Tips and Traps for Writing Fiction

[ray gower]

Having read an awful lot of both professional and amateur fictions, both here and elsewhere, the diabolical standards that both can reach and the absolute rubbish that is often offered as 'the gospel of writing'. It occurs to me that perhaps we as writers and readers could compile a far better, much more friendly and helpful set of guidelines that can do the job of encouraging budding writers to avoid the worst of the horrors.

Such gems as:-

Enjoy what you are writing If it starts to become a chore stop.

Avoid 'And Then' like the plague People turn blue trying to read sentences that long.

Tell a real story Something must happen, it really doesn't matter what, but it must be something the reader can find interest in. I read a 'Booker Prize' book a few months ago. The title is now forgotten it was so dull, simply because the character did nothing. He got up, went to work, came home went to bed etc.

Ignore the Grammer Checker Read what you have written aloud instead. Does it flow off the tongue? Or do you start triping over sentences.

All these (and a lot more) come to mind immediately. Anybody want to add to them?

 

[stripe]

kewl

Thanks Ray ..

Ive been writing fan fic for 10 years now and can always use some more handy hints and pointers.


Cheers
Stripe
who hates her puters grammar checker ...lol!!!!

 

[ray gower]

Thanks Stripe!

And have no intention of teaching grandmother to suck eggs. I've only been writing for two years- but reading for fifty:

To add to the list:-

Spelling Having said ignore the grammar checker, the spell checker is my best friend.

Characters Characters are the foundation of a story. Know who and what they are, there limitations, strengths and history. Try writing a few notes to guide you, then drip feed them into the story, it gives them depth.

Let the characters write the story If you can do it, become each character. It may help the story and the characters to develop naturally to the circumstances.

Consistency Is key to character as are surprises. If a character is a super hero, capable of leaping a sky scrapper in a single bound, he isn’t likely to quail at a cottage. On the other hand he might well be afraid of enclosed spaces.

 

[DCBastien]

Dialogue
Don't overuse it, but don't overuse it either....! Don't be afraid to have a dialgue heavy part if that is what us needed, or to have people sitting in silence thinking. What IS good, is to describe how people say what they do, or how others percieve their tone of voice, or what effect it has on them. Think about the way they would say it... what stresses, what pauses.

Care for your characters
If you care, chances are your reader will too.

Don't fit everything to the 'plot'
Yes, some planning is necessary, but too much and it is overthought. It shouldn't be glaringly obvious you spent hours working out what happens, nor should people sit around doing NOTHING. One thing causes another, let it be natural and flowing.

Stereotyping....
Can be a pain in the Mikta. Think of the usual suspects then maybe invert them, play with them and change them... the whole change makes it much more interesting and surprising.

Don't be afraid to change dramatically...
.... from any original plans!

Inspiration
Look for it anywhere. In snatches of a song. In the way a door opens. In the way a giraffe walks! Mix in things you know or have seen and/or experienced... little touches even if they don't contribute to the story in any significant way... Little details such as the way the sun glints on the water.... Carry and sustain it and see where it gets you.

Avoid cliched language
It just irritates

Vary your structure
Don't be afraid to split infinitives, to use passives, to have short, sharp sentances. Anything for effect!

Think... 'what would they do' not 'what do I want them to do'
it has to be believable!

Have fun
In everything

Put emotion in...
I personally find it incredibly cathartic! But that's just me.

ignore anything anyone ever tells you...
If it gets in the way!!!!

Finally and most importantly
Make your own rules!

 

[ray gower]

Gosh! There's some bricks for Gower in there!

Will think more carefully!

You can also add:

Don’t leave untidy loose ends. There is nothing worse when reading a story than finding that somebody has been left doing something without any form of resolution.

Don’t suddenly pick on something that has already started. Without some explanation as to why they were doing it! Why is that person standing in the middle of the motorway at rush hour?

 

[DCBastien]

HUMOUR
Never goes amiss! Even in the most serious of stories... a little humour makes the characters human... How many people react with humour as a defence mechanism? Or gallows humour in adversity?

Local flavour
If you're writing SF or Fantasy, you may want to throw in some 'furniture'- unlikely other planets are identical to Earth in EVERY respect!

Morals- Ethics, and clashes
Does your story have a moral? I'm not talking Aesop's fables here. But maybe something to think about. I did a whole one on body language, names and gender assumptions cross-species and that ended up being pretty extended.

If you find you want something to happen later on
...then you can always go back and put hints and foreshadows in, twisting previous plot to fit what happens later!

Don't feel stuck to 'NOW'
Yeah, if you just randomly skipepd about throught past, present and future (of the story too- think flashback-esque) it could get confusing. But if you have people doing things at the same time, you could have the cause slightly before the event...

Cliffhangers
Are a very good tool

I'm probably just rattling off nonsense here

 

[ray gower]

I'd say there is no nonsense in that lot. I've picked up some things to watch for.

Don’t let yourself get confused. A story that proves to be complex to write, is one that is difficult to read. Unless of course you are a spymaster writing a full length novel (I still don’t understand L’Carre).

Avoid being predictable and formulaic. Most people have the idea that everybody lives happily ever after at the end, that’s fine it is all they need to know. But why must it always be the Butler that commits a country house murder? What would happen if Dr Watson found the solution to a crime that baffled Sherlock Holmes?

Beginnings are important. They set the scene. A good lead in will cover a lot of sins, like what is happening and why and who everybody is. A good ending will clear up details missed elsewhere. What happens in the middle, in comparison, only has to make sense.

A little waffle is good if it helps to make a point for something later on, or describes things, so that the reader can relate to what is happening and to who. Obviously too much description will ruin the flow of a story. Padding is only needed for novels that are short on activity. Ask yourself is this piece necessary?

Details, Please Obviously we would like to know who your characters are, their foibles and characteristics. But we also want to know where are your characters are, and what they can see.

If you are still enjoying yourself after this, then welcome to the writers club!

 

[Dave]

that was excellent, you could publish it.

When I read stories, the best ones always have a Surprise at the end . But maybe thats just a personal preference.

 

[ray gower]

Originally posted by Dave
that was excellent, you could publish it.

I think we just have!

and I'm sure there are a lot more useful tips out there to add- Like:

When I read stories, the best ones always have a Surprise at the end . But maybe thats just a personal preference.

 

[DCBastien]

Think of good books you've enjoyed
Don't all out copy people, obviously, but take ideas and hints from things you liked.

Don't feel stuck to 'genre rules'
There's no such thing.

Get the audience to 'connect'
If they empathise with your character and can visualise themselves in their situation, can see themselves in them, then all the better.

And I'm just repeating the obvious and placitudes...

 

[ray gower]

Try giving characters accents. Not everybody speaks standard English. A good "Ere Mate, you fick or summin?" can raise a stereotype that is so much fun to bring down (or reinforce)

 

[ray gower]

Voice of experience:-

If a passage proves not to work where you wrote it, DON'T delete it. Keep it somewhere safe for next time.

I dumped fifteen pages last month. Now rewriting almost the same thing because it is right now

 

[skydiver]

make it believable

if you're writing action try to picture what you're doing and then if it's even possible. this also applies if you're writing action of a more intimate nature....there are things in fic i've read that are anatomically impossible

talk out conversations

when i'm writing dialogue i usually run it through my head and even alout to get the meter and phrasing just right. for example if you're writing contemporary humans, they use contractions.

have a beta reader

sometimes for my fan fic i don't have it beta read and that's ok i guess. but if i'm writing something for a zine or a reallylong story, i have it beta read. see once i go over a story a time or ten I know it...and i fill in any gaps i may leave. but the poor reader doesn't know what's in my head and if i leave things out they'll be lost.

place your props

if i'm gonna have a character shoot someone, i gotta give him a gun along the way it can't just pop out of thin air. conversely, if i want him defenseless, i gotta come up with a good reason for him/her to be disarmed.

i like the suggestion about getting inspiration from other places. just last week i watched a tv special on super croc...a prehistoric corcodile that was like 40 feet long...and i had an idea that it would be a cool monster for sg-1 to come across...and they might someday.

 

[CynVision]

Originally posted by Skip
Avoid cliched language
It just irritates

Bahahahah! Except when it's Jack! I dig my memory really hard for some good 'ole northern midwest cliches for Jack.

Okay, to be serious. (right. me, serious. you, Tarzan.) Lots of good points. I'm going to read them again when I get stuck on stuff. They're so hard to follow after a lifetime of being told how to write. Skip, your'e going through that right now? Right? Them teacher are a pain. This is what I meant the other day when I said one or two teachers arn't the beginning or the end of learning to write.

I still read and admire books by writers like Orson Scott Card who put down all sorts of advice on how to write characters, or how to write screenplays, or how to write SF with all those surprises and believeability. I'm in the middle of one right now by David Gerrold.

 

[DCBastien]

Cyn, I'm still self-taught. The teachers haven't given any help, more of a 'stop writing!' tham anything. But don't worry I don't listen, which is why I've done my recent forged letetrs Nothing like some historical pircay to get me going

Anatomically, think about gestures. If some of your characters aren't human, as well as possibly picking up human gestures which would look odd on them, they may have their own. Think about the multitude of meanings a thumbs up sign can mean worldwide!!!!

 

[imported_Sandman]

A little research never killed anyone (that I'm aware of).

Books, the internet, TV documentaries, people.... Use them!

People are wonderful sources of information. You'd be amazed at what your friends, relatives, and coworkers know and have experienced. Even complete strangers will often help you out if you ask nicely. I've done dozens of interviews for help with locations, occupations, etc. Don't be afraid to ask people questions you'd be surprised what you'd learn not only about your subject but also about the people you're interviewing.

 

[Highlander II]

Originally posted by ray gower
Ignore the Grammer Checker Read what you have written aloud instead. Does it flow off the tongue? Or do you start triping over sentences.

i totally agree with this one - the microsoft (and probably others) grammar checker has NO clue how people speak, nor does it understand any rules of writing beyond that little textbook from way back when --- ie: not always using 'and' when giving a list - it's not needed, btw! ex: He tumbled down the stairs, grimacing in pain, pushing against the concrete, preparing for the next strike. (ya don't need 'and' - you can use it, but don't need it - and the stupid grammar check always picks it up)


however,

Know your grammar rules There are a few stories I've almost not finished b/c the author didn't have a clue. One i read continuously used elipses [....] instead of commas - i was confused and thrown off the whole time.

Have a Thesaurus and Dictionary nearby Two of the most important books for any writer. Vary your words, but don't overdo it -- don't use azure when blue will work nicely, but try having Jack inquire instead of asking all the time.


also - be careful w/ accents - some work well in written form, others don't and sometimes are more annoying that if the reader is just told that the character has an accent. (In the case of fanfic, the readers generally know which characters are accented and which aren't, so writing the accent isn't necessary).

and the most important rule: HAVE FUN!!

 

[ray gower]

Something I've noticed with presentation that aids readability.

If you cannot indent paragraphs (like pasting into messages on Ascifi or simple text files), leave a blank line between paragraphs (Two between scenes). It stops the need to interpret quite so much.

Everybody that has dropped tips here do so as a matter of course, but some others do not and the head explodes trying to decipher them.

 

[Dave]

Recommendations for the use of Metaphors.

1. Don't mix metaphors too wantonly. Shakespeare did, but fashions change.

2. Find images that are new-struck, resonant and apposite.

3. Avoid imagery altogether rather than employ cliché.

4. Imagery constructs a world: make sure that world is real and vibrant with contemporary issues.

 

[Asmiley]

IF you have an idea come to mind... write it down. elswhere if it doesn't fit in the story then later it can be added to a new fic or maybe you can find a way to put it in an already in progress fic.

It clears your head for new ideas and might help you pas a writers block.