TECH: Five Tips for More Stories

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Original Posting 15 April 2008

Dianna Burrell has Five Tips for More Assignments on p 58 of Writers Digest Nov. 2004. Oddly, when I read them, I said those are good for stories too. So here's my versions of her five tips.

1. Learn from the masters. Take a class, read a book, follow a blog.

2. Think quantity. If you can sell one story, you can sell ten if you get enough submissions out there. The more stories circulating, the more chances to make a sale.

3. Competition can be a win/win. Challenge a friend to see who can get more stories out there.

4. Reward yourself. Every time you write a story and send it out, reward yourself. Might be a fancy gourmet coffee, a new book, or something else, but give yourself a reward.

5. Don't sweat it. Do it quick and move on to the next one. Don't keep fussing, start working on the next one.

Study, quantity, friendly competition, rewards, and don't sweat the small stuff. Short, and to the point, but . . . keep those stories grinding!

When we write, we let others imagine.

EXERCISE: Ethics about money?

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Original posting 17 April 2008

And since we all enjoyed worrying about ethical dilemmas the other day, let's try it again.

Pick a number from one to six. You know, half the numbers on the face of the clock.

And your choice is:

1. A neighbor's kid finds $30 on your driveway and gives it to you. No one claims it. Do you give the money to the kid?
2. You are buying a car from someone who must sell because he is broke and out of work. Do you offer him much less than you think the vehicle is worth?
3. A waitress at a fancy restaurant forgets to add your drinks ($8) to the bill. Do you remind her?
4. You find a wallet containing $300. By the address, you can tell that the owner is wealthy. Do you keep the money?
5. Instead of the $1.00 which you have in a dormant bank account, your latest statement reads $100.00. Do you withdraw the money?
6. You have a struggling young company. You have to choose between two equal candidates for a job, a man and a woman. The woman will work for $2,000 per year less than the man. Do you hire her for that reason?

You may notice that the tormentor . . . make that the director of the exercises has carefully hand-chosen these so that they all relate to money. We do love our economics.

Ah, yes. Your chore is to put some people, scenes, a little more motivation and conflict, around these bare bones. Then let's see if Lazarus can get up and walk. I think he can, I think he can . . . and the little engine that could huffed and puffed and . . .

WROTE!

TECH: Over the top and into ACTION!

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original posting 22 April 2008

Ramp up the action: Keep your scenes active to give your readers the heart-pounding intensity they demand.

That's the banner headline on the Writing Clinic article by Paul Bagdon in Writers Digest, Oct. 2004, pp. 55-57. Bagdon looks at the first chapter of a thriller , but I think the advice is good for any writer.

First, open with action. The piece that Bagdon is looking at has a little teaser about what that day was supposed to be, setting the stage for something cataclysmic to happen, but then it spends several paragraphs on background material. Bagdon says, "The problem is that now -- on the very first page -- isn't the time to present that material. The reader needs to be hooked -- dragged directly into the adventure --to the point where there's no possibility of her putting the book back on the shelf."

So the initial problem is to avoid spending too much time doing setup and background. Jump into the middle of the action and keep going. Especially in a novel, there's plenty of time later to come back and explain whatever background is really necessary, but the beginning of the story -- the place where you are convincing a reader that they really want to read this book -- that's not where you want to slow down and dump that information up all over the page. So cut, cut, cut.

"It's the writer's obligation to create dynamic and engaging situations and scenes in the first paragraphs and pages of an action-adventure novel. Readers (and editors) not only expect such leads --they demand them."

Second, consider the mix of Active vs. Passive. Readers of thrillers are looking for action, what Bagdon calls "good ol' spine-tingling, I-can't-put-this-book-down action." But he adds that in the mix of the thriller we also need a fully articulated protagonist and a plot with rich enough dynamics to support all that tension, intrigue, and violence.

Next, Bagdon points out that action needs to be written in an active way, presented as direct experience perceived by a character through physical senses, emotions, fears, and feelings to make it vital and engaging. Don't let up -- keep the reader right there beside the person having the experience. Beware of stepping back and narrating or describing, keep it acutely active. Write totally in the protagonist's senses and emotions. Make it purely active, a vehicle that lets the reader move, feel, hear, and see what the protagonist does.

But ?

Not just nonstop feverishness and vehemence. "Unintrusive narrative is as much an essential part of a successful thriller as is dialogue or description."

"Visceral, active scenes keep your thriller focused and provide the reader with the heart-pounding intensity he seeks."

So, we've really got two simple pieces of advice. Start with action, and then make sure that your action is really active!

And, of course, write!

When we write, we act.