The Craft
Blogs
Scenes: How to Strengthen Yours and Make Them the Heart of Your Story
Scenes make up stories. They are the building blocks that form narrative. As writers, we stack scenes together to tell a particular tale. How we write, build, and stack those scenes matters.
The Throughline: What It Is, Why You Need One, and How Do You Create One? (Part 2 of 2)
In the last blog we defined throughlines, loglines and taglines. Now let’s look closer at throughlines—the most important of the three.
The Throughline: What Is It, Why You Need One, and How Do You Create One? (Part 1 of 2)
The throughline is a single thread that winds through your story and off which everything else hangs. It drives the writing and organizes the plot, action and character development. The throughline is the main motivation driving the protagonist toward the ending. It is what holds your story together so it can be a story instead of a random collection of anecdotes and scenes. A good throughline is how you propel your story forward in a way that makes sense.
9 More Signs of Amateur Writing and How to Fix Them (Part 2 of 2)
The last blog outlined nine signs of amateur writing and how to fix them. This blog continues that list with another nine ways new writers show their inexperience.
Here is the second set of nine signs of amateur writers and how to fix them:
9 Signs of Amateur Writing & How to Fix Them (Part 1 of 2)
Writing is a skill. It takes time to master. That doesn’t mean you can’t earn a living writing before you achieve an expert level, but you will need to refine your skills to have a career.
Here are 9 signs of amateur writing and how to avoid them:
Opening Lines (Part 2 of 2)
In the last blog, we discussed what first lines of stories need to include. Now we’ll look at ways you can improve your opening lines.
Opening Lines (Part 1 of 2)
First sentences are paramount to stories. They are the first impression. The hook by which readers are tempted to continue on instead of tossing the book back on the shelf so they can keep looking. They are a portal to the story itself.
Elevating Your Writing No Matter the Form (Part 2 of 2)
Writing should inspire, motivate, educate, illuminate, inform, persuade, and engage. To do this, it has to rise above the basics and become something more.
In the first part in this series, we explored two introductions used in the television series The West Wing as an example of how to elevate writing from the barely functional to an art. Now let’s break down some practical steps you can take to elevate your writing.
Ten ways to improve your writing:
Elevating Your Writing No Matter the Form (Part 1 of 2)
The term “writing” covers a wide range of acts. There is the Great American Novel and direct mail flyers. Ad copy and speeches. Screenplays and novels. Radio scripts and web content. Being able to put words on a page takes many forms, not all of them lofty or noble. Sometimes all you need is a well-crafted email or text. That is the wonder of writing and human communication. It comes in all forms.
No, the problem is not with the form writing takes, but with the mindset many writers have when faced with what many consider “pedestrian” work. Their minds become pedestrian, bland, complacent, and it doesn’t have to be that way. You can elevate your writing no matter what form it takes, whether it’s the opening of your manuscript or a simple introduction. Here’s an example of what I mean.
How to Recognize Good Writing
When is good writing good writing? Is it a sentence or paragraph that hooks the reader? It is laud the ability to craft a gorgeous sentence no matter what? Or does noticing that great passage distract from the reading experience?
I think we can all agree there are books that amaze us with their prose and those that challenge us with their awkward phrasing and clunky pacing. It’s a question of quality. We know what works and what doesn’t on a visceral level. But how do we define it? And, more importantly, how do we make sure we’re on the right side of that line with our writing?
Writing Rules & Instincts
There’s a writing axiom that states everyone should learn the rules before they break them. I happen to agree with this rule. But I also believe in breaking rules. It’s a tenuous position for a blogger who focuses on how to write. Today’s blog is about what I truly believe.
Trust your instincts.
Tension: Breaking Down Goldilocks and the Three Bears
The past few blogs we’ve focused on complications, tension and raising the stakes. Now we’re going to look at how that plays out by breaking down a fairy tale. We’ll begin with Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
The story typically starts out with the bears discovering their porridge is too hot and deciding to go for a walk, leaving their home unoccupied. I say typically starts out because there are many versions of this tale, each with its own quirks and variances. But let’s work with this opening as the hook. Talking bears who live in a house and eat porridge. Check. I want to read that.
Tension: Raising the Stakes
This blog examines the types of stakes you can use to raise tension to its highest levels.
A good place to begin is with some questions:
What happens if the protagonist fails?
What is at stake? Personally? Publicly? Morally?
Why can’t your protagonist just walk away?
Adding Tension to Your Story
Tension is a key element in storytelling. It’s that strain and uncertainty that hooks the reader. What’s making that creaking sound? Will the hero save the world? Can the kidnapped boy escape before the villain returns? Will the heroine ever recover from the spell the witch cast or is she doomed forever?
Putting your characters in peril pulls your reader into the story and makes it interesting. When there’s no tension, stories can feel flat or boring. But how do you add tension to a story?
Five Ways to Establish Context in Your Story (Part 2 of 2)
Context is everything in stories and in life. In the last blog, we explored the relationship between context and complication. This time, we’re going to examine the ways to establish context within your story.
There are two ways in which context affects story—the context of the plot (or event, in the case of nonfiction) and the context of character.
Using Context and Complication to Strengthen Your Story (Part 1 of 2)
Context is the foundation for everything. It colors perception and fact. It changes minds and tugs on emotion. Without context, a story is nothing more than an anecdote floating in space.
Context provides the background, backstory, setting and structure that holds the details of a story together and gives the reader the framework necessary to understand. Without this, the reader cannot know how to feel.
It’s Complicated (Part 2 of 2)
The first part of this two-part series covered the importance of complications and how to test whether the complications you are are adding are within the framework of your story. In this blog, we’re going to look at the different kinds of complications typically found in stories.
There are many ways to add complications in your story. In a romance novel, it might be rival or obstacle that keeps the two main characters apart. In a mystery, it could be a serial killer or a lack of clues. In SciFi, it might be an alien invasion or a dystopian world that oppresses its citizens. The list is limited only by your imagination.
It’s Complicated (Part 1 of 2)
I don’t know many people who don’t lean in when they hear that phrase. “It’s complicated.” Two words that hold the power to intrigue and pique curiosity. They make us click to find out more. They prompt questions and promise a bevy of details. “It’s complicated” might not be a great way to live, but it sure is a good way to tell a story.
Complications make stories. As writers, we understand this. It’s why we cram complications into our stories and keep shoving until our characters can’t take it anymore…and then we add more.
Sensory Writing: Taste (Part 6 of 6)
Taste is directly linked to smell. It, like smell, also happens within the body. We have to take in the food in order to taste it. Taste cannot happen passively. It is an active act, a decision. We drink the wine, eat the pizza, and savor the chocolate. As it’s linked to smell, I am going to limit my commentary, but I highly encourage you to include taste in your work.
Sensory Writing: Smell (Part 5 of 6)
Experts say that smell is the sense most closely related to memory. The one that can transport us in time. It is also the sense I am least able to discuss. I was born without the sense of smell (congenital anosmia). I have not smelled anything in my life. Never will (so please do not ask me to smell things, especially things like ammonia. Been there—done that—can’t smell it).
Sensory Writing: Touch (Part 4 of 6)
When we’re young, we learn about the world through touch. We put dirt in our mouths, Run our toes through the grass. Embed our hands into the dog’s shiny coat. As we grow, we learn not to touch dirty things and to keep our hands out of our mouths, but we never lose that desire to touch our world—to run our hands over objects of our desire.
Sensory Writing: Sound (Part 3 of 6)
Hearing is a physical reaction within the eardrum. A vibration that carries meaning. Everything your character hears should do the same. It should resound within the story or characters.
Sensory Writing: Sight (Part 2 of 6)
Welcome to the Sense Series. The first part was an overview of sensory writing. Now we’ll tackle one sense per week. First up: Sight.
Sight is the most common sense used in writing and the most important. Visual words and phrases bring that world to life. Through words, we recreate the world around us or invent an entirely new world for our reader.
Sensory Writing (Part 1 of 6)
We experience the world through our senses, through what we see, hear, touch, taste and smell. It’s our senses that define our existence, which is why it is imperative to incorporate sensory writing into your work.
Senses take a flat world and transforms it into a fully realized one with depth, texture and vibrancy. All five senses should be integrated into your description somewhere. If your story takes place in the woods, you might talk about the dappled lighting, moist ground, and sounds of the birds and animals moving about. It might smell of wet Earth or decomposing leaves. If your story takes place in a bakery, I would hope there would be talk of scents and tastes—touches of vanilla and chocolate and the feel of warm cookies straight from the oven. The goal is to offer details about your world through the five senses, not just sight and sounds, which are the most easily accessed and obvious.
Show Versus Tell: The Case for Showing
Show versus Tell is an age old battle for writers. Deciding when to show your world to your readers and when to tell them facts is a balancing act. Good writing requires both styles. In the last blog, we covered when to tell. This blog focuses on showing—the powerhouse of writing.
Showing gives your reader a more immersive experience. It’s the difference between reading a newspaper article and a novel. One gives the facts with a sprinkling of details and description. The other invites the reader to experience the story along with the character. It’s engaging.
Show Versus Tell: The Case for Telling
Every writer has learned the first rule of writing: “Show don’t tell.” It is the preeminent bit of advice for writers of all levels and yet it remains one of the most misunderstood and confusing rules. Sure, it’s easy to understand why you shouldn’t tell your story from start to end like a person at the party who keeps saying, “…and then we…” with no end to the boredom. But it is not so easy to figure out what telling is versus showing. Sometimes they seem a lot alike. It all depends on how you write. The truth is good writing combines both showing and telling.
Story Stealers
Story is everything. It’s the prime initiative. The raison d’être. Nothing should subjugate it. Nothing be held higher or given more attention. Sounds simple, right? Not so much.
I recently read a story that had amazing detail, setting, and concept, but the author spent so much time pushing her agenda she lost the thread of the story. It was lost among the message. It didn’t help that she presented her story in a fractured timeline, destroying any chance for tension. The characters were subservient to the setting. The setting used mostly as evidence in proving her cause. It was a missed opportunity. The book could have been great. It had all the elements, but needed editing and a strong hand.
There are steps you can take to ensure your story remains at the forefront. The biggest is to understand the big ways you can go off track. Here are some things have a tendency to take over:
Write What You Feel
Every writer has heard the advice to write what you know, and it is good advice to a point. It’s impossible to write about things you don’t understand. But the problem with this advice is that writers can learn. We can research and pick up the facts. We can break down a problem and find experts to explain the mechanics of how things work. Heck, we can even watch documentaries to see how things came about and how to videos to see it in action. What we cannot do is know how those situations feel without understanding the emotions associated with it. We can’t find the story behind things if we can’t empathize with it.
15 Lists for Writers: A Compilation and a Bonus
Over the past five years, I’ve posted 15 lists filled with advice for writers on a wide variety of topics within the industry. Now I’ve pulled them together in one compilation.
What to Say or Write—Tips for Developing Articles and Speeches (Part 4 of 4)
In previous blogs, we covered what to say in your writing and how. The last blog covered a list of quick tips for writing in various formats.
This blog will focus solely on writing for the ear—speeches, radio scripts, podcasts, narration tracks, and other audio forms. This type of writing is different than writing for the page.
What to Say or Write—Tips for Developing Articles and Speeches (Part 3 of 4)
The first two blogs in this series spoke to finding what to say in a blog, speech, article or podcast script, or other short form of writing. You can find them here and here.
Now we’re going to move onto practical tips to help you write your piece. Here are some quick tips to keep in mind:
What to Say or Write—Tips for Developing Articles and Speeches (Part 2 of 4)
Figuring out how to begin is always tough for writers. It’s the first big hurdle in the writing process. But with a little help, it doesn’t have to stop your progress.
This series breaks down the steps to figuring out what to write or say. To read the first blog in our series with steps one, two and three, click here.
What to Say or Write—Tips for Developing Articles and Speeches (Part 1 of 4)
Before you can write, you have to have something to say. It’s a pretty simple concept of putting ideas before words. Still it’s funny how often people sit down at their computer and expect to write a flawless article or speech without first considering how to develop their idea.
Now I get the whole “pantsing” it idea, but when it comes to writing short form pieces, it pays to get the idea clear in your head before you begin.
Characterization (Part 2 of 2)
Characterization: The Basics (Part 1 of 2)
Building a character is harder than making a friend (which is not a small statement for an introvert to make). This is, of course, if you don’t make a habit of analyzing everything about your friends and their every action, which would be both presumptuous and rude, at the very least.
The Trap of Writing Clean
I began my professional writing career with a major corporation. Soon after starting that job, I was thrilled when my boss praised me for writing clean. What my boss was trying to say was that she liked that I could write quickly and needed few edits (mostly for those darned dangling participial phrases I love). The problem with her praise was that it stunted my growth as a writer. I leaned into the idea of writing clean and gladly whipped up assignments with little to no edits and called it good. My boss was happy. I was happy. What more did I need to do?
The answer was: a lot.
Dissecting Your Way to Success: How to Break Down a Novel (Part 2 of 2)
Dissecting Your Way to Success: How to Break Down a Novel (Part 1 of 2)
What I am advocating is to approach the book like a writer. Investigate what made the book work and fail. Pull it apart into its component parts — plot, character, scene, POV — and see how it was put together. There is no better master class in writing than looking deeply at the books you love and love to hate. But you have to be critical in your analysis.
Building a Story, Article or Script—It’s All About Structure
Structure is 85% of your story. Never heard that before? Yeah, that’s because I made it up. I don’t think anyone has an exact statistic showing the importance of structure, but maybe they should. Structure is essential, even if the math of the thing is not. All you really need to know is that structure is essential to a good story, whether that story is fiction or nonfiction.
“Rules” of Writing (Part 3 of 3)
This is the final installation in my series on writing “rules.” If you missed the first two installments, you can read them here and here, respectively. These are the remaining “rules” of writing that all writers should know, with a couple of scriptwriting tips at the end for good measure.
“Rules” of Writing (Part 2 of 3)
“Rules” of Writing (Part 1 of 3)
Blogs, books and articles often tout the “best” ways to write, but I am sorry to tell you there are no rules for writing—no easy short cuts. There is grammar, which is essential. There are the various elements of craft. And there are some axioms that hold true, which, while I won’t go so far as to call them rules, are great guidelines.
These are what I want to share today—the Axioms of Writing:
Start from the Heart
Somehow sitting down to plot a story always feel like an intellectual exercise. It’s a logical timeline of things that happen and the resultant consequences. But the trick to telling a good story does not come from the head—it comes from the heart.
My Writing Process: The Top 7 Things I Need to Know Before I Begin
There are basic details I need before I start any project. They determine how I begin and how I set up the piece. It also sets up my process, which I will discuss next week.
These are the top seven things I need before the first word is written:
Write Stronger: Cutting Weasel Words
Strong writing requires strong verbs. That’s nothing new. It’s far better to say enraged than angry and exhausted rather than very tired. There are tons of articles about that on the net. What isn’t talked about as often is the ways we soften language.
Get Out of Your Head
Ideas are everywhere. If you doubt that, just tell someone you’re a writer and they’re sure to respond with their “great” idea for a novel. (That tendency may be why I rarely tell people what I do for a living, but that’s another blog for another day.)
The Five Phases of Big Picture Editing
Editing can be fun, but it also can be tough. It’s an emotional phase of the writing process that can batter a writer’s spirit. Not all of the time. There will be projects that are easy to write and edit, but I’m not talking about those projects today. Today I’m talking about those larger beasts that tear at a writer’s soul. The projects that make us question whether we can write and why we want to do this in the first place. Those projects are the ones that test our resolve to write.
The Power of Three
You could argue that three is the most powerful number in the world. It is found throughout literature, music, and movies. It is the reason Mozart’s music, filled with major and minor thirds, soars. It is what governs photographic composition. And it forms the basis for most story structures.
The Ups and Downs of Editing
Editing someone else’s work is always easier than editing your own. When I review someone’s manuscript, I can always see the flaws, the errors in grammar, the leaps in story logic, the stalled through line. It jumps out at me demanding attention and comment.
The same thing does not always happen in my own writing.
Top 12 Writing Fails: Editing & Script Doctoring
In my business, I am not always the first call and I like it that way. Call me weird, but I love being called in to fix writing that isn’t working. Luckily, there always will be those clients who think they can write their own scripts, speeches and manuscripts. They think taking English classes in high school and college means is enough preparation, and sometimes it is. Then again, sometimes it is not.
Writer’s Block Doesn’t Exist
There are those who will try to convince you writer’s block exists, that it is a curse on writers the world over. I do not agree. There is no bad luck associated with writing. There is only the state of writing or not writing. The first is created by sitting down and stringing words together until they resemble sentences and then putting those sentences into paragraphs and repeating until you have a finished piece, or at least a rough draft.
Shhhhh…Stop Talking!
Have you ever noticed when you have a good story to tell or a secret, your entire body tingles with the anticipation of sharing it? It is nearly impossible to keep it in. To guard it.
That is the nature of a story. It is how we feel when we start drafting our social media post while in the moment, like we are narrating our own life to an unknown audience. It is a bit wonky, but part of being a writer, I think.
Capturing Plot Bunnies
I spoke to my son’s school recently about writing and the thing that excited the kids most was when I talked about plot bunnies. True, the photos of cute bunnies helped. A lot. Because who doesn’t like bunnies?
Here is what I told them:
Ideas Are Slippery
Ideas multiply. It’s a fact. It’s physics. Energy begets energy. Ideas beget ideas.
I get a lot of ideas when I write. The come from what I’ve written, from my research and from my characters themselves. Sometimes it is a line I write that doesn’t quite fit my current story, but that sparks a new one. Most often, though, it is an idea to fill a hole in my plot I hadn’t realized was there.
Making Editors Happy (Part 2 of 2)
I’ve struggled with the second part of my ways to avoid annoying editors series, mostly because the things that tend to annoy editors (okay, me) are difficult to write about without sounding harsh. I kept trying to couch my comments to be nicer, but in the end decided that telling the truth was more important. It is better to hear about them before you submit than after. So take this advice for what it is: tips to get better so your work is accepted instead of rejected.
Making Editors Happy (Part 1 of 2)
How? By doing one simple thing. It’s easy. Trust me. I’m going to share one of my biggest irritations as a writer/editor—extra spaces.
Yes, you heard me correctly. I dislike extra spaces, specifically the ones that appear after a period.
I spent today editing materials for a client who clings to old habits and here is what I told him:
Lessons from a Firefighter
Every head in the coffee house followed intently two firefighters who ran off before placing their order. A call had come through and they booked, taking with them the focus of every set of eyes in the place.
As a group, we watched while they pulled on their turnout gear, climbed in the rig and took off down the street. Minutes later we all looked up as a companion truck roared down the street.
Fifteen of us were riveted to the spectacle.
It made me wonder how to write characters that draw that much attention.
Story Is Everything
I love stories. I love immersing myself in them, be they books, movies or episodes from my favorite television shows. I don’t care. Heck, you can plop yourself beside me and spin a yarn. I’ll listen. I’m a story addict. It’s so bad my family teases me about getting...
Description & Setting (Or Suffering From a Lack of B-Roll)
I work in the film and video industry, when I am not writing speeches, social media content, articles or a novel. Although the novel thing is rather new.
(Okay, it’s not really new, but it’s been recently that have I written the first draft of the only novel I want to edit. So that’s new.)
As I am transitioning from film to fiction, I have run into a host of problems: the biggest being a serious lack of B-roll.
Music in Writing: Compose Your Story
I was a double major in college–Creative Writing and Music. While my parents were not thrilled with my choices, I was, even though it happened by accident.
I wanted to be a singer. It was my goal from an early age. I was that child who would hold her hairbrush and sing for hours, dancing around the basement or my room pretending I was performing in front of crowds. The only odd thing was that I always envisioned myself on USO tours instead of huge stadiums. I wanted to live that iconic image of the Bob Hope show for the troops in war zones, otherwise the touring did not appeal to me.
So off I went to college with the hope of someday cutting a platinum album and going off to war to sing. I was young. It is my only defense. That and being a military brat.
My Writing Process
Since starting this blog, I have been asked about my writing process. In all honesty, it varies depending on the medium—scripts, articles, speeches, novels. The format drives some of my process, and yet there are a few things that remain constant.
My first step is to find the throughline of whatever I am writing. I have to know what is driving the writing.
Voice Is Everything
Writing is more than a collection of words strewn across the page. It has life and voice. We hear it when we read to ourselves. It speaks to us and takes on a life of its own depending on the author.
The voice of a story is what makes it come alive in the reading and it is the most important skill a writer can have. It’s what sets one writer apart from another—a Hemingway (short, short sentences) versus a Faulkner (who goes on and on), a Gaiman from a Melville. These are not the same voices. They sound different in our heads. The way these authors string words and sentences together creates different rhythms and cadences as we read along. They pull at us differently.
Below are a few examples of voice in writing. The first example is from one of my favorite authors.
Success Is In the Details
Writing comes to life in the detail. Get those wrong and watch out. Readers will revolt. They will spam your Twitter feed, your inbox and anything other avenue they can use to reach you. People love to correct mistakes. It’s in our nature. Readers most especially. They take their facts seriously, in fiction or no.
Don’t believe me? Try giving incorrect directions in a novel about Los Angeles. Readers will tear you up. There is something that drives people in LA to obsess about their roadways in a way that I have never understood. Read any story set in LA and you will find a jumble of numbers scattered throughout–the 5, 10, 110. Get one turn wrong and let the harassment begin.
The same reaction holds true for any specific group–military, law enforcement, medical professionals, lawyers, etc. Each group knows the verbiage particular to their trade and they know when people are posing.
Left. Left. Left, Right, Left…Finding the Cadence in Your Writing
I grew up on a military base, or more accurately many military bases. It was my childhood and life. Even today my idea of home is anyplace filled with military uniforms and flags. Home is not a place, but a community—one I miss a great deal. I did, however, learn a lot growing up in that world. One of them was the value of cadence.