Over the course of the next 13 chapter phases,There will be writing points for new writers, and those experienced ones looking for any additional helping points. I will provide some tips and information to help hone your work even better and hopefully, everyone will gain something from this.

I will cover not just basic grammar and punctuation, but different styles of poetry and prose, short story and novel writing, non-fiction, autobiography and biographies, essays, memoirs, reviews, and screenplays. I will show examples on every area I possibly can.

I will have material here to talk about plot setting, suspension of disbelief, elements of fiction.

I have a section on the who-what-where-when-why and how. Tips on your beginning, middle and end to what you write. Also, the one part no writer enjoys …editing and revision.

I will have a series of what I call Side-Bar Notes – knowing your fiction/non-fiction/poetry market. Why rejections happen.

There will be more I haven’t mentioned.

But to be clear, I have read many pieces of work on Prose, and all of it is and has been very good. This is a guide for you to use when you are not on Prose and are looking to heighten your muse, get you past a rough patch in thinking or writing.

With that said, I want to mention, and recommend a very good book to read: The Elements of Style, by William Strunk Jr. written in 1918, and published by Harcourt, in 1920, comprising eight “elementary rules of usage”, ten “elementary principles of composition”, “a few matters of form”, a list of 49 “words and expressions commonly misused”, and a list of 57 “words often misspelled”. E. B. White greatly enlarged and revised the book for publication by Macmillan in 1959. That was the first edition of the so-called “Strunk & White”, which Time named in 2011 as one of the 100 best and most influential books written in English since 1923. This tiny book will do more for your writing than a four-year college degree in my humble opinion.

On one last note: I am debating on whether to put up an article I have saved since 2012 about the joys and hazards of self-publishing on the web. What do you think? Should I? or should I not? You won’t see it anytime soon, but if you want to see and read this, it will be available.

Now, for those of you already published, there still may be things put here you find you can use somewhere down the line. So, for the time being, I will begin this with something I always said to my students.

… and we begin.

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First, Webster’s American English Thesaurus defines the word Poet as: a writer of verses, versifier, rhymer, rhymester, poetaster, bard, minstrel, troubadour, maker, creator, author, composer, writer.

Call it what you will, one could add to the definitions: emotional, thinker, doer, active, skilled, talented, and designer.

As for yourself, what words would you add to the mix?

Regardless of what you do in life, whether you decide to become that published author, brick-layer, carpenter, doctor, mechanic, a CEO, or a ditch-digger, for your own sense of self-worth and importance as a person, as a human being, take the attitude of these six words, and carry them with you as your personal mantra.

I Can. I Must. I Will.

Don’t say: I can’t, if, doubt, I don’t think, I don’t have the time, maybe, I’m afraid of, I don’t believe, (minimize) I, and, it’s impossible.

What you can say: I can, I will expect the best, I know, I will make the time positive, I am confident, I do/will believe, (promote) you, and, It can be done.

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“For all things are possible. Without possibilities, we have nothing. With possibilities, we have everything.” - Me

“Honesty’s the best policy – Miguel de Cervantes

“Liar’s prosper” – unknown.

These quotes worth remembering.

The first, is that good writing consists of mastering the fundamentals such as vocabulary, grammar, and the elements of style.

The other, is that while it is impossible to make a competent writer out of a bad writer, and while it is just as impossible to make a great writer out of a good one; it is possible, with hard work, dedication, and more work, to make a good writer out of a competent one.

And let’s face facts, when writing fiction, every writer out there known to us is a paid professional liar entertaining the hell out of us!

Here is an interesting true story.

What is the difference between you, and Stephen King?

He can command well over $1,000,000 in advance for a novel today, even if it had but a single word on a page (slight exaggeration). Why is that? Because he honed and polished his craft to become one of the most read writer’s around the globe. He didn’t start off making that kind of money overnight.

But what makes you and Stephen King the same?

Simple: you both start with a blank page. You both stare at a sheet of white pureness until the first word is put down.

Any story you write, should have, must have, a strong and captivating opening to catch the reader’s attention. It is well known that a single line opener, or a four-line paragraph will further a writer’s career or destroy it.

I am a firm believer that as a writer you should:

1) Already know your ending before you begin Chapter One

2) Already have it written

3) Fill in the middle that holds the start and finish together.

Those who take on a writing career (profession), take on a task that can be done in a month, or a year; some may take years, before that that all-important novel you know sleeps, eats, and breathes inside you, wants to be wakened, written and feel very much alive. Some of you now are already published author’s, but there are always tips of the trade that can help you even more. Within all that will appear here over the weeks, there will be a line or two that will trip your writing light fantastic.

As new writer’s, being recognized by the marketing industry is difficult, but it can be done.

Sorry, I side-tracked myself. Let me get back to that true story.

Stephen King started in a single-wide trailer writing short stories he would sell to skin magazines back in the 60’s and early 70’s, of which he sold them under the name, Richard Bachman. His first major release in 1974 was ‘Carrie’ (He wrote under his own name), practically sent him soaring to Number One on the Best-Seller’s List, and later became a movie with the same name in 1976 that helped his career even more. His works today are printed in 26 different languages, and he has written both screenplays and non-fiction as well.

So, I think, if a small-time guy in a single-wide, working as a short-order cook making $150 a week can make it … why can’t you.

The only way you won’t make it in this business is one thing: you don’t give it your very best and treat it like it is your best friend or lover.

Know this: breaking into the business isn’t easy, but it is doable.

Most new writers begin with small press publications/magazines. They may or may not pay you, but moist will send you 1-5 copies of your work in print. If they don’t pay you, then see the published story or poem as part of your resume. The more you get published this way, the sooner you will be able to take the next step and begin submitting to publishers. Once you can convince them by an already proven record of accomplishment; there will be a publisher that will offer you a contract. That means it becomes official: you are a published, not writer, but a novelist, an author! That has a much better sound, doesn’t it? And much later into this course, I will go into more detail.

But here I want to make one very necessary point. If your intent is to write to make a ton of money, large or small … forget it. It will never happen. That attitude can and will show up in a hurried write and often, overkill. As a writer, or novelist, your writing should be because it is something you love doing and that you want to entertain your audience. Just keep that in mind. If you do that, the money will come.

I have often said to my students: if one person who reads what I write, gets something from it, then I have done my job as a writer.

Next, I will have a section on the one area we all need help with at some point or another. Grammar and punctuation. (Yeah, I know ... you hate it ... so sue me.)

This will be the only “class” you attend you will never have to pay for. And I don’t know about you, but I love free stuff, especially when it really is free!

And for the final kicker this week, I leave you with a few fun things to ponder over.

Palindromes (which a word or series of word is spelled the same backward as well as forward) and Homophones (where these words, though spelled differently have the same exact sound.)

Perhaps there may be a poem or short story from these words. Hmmm … now there’s a scary thought.

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Palindromes

A Toyota—civic—deer breed—don’t nod—eye—level—madam, I’m Adam—never odd or even—Otto—pop—bob—radar—see referees—step on no pets—top spot—a nut for a jar of tuna—bird rib—borrow or rob—I did, I did—live not on evil—ma has a ham—no lemon, no melon—not so, Boston—pa’s a sap—pupils slip up—rise to vote, sir—rotator—Roy, am I mayor—tenet—was it a rat I saw.

Homophones

Aid/aide—air/heir/err—ant/aunt—allowed/aloud—arc/ark—aural/oral—away/aweigh—ball/bawl—band/banned—baron/barren—be/be—beach/beech—bite/byte—fir/fur—flour/flower—foreward/forward—gait/gate—gilt/guilt—grease/Greece—great/grate—groan/grown—hall/haul—hire/higher—peace/piece—pleas/please—pole/poll—pray/prey—real/reel—rows/rose—to/too/two—sea/see.

This next part will or may be boring for some of you, but it is very important you understand at least the basics of grammar and punctuation (if you don’t). If you do, it never hurts to refresh the mind from time to time.

This is also a two-part section with the next portion coming next week.

And, keep in mind, the words to follow are what is, and isn’t acceptable to some reader’s, editor’s, and publisher’s when writing/submitting; but the choice to use these words are yours as long as you understand the word you are using fits the sentence, the description, and the dialogue you have in mind.

The words are there for your personal use to fall back on when you are uncertain of how you wish to use these words.

… let us begin.

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Grammar and Punctuation

As an example:

When she looked at me with her piercing blue eyes, the affect I had, created such an illusion of mind-controlling passion, that I had to force myself to presume this entire escapade was a dream.

Another look:

When she looked at me with her piercing blue eyes, the effect I had, created such an allusion of mind-controlling passion; I had to force myself to assume this entire escapade was a dream.

Another example:

“You are such a cynic to distrust everything you hear.”

“You are such a skeptic to doubt everything you hear.”

Two different distinctions, with two different meanings, used in the same sentence. The major difference are the words “doubt” and “distrust”. Both are modifiers that help get your point across and allow the reader to see, as well as “hear” the difference.

Here are words you should easily know when writing:

Shall – will

That – which

Who – whom

Eight mistakes never to make when writing: (know and learn the difference)

Affect – effect

Bad – badly

Fewer – less

Farther – further

Important – importantly

It’s – its

Like – as

Principal – principle

Problematic Prepositional Phrases

Different from – different than

Due to – owing to or because of

Half – half off or off of

On behalf of – in behalf of

On the street – in the street/on line or in line (substitute for street as another example)

On to – into/in to/into

15 Difficult Distinctions

Allude – elude

Allusion – elusion/illusion/delusion

Among – between

Assume – presume

Assure – ensure/insure

Bring – take

Capital – capitol

Compliment – complement

Convince – persuade

Discreet – discrete

Disinterested – uninterested

Flaunt – flout

Immigrate – emigrate

Precede – proceed

Stationary – stationery (to see if you have read and paid attention, in the comment box please tell me how each of these words, though spelled the same means two different things … humor an old man, why don’t you.)

Two slippery suffixes

-able : -ible

-ic : -ical

Two unwitting Briticisms

A – an

ward: wards

Five nonwords (used often)

Alright

Double entendre

Momento

Preventative

’till

(Although the last four are used, there common use is very rare. ‘till is used more in poetry or the poetic sense but more as ’til. Momento is never used by itself, making it a true nonword but when used with Uno – Uno Momento, then it is allowable and proper speech or vocabulary. In normal speech or in any form of description, alright should be all right. Alright is fine when used as a form of slang.)

15 points editors and proof readers are picky about – know the difference

Awhile, instead of a while

Any, instead of every

Awhile, instead of a while

Bimonthly, instead of semimonthly

Blonde, instead of blond

Depreciate, instead of deprecate

Flounder, instead of founder

Forgo, instead of forego

Get, instead of got or gotten

Glimpse, instead of glance

Imply, instead of infer

Nauseous, instead of nauseated

Purposely, instead of purposefully

Shrink, instead of shrunk

Whether, instead of ‘whether or not’

Wrack, instead of rack, wreck and wreak

31 words readers actually spot differences in novels

Burglary – robbery

Callous – callus

Canvas – canvass

Casket – coffin

Catsup – ketchup

Continually – continuously

Cynic – skeptic

Defective – deficient

Forward – foreword

Gourmet – gourmand and glutton

Graduated – graduated from/ was graduated from

Gratified – grateful

Hang – hung

Lend – loan

Lighted – lit

Luxuriant – luxurious

Oral – aural/verbal

Pair of – pairs of

Partially – partly

Percent – percentage

Pitiful – pitiable/piteous

Prescribe – proscribe/prescription

Prophecy – prophesy

Ravish – ravage

Sensuous – sensual

Spoonsful – spoonful’s

Stanch – staunch

Try and – try to

Whiskey – whisky

Xerox – photocopy

Use your dictionary/thesaurus for these words and you will see the specific meaning. All of these words can be used, but only in the right way that is readily understood.

I do want to reference one other book that can be of good use to you. The Chicago Manual of Style. It is a style guide for American English published since 1906 by the University of Chicago Press. Its seventeen editions have prescribed writing and citation styles widely used in publishing. Slightly expensive but worth every dollar paid.

Next time around … the terrible reference guide on parts of speech, and explanation of the uses of punctuation.

I know, I know, but without their uses, your novel (and poetry) would look like one garbled mass of words.

Here we are. The second portion of where we left off.

This section will only hurt for a little while.

We start with a quick reference guide on the different parts of speech.

Nouns: Words that make up a person, place or thing, or idea (phone bill, office, billboard, eggs, Europe, Baltimore, your name)

Pronouns: Words used in place of a noun (I, me, her, him, them, who, those, myself)

Verbs: Words that express action or a state of being (run, jump, shot, is, are, have, has, did, do, threw, throw)

Adjectives: Words that describe a noun or pronoun (tall, quiet, three, neat)

Adverbs: Words that describe a verb, adjective, or another adverb (gently, easily, fast, very)

Prepositions: Words that show relationship and introduce prepositional phrases (on, near, from, until)

Conjunctions: Words that connect words or groups of words (and, or, because)

Interjections: Words that show emotion or surprise. These words are usually set off by commas or exclamation points (Wow, Oh, Yikes, Yes)

Punctuation

Period

The period is used to end a sentence as we all know. And it is also used after initials, after abbreviations, and used as a decimal point.

Question Mark

The question mark is used after a direct question. There are times when it is used to show doubt or uncertainty about the correctness of a detail or memory.

Exclamation Mark

The exclamation point is used to express strong feeling. It can be placed after a word, phrase, or at the end of a sentence.

Commas

Commas keep words and ideas from running together. They tell your reader where to pause which makes your writing that much easier to read. Place commas between words and phrases, or clauses in a series.

Example: Jane likes pepperoni, pineapple, and olives on her pizza. (words)

During the summer I read mysteries, rode my bike, and played basketball. (phrases)

Commas are used to set off words of the speaker from the rest of the sentence.

Example: Henry was confused, and asked, “Just exactly what do you mean?”

Use commas to separate a long phrase or clause that comes before the main part of the sentence.

Example: After checking my knee pads, I started off. (phrase)

If you practice often, skating is easy. (clause)

Commas are also used in different parts in addresses and dates, but never use a comma between the state and zip code (which I hope everyone knows this … I hope).

Commas are placed with numbers as such: 1,000, 10,000, 100,000, 1,000,000, and so forth.

Commas are used to set off a word, phrase, or clause that interrupts the main thought of a sentence.

Example: You could, for example, take the dog for a walk instead of watching TV for a change.

Commas are used to separate an interjection or weak exclamation from the rest of the sentence.

Example: Wow, look at that sunrise!

Hey, we’re up way to early!

Apostrophes

Apostrophes are used to form contractions, to show possession, to form some plurals, or to show that letters have been left out of a word.

Most common contractions: couldn’t (could not), didn’t (did not), doesn’t (does not), don’t (do not), hasn’t (has not), haven’t (have not), I’ll (I will), isn’t (is not), it’s (it is), I’ve (I have), she’s (she is), they’ll (they will), they’re (they are), he’s (he is) we’ve (we have) wouldn’t ( would not), you’d ( you would), and you’re (you are). And to touch on you’re for a brief moment, be careful in spelling as you’re and your sound exactly the same.

Form the possessive of most singular nouns by adding an apostrophe and an s.

Example: My sister’s hobby is jazz dancing. If there were two, it would have read as sisters.

When a singular noun ends with an s or a z sound, the possessive may be formed by adding the apostrophe.

Example: Carlos’ weather chart is very detailed.

If the singular noun is a one-syllable word, form the possessive by adding an apostrophe and an s.

Example: Chris’s lab report is incomplete.

An apostrophe is never used with a possessive pronoun (its, hers, yours. ours, etc.)

Briefly the two words your and you’re sound exactly alike and oft times writers confuse the two. When using your, sound out you’re by saying you are, and then you will readily know which is the correct one to use.

Quotations

Quotation marks are used to enclose the exact words of the speaker, to show that words are used in a special way, and to punctuate some titles. Put periods and commas (when used) inside quotation marks. Place question marks outside when they punctuate the main sentence.

Example:

Terry said, “Let’s make some peanut butter and, jelly sandwiches.”

“Sounds good, but we’re out of jelly.” said Rich.

Quotation marks go around titles of songs, poems, short stories, book chapters and titles of articles in encyclopedias, magazines, or electronic sources when quoting as a reference in anything written.

Quotation marks can also be used to set apart a word used in a special way.

Example: The queen wanted to sell the royal chairs rather than see them “throne” away. (Obvious that isn’t the correct spelling, but you get the idea.)

Hyphens

Simply used to separate a word at the end of a line and is also used to join or create new words. It can also be used as a small break (pause) between a thought when writing.

Never divide a one-syllable word when you run out of room at the end of a line. And do not divide a word of five or fewer letters. Never divide a one-letter syllable from the rest of the word (apart-ment is acceptable at the end of a sentence, but a-partment isn’t.)

Use a hyphen in certain compound words (two-year old … sister-in-law).

Use a hyphen between numbers and fractions (one-half … five-tenths).

Use a hyphen to form new words beginning with the prefixes (all, self, ex, or great). A hyphen is also used with suffixes such as (elect and five).

Use a hyphen to join two or more words that work together to form a single adjective before a noun (school-aged children, lightning-fast skating).

A hyphen is often used to join a letter to a word (T-shirt, X-ray, e-mail, U-turn).

Colons

A colon is used to introduce a list or a quotation. Colons are also used in business letters and between numbers expressing time.

Used as a list – the following is needed to fix the porch: nails, hammer, saw, wood planking, and a carpenter, because I don’t know how to fix a porch. (In truth, I am not a handy-all-purpose kind of guy.)

Used in quotations – President Lincoln concluded the Gettysburg Address with these famous words: “… the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” (Note: not only was a colon used, but also quotation marks, a period, and ellipses which we will be coming to shortly.)

A colon is used after a greeting in a business letter -- (Dear Sir: Dear Ms. Armstrong Dear Dr. Watts:)

And of course, colons are used between numbers to indicate time (7:30 a.m. and so forth).

Semicolons

A semicolon sometimes works in the same way a comma does. Other times, it works like a period and indicates a stronger pause.

You can join two independent clauses with a semicolon when there is no coordinating conjunction (like, and, or, bet) between them.

Example: In the future, some cities may rest on the ocean floor; other cities may float like islands. (Floating cities sound great, but I wonder how people who get seasick will feel about this?)

You can also use a semicolon to separate a series of phrases that already contain commas.

Example: We crossed the stream; unpacked our lunches, cameras, and journals; and finally took the time to rest.

Ellipses

An ellipsis (technically three periods with a space before, between and after) is used to show omitted words or sentences, and to also show an even longer pause in dialogue – longer than a comma (. . .).

When I do my first draft of any story, it always is like this (…), as it just gives me that added bit of space to type in a word here or there along a page. But the original example is the only true and accepted form.

Examples:

“Give me liberty or give me death.”

“Give me liberty or . . . death.” (In this example there is a space after the word and a space after the last portion of the ellipse. In this manner, it allows words to be given a more dramatic intensity. That is the proper formatting.)

Here is one to indicate a pause in dialogue.

“That’s . . . incredible!” I exclaimed. (In this case it would seem I was taken aback by something and held my breath for a moment.)

Italics

This is a style of writing slightly slanted. It is used for some titles and special words (I use Italics on my posts just because I think it looks cool). If you are still using a typewriter (the old-style manual) then underline the words (this indicates to the editor/publisher, the words are to be in italics and it also indicates the character is thinking to himself. Today, there is no need to underline words unless it is for something dramatic.).

Italics can also be used to speak the thoughts of a person (as just mentioned) when alone or perhaps confused on an issue or concern. (Again, if you will be using a manual typewriter, underline those thoughts.) But don’t put into italics a specific lead-in as follows: Jerry sat back and thought to himself; this whole idea is utterly absurd, but it’s crazy enough that it might just work.

Otherwise, with computers and laptops, use italics as if in a dialogue, or say you are in a sci-fi mode and everything is done through mental-telepathy, use italics.

Dashes

A dash is used to show a break in a sentence, to emphasize certain words, or show that a speaker has been interrupted (which can also be done with an ellipses). The dash is the same as the hyphen.

Example:

Because of computers, our world—and the way we describe it—has changed greatly. (As you see from the dash, there are no sentence breaks).

Interrupted speech: Well, hello—yes, I—that’s right—yes, I—sure, I’d love—I’ll be there.

In this manner it appears to be convoluted, but here is how it would appear in dialogue, speaking on the phone.

“Well, hello.

“Yes, I …”

“That’s right, yes,

“I … sure, I’d love,

“I’ll be there, bye.”

A phone conversation but one-sided.

As a writer, you can fill in details with self-thought, such as: Jerry thought about what Mary said about the Christmas Party and how she wanted him to do his comedy routine. He had agreed it would be a lot of fun. Hence the call, then the thought, and now the reader is no longer in the dark or confused.

The hyphen can simply be created by typing two dashes—after one word, typing in the next and space. Both hyphens connect.

Parentheses

Parentheses are used around words that add extra information to a sentence or to make an idea clearer.

Example:

I left the keys to my wife’s car (her Blue Hummer), on the front seat.

Five of the students provided background music (playing a lead guitar, saxophone, trumpet, bass guitar, and drums) for the singer.

Capitalization

Cap proper nouns: Beverley Smith, Christmas Day, Utah Jazz, Pearl Harbor

Cap proper adjectives: American citizen, Chicago skyline, J.F.K, Flight-191

Cap titles with names of persons: President Lincoln, Dr. Li Tam

Cap abbreviations of titles/groups: M.D., Mr. Martin Lopez DDS, U.S. Marines

Cap names of organizations/associations: Girl Scouts, The Democratic Party

Cap words such as: mother, father, aunt, and uncle, when these words are used as names.

Example:

Ask Mother what we are having for lunch. But if you had said, ask my mother, it wouldn’t need to be capped because it comes after a possessive pronoun (his, their, and our, are other possessive pronouns).

Cap the names of the days, months of the year, and all holidays. Do not cap the seasons unless specifically used as an integral part of a story.

Example: Chapter 22 – Winter in Prague

Cap the names of all religious, nationalities and languages.

Cap the names of businesses and official product (trade) names.

Example: Budget Mart, Crispy Crunch cereal, Smile toothpaste. (General words do not need to be capped such as cereal and toothpaste.)

Cap all planets, continents, countries, states, provinces, cities, counties, bodies of water, landforms, public areas, roads and highways, buildings and monuments, historical events, documents, and periods of time.

In the next chapter, we start in on some meat and potatoes. And if you are a vegetarian, bring your own lettuce.

This time around, we will look at different aspects of writing.

Slang and street talk in dialogue or description. Don’t use it if you don’t know how. Most writer’s that use some form of slang or street dialect already have the knowledge simply because they grew up with it. Each one of us has their own unique way or style of speaking. When writing a short story, or that one day all-important novel, and it can be used, then use it. Just don’t force the language, don’t overdo what doesn’t need used.

In a home, in the office, or any workplace, in normal every day, there is conversation where this one question could be asked: “What do you want?”

But in a street setting, or a couple of guys in a bar over drinks, or over a poker game, the same question could look like this: “Whaddaya want?”

(“Whaddaya want wid me?” -- “What do you want with me?”)

(“Yo, slick, wut up?” -- “Hey Joe, how have you been?”)

Dis = this

Dat = that

Whanot = what not

Daudder = the other

Fuhgeddaboudit = forget about it

Use your language where necessary. Or as often as necessary. Keep the tone the same throughout the story with the character who is speaking. Readers are smart and will catch the differences.

A million people can buy a book, but it only takes one person to ruin your career through word of mouth by recommending not to read the next book you have on the shelves. And it isn’t that they badmouth you as a person, but that you can’t keep things flowing in your writing.

To be a good writer, there are two things you must do. Read a lot. Write a lot.

Another good tip: when writing, omit needless words. Often – less is more.

Research material if your story deals with certain topics you know very little to nothing about but is still integral to your story. A good example is if your main character is an ME (Medical Examiner), and you perform autopsies. You may want to say more than, “I opened his chest, and found the slug from an apparent .45 Colt semi-automatic.” That may read good, but what else may you have found? Perhaps clogged arteries, heart valves clogged? Possibly lung cancer? Or you could say, “The entrance wound suggests he was shot from a downward angle, so I am guessing by the way the bullet entered him believing that.…”

If your thing is westerns, and say you are going to saddle your horse but you have no idea how it is done, research the saddle blanket and how it goes over the horse back, how to grab a saddle (western verses English) and how it is thrown over the animal’s back, bow to cinch the saddle (like using your belt) tightly enough where it won’t loosen and fall off the second you grab the pommel horn and foot in the stirrup to sit astride the horse.

Maybe being a killer. You stalk potential victims at night, always dressed in black, face never fully revealed. Your victims are always middle-aged women because as a child, your Aunt Matilda always made fun of you, and she was middle-aged, right? There is the connection for the murders. You kill all the victims with nylon hose. The same kind Aunt Matilda used. They die and then you perversely kiss them on the lips and say, “Goodnight, Aunt Matilda.” In doing so, you don’t want to change the method of murder. To go from killing five women with nylon hose, to five others with a baseball bat, and five more with a car. Stay with the same pattern. You can lengthen or shorten a killing scene but stay on the same path. Does he/she leave clues? Any incriminating evidence? Those are a few things to think about.

DC and Marvel Comics have made a big splash in recent years, both with comic books and the film industry. Maybe a super hero story could be your niche. Perhaps a super hero with limited powers; say for an hour or ten minutes. Maybe, like The Flash, he can run like hell, but after sixty seconds, he’s finished. Superman. Your character can fly, but only ten minutes. Take a normal average every day guy, and he is given powers that can only be used one at a time a day for a limited amount of time. If comics and this form of action/adventure is your thing, that may be a way to go. And Anime is real big these days if that too is your niche.

Sci-Fi/Fantasy. It’s been done, and re-done, but there is enough material in real life to do more. Lightning strikes a young boy guarding second base in a baseball game and is rushed to the hospital. Parents are told he is lucky to be alive. The boy goes home two days later. He then grows up to be a person with abilities to read people’s minds or see into the future long before an event will take place. Done and re-done, but give it a different slant, something unique and you could have a hit on your hands. Create a series on the central character, and you could have a career set in stone.

Mystery, romance, comedy, urban, it doesn’t matter. Find a new slant on an old subject. Bring it back to life.

Here is one I like: The Time Machine, written by H.G. Wells. In it, the lead character could travel a few years to millions of years into the past or future.

Take a character you create, one that stumbles across a dusty, cob-webbed filled time machine thought lost for over a hundred years, or only thought was fiction by the writer himself and put your character through the paces. Perhaps a down and out private detective? Have him go back a few days when a crime happened so he can physically see who did the crime. Perhaps a normal guy. And let’s say someone beat up his best friend who is in the hospital, but no one knows who did this to him. Have “normal guy” go back in time to witness the brutal attack. Or even take it by going into the future if the character is a gambler, where he can come back to the present and place big bets on games that haven’t happened in real time yet (think Back to the Future 2, I believe), but it also has its consequences. Time travel can generate a grip of stories (think Quantum Leap).

Then there is horror. What character can you create that will rivet the reader’s attention and send an icy chill to their psyche. Something that will or would keep them from turning out the lights when it is time to go to sleep or leave the lights on all day the next day because they don’t get home until after dark. Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde, did those very things to people when first published. Is your creature obscure, ghostly, something from the “wee-gee” board, an alien, something called up from the hordes of hell?

Give it a life, give it a purpose for what it does, and why it does what it does. Can it be killed? Can it be sent back where it came from? Will it ever die? Will all of humanity die? Horror can also call in all forms other than aliens and demons. Crazy people with their own agenda can kill and in brutal ways. Our own government can kill humanity, and if you haven’t ever read “The Stand”, by Stephen King; he gives an excellent portrayal of life and death by a military government accident.

So whether your story is cowboys and Indians, the future, crime, sex, rock and roll and drugs, wheelin’ and dealin’, being a funny man/woman or a hero, or, just struggling to live life the best way you can, or the only way you can; write what you know, write what you feel, and research the rest (That is a mantra I live by).

How much writing constitutes a lot?

That varies. But there is a story I have enjoyed reading about an author, James Joyce (Finnegan’s Wake and Capital Punishment).

One day a friend came to visit with him and found Joyce sprawled out on his desk, head down, his body just despondent. His friend asked him if the writing was getting to him.

Joyce opened his eyes, lifted his head and replied, “Yes, it’s the writing. It is always the writing!”

His friend asked, “How many words did you write today?”

“Seven.”

“Seven! James, that is good for you.”

To which Joyce replied, “I know, but dammit man, I still don’t know in which order they go in!”

Be it 7 or 7,000, that is for you to decide. You choose where and when to start, and when to end your day.

Here are a few author’s we read that have adjusted their time for writing:

Anthony Trollope would write 2 ½ hours daily. If he were in mid-sentence when time expired, he would come back to it the following day at the same time and not before. Other times, he would finish a novel, end it with 15 minutes left of his time, and he would begin another novel.

John Creasy wrote 500 novels under 10 different pen names.

Harper Lee who only wrote one book (To Kill A Mocking Bird), which has since been a classic read, whereby a film came from it and garnered an Oscar for Best Actor (Gregory Peck).

Stephen King once said he wrote 10 pages a day, roughly 2,000 words, and over a three-month period that is 180,000 words on 900 typed pages. From that, he would begin to edit, or such became the case, he would give it to other people to edit to clean up his grammar and obvious mistakes.

One thing, and this is important, I cannot stress enough. When you write to please the reader with a piece of crafted work, then you have created your wealth. The reader’s will keep coming back to you. In doing so, then as I have often said, you can say you have done your job as a writer.

In the end, if you are 100% pleased with what you have written, then the rest will follow. Write to write where you feel you have left a good feeling in reader’s mind, and in their heart, and where they feel they are part of the story itself.

The next chapter, we will get to several different aspects of poetry.

If there is anything this week that prompts you to write something, please tag me so I can come take a read, if you would please. With that said, then class is now in session.

... and so we begin.

Haiku’s – Poetry & Prose

With poetry, you can describe all your sorrows and desires, compose your passing thoughts, and with it, the belief in some sort, or form of beauty; and describe all those things with loving, quiet, yet humble sincerity, and express yourself by the simplest of things such as your own environment, images from your dreams, memories stored away, to something as small as seeing a bird in flight, or an ocean wave crashing over rocks or rolling up and over a sandy beach and retreat ever so silently.

There are many forms of poetry to choose from and learn to understand. For the sake of time, we shall talk about a few here. First, the Haiku.

Haiku comes from a “first verse” called hokku; they often look incomplete as they originate from a linked verse poem where the second verse finishes the first verse. They have a special place in the multi-poet, multi-linking verse poem known as Renga, or Renku, that enjoyed a renaissance in 17th-century Japan.

By the time of Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694), the hokku had begun to appear as an independent poem and was also incorporated in haibun (a combination of prose and hokku), and haiga (a combination of painting with hokku). In the late 19th century, Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902) renamed the standalone hokku to haiku.

Why is Haiku so important? It is one of the most important forms of traditional Japanese poetry. ... Most haiku poems contain themes that are simple to understand but give the reader new insight into a well-known experience or situation. The modern form of haiku dates from the 1890s, and is developed from earlier forms of poetry, hokku and haikai.

A traditional Japanese haiku is a three-line poem with seventeen syllables, written in a 5/7/5 syllable count. Often focusing on images from nature, haiku emphasizes simplicity, intensity, and directness of expression.

Here are a few examples:

Rain washes lovers,

And they frolic unashamed,

Real love has no shame.

Heartbeats sing as one,

we feel the quiet music,

our medley of love.

Water softly runs,

and at the edge where land meets,

a fawn sips, wide-eyed.

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Next, we will explore couplets. This is also considered as part of the prose family.

Couplets are set in two-line stanzas. They are generally a minimum of four to complete a piece, and they have no maximum.

Here is an example:

Surrounded

What do you do

when the end is almost over?

What do you say

when all the words have gone away?

What do you dare

when feeling is drained from your soul?

What do you want

for that last second of life?

Who are you

when even you cannot remember?

When did all this begin

and when will it all end?

What was that solitary moment

that altered time’s passage?

Why did things go so wrong;

you feel surrounded by emptiness?

In this piece, I specifically wanted to use the who, what and when aspect where each brought about a non-conclusive question leading to another. You can also do this yourself when experimenting with words.

This couplet, no matter where you read it, is left open-ended. You can do it this way or set couplets to conclusions on a good note for the reader, such as this one.

There Was

Only one beginning when God created the world,

when he created man and woman.

Only one God, one Jesus,

but billions of wanna-be’s.

Only one us,

but even us, doesn’t last forever.

But it is the end of the world,

only as I know it.

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There are also formula pieces that require some thought. Here are two different variations.

The first I call:

A Cryptic Poem

Never accept

except

when asked

asked by whom

whom no one knows

knows what

what are you talking about.

I will never tell you.

Never.

That one holds no punctuation except the last three lines, yet each line connects in a cryptic form of explanation, with the end stand-alone line leaving the reader to ponder over any form of mystery or message that may be underneath the content. But is there a mystery there? What do you see from reading this yourself?

This next one can either be the hardest or easiest form to write. Many have been written by Prosers here. It is called an Acrostic. Take any word and write a piece that will encompass that word in your prose.

This is called:

A Greeting

Honoring the traditional greeting,

Engaging in the simple form of speech,

Let the meeting of each letter begin,

Lest we forget that very first word,

Of which begins each line you read.

And if you did read the first letter to each line, then I can but say, “Hello.”

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This is something I have enjoyed doing many times over, and it is also a great way to become familiar with your Dictionary and/or Thesaurus. I call it Alphabet Poetry, but in fact it is known as free-thought verse. The difficulty scale is much higher than normal free verse.

I have done all 26 letters of the alphabet this way.

As with the two examples below, create a piece based on any single letter of the alphabet. The prime challenge is to have 10 lines, between 18-25 words, which includes the title.

From beginning to end, every word starts with the same letter and should connect making perfect sense.

Therefore, you need to be familiar with your Dictionary and Thesaurus. In doing these, this will also help you to extend your vocabulary knowledge and usage.

Writing with W’s

Wages wagered,

wasted wantonly.

Wealth’s weariness

weaves weird welcome’s.

Weighing welchers

whining whispers,

wishy-washy wisecracks

withstanding world woe;

watcher winners, win.

Running R’s

Romance runs rampant,

reacting readily,

realizing reality,

recalls rectitude;

reflecting romantic

reincarnations,

resounding respect,

riding rhythm’s riches,

remembered.

If nothing else, these are good writing exercises to help you think before you simply jot down a few words. It allows you to ponder and think more heavily (or lightly) when starting any piece of work.

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Next is the Sonnet, or “Sonetto”, an Italian word meaning, “a little sound or song”. A sonnet is a poem, often a love poem, of 14 rhyming lines. The origin makes sense, since the Italian poet Petrarch developed the first sonnets. But the sonnet form we are most familiar with today is Shakespearean.

This is a classical form that has been used for centuries and is well used to this day as rhyme; but understand, not every piece written today is done in rhyme. Rhyme is left mainly to song lyrics, rap music, and greeting cards. But a bit later, we will get into a formula of rap poetry but in a different context than what you may have learned, or you think you know.

Here is one sonnet, written in a 14-line poem and adheres to a tightly structured thematic organization. Most sonnets are considered almost Shakespearean by nature. Watch how, as you read, this piece begins with a question, then proceeds to answer it in the lines that follows. This is by William Shakespeare. (Not one portion of spelling or grammar have been altered)

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou are more lovely and more temperate.

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May.

And summer’s lese hath all to short a date.

Sometime too hot the eye heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimmed;

And every fair from fair sometimes declines,

By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;

By they eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest,

Nor shall death brag thou wanderest in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou growest.

So long as men can breath or eyes can see,

So long lives this and gives life to thee.

Notice if you will, how the couplets are entwined and how the quatrain follows accordingly (a quatrain is a stanza or poem consisting of four lines that follow one another)? Also note, each line begins with a capital letter, which also, in this day and age, is not always done and/or required (usually requested by publishers of literary magazines); the same hold true with rhyme.

Take out some time for yourself, to write your own sonnet. Each sentence: 10 syllables. Try the first sentence as a place you know well. Connect the second line and continue to write of this place you know. The third line: what is it you are trying to say about this place, and a fourth line: try to make the last word rhyme with the last word in sentence two. If that isn’t possible, try changing words until the last words of lines 2 and 4 rhyme.

Remember, the sonnet is 14 lines, so the next set of four, lines 6 and 8 should rhyme. The next set, 10 and 12 should rhyme. The final two lines 13 and 14 must rhyme. As you write about this place, ask yourself why you picked it, why is it interesting.

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Onward and upward and now a little bit of rap.

A little history.

In the 1970’s, inspired by DJ Kool Herc (One of the first rappers at the beginning of the hip hop period), Afrika Bambaataa created a street organization called Universal Zulu Nation, centered around hip hop as a means to draw teenagers out of gang life, drugs and violence.

The first hip hop record is widely regarded to be The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight”, from 1979. However, much controversy surrounds this assertion as some regard “King Tim III (Personality Jock)” by The Fatback Band, which was released a few weeks before “Rapper’s Delight”, as a rap record. (I put this here because controversy is part of what writing is about.)

Gangsta Rap: The genre evolved from hardcore rap into a distinct form, pioneered in the mid-1980s by rappers such as Schoolly D and Ice-T, and was popularized in the later part of the 1980s by groups like N.W.A.

These are a few of the innovators who made rap what it has come to be today: The musical innovations of pioneering rappers, such as Run DMC, LL Cool J, Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, Eminem and Queen Latifah, helped spark the fire for rap to grow into the hot genre that it is today. Browse through a collection of famous rappers who have influenced the hip-hop scene.

As you have read, rap alone is closely recognized by the music industry and has grown by leaps and bounds over the last 45 years. Rap has rhythm, but it also has a story to tell, and that story is what you create, what you want it to become. Going into the 21st Century, rap has had a major influence on young people and those up into their thirties to even forties. But it isn’t because of rap music itself, but primarily because of how and what the writer exposes in words, and its rawness of generations past, and of the now, and for those here to fight the good fight.

You may be scratching your head asking yourself, so what’s the difference between hip-hop and rap. One common understanding is that hip-hop is a culture, and rapping is one of four elements contained therein—the others being break-dancing, DJing and graffiti. Today, with the other elements not appearing as prominently as they once did, it’s been easy to combine the two together.

Herein is the best version I could come up with on my own.

I Ain’t What I Am Not

I am a marked man,

until the day I die,

I never asked for this

but I’ll always ask myself why

I let myself go as far as I did,

when could have been stopped,

and said I ain’t gonna take it,

you can’t make me break it

for I’m a man tool proud to lay down,

so leave me alone, don’t come back around

and let me live my life as I was born,

seething inside with a flaming scorn;

hating the haters who think they know,

and they don’t have the money for another blo’,

but I keep up the façade I have written,

lust for the lie has been all but bitten,

greed makes a killer of us all,

and it’s just a matter of time,

when we all take that final fall,

but I’m tellin’ you like I’m standin’ here,

of death I have no fear,

but it be the livin’, doin’, and bein’

that scares me the most;

and when judgement day hits,

I welcome the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Rap poetry and music is about pace and timing. Here, you find several commas to give a slight pause (think 1,001, 1,002 etc.). Rap poetry is read quickly with an evocative voice, one of power and emotion, even anger if called for to bring out the expression of the piece.

Rap poetry is often read at poetry slams/jams, and refers to popular cultural areas like music, politics, war, discrimination, and a variety of other emotional concerns.

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Another form of poetry is story prose. Think of it as if reading a story to yourself. You can also call this descriptive dialogue as well. Pieces such as these are fun and entertaining and can often draw out many forms of story prose from your memories or current settings.

Story prose is also considered free verse. For the sake of being different, there are no capital letters anywhere in the following piece, which is also an acceptable formula.

i been to heaven

en i jest got back from there,

well, ’bout a hunnert years or so;

ya ’see, i kain’t member the before,

en i only knows i been to heaven,

for the bible tells me so.

i lived me a good life,

had nine chill’ren and a fine wife,

did what the bible said to do,

work hard, raise crops,

raise family, en praise heaven.

every sunday we have family night,

read the gospel en keep our faith tight,

fo’ it tells me to do what’s right,

en believe in the lord,

en stay filled with the spirit of the word.

years have come en gone,

chill’ren growed, the mrs.;

well, she’s gone on,

but i knows i see her soon;

for my time’s a-comin’, sunday, high-noon.

en somewhere out there with days yet to be,

i’ll be back to do it all again;

and some things ain’t gonna be the same,

but living the word on this here earth,

makes me proud I been to heaven.

This next one is free prose with and without rhyme.

No Cross to Bare

I do not bleed as did He.

I wear not thorns that scar.

I have no one to weep for me.

I have no scornful mocking’s.

I am not as strong as He,

nor will I ever be.

My pain is from a different sin.

His was love for humanity.

Mine, the love of a woman.

I have wronged

and been wronged.

I have caused suffering

and have suffered.

What is the plight of my hell?

Surely heaven will hold me

and friends will thus greet me.

All I have done will be forfeit;

for in the long run,

His strength sees me through.

If heaven closes before me,

I hope someone will know that I tried.

Tried to be right.

Tried to keep honor.

Tried to love.

Those are my sins, my scars.

If turned away,

I will fight away the flames from hell.

My courage and faith will be all I have left.

If you notice with this one, the intermingling of two separate thought patterns conjoined. He, as in Jesus, of course, and the self and what they feel and wondering what Jesus may have felt when crucified.

This is one of the things I love about free prose, it allows you to explore a wide range of possibilities in your writing.

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Next is what is known as a Tritina. I have found this to be one of the more difficult pieces to write as it takes a great deal of thought and patience. The lines are grouped into three tercets and a concluding line. Hence, a Tritina has ten lines.

The final movement comes from repeated end words. Here, you will learn a simple format of 1-2-3, 3-2-1, and 2-3-1.

The following, written by Jackson Taylor is: Give, Give Until You Say Goodbye.

The home I left beloved, was beloved. (1)

An apartment with windows on three sides. (2)

Eighteen! My first home! Lucky! New York City! (3)

I took her into the view of the city. (3)

At twenty-three, lustful and blind besides. (2)

Tasting love, cutting keep, your beloved. (1)

Marriage so deep it gripped my hot insides. (2)

A couple, now one, forever our city. (3)

One home, one lease, one love, my beloved. (1)

Beloved sides of this city, I love. (1, 2, 3)

But this portioned love, and now no longer young. (1)

She stole east and I went west.

Two sides, our beloved city in between. (2, 3)

I added the last stanza to this just to see how the relationship would work.

As you can see from the original, the tenth line in this Tritina, has the end words again back in original order.

A single line can be long as you want,

choosing ten syllables or shorter words.

Procrastinate or hesitate, which one?

(Each of the three lines are 10 syllables in length.)

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Now, we move on to the last one.

The following can always be a fun one to do. The Pyramid Poem or an alliteration.

Technically, A pyramid poem is a sound poem of four lines where the first line has one word, the second line two words, and so on. Each word in the poem must begin with the same sound.

For example:

Pepper

Pickled Pepper

Picked Pickled Pepper

Picked Pickled Pepper Pecks

But, in this case, I would like you to try something slightly different (and no, I’m not saying not to do the one above. Though I encourage you to give it a try.)

Write a poem that is ten lines long, not counting the title. The first line begins with 10 syllables, and one less syllable for each line afterward until the last line is one syllable. You should have a total of 55 syllables when completed.

Here is an example:

Listen

Hear the winds as they blow across mountains,

listen closely to rivers and streams,

their surface glistening like silver,

as the sun shines, giving life,

as nature’s wildlife stirs;

no man-made sound heard,

but the world wakes,

in pureness,

constant,

love.

What makes this particularly interesting, is that if you read it from the bottom to top, you get a whole different poem.

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I leave you this:

Constant Poet

When words are connected,

explaining what is;

each reader becomes involved

in understanding the what if.

Is and if,

small words,

both, attached to dreams, to hopes;

allowing possibilities to open new worlds.

What is to dream, is to hope.

If dreams fade,

if hope, destroyed,

possibilities are destroyed.

Is and if,

powerful words.

Continue forth constant poet,

Continue, and become.

Take a listen to Robert Frost’s: The Road Not Taken: https://youtu.be/ebfcZTl-uys

Before we get started, there is a correction I need to make from Phase Five which occurred right near the end. It is about The Pyramid Poem or as I called it, an alliteration.That was incorrect. It is actually called an Etheree. MY apologies.

There is much to cover this time around.

Plot, pace, conflict and plot, suspension of disbelief; then on to dialogue, how to create an effective writing voice. From there we move on to characters and their positions in story lines. Then the elements of fiction.

There will also be a somewhat lengthy discussion for you about author intrusion and how to spot it when it happens, how to correct this to have an even better storyline. Then, we will close with a few tips to spice up your writing.

I hope you have your mental track shoes on. Let’s get started!

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The Plot

The plot is the sequence of events in a story. It has five sections: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

Exposition: The first stage of the plot in which you, as the writer, introduce the setting, character’s, and conflicts, and provide whatever background information is necessary to the story.

Rising Action: The next stage is in which the tension of the story builds. Complications increase the conflict, and the action moves toward the climax.

Climax: This is the point of the highest tension and greatest interest for the reader. The climax is usually the turning point in the story.

Falling Action: This follows the climax in which tensions eases to the resolutions.

Resolution: The final stage of the plot, containing the outcome of the conflict or conflicts, and the conclusion of the story.

To narrow this down even tighter, plot is structure, and structure is what keeps the reader’s interest.

Keep in mind, a story is a sequence of events, one right after another. Whereas; the plot engages the imagination, keeping the reader, reading. As a writer, your object ball is to tell (write) stories and weave plots.

Most genre fiction: detective, romance, westerns, adventure, mystery, horror, sci-fi/fantasy, etc.; are dependent on plots.

For example: A screenplay, William Goldman said, “Is all structure. To write a screenplay, you need to develop a facility for plotting and a strong sense of structure.”

Plotting is the construction of the beginning, middle, and end.

Aristotle described it as, “Complication, crisis, and resolution.”

Fairy tales and biblical stories are structured this way. So are such novels as ‘Presumed Innocent’, by Scott Turow, and ‘Pride and Prejudice’, by Jane Austen.

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Beginning, Middle and End

Not all writer’s write this way. John Irving prefers endings with a sense of aftermath, of dust settling, of epilogue. Knowing how it all comes out for him, must come first. (And this is something I believe in because it helps me to work my way towards that ending instead of trying to see an ending never imagined beforehand.)

Writer’s such as Norman Mailer (‘The Executioner’s Song’), and John Cheever (‘Wipshot Chronicle’ and ‘Wipshot Scandal’), both agree that plot is unimportant to them. Mailer was once quoted, “Plot implies narrative and a lot of crap.” If you read either of their work, you will still find a semblance of plot.

Kurt Vonnegut (‘Stalag 13’) disagrees with Mailer and Cheever. “Without a good old-fashioned plot, the reader is without a sense of satisfaction.”

If you know how it begins, and like the ending you may already have, then the fun begins by filling in the middle. Don’t be surprised the closer you find yourself to your idea for a finish—changes. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.

There is no harm, no foul when it comes to writing, if what you write has a plot, strong description and strong characters, a solid beginning and ending to satisfy the reader.

Pace, Conflict & Plot

Pacing a good piece of writing is akin to a ride on a roller coaster. The highlights may be the big “whoosh” on the way down, or the dizzying loops on the new monsters on the midway. Half the fun is the anticipation, that slow clacking sound up to the apex, where spines begin to tingle, breathing stalls, and hearts pound. (Could you feel yourself there for just a moment?)

In your story, you need to incorporate changes of pace. Slower periods allow the reader to get their bearings. Just be sure to provide enough tension and buildup so the reader doesn’t lose interest. That halting trip on the roller coaster to the top may be the slowest part of the ride, but no one is getting off because they are bored.

Conflict is the engine of the story. Conflict makes the story move, makes the reader wonder what happens next.

Any obstacle has the potential to cause conflict. You have a job interview, but both the car battery and your cell phone are dead; what are you going to do? That’s conflict. Conflict is crucial, and it is indispensable.

Conflict creates tension. Two people strive for the same goal. One is sympathetic, while the other is ruthless.

Plot ideas work in two ways:

1) Outline of your story

2) Don’t outline and write

Myself, I have written over 400 short stories during my lifetime, based on what I have heard, read about, or just ideas that pop into my head, depending where I am at the time, and what is going on around me. Other times, I get an idea based off what other writer’s write, or what they say about their own writing (therefore to be a good writer, you should read other writer’s). I am also in the same contrasting style as Dean Koontz and Stephen King.

Stephen King, in his book, ‘On Writing’, stated that plot is overrated. He’s of the school that dreams up interesting people and situations and then follows that action. For me, I see it as far better to follow the story than try to contrive it.

Hemmingway (one of my favorite writer’s), was an expert at allowing his readers to discover the story. He would start a scene with something like, “The woman …”,

knowing full well we have no idea who she is, but, we want to know. The setting and the conflict gradually take shape, and we learn what we need as we go. From the dialogue, we would discover the woman is grieving in death, and we further discover additional details along the way. Hemingway made readers feel as if they were an integral part of the whole deal.

Give the reader enough to stay curious but let them try to figure out for themselves those things before them on each page. Don’t show and tell every little thing right away.

Suspension of Disbelief

Samuel Taylor Coleridge asked his reader’s, “that willing to suspension of disbelief for the moment that constitutes poetic faith.” In other words, readers are to temporarily choose not to believe what might otherwise trip up the logical mind.

Readers won’t stick around very long with a story that rings false.

In Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien, creates trolls, wizards, and monsters with such conviction that we accept the premise of Middle-Earth. Just as we accepted J.K. Rowling’s fantasy of Harry Potter, defeating evil with magic.

Cliffhangers can work at times, and usually only if you are doing a series of books with characters who remain intact throughout the series. But say perhaps after book four, you decide to kill off or drop a character because you believe it will add drama and more interest to your readers—think again before doing so. If your character becomes one of the beloved by readers, you would be doing them a disservice by removing a character they have followed from day one, and you would not only lose a following, but any book in a series that would follow, wouldn’t have the same readership impact. Thus, when sales go down, your publisher may very well cut the cord with you.

If in fact you want to get rid of a character, then do so in a way that leads the reader to gradually understand the circumstances behind it (ongoing cancer battle, possible bullet wound that is life threatening, older person who has a history of heart problems, etc.) but build to it, don’t just start a chapter by saying, David Jones died yesterday, and Brad Smith replaced him as the head honcho of the 123rd Precinct in New York City.

Especially if David Jones had been what we call the main protagonist (good guy) in the first four or five books. And if you do it that way, fill your reader in a follow up by doing a backflash. Backflash’s work well for something like that. Have Brad Smith at his desk saying something like, “Seems like yesterday when Dave and I graduated from the Academy together,” and have Brad tell the story of David’s death. A good flashback can save many a writer’s career.

About Dialogue

With your characters, one way to know whether the dialogue is working, is by making sure it matches each person’s personality. Often, adults speak in a formal way. Other people, such as your friends, speak in a casual way.

Here are three main things dialogue can do. Each example shows with and without dialogue.

1) Show something about a speaker’s personality.

A) I was mad. How could I get along without TV?

B) “What?” I asked. “No television! I don’t think I can survive without it.”

2) Add details.

A) I knew I would miss Sunday afternoon football.

B) I looked at dad and asked, “Dad, what about Sunday afternoon football?”

3) Keep the action moving.

A) I knew I would miss Sunday afternoon football.

B) Once we got back in the house, Dad said, “I have a surprise.”

When you plan dialogue, think about what the people in your story have said, or will say to each other. Make your dialogue sound real.

Also, focus on traits. Voice your writing voice is like your own fingerprint. It belongs to only you. When you write with your natural voice, your story will be interesting and believable.

Writing that has voice, sounds as exciting as a real conversation. As one writer put it, “Writing with a real voice has the power to make you pay attention.” (Laura K. Hamilton – author of Anita Blake—Vampire Hunter series.)

Voice is what makes you want to read every book your favorite author wrote.

How to Create an Effective Writing Voice

Make your voice fit your purpose. Your writing style should sound like it fits your purpose. There are four basic purposes of writing:

Descriptive Voice: A good descriptive voice sounds interested. The easiest way to improve on your descriptive voice is to follow this rule: Show, don’t tell.

Narrative Voice: A good narrative voice sounds natural and personal. Your narrative writing should sound like you are telling a story to a friend.

Expository Voice: An effective expository voice uses interesting and specific details.

First Example: The Rocky Mountains stretch through most of North America.

Second Example (with specifics): The Rocky Mountains stretch almost 2,000 miles from northern Mexico through the western part of the United States and Canada into eastern Alaska. The Rockies include more than 100 mountain ranges. At 14,433 feet, Mt. Elbert near Leadville, Colorado, is the highest point in the Rocky Mountain chain.

Persuasive Voice: A voice that sounds positive, not negative.

Characters:

This can be people, animals, plants, inanimate objects, or even machines that act or speak in a story. The word character also refers to the personality of individuals.

Characterization:

This is the method by which a writer develops a character’s personality. There are five:

1) Describing a character’s physical appearance.

2) Showing the character’s actions.

3) Revealing the character’s thoughts and speech.

4) Showing what other characters think and say about the character.

5) Telling the reader directly what the writer thinks of the character.

Character Traits:

They are distinguishing qualities of the character. Character traits may be external such as red hair and green eyes. Or internal, such as shyness or courage.

Direct Characterization:

Facts about a character that are stated outright in the story.

Flat Characters:

Minor characters in a story. A flat character usually has one dominant character trait.

Round Characters:

These are complex characters because the writer gives them character traits. Main characters in a story are usually round.

Static Characters:

These are characters that remain the same throughout the story. Although things happen to them, nothing happens within them.

Dynamic Characters:

The main characters who are changed by actions or certain circumstances in the story. They gain wisdom and develop new understanding from their experiences.

Characters come alive when they say and do things. As soon as a character acts or speaks, the plot, the sequence of events in a story begins to develop. When we examine a plot, you notice it involves cause-and-effect relationships, because each event in a story leads to another event. Plot, therefore, includes not only events and actions, but also the ways in which events are related.

At the center of every plot is conflict … a struggle or tension between opposing forces. You have encountered conflicts if you have ever solved a difficult problem, then decide which course of action to take, or say, competed in a race.

A story unfolds through several stages of plot. The first five stages are already outlined.

Now here, I want you to understand first and third person point of view (POV) when writing. This should be simple to understand, but if you become confused when writing, you can refer to these simple definitions.

First Person: This is a vantage point in which the narrator (you), is a character in the story who tells of the events and actions he or she experiences or understands them. The narrator uses the “I” vantage point to tell what happens.

Third Person: Also known as the omniscient POV, in which the narrator (you) sees into the minds of all the characters and knows their thoughts and emotions. Nothing escapes the narrator’s understanding.

Elements of Fiction

Writers use specific terms to talk about the parts of a story. In the following list are words that will help you talk about the stories you write and read.

Action: The action is everything that happens in the story.

Antagonist: This is basically the bad guy or girl, who basically fights against the hero known as the protagonist.

Conflict: Conflict is a problem or challenge for the characters. There are five basic types.

1) Person to person: Two characters having opposite goals.

2) Person to society: A character has a problem with a group of people.

3) Person to himself/herself: A character has an inner struggle.

4) Person to nature: A character must battle an element of nature.

5) Person to fate: A character faces something he/she cannot control.

Dialogue: Refers to the words characters speak to each other in a story.

Mood: It is the feeling a reader gets from the story—happy, sad, scared, etc.

Moral: In a lesson the writer (may) want the reader to learn from the story, such as ‘The Boy Who cried Wolf’. If you tell lies all the time, no one will believe you when you tell the truth.

Narrator: This is the one who tells the story. It can be a central character of your own, or it could be yourself. In a story titled ‘Bunnicula’ (a children’s book series), a dog named Harold tells a story. Hence, Harold is the narrator, even though he is a dog.

Plot: This is the action or series of events that make up the story. Most plots have four parts—Beginning, Rising Action, High Point, and Ending.

Point of View: or POV, is the angle from which a story is told.

A) A story told by the main character uses first-person. Such as, “I decided that drinking and driving was bad for me, so I quit driving, and since then, I haven’t spilled a drop on me.”

B) A story told by a narrator uses third-person. Such as; Jim decided to quit drinking and driving. As far as he could tell, Jim knew it was a better idea. He stopped spilling drinks on him at 90 m.p.h.

Protagonist: As mentioned above this is the hero who goes up against the bad guy (antagonist).

Setting: This is the time and place of the story.

Theme: This is the main message of the story. One theme, ‘Gone with the Wind’, was the struggle between the North and South. Another was the burning of Atlanta. These are sub-themes where as the main theme was Rhett Butler and Scarlett. As stories go, one said, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.” And the other said, “Tomorrow is another day.” The word ‘damn’ is also a theme, for it set not just a future theme in other films, but also a tone in dialogue. The word, ’damn, was the first curse word used in the motion picture industry at that time (1939). Films and television have come a long way since then.

Tone: And speaking about tone, tone is the feeling the author creates in a story. It could be funny, serious, romantic, angry, etc.

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There can never be a right or wrong place to put something when it comes to a teaching tool. Hence, I want to interject a piece of subject matter I find very crucial to any writer on any given level.

Author Intrusions:

Author intrusions are story anomalies, oddities, where the writer has projected his/herself into the fictional world.

These intrusions show up as events or knowledge or words that don’t fit the story. Or, to look at intrusions in a different way, consider them places where the writer hasn’t sufficiently covered his/her tracks.

In fiction, any time the reader sees a trace of the writer imposed upon the story world or bleeding through the fiction, that writer has intruded—stepped into a place she doesn’t belong.

Intrusion is distracting. It’s interruptive. It’s annoying.

Author intrusion upsets the rhythms of a story. It upsets the readers. Author intrusion upsets characters who must adapt to the anomaly.

If one character starts spouting off in favor of the writer’s pet crusade, other characters must respond—even if the topic has nothing to do with these characters or their plot. Or, if the writer knows characters shouldn’t respond because the first character shouldn’t be espousing such a viewpoint, he/she may have other characters ignore what Character One is saying. And this creates additional problems. Characters should have a response to what others do and say. When they don’t, story ties are loosened to the point of becoming unraveled. The pattern of action/reaction is broken. The story loses cohesion.

A tip to remember about intruders is that they are not welcome. Would you rather your readers were moved by your story or ticked off because you plopped yourself into the middle of it?

Readers come to fiction for the characters’ stories, for the make-believe that they can imagine is real. They don’t come to novels for a writer’s opinions.

Of course, not all author intrusion is about a pet cause or the author’s stand on an issue:

1) When a character suddenly sounds unlike himself for reasons having nothing to do with the plot.

2) When a character reveals knowledge he couldn’t or shouldn’t have, not necessarily about story events but general knowledge of the world.

3) When a setting is burdened with details that “only a specialist” (or a writer who overdid the research) would know.

4) When characters speak as though they all have MFA degrees.

5) When the plot is about a novice writer trying to pen a bestseller.

6) When the writer has intruded into the story and left her mark (and this is the most damaging).

Identify Author Intrusion

Author intrusion can be difficult for writers to see because we’re used to our own opinions and knowledge; it’s part of us and we don’t usually see anything wrong with it. Seeing our opinions in others would not jar us.

To clearly see and evaluate a story as something independent of us, we must separate ourselves from our stories. Step back and study them dispassionately. The ability to do this takes practice and the willingness to distance oneself from one’s creation, is a task especially difficult for beginning writers. Experienced writers should be doing this distancing as a matter of course as they create.

So, how can we identify author intrusion? Give yourself the distance I just mentioned byputting the manuscript aside for a while. When you get away from a manuscript, think about other tasks and/or work on other stories. This way, you create the distance necessary to come back to a story as a reader would, to see it with fresh eyes. When you’ve been away long enough and, if you’re not writing to deadline, I’m talking weeks and not days here … author intrusion will be obvious when you come back to the story.

You can also listen to your beta readers you may have. If they tell you they see your hand or hear your voice in a scene, believe them and cut out the author intrusion.

Another option is to do an editing pass solely to find examples of your opinions and your pet words in the manuscript. You know your social views and your favorite buzzwords. Look for them in your stories. If they don’t fit the character and the story, yank those words out. Your books will be stronger for being whole unto themselves, fiction adventures free of your real-world presence.

Look for words that you, the writer, would use in places where readers should find only words the character would use.

Knowledge that the writer, rather than the character would possess: names of plants or flowers, or animals or birds; names of body parts; sports trivia, history, and the workings of mechanical objects or technology; knowledge beyond what a person of the story era would logically have; knowledge beyond a character’s education, or station, or age, or experience.

Characters of the opposite sex—relative to the writer—who sound like characters of the writer’s same sex.

Phrasing and rhythms that the writer, rather than the character would use.

Sensibilities, mindset, or a worldview common to the writer’s era but which should be foreign or unknown to characters in the story.

Those items that a character notices (visually or in the words or actions of other characters) should be things that the character—because of his background or history or training, would notice. If he wouldn’t notice something, no matter how cool that something is, but he does notice and goes on and on about it, that’s author intrusion. That’s a writer including some fact he discovered, because he/she found it fascinating, even when the inclusion doesn’t fit the story.

Author intrusion can be subtle or grossly obvious. But if you aren’t careful, it will be there.

Author Opinion

If every character has the same political, religious, or social stand and those stands match those of the writer, the author has intruded into the story.

An author who gives all characters the same stance doesn’t yet know her characters as individuals, doesn’t care to make her characters independent of her, or doesn’t understand that story conflict arises from the differences between characters.

When most characters hold the same opinion and a writer makes a dissenting character look especially ignorant or clown-like because of his stance, the writer is revealing her own opinion and most likely using her story to pursue a personal agenda.

While the writer may be pitting the independent character against all others to show how strong he is and that he can prevail, the writer who makes a dissenting character look like a fool often wants to put down rather than champion the opinion put forth by that character, especially regarding political, religious, and social issues.

Author Research

Author intrusion comes in when a writer has so researched a topic or issue that she can’t resist adding some of her knowledge to a story, whether the characters would pursue or know the same information.

Keep in mind that familiarity and general knowledge are not equal to specialized knowledge. A character can own a car and not know how it runs. And a time-traveler going to the past might be able to talk about the wonders of the future but not be able to explain how those wonders work or how they were invented.

And for those who know me, I have often said, research what you do not know. Guessing won’t help you in the least bit.

Author Word Choices

Author intrusion can come into a story with word choices. Some writers like to “pretty-up” their prose, add a dash of the poetic or use fancy words in place of cheap, everyday words. Now, if your character uses the fancy words all the time, that’s one thing. When he or she only waxes poetic once or twice over the course of a novel—and it’s not done for a plot reason (such as making another character laugh)—then the author’s hand is obvious.

Writers often add a flourish to a character when they think they’ve been too earthy or common or just plain normal with their words. But if your characters are earthy or common or normal, let their words reflect their personalities. Don’t introduce purple prose or fancy words or intricate sentence constructions when the common serves the character, the scene, the story, and the genre.

Any time a reader can see the writers: word choice, preaching or teaching, a character who doesn’t speak or act as he should, setting details that overwhelm (because the writer couldn’t hold back after researching for days), then the author has stuck a toe, a finger, a fist, or even his mind into the fiction. This intrusion distracts, draws readers away from the fiction and toward the mechanics and/or the author.

Note: Author intrusion is not an all-knowing narrator sharing his knowledge, knowledge that no one else in the story has. An omniscient narrator can know everything. But an omniscient narrator who sounds like the writer trying to teach a history lesson or preach a sermon is author intrusion.

Author intrusion is also not the skills, the special knowledge, and the personal style that a writer brings to story to give it richness and distinction. Author intrusion only becomes a problem when those skills, knowledge, and style point outside the story and toward the writer rather than drawing readers inward to the fiction.

You Can Fix Author Intrusion

Remove traces of the author by replacing his/her words (your words), with words and phrases common to and appropriate for the characters, and by cutting out references to knowledge a character couldn’t possess.

Give characters their own personalities, personalities that are strong and independent enough to stand against the author’s will and interests.

Use setting details to color and empower a scene, not drown it under facts no matter how fascinating that have no bearing on the story.

Finally, your personality, your skills—your heart and hands and mind, will be all over your writing projects. Just don’t let the reader see the evidence of your touch. No footsteps, no fingerprints, or stray hairs. Don’t let readers catch you running around the corner just ahead of them. Don’t let them feel you peering over their shoulders, nudging them into noticing your excellent phrasing or pithy remarks.

Do your work without leaving physical evidence of your passage through the adventure. Let a reader imagine he’s the first human outsider to walk through your settings and fiction, the first to love and fear and laugh with your characters. Make it an adventure for the mind.

Here are a few tips to spice up your writing.

You can develop a lively writing style by using some special effects. For example: you can add dialogue to your stories to make them more personal and natural.

Exaggeration: Starting something that goes beyond the truth to make a point (works well in descriptive and narrative writing).

Example: The giraffe peeked over the clouds and spotted the missing balloon.

Idiom: Using a word to mean something different from its usual or dictionary meaning.

Examples: Julian got up and said, “I’m cutting out.” (cutting meaning leaving)

Ray said he’d buy the bike sight unseen. (meaning without seeing it first)

Metaphor: (I met a five once but never metaphor.) Metaphors are comparing two things without using the words like or as.

Examples: Dad’s temper was a pot boiling over. The cruise ship was a floating hotel.

Personification: Given human qualities to nonhuman beings/things.

Example: The wind whispers through the trees. (the verb whispers describe a human activity.)

Sensory Details: Details that help the reader to see, hear, smell, taste, or touch what is being described. Sound familiar to you?

Example: The soft black kitten purred quietly as I cuddled her in my arms.

Simile: Comparing two things using the words—like or as.

Examples: A cold lemonade refreshes me just as a dip in the pool does.

In track meets, Ellie, runs like a deer.

Writing Terms

Audience: The people who hear and read your writing.

Dialogue: Written conversations between two or more people.

Focus Statement: A sentence telling the specific part of a topic the writer will concentrate on.

Point of View: The angle or viewpoint (POV) from which the story is told.

Purpose: The main reason for writing—to describe, to narrate, to explain, to persuade.

Style: The way a writer puts words, phrases, and sentences together.

Supporting Details: Specific details used to develop a topic or bring a story to life.

Theme: A main idea or message of a piece of writing.

Topic: The specific subject of a piece of writing.

Topic Sentence: The sentence that expresses the main idea of a paragraph.

Transition: A word or phrases that ties ideas together in paragraphs and sentences.

Voice: The tone or feeling a writer uses to express ideas.

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You may be wondering why certain words are continually repeated as well as their definition. Repetition is a useful key word. It will help you understand more and become an even better writer than you are now.

In the next xhapter, more good stuff. Stuff. I like that word—stuff.

Anyone remember this: https://youtu.be/MvgN5gCuLac

This time, we cover the following:

About the who, what, when, where and why—and how.

The Beginning, Middle and End.

Revision and Editing

I will also put here an easy way for you to check on your story, or health of what you write. A rubric chart of sorts.

But before we begin, I want to touch over about killing off characters in story lines.

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What to do with a character in your book when you plan to kill them off

There are good reasons to do so, and there are bad reasons to do so. The kick is which one is more important to you.

The following are points of information you can refer to as your checklist.

Good Reasons

It advances the plot.

It fulfills the doomed characters role or personal goal.

It motivates other characters.

It is a fitting recompense for the character’s action up to this point.

It emphasizes the theme.

It creates realism in the story.

It removes an extraneous character.

Bad Reasons

Shock readers just for the sake of shocking them.

(Shock value without its value, but not every author is Alfred Hitchcock and not every story is “Psycho”.)

Making readers sad just for the sake of making them sad.

(don’t buy into the adage” if they cry, they’ll buy”. Readers don’t appreciate being tortured without good reason.)

Removing an extraneous character.

(And if this is the case, ask yourself if he really needed to be in the story to begin with.)

A Final Consideration Before You Kill a Character

Now that we have a grip on what makes a character’s death work within a story—and what’s sure to make it fail—we next have to consider what could end up being a crucial reason not to kill your character.

Every character in a story should be there for a specific reason. He’s there to enact a specific function. If he doesn’t enact that function, then you have to question his purpose in the story. And if he does fill a role within your story, then ask yourself this: Who’s gonna fill that role if you kill him off?

Dramatica authors: Melanie Anne Phillips and Chris Huntley explain:

Unless the functions represented by the discontinued player reappear in another player, however, part of the story’s argument will disappear at the point the original drops out. In the attempt to surprise an audience by killing off a major player, many an author has doomed an otherwise functional story form.

How to Kill a Character: A Checklist

Lucky for our sadistic little souls, roles and archetypes can shift from character to character or be shared by several characters. In short: when a character dies off, his death doesn’t have to mean his role will be left vacant for the rest of the story.

With all this knowledge in mind, here’s a quickie checklist for figuring out if you can get away with murder:

You have scrutinized the list of good reasons to kill off a character.

You have identified one of the reasons as being present in your plot (or come up with a new good reason).

You have identified what role and archetype your character fills in your story.

You have created and positioned another character(s) to fill the hole left in your story by the doomed character’s death.

Or … Your story ends in a thematically satisfying way that doesn’t require the character’s role to be perpetuated.

Sometimes the death of a character can raise an ordinary story into something special. If you can justify a character’s death, then go for it.

So what way is the best way?

Best way? As in the goriest? The quietest? The most sensational? The bloodiest? The most satisfying to the killer? Drown them, electrocute them in the tub, push them off a cliff, put a pillow over their mouths. Don’t know if you would consider any of those ‘best’. It’s all going to hinge on your story, who the victim is, who the killer is, what the motive is, and how much trouble you want to cause for the killer.

Stabbing is a messy business. It is much cleaner to use a gun. But then be careful that your character doesn’t get gunshot residue on their hands or clothes. And guns are noisy. Yeah, I know ... use a silencer, but really how many angry wives or husbands have a silencer handy? (And honestly, a silencer isn’t all that silent in real life.) You could always hit them over the head out by the pool with a huge block of ice. Throw the ice in the pool and let the weapon melt.

Impact

There are a lot of reasons authors are driven to kill off a character. Sometimes it’s for emotional impact, sometimes it’s central to the plot, and sometimes it just feels natural.

Where you kill a character in your narrative depends on the purpose of their death.

There’s no too early or too late, just appropriate times for different purposes. If the purpose is to cause an emotional reaction then it’s often more impactful for the reader to get to know a character first. On the other hand if the purpose is to establish a sense of danger then a character can die on the first page.

Characters should be killed off at the moment when the purpose of their demise will be most impactful. In John Steinbeck’s, Of Mice and Men, the heart breaking death occurs in the last few pages, once we know and perhaps love the victim, hammering home the idea of poverty leaving people helpless and hopeless. In Robert Kirkman’s, The Walking Dead Deaths, frequently occur without warning, establishing the vital theme that the characters are never safe.

Pretty much any purpose can be valid, and can be written brilliantly, so long as it obeys one simple rule:

Write the death for the character, not the character for the death.

Character deaths ring untrue when it’s apparent to the reader that the character is only in the story to die. This most often happens when an author wants to justify a threat, including a character for the first quarter of the novel just so they can be killed by the primary antagonist.

Of course authors have to think about function (it’s not as if Steinbeck started writing George and Lenny’s adventures without knowing their tragic end) but you can’t stop there. If characters are solely around for their deaths, then readers will never invest in them and won’t care once they’re gone.

If a character is going to die, then they need to be unique and well realized. A good rule of thumb is your own reluctance to kill them. If you consider a character’s death and hesitate because part of you wants to keep them around, then you’re onto a winner.

The best character deaths are heart wrenching for the author and the reader.

If your character begins as a vehicle for their own death it’s essential to move them past that point, so that their end feels like a genuine loss. After that point the question ‘when do I kill off a character?’ can be answered by deciding what purpose the death serves and what moment will be most impactful in service of that purpose.

Of course knowing when to kill a character influences how you kill them.

How to kill off a character

How you kill a character is strongly influenced by the purpose of their death. In Stephen King’s Desperation, a father is killed out of nowhere, having survived most of the book and seemingly out of reach of the antagonist. The death is sudden and unexpected and serves the theme of horror through powerlessness and injustice.

In Mordecai Richler’s, Barney’s Version, the main character is dying over the entire course of the book, leading the reader to focus on every moment of life he wasted as the story unfolds in flashback.

The duration and manner of your character’s death depends on the purpose of their death. Long deaths can be tedious or heart-rending, sudden deaths shocking or laughable. The difference between a successful character death and one lacking in impact is a single emotion.

Weltschmerz

Of German origin, ‘Weltschmerz’ is the sadness caused by comparing how the world actually is against how we feel it should be.

In terms of character deaths, this emotion takes on a very specific form. The impact of a character’s death stems from the ability of the reader to imagine how things would be if they had survived.

This is one of the reasons why the demise of a character created just to die will have so little impact on the reader. Readers are canny, they understand the medium, and when a character’s sole existence is to prove the bad guy is an amazing swordsman, the reader knows there’s no possible future where they survived. The mechanics of writing bleed into the storytelling and the character may as well have been dead from the start.

Character deaths have impact when the reader feels a sense of loss, but for that sense to exist the reader has to have a subconscious sense of what they’ve lost. Whether it’s the character’s behavior, or the relevance of their relationships, something that was desirable must now be gone.

This is why less skilled writers often drop a love scene right before one of the lovers dies. The reader is meant to mourn the relationship that was cut short, never mind that they were too smart to buy into it in the first place.

In Darren Shan’s Killers of the Dawn, the main character’s mentor is thrown to his certain death at the end of a chapter. The next chapter begins with a daring, last minute rescue. It then details how the enemies were defeated, how the relationships of all the characters progressed, and the idealistic scenarios that followed. Of course this chapter is a lie, the fervent wish of the narrator, but its purpose is to create a highly realized picture of the world that should be.

Once the reader snaps back to reality and is forced to confront the death of the mentor, they do so with an aching Weltschmerz. They have seen the ideal world and understand in every detail the loss they have just witnessed.

Of course not every book can or should include a fake-out chapter, so how can other novels tap into this powerful sense of regret?

To look at this a moment from a different approach, take Stephen King’s, Misery. Our writer, James Caan. is in a terrible crash and rescued by Kathy Bates, claiming to be his biggest fan. She brings him to her remote cabin to recover, where her obsession takes a dark turn when she discovers Sheldon is killing off her favorite character from his novels. As Sheldon (Caan) devises plans for escape, Annie (Bates) grows increasingly controlling, even violent, as she forces the author to shape his writing to suit her twisted fantasies. In this case, a fictional murder suddenly becomes a life or death struggle.

Eulogize

Eulogies are speeches given in memorial of the deceased. By this I don’t mean having a character bemoan the loss of their friend (although that’s a valid option) but that you should reference what’s been lost through the death.

Of course eulogizing doesn’t have to happen after a death, it just needs to reference the loss. Readers are smart enough to think back to eulogies even when they occur before the death they’re mourning.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, contains eulogizing passages before and after Gatsby’s death, but the part that invites the reader’s Weltschmerz the best comes prior.

“They’re a rotten crowd,” I shouted across the lawn. “You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.”

I’ve always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him, because I disapproved of him from beginning to end.

In this short passage, Fitzgerald plants the devastating idea that Gatsby’s death comes from his dedication to those who don’t deserve it, and how alone he’s been throughout the story. When Gatsby is shot sometime later, and those who brought about his death easily shrug off their guilt, this passage recaptures the reader and draws their attention to the idea that almost any other outcome would have been preferable to Gatsby’s sacrifice.

Passages such as this don’t need to be only eulogies. In many cases every action of a fully realized and compelling character constitutes an implicit eulogy. By establishing interesting relationships and a unique voice foundations are laid for the reader’s regrets once they’re gone.

Dead and Buried

Character deaths are a shaky currency and the less considered they are, the more likely the reader is to feel short-changed. The key to an impactful character death is to convince the reader that they’ve lost something and, annoying though it may be, it’s almost impossible to fake that.

Losing a character you like takes a lot of guts. Even more upsetting is consigning a character to death, building them up so that it matters and then not wanting to let them go. In such moments it helps to remember that what feels like a loss to you will be doubly so for your readers, and that the immediate sacrifice will lead to a more enthralling and engaging story in the long run.

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With that said—let us begin.

Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How

Who: Who is the main character (Protagonist)? Police officer, lawyer, baker, soldier drifter? Male or female? Young, middle-aged, old? Tall, short, thin, heavyset, muscular? And … who is the bad guy (Antagonist)? Does he/she kill with a gun, knife, bare hands, explosives? Does he/she speak any languages? Educational background?

Once you define the who and the who is … then you can move on to …

What: What is the story about, and how do both the good and bad guy relate to the story. The what is the descriptive portion of the story.

When: Current as in now? The 1880’s? Great Britan? USA? The jungles of South Africa? This is where the timeline is set. And a timeline can begin anywhere and within a few pages, it can tie right into present day if that is the idea.

Where: This isn’t so much about what is mentioned in when. It is more about detail of where the characters are now. In a car, driving down Interstate 5, or in a jet at 50,000 feet in the air, or a diner, a bedroom, etc. More detail into the description of the current scene in the story you are writing.

Why: Not why you are writing, but why is the good guy after the bad guy, and why is the bad guy doing what he does? Why is it important the good guys get the bad guy?

Finally, the How: That is where you come in. How are you going to make page one blend into page two and page 46 flow as page 33 did? How will you do in introducing other characters and sub-plots that give continuity to your story and hold a reader’s interests until page 350 ends it all on a note that was either hoped for by the reader, or surprises the reader in such a way, the reader will be wanting to read more of your work.

The central focus of all this: every portion mentioned is your plot. Craft it well, and reader’s will want more from you.

The Beginning, Middle and End

Why is the beginning of a story so important?

Without a strong, solid, or interesting opening, you fail to maintain the reader’s attention, and in turn the focus is lost.

What goes in the middle?

The middle portion of your writing should include specific details that support your focus. Explain what is going on. Define by narrowing down the character or what is being down. Describe sensory details (what is being done), be as specific as possible. And Compare. Are there more than one or two things alike that coincide.

Why is the ending so important?

It is the final part of your write. An ending works well when it does one or more of these thing:

1) Reminds readers of all they have read.

2) Ties in the beginning and middle with no unanswered questions.

3) Stresses at least one main point surrounding the story and/or character.

4) Again, answers any last questions you might have as well as concerns (some endings may lead to a sequel).

5) And, if properly done, gives the reader something to think about, as well as recommend your story to others.

End strong. Give yourself plenty of time to create a powerful finish to your writing.

Myself, I have always been one for knowing how a story will end long before I get there. By me starting in such a way, it keeps me focused on the largest part of my writing project in filling the middle that will blend into my ending. For me, it makes better writing and I can keep on track that way. Yet, there have been times where something I write will alter that ending. That’s part of the magic of writing, too. Things can change and lead you in different directions. All I’m saying, is never limit yourself.

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Now, we come to the part no one likes, including me, but this is the most crucial part of your story (or anything you write), that makes all the difference in the world to an editor or publisher, and most importantly—the reader.

Revision—Editing

When you read your finished work, read it first, aloud, then read it again to yourself. Ask a friend or two to read it. Then, use these questions to guide you through any changes.

1—Does the beginning grab the reader’s attention?

2—Do the details in the middle support the focus of your story?

3—Does the ending say something important about the story?

4—Do I sound interested in what I’ve written?

5—Do I use specific nouns and verb?

6—Are my sentences and ideas connected?

When editing, check for errors in capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and grammar. Ask another person to help check your writing for errors. When finished, rewrite and proofread it all over again.

Keys to Editing

Use a dictionary and a thesaurus.

When revising and editing, refer to the Rubrics (which we will get into after this segment).

For editing, these are the 6 to 1 areas to look for:

6—Accurately use conventions which make writing clear and trustworthy.

5—Have a few minor errors in punctuation, caps, spelling, or grammar.

4—Need to correct some errors in punctuation, caps, spelling, or grammar.

3—Some areas may distract the reader. Need to punctuate dialogue correctly.

2—Many areas make the narrative and dialogue hard to read. Need to fix them.

1—Need to correct numerous errors in writing.

For revision, these are the 6 to 1 areas to look for:

Sentence Fluency:

6—Sentences are skillfully written and keep the reader’s attention.

5—Using a variety of sentence lengths and vary sentence beginnings.

4—Includes a variety of sentence lengths but need to vary beginnings.

3—A few sentences need to be varied in length and the way they begin.

2—Need to use different kinds of sentences and vary their beginnings.

1—Most of the sentences start the same way … need to vary the beginning.

Word Choice:

6—Original word choice creates true-to-life pictures for the reader.

5—A clear picture is created using active verbs and words that feel right.

4—Most of the verbs are active and most words have the feeling expressed.

3—Need to use more active verbs and words with the right feeling.

2—Need to replace many passive verbs with active verbs.

1—Unsure about how to use words.

Voice:

6—Narrative voice and dialogue create an unforgettable memory for the reader.

5—Using a natural voice and the dialogue works well.

4—The voice usually sounds natural and using some dialogue.

3—Sometimes the voice can be heard … need to use more dialogue for the story.

2—Narrative voice needs to be heard … need to use dialogue.

1—Voice shows no interest in the narrative.

Organization:

6—The order of events makes the narrative enjoyable and easy to read.

5—Events are in time order … there is a strong beginning, middle and ending.

4—Events are in time order … there is a beginning, middle and ending.

3—Some events are out of order … beginning or ending is weak.

2—Need to use time order … beginning, middle and ending all run together.

1—Writing is confusing … need to place all events in time order.

Ideas:

6—Details focus on one experience and make the narrative come alive.

5—Narrative tells of one experience and sensory details are effective.

4—Narrative tells of one experience, but more details would be better.

3—Need to focus on one experience … some details don’t relate to the story.

2—Have more than one focus sometimes … need to add details about story topic.

1—Story line unclear.

As promised, this will make all this much clearer to you.

Rubrics

It’s a way to check the “health” of your stories. A rubric lists the traits of characteristics for your specific form/style of writing. One you get the hang of this, you will understand its importance of traits like effective ideas, word choice, and sentences in your writing.

The Rubric is set up on a 6-point scale.

6—Amazing: far exceeds the requirements for a trait.

5—Strong: it meets the main requirement of a trait.

4—Good: meets most requirements of a trait.

3—Okay: needs work to meet the requirements of a trait.

2—Poor: needs a lot of work.

1—Incomplete: not ready to assess for a trait.

Just what are the traits?

Writing has six main traits or qualities. Knowing and understanding these traits will help you to improving the quality of your writing.

1—Ideas: The best writing focuses on a specific topic and includes specific ideas and details to support what you are writing.

2—Organization: Good writing has a clear beginning, middle, and ending. It makes reading easy to follow.

3—Voice: The best writing has an appealing voice. Voice is the special way a writer shares his/her ideas and feelings.

4—Word Choice: Good writing uses specific nouns (parachute, myna bird, plum), strong verbs (spewing, attack, pound), and colorful adjectives (crooked, delicate, soggy).

5—Sentence Fluency: Strong writing flows smoothly. Sentences begin in different ways and have different lengths.

6—Conversations: Good writing has corrected punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and grammar.

Here are the 6 to 1 for conversation.

6—Proficiency in conversation gives the story authority.

5—Story has few errors in punctuation, spelling, and grammar.

4—Story has several errors in punctuation, spelling and grammar.

3—Some errors confuse the reader.

2—Many errors in the story, confusing and hard to read.

1—Major help is needed to make corrections.

Follow the simple chart that follows where you can self-rate each section of the Rubric, with both a positive, and with something you could improve on. Leave room the way it is shown to write one strength, and one area that needs work. On the blank line, rank each trait with a number from 6 to 1. With Conversions, mark each area from 1 to 6 with a yes or no.

_______Ideas

1)

2)

_______Organization

1)

2)

_______Voice

1)

2)

_______Word Choice

1)

2)

_______Sentence Fluency

1)

2)

Conversations

Punctuation:

________1) Do I use correct punctuation after every sentence?

________2) Do I use commas in compound sentences?

________3) Do I use apostrophes to show possession (the dog’s bed)?

Capitalization:

________4) Do I start every sentence with a capital letter?

________5) Do I capitalize the names of people and places?

Spelling:

________6) Have I checked my spelling?

Grammar:

________7) Do my verbs and subjects agree (she walks, not: she walk)?

________8) Do I use the right word (to, too, two)?

And the very best way to use this is chapter by chapter, then ask yourself these questions:

What was the best part of my story?

Which part still needs work?

What have I learned from writing my story?

What would I like to do next?

Here are five different writers with their tips on writing:

Jane Yolen on ideas: “Think of an idea or topic that is so strong within you that it’s going to come out passionately as you write about it.” (She is an author of children’s books, and also fantasy and science fiction)

Joan Lowery Nixon on organization: “Work extra hard on the very beginning of your story, so it snares readers instantly.” (She specialized in historical fiction, and mysteries for children and young adults. Though she died in 2003, her books still thrive on the bookshelves, and that has to say volumes as she has left her fingerprint for future readers.)

Peter Elbow on voice: “Writing with real voice has the power to make you pay attention.” (He has written many books on writing, one being and one of my favorites: Writing with Power.)

Paul Fleishman on word choice: “We grew up knowing that words felt good in the ears and on the tongue; that they are so much fun to play with as toys.” (He too, a novelist of children’s books.)

Russ Freedman on sentence fluency: “You want the reader to feel swept along, as if on a kind of trip or ocean journey from sentence to sentence.” (A former biographer and writer of over 50 children’s books. Sadly, this man passed away, March 18, 2018.)

Next up, we will go into some detail with examples of good writing techniques in setting the pace, setting and tone for a good novel.

It’s all about the fiction we write.

But first, I want to repeat something I did at the beginning of this: Each Phase is here to help you help yourself; to step up your writing a notch or two, perhaps give you new twists on old ideas, and perhaps snap you out of a “writer’s cramp” [I dislike the term writer’s block].

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To write fiction, is to write a story with imaginary people and events. While authors sometimes write fiction based on real events or people, the form’s underlying quality is that it springs from the author’s imagination. In this section, I will show examples of several things that have previously been discussed.

First Person: The “I” tells the story. First person is the only POV where the narrator is an active character in the story being told.

Example: I stand at the window of this great house in the south of France as night falls, the night which is leading me to the most terrible morning of my life. I have a drink in my hand, there is a bottle at my elbow. I watch my reflection in the darkening gleam of the window pane. My reflection is tall, perhaps rather like an arrow, my blonde hair gleams. My face is like a face you have seen many times. My ancestors conquered a continent, pushing across death-laden plains, until they came to an ocean which faced away from Europe into a darker past.

James Baldwin—Giovanni’s Room

In first person everything must be experienced through the narrator. This means the narrator doesn’t necessarily know how other characters feel or what other characters know. To do so, would include dialogue, scene action, and a narrator’s subjective opinion.

Here is another example:

It had grown dark that we could see the passage of light through the sky from the lighthouse at Cape Heron. In the dark below the cliff, the continual detonations of surf sounded. And then, as she often does when it is getting dark and she had drunk too much before dinner, Mother began to talk about improvements and additions that would someday be made on the house, the wings and bathroom and gardens.

“The house will be in the sea in five years,” Lawrence said.

“Tiffy the Croaker,” Chaddy said.

“Don’t call me Tiffy,” Lawrence said.

“Little Jesus,” Chaddy said.

“The sea wall is badly cracked,” Lawrence said. “I looked at it this afternoon. You had it repaired four years ago, and it cost eight thousand dollars. You can’t do that every four years.”

“Please, Tiffy,” Mother said,

“Facts are facts,” Lawrence said, “and it’s a damned-fool idea to build a house at the edge of a cliff on a sinking coastline. In my lifetime, half the garden has washed away and there’s four feet of water where we used to have a bathhouse.”

“Let’s have a very general conversation,” Mother said bitterly. “Let’s talk about politics or the boat-club dance.”

“As a matter of fact,” Lawrence said, “the house is probably in some danger now. If you had an unusually high sea, a hurricane sea, the wall would crumble, and the house would go. We could all be drowned.”

“I can’t bear it, Mother said. She went into the pantry and came back with a full glass of gin.

I have grown too old now to think that I can judge the sentiments of others, but I was conscious of the tension between Lawrence and Mother, and I knew some of the history of it.

John Cheever—Goodbye My Brother

With Second Person, the “you” tells the story. Second person is not a common POV in fiction because the “you” intrudes into the reader’s space, asking them to accept the character and his/her experiences as their own. (Pay attention to how advertisers use the second person to sell their stuff.) This is a very tricky style for a novel, and it is difficult to sustain for long periods of time, but it can be interesting and persuasive for shorter pieces.

Here is an example:

Let me open it up for you.

There’s a gift in your lap and it’s beautifully wrapped and it’s not your birthday. You feel wonderful, you feel like somebody knows you’re alive, you feel fear because it could be a bomb, because you think you’re that important.

When you open the wrapping (there’s no card), you find a bowl, a green bowl with a white interior, a bowl for fruit or mixing. You’re puzzled, but obediently put four bananas inside then go back to whatever you were doing before: a crossword puzzle. You wonder and hope this is from a secret admirer but if so, you think, why a box? What are you to learn and gain from a green and white fruit bowl.

This is when you think about the last lover you had and feel bad about yourself. This is when you stand with your pencil poised over the crossword puzzle and stare at the wall.This is when you laugh aloud, alone, to yourself, at something funny he/she said once about crossword puzzles and feel ridiculous for still being able to be entertained by this lover of yore who slept facing the wall and wanted less than you wanted.

You want a lot.

Aimee Bender—Bowl

With Third Person, the story is written about a person, place, or thing. Similar to first person in its scope, third person limited closely follows the thoughts and actions of one-character inhabiting that character. The difference between third person limited and first person: ‘I’, in first person is replaced by “he” or “she” in third person limited, thereby removing the narrator in the story being told.

Another example:

Nothing was changed in the town except that the young girl had grown up. But they lived in such a complicated world of already defined alliances and shifting feuds that Krebs did not feel the energy or the courage to break into it. He liked to look at them, though.There were so many good-looking young girls. Most of them had their hair cut short.When he went away only little girls wore their hair like that or girls that were fast. They all wore sweaters and shirt waists with round Dutch collars. It was a pattern. He liked to look at them from the front porch as they walked on the other side of the street. He liked to watch them walking under the shade of the trees. He liked the round Dutch collars above their sweaters. He liked their silk stockings and flat shoes. He liked their bobbed hair and the way they walked.

Ernest Hemmingway—Soldier’s Home

Now I want to take you to Third Person Omniscient.

The story is told by a single, distinct, unnamed narrator (person or author) who can dip into the thoughts of any character involved in the story. Often referred to as God’s POV, and this POV gives the writer free license to explore the story on so many different level.

While omniscient narrators can dig deeply into a character’s thoughts, as in the previous examples, they can also use their own voice to fill in any background information/details (time, place, and characters) of the story or offer up objective observations. Omniscient narrators can put themselves outside the story as a passive observer free of the character’s thoughts.

As in the following two examples:

The houses were left vacant on the land, and the land was vacant because of this. Only the twelve tractor sheds of corrugated iron, silver and gleaming, were alive; and they were alive with metal and gasoline and oil, the disks of the plows shining. The tractors had lights shining, for there is no day or night for a tractor and the disks turn the earth in the darkness and they glitter in the daylight. And when a horse stops work and goes into the barn there is life and a vitality left, there is a breathing and a warmth, and the feet shift the straw, and the jaws chomp on the hay, and the ears and eyes are alive. There is a warmth of light in the barn, and the heat and smell of life. But when the motor of a tractor stops, it is as dead as the ore it came from. The heat goes out of it like the living heat goes out of a corpse. Then the corrugated iron doors are closed, and the tractor man drives home to town, perhaps twenty miles away, and he need not come back for weeks or months, for the tractor is dead. And this is easy and efficient. So easy that the wonder goes out of work, so efficient that the wonder goes out of the land and the working of it, and with the wonder the deep understanding and relation. And in the tractor man there grows the contempt that comes only to a stranger who has little understanding and no relation. For nitrates are not the land, nor phosphates and the length of fiber in the cotton is not land. Carbon is not a man, nor salt nor water nor calcium. He is all three, but he is much more; and the land is so much more than its analysis.

John Steinbeck—The Grapes of Wrath

After lunch they were both overwhelmed by the sudden flatness that comes over American travelers in quiet foreign places. No stimuli worked upon them, no voices called them from without, no fragments of their own thoughts came suddenly from the minds of others and missing the clamor of Empire they felt that life was not continuing here.

F. Scott Fitzgerald—Tender is the Night

The following is something that Alice Munro, author of: Train—Dear Life and several short story collections has to say about story structure.

“A story is not like a road to follow, it’s more like a house. You go inside and stay there for a while, wandering back and forth and settling where you like and discovering how the rooms and the corridors relate to each other, how the world outside is altered as well as being in this enclosed space, whether it is ample and easy or full of crooked turns, or sparsely or opulently furnished. You can go back again and again and the house, the story, always contains more than you saw the last time. It has also a sturdy sense of itself, of being built out of its own necessity, not just to shelter or beguile you. To deliver a story like that durable and freestanding, is what I am always hoping for.”

I want to touch bases on three different areas in fiction (again). I say again, because you can never allow yourself to think they are unimportant to worry about. Repetition is the key to understanding your craft. You can moan, groan and bellyache all you will, just as with what you have finished looking over—but you must never lose sight of the importance of these skills to help you improve your technique, your style of writing.

These areas are: Setting – Dramatic Dialogue – Vocabulary. At the end of these, I will give you five choices of what you should experiment with in your writing.

Setting:

Just like character, setting is an important aspect of the story. You should create a clear picture of where the story takes place for your reader. Let’s say you are writing a story set in a New York City apartment. Describe the apartment as if your reader is blind and needs all the details to create a mental picture. Are the walls cracked or smooth or raw brick? Has it been painted recently (paint has that specific odor)? Is the apartment musky? Do the walls smell of wet plaster from a leaky pipe or flowers or a wet dog? What would some of these details tell the reader? How does the setting affect the story or the characters? How does the setting propel the story? Knowing these details will help create the story’s context, grounding the characters and reader in a specific time and place.

Dramatic Dialogue:

Dialogue includes everything that is said by characters in a story as well as gestures accompanying those statements or questions. Good dialogue is more than simply words spoken by characters. It should work on many levels; moving the story forward, revealing details of the characters in the process, and coloring the themes, such as: drama, fantasy, comedy, and the like.

Vocabulary

Words are the building blocks of writing, and as writers, you should know this by now (and I mean that saying even before you came here to read what is given you). But this doesn’t mean the more complex words you use, the better your writing will be. Write naturally and in a familiar voice with words you know. It is sometimes better to use a word you know rather that one you don’t (and generally if you don’t understand it, neither will the reader). Feeling comfortable with your own vocabulary is a good tool for better writing. If you want to expand your vocabulary, the best ways to do so naturally are to read (there is that key word again—read) widely and have a dictionary close at hand.

“You expect far too much from a first sentence. Think of it as analogous to a good country breakfast; what we want is something simple but nourishing to the imagination.Hold the philosophy, hold the adjectives, just give us plain subject and verb and perhaps a wholesome, nonfattening verb or two.”

Larry McMurtry—Author of Lonesome Dove – The Last Picture Show, Terms of Endearment and Horsemen, Pass By (more well known as the film Hud with Paul Newman). I mention all these novels because McMurtry is a diversified novelist. He also wrote several serial novels. McMurtry refused to allow himself to be typed-cast as a one genre-type author.

Just something for you to think about.

Now, as promised, five writing exercises for you to contemplate writing. Choose which one suits your fancy.

1) Write about someone telling a lie. Every time it gets stagnant, make the lie bigger.

2) Choose a personal real-life story and write it as you would tell it. Don’t censor yourself; just “talk” it out on the written page.

3) Write about a specific place from your early childhood to early teen years that means a lot to you. Focus on the sensory details—what you can see, hear, touch, smell and taste. If you have trouble remembering some details, make them up.

4) Write a piece of fiction about a portrait (no, not a painting) of someone you know nothing about. Think to yourself: what would he/she want more than anything else in the world. What is preventing him/her from getting it? What is he/she going to do about it?

5) Since I am retired, I can say I no longer have one, but many of you do, and this could prove to be an interesting write (fiction, just remember that). Write about the worst boss you ever had.

Coming next, science fiction.

This will be short, but do you enjoy writing Science Fiction? Have you ever given any thought to it?

Here are some tips and tricks to help you either get started, give you some ideas for creating a sci-fi novel or short story.

Science fiction is just that, fiction about science. The science might be invented, and it might be of any stripe: political science, psychology and sociology, electronics, or the type with beakers and skeletons, but all sci-fi revolves around a central ‘what if’ question that addresses a deeper query.

It’s for this reason that many prominent sci-fi writers dislike the genre’s name, instead preferring ‘speculative fiction’. Sci-fi asks questions, it’s a fictive study of a central thesis. Philip K. Dick’s, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”, asks ‘what if androids were as emotionally complex as humans?’ This thesis is used to explore how we define emotion and memory, and how we understand what it means to be human.

The ancestral grandfather of science fiction is H. G. Wells with books like ‘The Time Machine’ and ‘The War of the Worlds’. Those books involved things that are very unlikely to happen or are impossible, but they are ways of exploring possibilities and human nature and the way people react to certain things.

The Star Wars movies, however, are not built on this kind of thesis. The story is of a Jedi knight on a quest to save a princess. The castle may be a star ship, the duels fought with laser swords, but the futuristic tech is never used as a lens through which to examine our own world. That’s not to say that fantasy can’t comment on the human condition, or that it isn’t a valid genre with a lot to offer, but it does it in a distinctly different way to sci-fi.

No matter how impressive, the aesthetic trappings of robots and aliens won’t make a fantasy story into science fiction.

Rule: 1 – Know your Thesis

With that in mind, the first golden rule of writing sci-fi is ‘know your thesis’. Do you just want to write about strange lands and weird characters? That’s fine, but it’s likely you’re writing fantasy in space. In H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, the protagonist encounters two races, the seemingly brutish, subterranean Morlocks and the beautiful but vapid Eloi. While many readings are possible, it’s undeniable that Wells uses the two races to comment on the politics of appearance, and even labor. The protagonist’s constantly shifting understanding of the two races’ relationship provides critique after critique of the modern world.

Wells’ ‘what if’, is ‘what if our evolution continued according to our current social behavior?’ His conclusion is best left to the reader but suffice it to say it’s not favorable.

And what’s the point of your world? What are you talking about? Try and take the ‘science’ of sci-fi as an approach rather than a topic. Use your world as a case study, almost an experiment, which will prove your point to the reader. Of course, stories are more than one thing, but keeping your thesis central has many benefits when writing sci-fi. Knowing the point of your fictional world will stop inconsistencies. In 1984, George Orwell provides detail after detail of the fascist state Oceania. Views on entertainment, dress, behavior, and literature are scattered throughout, giving the reader the impression of a totally consistent world.

Orwell can create this impression because he has a clear idea of the philosophy behind the society from the start: ‘What if a government tried to cement power by eliminating choice?’ The details that follow are all accepted by the reader because they all serve this idea.

Clarify your idea. What’s your question, and what’s the answer? You don’t have to spell them out to the reader, but you must to be able to spell them out to yourself. Write them down and stick them in your work space. Every time you’re looking for details on your world or characters think how they would act in a reality based on that question.

Rule: 2 – Do your Research

Once you’ve decided on your question, it’s time to look into the answer. Margaret Atwood has claimed of her novel The Handmaid’s Tale:

“There isn’t anything in the book not based on something that has already happened in history or in another country, or for which actual supporting documentation is not already available.”

Margaret Atwood—The Handmaid’s Tale

Based on the question ‘what if the ability to reproduce became rare?’, among a few others, Atwood describes a futuristic society where women capable of giving birth are property sold to the highest and most influential bidder. She uses knowledge of fundamentalist religious treatment of women, as well as the history of slavery and war, to craft a world which feels real because it is built on a real understanding of misogyny.

Whether your thesis is ‘what if we met aliens in the fifties?’ or ‘what if we all went deaf overnight?’, there will be real information you can research to learn how similar situations have gone in the past. What happened in our own past when new cultures met? What is it like gaining or losing a sense? Whether the occupying force is aliens or mutated plants, as in John Wyndham’s Day of the Triffids, we have records of life under occupation.

Accounts of the best and worst in humanity are available in myriad forms.

It’s the details that sell sci-fi. They make the world seem real, validating your thesis by ensuring the story constantly rings true. The more research you can do into your selected area, the more ideas you’ll have. There are several types of lizard that disguise themselves as females to avoid alpha males and steal mates, types of birds that hide their eggs in other’s nests where they hatch and kill off the other chicks, and fish that pretend to be cave’s so prey will swim into their mouths. No matter how strange your aliens, monsters, or other beings, there are realistic details just waiting for you to find them.

Once you’ve got your thesis and you’re armed with real-life precedents it’s time to really be brave.

Rule: 3 – Don’t be afraid of the New

Sci-fi asks big questions and knows what it’s talking about. It’s maybe the bravest genre, not just keeping up with its audience or period but forecasting ahead to the future. That’s why it’s essential to ask what’s new about your story. Is it the world you’re crafting, your position in time, your own voice?

It’s true that every story has already been told, but every day there are new ways to examine the human condition. What does social media tell us about humanity, and what might it look like in the future? It’s a sad truth of sci-fi that the exaggeration of yesterday is the truth of today. Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein (often described as the first sci-fi novel), explores the idea of creating unnatural life from a Victorian perspective and has many interesting and perceptive insights, but Kazuo Ishiguro’s, ‘Never Let Me Go’, is written from the perspective of a writer not just theorizing about cloning, but living in a world where it’s already been done.

What is new or unique about your questions? Even if it’s just a new way of presenting your theory to the audience that’s enough but identifying what you’re bringing to the discussion will help you place emphasis in the right places.

Appreciate your Audience

Sci-fi is often the first foray into new ideas. Even as you explore the possibility of real artificial-intelligence, there are vast libraries on the resulting moral quandaries, and writing on space travel predated actual attempts by centuries. A sci-fi audience is one with big expectations, and if you can understand what they expect and why it works, they’ll be the most engaged fans a writer could ask for.

Writing other worlds or societies can be incredibly tricky, especially when it comes to setting aside your own experiences and biases.

Now, when it comes to fantasy … most of the same rules apply in Sci-Fi to fantasy but with one huge change to factor in: any fantasy story that contains unrealistic settings, or magic, or often set in a medieval universe, and possibly involving mythical beings or supernatural forms as a primary element of the plot, theme, or setting.

With Sci-Fi we are talking about a different universe, a different form of alien or invasion, and in fantasy, dragons, magic, and the like. A good example is J.R.R. Tolkien’s – Lord of the Rings.

Next, we delve into another aspect of writing. Nonfiction, Autobiographies, Memoirs and Reviews. A few tips and ideas for the writer that may see a career there. After all, somebody must tell us the truth.

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Talking about science fiction, a film entitled “Threads”, originally done in 1984 on the BBC Television Network, depicted what would happen in the event of a Nuclear Attack.

The quiet lives in Sheffield, England, are threatened when the Soviet Union and United States go to war. After a nuclear attack destroys a NATO base 20 miles from Sheffield, the town falls into chaos. Its set up as a docu-drama, but I have always looked at it as science-fiction with flare.

It’s a little known if even remembered film, but has been given a new life on DVD and Blu-Ray, but, I am of opinion this is probably one of the better science fiction films to come along in my lifetime. It gives us a sense it is happening, in real time. When you take into account the filming and the way things were designed in 1984, the special effects far outweigh in some respects films of today.

After all, science fiction doesn’t have to be all about aliens destroying life as we know it, or looking for a new world to discover and fraught with suspense and danger.

A clip from Threads: https://youtu.be/MrHoMSRZOS4

Herein, will be an overview of a few areas that are good to know, if you ever make the choice to challenge your career as a writer, or if this in fact the direction you want to travel. The basic skills that have been put here still apply and always will. It’s just that the style changes based on where you take your skill level.

… and so, we begin.

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Nonfiction:

Memoir, newspaper, and magazine articles, reviews of all types, diaries, journals, essays, both personal and critical, and travelogue; all fall under the umbrella of nonfiction.

What defines nonfiction as a genre? Some will say nonfiction is an inexact label put on a wide variety of writing one thing in common; it’s all based primarily on fact and real-life events.

With the recent popularity of memoir and personal essay moving beyond the boundaries of traditional nonfiction, a newer label was created: creative nonfiction. Some would say all writing is inherent to creativity. Faction is another label affixed to a new breed of nonfiction that uses narrative devices generally associated with fiction. In the end, good nonfiction borrows from all forms of writing, whether it is cadence and rhythm from poetry, interesting narrative structure common to fiction, or solid research inherent to all journalism. The best that can be done to simplify this is to break it down to three aspects of nonfiction.

Fact:

Something that can be shown to be true, or to have happened; or the circumstances of an event, motion, occurrence, a state of affairs rather than an interpretation of its importance.

Memory:

The knowledge or impression someone retains on a particular person, event, time period, or subject matter.

Reporting:

Using all the senses to describe a scene or situation, or event in clear and concise detail. Good reporting uses the five senses to create vivid images for your readers.

When it comes to nonfiction, never second guess your topic or subject. Research as much information as possible. If your intent would be to write a nonfiction book based on the life and times of James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise, then you would study up on not only the character himself but read the history of how he came to be, which would be the writer himself and what made him decide to create Kirk to begin with.

In your research, you may learn small, yet important details not commonly known or known at all by the public. Make certain you get dates and times correct. If possible, get interviews with people on the subject you write. The best information is right from the horse’s mouth in many cases.

The key though is one word with any nonfiction write (and this includes everything in this section): research, research, research.

Many of the basic tools given throughout here, can still be applied.

Autobiography:

An autobiography is an account of someone’s life as told by that person. While many published autobiographies chronicle the lives of famous or historical people, you don’t have to be famous to write one. Sometimes it can be useful for individuals to document their own lives for clarity, or perhaps to give themselves closure on an incident or just see where they have been, where they are going or want to go with their lives.

Autobiographies often follow a timeline from childhood to current time, and include anecdotes, background profiles of family and friends, education, former work places, acquaintances, and it also tells of any accomplishments, triumphs, challenges, ordeal, as well as failures.

A good place to start, especially if you want to break in as a nonfiction author, start with someone local in your area that has done something amazing you think the world should know. Perhaps this person may have been an unsung hero who gave his life for the greater good of others. You see more than just a story, but a complex series of events that brought that person to the forefront, and you want the world to know.

Now this part I will get into later, but how do you get it published? Query letters. Feelers to publishers/editors who strictly work with nonfiction. Submit an outline. Don’t be concerned if you send a hundred letters and get a “NO!” It happens. But someone will buy into your idea. Yet here is the bigger thing. Continue writing the story no matter how many rejections you get. If you believe in what you are putting together and believe in yourself to tell the story the way it needs to be told and read, that is 90% of the battle right there.

(So as not to dwell on the subject … the biography is an account of a person’s life written by someone else. Research is still required and more so as at times you won’t have direct consent to write this. Often, permission is given—other times it is not. It’s a tricky slope without permission is all I will say.)

Here are two very good nonfiction books of autobiographies.

Fredrick Douglas—Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass

Published September 4, 2004 and first published in 1845 - Frederick Douglass was born a slave in 1817, but he never stopped dreaming of his freedom. How did he use education to get his freedom?

Jeannette Walls—The Glass Castle

Published January 17, 2006 – This is a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that, despite its profound flaws, gave the author the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms. I will say here that when I read this account I was practically left speechless by its contents.

Memoir:

Many people have a hard time differentiating between autobiography and memoir. Both forms are in fact personal accounts of a person’s life as told by that person. The main difference lies in focus.

While an autobiography sets its sights on the broad details of a person’s life, memoirs tend to be more intimate. Here, I am sure the ladies will agree that their teenage diary (memoir), was a sacred book not meant for anyone’s eyes but their own. If anyone else read it, it would feel like a personal violation to them.

The focus in a memoir is the author’s memories about a particular time, specific event, that could prove a turning point in life.

If you haven’t, I recommend two books to read, which both will give you a strong sense of how a memoir should be. Both are excellent examples.

V.S. Pritchett—A Cab at the Door

A Cab at the Door, originally published in 1968, recalls his childhood in turn-of-the-century and World War I London with the urbane subtlety and wry humor that have marked his other works. For the wild and eccentric Pritchett family, life is a series of cabs waiting at the door to transport them to a succession of ten-bob-a-week lodgings, in their flight from creditors and the financial disasters of their father. It also captures the texture and color of the working-class side of Edwardian England. Midnight Oil (which Wilfrid Sheed called a ‘little Rolls Royce of a book’ when it came out in 1972) opens in 1921: with L20 in his pocket, Pritchett arrives in Paris to commence a literary career. Gradually, his creative sensibilities emerge as he travels as a reporter to Ireland, Spain, and America. Midnight Oil provides an intimate and precise record of a writer’s discovery of himself and his art.

Maxine Hong Kingston—The Woman Warrior

Published April 23rd, 1989 by Vintage Books (first published in 1975). A Chinese American woman tells of the Chinese myths, family stories and events of her California childhood that have shaped her identity. It is a sensitive account of growing up female and Chinese-American in a California laundry.

Finally: Criticisms and Reviews:

Formal criticism includes subjective or opinionated responses to certain events, or bodies of work using rumination, comparison, and examination. Topics can include but are not limited to novels, art, other writing, movies, music, theater, events, festivals, and food—just about anything someone could have an opinion on.

Step One: Decide What to Look At

The first thing you need to do before you start your review is decide what aspects of the item you are going to evaluate. What I mean is this: what is it that can be good or bad about something you’re going to review? An example: when you’re watching a movie, you can look at the acting, the special effects, the camera work, or the story, among other things. Those are all items you can examine and decide if they are well or poorly done. With a book, you can look at the plot, the characters, and the way that the author puts words together. With a restaurant, you can look at the food, the service, and the setting. In fact, everything has qualities you can analyze and evaluate; you just need to sit down and figure out what they are.

Step Two: Decide What Makes Things Good or Bad

Before you can decide whether something is good or bad, you must figure out what you mean by “good” and “bad.” Do you like stories/books/films that have a lot of action or a lot of character development? Do you like acting that’s realistic or acting that’s wild and nutty? Do you like authors to use a lot of complicated words, or very simple words? You decide. Whatever you like, apply those standards to the thing you are reviewing.

How to do it

It is now time to start putting your write together. Here is a simple format you can follow:

Open with an introduction paragraph that does the following things:

Catch the reader’s attention, and identify the things you’ll be reviewing (e.g., the title of the book or movie); identifies the author, star, or director, if appropriate.

Write a full paragraph about each of the aspects you want to examine, making sure each paragraph does these things:

Open with topic sentences that says what the paragraph is about and has several detail sentences that prove the point you are trying to make.

Use quotes or examples from the book or movie, if possible, to help prove your point.

End with a conclusion paragraph that does the following:

Briefly restates the main ideas of the review and makes a judgment about the book or movie or whatever, saying whether it is good or bad (some reviewers give ratings, like four stars or two thumbs up), recommend that the reader go to the movie or read the book or buy a meal at the restaurant (or not, if it is no good). Here are additional explanations.

Read, watch, or listen to the work more than once. The first time you read or watch something, get an overall sense of the work. Then think about its strengths and weaknesses. Read or watch it again to confirm your first impressions. This time, take careful notes. Be ready to change your mind if a closer look sends you in a different direction.

Provide essential information

Tell readers the complete title of the work and the name of its author or creator. Supply the publisher, publication date, and other information about when the piece was created and where readers or viewers can find it. Check your facts. The details in a review must be accurate.

Understand your audience

Reviews appear in all sorts of places. You’ll find them in local and national publications, online, and in specialized journals and neighborhood newsletters. Research the places you hope to publish your review and write accordingly. Think about what you need to explain. General readers will need more background information than readers of a publication aimed at experts.

Take a stand

State your opinion of the work you’re evaluating. Your review can be negative, positive, or mixed. Your job is to support that opinion with details and evidence. Even if readers disagree with you, they need to see how you reached your conclusions.

Explain how you’re judging the work

Decide on your criteria, the standards you’ll use to judge the book, show, or film. You might believe a novel is successful when it has characters you care about and a plot that makes you want to keep reading. State these criteria so your readers understand what you believe.

Introduce evidence to support your criteria

Support your judgments with quotations or descriptions of scenes from the work. Also consult outside sources. Have other critics agreed with your opinion of this work? You may want to mention these reviews, too. Always make sure to cite another writer’s work correctly, if used.

Know the conventions of the genre

Every type of writing or art has specific elements. A mystery has to have suspense, while a romance must have characters you believe would be attracted to one another. Consider theme, structure, characters, setting, dialogue, and other relevant factors. Understand these conventions and take them into account as part of your criteria.

Compare and contrast

Comparison can be a great way to develop your evaluation. Suppose you claim that a film has wonderful, original dialogue. Demonstrate this by sharing some dialogue from another film that has stiff, wooden, or clichéd dialogue. Use the contrast to prove your point.

Do not summarize the entire plot

Books, films, and television shows have beginnings, middles, and endings. People read and watch these works in part because they want to know what happens. Let them enjoy their stories. Provide a general idea of what happens, but don’t give away important secrets, especially the end.

Next time, we will delve into film and broadway screenplays, an entirely different form of writing.