fantasy. If you write fiction, try non-fiction, maybe a newspaper article or even a letter to the editor. If you write mysteries, try a love story. Take a stab at writing humor or conger up a story about werewolves. This can help you step out of your comfort zone with new ideas and concepts.

Imagination is a wonderful thing.
When you’re stuck in a rut, you are not tapping into your imagination. Imagination is a great source of energy and knowledge.  Dream. Dare to be a kid again and let your mind wander. Your imagination can lead you to write an adventurous story.

Change your character’s names and situations
Be open to creating new and maybe peculiar characters. Give them names that your reader with remember. The more you experiment with change in your writing, the more interesting your stories will become. Change can sometimes add depth to your writing and it keeps you from becoming stale and dull.

Help is always available
Join a critique group or a writer’s group. I have never met a writer who wasn’t open to helping me brainstorm when I’m temporarily brain dead. A different perspective can help alleviate stress in new situations that you may choose to write.

You can write.
Think positive when you sit down at your computer to punch out that first page. Everything begins with your thoughts and your feelings. That becomes apparent when you put it down on paper. Writers have heard this many times. Write first, edit later. Get your thoughts down on paper.

Lastly, love what you do. I know that sounds trite, but if writing is not enjoyable, it will show up in your finished manuscript. A good attitude is important to you and your reader.

Keep writing. Joyce  

Write It Short And Sweet

When I started writing fifteen years ago, I concentrated on short stories. I belonged to a writing group that wrote and read their stories aloud twice a month. The leader of the group gave us a subject,  sometimes a picture or the names of three or four objects to include in our writing. I remember one in particular, "a rocking chair, a china cup and ballet slippers." The creative stories the group wrote and read all included those words, but each one was completely different.

Needless to say, I have a file folder full of my tales. As the group grew, we found we had to limit our words due to a time limit. While the original stories were 1500 to 2000 words, we eventually cut them to 600 or less to give everyone a chance to read their stories.


I mention this because trimming your work makes you choose only the important words and in the end, the story becomes more powerful. In my critique group, I circle the 'was' words in blue, the 'ly' words in red and 'ing' in green. It's not because I don't want the group to use those words, but to point out how many they include and how they can eliminate weak adverbs and still make their stories interesting. 


"He was walking quickly to the car," can be said: "He rushed to the car." Of course, in longer novels, you'd want to show that instead of telling. 

Poetry is another genre that requires choosing the correct and powerful words. I lead a, "Memoir, Creative Writing, Poetry," group once a month. Monday, we are fortunate to have Nevada's Senior Poet Laureate, Raynette Eitel, to give a presentation. She is wonderful with words and rhythm. I'm sure my group will learn a lot even if they don't write poetry. I can't write it, but I love to listen, especially to Raynette's thought provoking poems. I have three of her books and treasure them.


I challenge you to look at any newspaper heading or even an advertisement and write a short story with a beginning, middle conflict and ending in 500 words or less. It will help your writing, and you'll have fun creating an interesting piece of Flash Fiction. As an aside, there are many 
e-zines on the internet who publish Flash Fiction.


Keep writing. Joyce      

Adding Humor

I attended an seminar on adding humor to your manuscript. Guess what? Although I thought I could be funny, at least have a little humor...it's harder than you think to put it down on paper. It loses something in the translation, so to speak. I decided to take notes on the things I read that make me snicker and start from there. When you write romantic suspense, you usually don't include prat-falls, but your heroine can certainly trip over a pair of shoes left in the middle of the room when she's late for a date, or dress in her best only to be caught in a downpour. Maybe when the hero leans down for that romantic kiss, she could sneeze. I'm going to work on it, because a little humor goes a long way.

Secondly, in order to be a good writer, you must read. Read every genre. Read non-fiction as well as fiction. Every year there are new words (slang) added to our vocabulary, and have you noticed that companys are changing their names to initials? Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas is now called, "T" Other casinos are following suit. As a writer you want to keep up with the times, but be careful that you don't date your manuscript.

I went to the Desert Hearts Reading Group this afternoon. The leader, Linda Cutler-Smith, chooses the romance books we will read and discuss, also giving us an alternate in case we don't care to read a specific genre. What a great group. We meet in Las Vegas at the Sahara West Library and beside discussing books, we feast on the wonderful treats Linda brings.

Next, I am leading a Memoir group. What fun it is to hear all of the family stories and helping the writers put their thoughts into words. I am blessed to have such good friends.

Last, please go to Snowy Creek  Books and read the wonderful reviews I've received on, "Unexpected Gifts." I am so pleased with the input my readers give me. The book is on their catalog page and on Amazon. 

   

Drama in a Small Town: Memoirs

Drama in a Small Town: Memoirs: I have started a class on writing MEMIORS. The interesting thing about my research is that the information can be used for Creative Writing ...

Memoirs

I have started a class on writing MEMIORS. The interesting thing about my research is that the information can be used for Creative Writing as well as Memiors.
Does this sound familiar?
Create an outline.
Do a character interview.
Incorporate the five senses.
Keep a timeline.
Show conflicts and tension.
Reveal the inner struggles.
Relate how you (your character) and other family members (minor characters) have changed.
I've discovered that all writing is related. Many of my fictional characters possess traits of my family or my friends. The events I write about in fiction can be plucked from the pages or any newspaper. Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction. Keep writing. Joyce