Willis
08-11-2008, 02:31 AM
_____________Incomplete_____________
Proper Character Development
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Proper Plot Development
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The Line Between Proper and Improper Dialog
In his essay, "Elmore Leonard's Ten Rules of Writing," he writes, "My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it."
_________________________
Proper Character Development
You've finally gotten the basics of your character, gender, ethnicity, and age. You've probably even mapped out their career goals and personal ambitions. Problem is, your character isn't well received, as your style of writing makes everything automatically go your characters way.
A character readers can't relate to isn't really much of a character at all. Take into consideration obstacles that the character faces, and realize that even though you want the best for your child [character] it's okay to have them fail every now and then.
"Real people like to read about real people, with real problems." I'm sure you've heard some variant of this saying, and it still holds true. Readers hate a lot of things, you'll learn as you continue reading this article, and among their various pet peeves is a character that is perfect. Gets the job interview, wins the church raffle, and nabs a bad guy unscathed. That's not cool, it's annoying. Take the same events, and make them relate-able. Have the character show up to the job interview minus a tie, lose his winning ticket, and unwittingly nab the bad guy while taking nasty fall and you've got yourself a story.
Proper Plot Development
Your average 'beginner' writer usually starts off with a simple thought process. First Bob thinks of a character. After this, Bob spends the rest of his day creating the perfect scenery for his character. Lastly, Bob thinks of a conflict.
Since Bob's process all ties into creating the perfect plot, allow me to [correctly] guide you through this process.
1. Your character, believe it or not, isn't what makes or breaks the story. Of course, it's pivotal that your character has a point to his existence, but in the beginning of this process you can skimp on details. Don't spend 3 hours on mapping out your characters background information, and his favorite condiments. Instead, get the basics down, so that you can visualize your characters existence so that he's right in front of you.
2. Having an set environment is the most important thing while writing a book. No matter what, you should always know where you characters have been, are, and will be. One of the many things that can break a perfectly good story is sudden movement.
Scenario:
You're pulling an all nighter, busily typing away, and suddenly [ <== Speaking of which you should rarely if ever use in your writing ] at 3am, you decide that your character should get on the next flight to Los Angeles to pursue [ a never mentioned before mind you ] high school love before his big audition.
Now at 3am this sounds like the most genius plot twist you've ever babied. Problem is, plot twists are rarely positively received. This can really kill your 'brainchild' novel. Look at M. Night Shamalyan's screen plays. Out of some 12 movies, only the Sixth Sense received positive reviews for it's plot twist. It's a rarity to see one work, so it's up to you to take such a chance. Be sure to take your genre into consideration for such a big decision though. Crime-Thriller novels have a better chance of a successful plot twist than a Romance.
3. Actually mapping out a plot is a difficult task, as many things can go through your mind at any given moment And as a writer you really want to include as many as possible. But let me tell you, the most important thing to do is to ignore this impulse. Even I, the greatest writer of modern literature, haven't mastered plot development.
The best thing to do, once you've gotten the gist of your plot, is to write it down. The key is to get your plot's skeleton down and slowly but surely add the flesh. Every time you get a bright idea that you think would fit in well, write it down, come back to it a 3 days later and ask yourself if it really fits with the plot.
_____
Prologues, for some reason, are very attractive to beginning writers. I have no idea why myself, as I've never included a prologue in my own work.
A prologue is a backstory, frequently used in non-fiction, and contrary to popular belief, is quite boring to readers. Being a backstory, the writer must ask if the reader must really be aware of past events in advance. In my opinion, and a few others, readers like to get information in bits, whether it be from an old sage's prophecy or Big Mama's Sunday dinner a big writing don't is an info dump. Which is essentially, a prologue. Try to avoid prologues, and instead think of a creative way to get out information.
A pet peeve of mind is when the writer starts off in the middle of a gun fight, which is called in medias res. Which literally means 'into the middle of things'. This isn't the best way to start your book off, as it is a bit cliche and tired. This is espically true if you're starting a series, as you'll have a hard time clearly developing your plot starting out in the middle of things, trying to divide time between explaining now, and then.
Last, but certainly not least is the lesser known, under appreciated, sub-plot.
All pieces of writing have a possible outlet for a sub-plot which can really help the writer when he/she finds their self in a corner. Or, 'writer's block'. In an action novel, you have the sidekick.
In a romance novel, you have the best friend.
In a crime-thriller, you have the ex-wife.
All of these are undeveloped sub-plots, which are touched on in the first chapter, but never thought of again.
As a writer your job is to be creative, so do it. I'm sure that sidekick is vieing for the lime light, positive that best friend wants a little action on the side, and I guarantee the ex-wife is struggling to make ends meet while her husband is fighting crime. If you take the time to occasionally develop these characters problems into something the reader actually cares about, you'll find that writer's block isn't so deadly anymore. Now you have something to 'occupy' the readers attention while your hero is in a coma.
The Line Between Proper and Improper Dialog
One of the most commonly used words in a novel would be 'said'. One of the most common aspirations of an aspiring writer is to be an original. Now you can imagine the conflict. Using the word said pains some writers, as they see it as a thorn in their sides. A mark of their inability to think of a decent past tense adjective. Contrary to popular belief, using anything other than the generic said and asked, frequently, is distracting to the reader. If anything, the most annoying thing a reader has to do is take out a dictionary in the middle of a page turner. It's good to know a vocabulary of adjectives, but don't shove them down the reader's throat. No one likes a show off. Try to keep it balanced.
In an attempt at realism, when a writer creates a minority character, whether it be African-American, Hispanic, or an Irishman, the writer's instinct tells them to attempt to capture the characters dialect. However, that doesn't mean that 54 apostrophes are allowed on your page. Of course there are some words that have letters left out off standard ebonics, but try not take make your 'ethnic' character seem to dumb.
Your average black knows there is a time and place for ebonics, such as at the card table on the 4th of July. That doesn't mean that your character has to speak the same way during a job interview either. No one likes ignorant racial betrayal, so be careful.
Thoughts & Comments are appreciated and will always be put into consideration.
Proper Character Development
&
Proper Plot Development
&
The Line Between Proper and Improper Dialog
In his essay, "Elmore Leonard's Ten Rules of Writing," he writes, "My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it."
_________________________
Proper Character Development
You've finally gotten the basics of your character, gender, ethnicity, and age. You've probably even mapped out their career goals and personal ambitions. Problem is, your character isn't well received, as your style of writing makes everything automatically go your characters way.
A character readers can't relate to isn't really much of a character at all. Take into consideration obstacles that the character faces, and realize that even though you want the best for your child [character] it's okay to have them fail every now and then.
"Real people like to read about real people, with real problems." I'm sure you've heard some variant of this saying, and it still holds true. Readers hate a lot of things, you'll learn as you continue reading this article, and among their various pet peeves is a character that is perfect. Gets the job interview, wins the church raffle, and nabs a bad guy unscathed. That's not cool, it's annoying. Take the same events, and make them relate-able. Have the character show up to the job interview minus a tie, lose his winning ticket, and unwittingly nab the bad guy while taking nasty fall and you've got yourself a story.
Proper Plot Development
Your average 'beginner' writer usually starts off with a simple thought process. First Bob thinks of a character. After this, Bob spends the rest of his day creating the perfect scenery for his character. Lastly, Bob thinks of a conflict.
Since Bob's process all ties into creating the perfect plot, allow me to [correctly] guide you through this process.
1. Your character, believe it or not, isn't what makes or breaks the story. Of course, it's pivotal that your character has a point to his existence, but in the beginning of this process you can skimp on details. Don't spend 3 hours on mapping out your characters background information, and his favorite condiments. Instead, get the basics down, so that you can visualize your characters existence so that he's right in front of you.
2. Having an set environment is the most important thing while writing a book. No matter what, you should always know where you characters have been, are, and will be. One of the many things that can break a perfectly good story is sudden movement.
Scenario:
You're pulling an all nighter, busily typing away, and suddenly [ <== Speaking of which you should rarely if ever use in your writing ] at 3am, you decide that your character should get on the next flight to Los Angeles to pursue [ a never mentioned before mind you ] high school love before his big audition.
Now at 3am this sounds like the most genius plot twist you've ever babied. Problem is, plot twists are rarely positively received. This can really kill your 'brainchild' novel. Look at M. Night Shamalyan's screen plays. Out of some 12 movies, only the Sixth Sense received positive reviews for it's plot twist. It's a rarity to see one work, so it's up to you to take such a chance. Be sure to take your genre into consideration for such a big decision though. Crime-Thriller novels have a better chance of a successful plot twist than a Romance.
3. Actually mapping out a plot is a difficult task, as many things can go through your mind at any given moment And as a writer you really want to include as many as possible. But let me tell you, the most important thing to do is to ignore this impulse. Even I, the greatest writer of modern literature, haven't mastered plot development.
The best thing to do, once you've gotten the gist of your plot, is to write it down. The key is to get your plot's skeleton down and slowly but surely add the flesh. Every time you get a bright idea that you think would fit in well, write it down, come back to it a 3 days later and ask yourself if it really fits with the plot.
_____
Prologues, for some reason, are very attractive to beginning writers. I have no idea why myself, as I've never included a prologue in my own work.
A prologue is a backstory, frequently used in non-fiction, and contrary to popular belief, is quite boring to readers. Being a backstory, the writer must ask if the reader must really be aware of past events in advance. In my opinion, and a few others, readers like to get information in bits, whether it be from an old sage's prophecy or Big Mama's Sunday dinner a big writing don't is an info dump. Which is essentially, a prologue. Try to avoid prologues, and instead think of a creative way to get out information.
A pet peeve of mind is when the writer starts off in the middle of a gun fight, which is called in medias res. Which literally means 'into the middle of things'. This isn't the best way to start your book off, as it is a bit cliche and tired. This is espically true if you're starting a series, as you'll have a hard time clearly developing your plot starting out in the middle of things, trying to divide time between explaining now, and then.
Last, but certainly not least is the lesser known, under appreciated, sub-plot.
All pieces of writing have a possible outlet for a sub-plot which can really help the writer when he/she finds their self in a corner. Or, 'writer's block'. In an action novel, you have the sidekick.
In a romance novel, you have the best friend.
In a crime-thriller, you have the ex-wife.
All of these are undeveloped sub-plots, which are touched on in the first chapter, but never thought of again.
As a writer your job is to be creative, so do it. I'm sure that sidekick is vieing for the lime light, positive that best friend wants a little action on the side, and I guarantee the ex-wife is struggling to make ends meet while her husband is fighting crime. If you take the time to occasionally develop these characters problems into something the reader actually cares about, you'll find that writer's block isn't so deadly anymore. Now you have something to 'occupy' the readers attention while your hero is in a coma.
The Line Between Proper and Improper Dialog
One of the most commonly used words in a novel would be 'said'. One of the most common aspirations of an aspiring writer is to be an original. Now you can imagine the conflict. Using the word said pains some writers, as they see it as a thorn in their sides. A mark of their inability to think of a decent past tense adjective. Contrary to popular belief, using anything other than the generic said and asked, frequently, is distracting to the reader. If anything, the most annoying thing a reader has to do is take out a dictionary in the middle of a page turner. It's good to know a vocabulary of adjectives, but don't shove them down the reader's throat. No one likes a show off. Try to keep it balanced.
In an attempt at realism, when a writer creates a minority character, whether it be African-American, Hispanic, or an Irishman, the writer's instinct tells them to attempt to capture the characters dialect. However, that doesn't mean that 54 apostrophes are allowed on your page. Of course there are some words that have letters left out off standard ebonics, but try not take make your 'ethnic' character seem to dumb.
Your average black knows there is a time and place for ebonics, such as at the card table on the 4th of July. That doesn't mean that your character has to speak the same way during a job interview either. No one likes ignorant racial betrayal, so be careful.
Thoughts & Comments are appreciated and will always be put into consideration.