Creative Writing - Phase Six

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