Ch 1 Blunders: Generic Settings

(Photo Credit: Popupology)
Don't leave the reader guessing about where the story takes place!
Last month, I received some fantastic feedback on the first quarter of my current MS. For this series of articles, I will draw from the remarks of my wonderful Beta readers and discussions I have had with other writers on these topics.
In some ways, I started my reader off in a generic setting. Here were three bloopers that I made in the first chapter...

• Genre can easily be established through setting details. A shoreline backed by imposing cliffs seems a distinctive setting but could appear in many different genres.  Add a dragon in the sky, a castle on top of the cliff, or a metal dome instead of sky, and you have swiftly taken advantage of genre -- and oriented the reader -- with very few words.
• Any old shoreline.  After (or while) you've established genre, show what makes this shoreline into this shoreline and not another in your world. One way to do this is to use landmarks personally important to the reader. Have the dragon circle her home, the castle belong to her brother, the shoreline is the only shoreline in the space station.
• Missed opportunities: Okay, I did not do this in this book -- but I have in others! How does the shoreline play into other elements of the story? It may be a recurrent setting, a symbol for the edge of two choices the heroine must make, set the mood, and so forth.

DISCLAIMER: This was feedback for one author's MS and should not be taken as all-or-nothing advice for all stories.

Ch 1 Blunders: Floating Characters

(Photo Credit: Pinterest)
Don't leave your characters to float in a vacuum!
Last month, I received some fantastic feedback on the first quarter of my current MS. For this series of articles, I will draw from the remarks of my wonderful Beta readers and discussions I have had with other writers on these topics.
In some ways, I did not ground my characters. Here were three bloopers that I made in the first chapter...

• Setting: Ground your character in physical surroundings either immediately or almost immediately. This can be tricky if you start with dialogue or thoughts but if you do not physically ground your character then you risk confusing the reader and/or making the action (verbal or otherwise) less immediate.
• Mood: Think about the mood of your story (comic, dark, sensual, etc.) and make sure your character introduction is permeated by this mood. This may mean going back and rewriting your hook from scratch or taking the already-written hook and changing the angle.
• Genre: Okay, I did not use on in this book -- but I have in others! It is important to establish your genre (and preferably your subgenere) in the first few pages. The reader who picked up your book typically expects a certain genre but don't leave the reader guessing. Show her that she chose the right book and the right character to meet her fantasy/romance/suspense desires.

DISCLAIMER: This was feedback for one author's MS and should not be taken as all-or-nothing advice for all stories.

“Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.”

“Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.”

― Stephen King

Weild Description Like A Sword

Sword Fight (Photo credit: Laurel Fan)

        Description is a double-edged sword. You can slay your reader or liberate him. It all depends on how you wield your sword.

        Too much description can kill reader imagination. Good books capture the readers imagination. Too much description, and you chain the reader to your vision. Yes, description grounds the reader. Yes, description sets mood. But to free reader imagination, you may need to cut some description. Leave them some room to be creatively engaged. Every reader is going to imagine characters and settings just a bit differently anyway.

        Too much description can kill reader interest. Description often slows a story. Slow the pace of a story for too long and you risk boring the reader. Too little description can sever your reader's connection to the story. One way to fix this is to cut up long passages of description and scatter them through the body of your story. You can also make your descriptions active, tie them to fast-paced scenes, and mood.

        The right description will pierce your reader. Good description is to the point. There's so much you can do with metaphors, subtext, and symbols (just to name a few). Make your descriptions do double – or triple – duty. Design description to have an effect on the reader. This can be through the effect on the character, setting, or mood. If your description affects the reader, he won't mind taking the time to read it.

        Description is also a way to cut up long passages of dialogue or action. Too much of anything is “too much”. More description can remind your reader of where they are, introduce new information, even alter the course of the scene.

So wield dialogue like a sword. Turn it against your reader and your writing. Kill, and pierce and cut. Be brutal with your writing and carve something great.

Different Ways to Start a Scene: Part 2

Theater Festival 6 (Photo credit: Niels Linneberg)

Most people have a favorite way to start a scene and a chapter. One way usually comes more naturally. But variety is important for the reader and for the writer. Why is it important for you? Because different types of openings have different effects. They resume the story at different points in the stimulus – reaction – action sequence. In this way, different openings can fill different narrative needs. And experimenting with different types of openings will expand your skills as a writer.

Scenes rarely begin with a flashback but it can be done effectively. One benefit to starting a scene with a flashback as opposed to using the flashback later in the scene is that there is less of a sense that the events of the flashback have already been resolved. Since the flashback takes place in the past, the effects of events have already been felt – mostly. Consider leaving some questions in your flashback unresolved and when you return to the story's present, make the unanswered question a central issue of the scene. A downside of flashbacks is that you have to reorient your reader each time you change time periods. By starting a scene with a flashback, you reduce the number of times you have to reorient from three times to two.

The typical flow of action is stimulus – reaction – action. But you can mix things up a bit by starting a scene with a reaction. The reaction may be to an action that ended the last scene. Or it could be (since this is the start of a scene) a reaction to a stimulus that you have not shown. A reaction is the feeling or thought that the stimulus (immediate conflict or obstacle) generates in the view point character. The reader will read on to find out what caused this reaction so be sure to answer their questions at some point.

A slower way to start a scene is through description. I say slow but it does not have to be that way. Short sentences, short paragraphs, and active verbs all can hasten the pace. Description is an easy way to ground the reader – especially when the setting has changed. Description, when not using the omniscient point-of-view, is limited to what the view point character can experience. A benefit of point-of-view description is that it is easier to establish both character mood and over-all mood. Point-of-view description gives the character a chance to react to surroundings, maybe drop a bit of background information, or even introduce inner conflict.

Most writers have a favorite way to start a scene but they also often become limited in the options that they use. Consider the needs of your scene and experiment with different types of openings. You may even be inspired.

Different Ways to Start a Scene: Part 1

A scene from the Drama (Photo credit: NJ..)

Most people have a favorite way to start a scene and a chapter. One way usually comes more naturally. But variety is important for the reader and for the writer. Why is it important for you? Because different types of openings have different effects. They resume the story at different points in the stimulus – reaction – action sequence. In this way, different openings can fill different narrative needs. And experimenting with different types of openings will expand your skills as a writer.

Open with an omnipotent point of view when you need the reader to know something that is outside of the point-of-view character's realm of experience. This could be an approaching human or natural disaster. When the reader knows about approaching danger but the viewpoint character is ignorant, the knowledge heightens tension and even tranquil action takes on a new sense Omnipotent point-of-view is also a good way to get in quick back-story that sets up the scene and maybe even introduces tension.

Open with dialogue when you want to start off fast. Dialogue moves so starting with talking means starting with movement. Better yet, start in the middle of the conflict instead of setting it up first. This will disorient readers a bit and they will read on to answer the question what's going on? Opening with dialogue is also a quick way to establish the key characters of the scene – they are the ones talking. As a rule of thumb, have the main scene character talk first, followed by the second-most important character (usually the main character's opponent). This establishes a hierarchy of importance for the reader, much like the way you usually start a book by introducing the main character first.

Another way to start the scene off fast is to open with action – no set up, just an action. Again, the reader will be intrigued and read on to find out the set-up. Plan your introduction of the set-up carefully since it will slow your pace. Set-up, when not given at the start of the scene, can be given in pieces or as a whole chunk. Parts can be implied. Flashback can be used (although that typically slows down the scene even more because it takes place in the past and the reader already knows how it turns out). Opening action can ground or disorient the reader. Disorientation needs to be resolved to keep reader interest after a certain point – it seldom can be continued to the end of the scene without loosing the reader.

This post is getting long (there is so much to say), so I am going to divide it into two parts. Keep tuned!

Braiding a Dialogue Scene

There is more to dialogue than talking heads. Dialogue scenes have four threads that may or may not be enclosed in quotation marks. Talk is what makes a dialogue scene, of course. Characters communicating and clashing through words. That is the first thread. The second thread is description. Description is difficult to handle through talking but grounds the reader and helps with mood. A limitation of talk is that it can only touch the surface. While this is what we must settle for in real life, the written word is a different medium. The third thread is character thoughts. The fourth thread is action. Every scene moves the plot forward and while talking allows decisions to be made, a conversation is not a concrete action. Action is usually needed to proved a sense of forward story movement. These threads braid together to create a complete scene.

• Talk: Talk is what the characters actually say. Talk is usually short and fast – rarely more than three sentences at a time. This usually speeds up the pace. When the pace begins to drag, consider using more talk (but only talk with purpose).
• Description: To avoid “talking heads”, the reader needs to know the setting. This can be partially conveyed in dialogue but some will simply need to be written. Description usually slows the scene down so look for places that the pace is too fast or a description of setting is necessary. A quick reminder: description does not need to be static. Active description will slow the pace less than passive descriptions.
• Thought: Thought adds depth and logic by telling (not showing) the view-point character's unspoken reactions. After all, the logical flow of a scene is stimulus-reaction-action. Thought is a way to show reaction. Talking is always an action. It may express a reaction, but it is exactly that – an expression. Thought can also add depth to the conversation by sharing with the reader what the character cannot – or will not – say aloud. Thought can emphasize emotion and reveal motives, lies, rationalizations, or inner conflict.
• Action: Decisions can be made through talking but talking alone does not change the world. Physical action is needed to carry out any resolution or impulse. Physical motion gives readers a feeling of forward motion in the story. Even small actions during dialogue can accelerate the pace of the scene. And action makes dialogue more realistic since conversations seldom last long without some kind of physical movment.