LINKS-4-Writers (How to Edit)

Links of Interest


How to Revise A Novel

Writing Suspense: Fiction vs. Reality

Secrets of Screenplay Structure

Opening the Doors to Hollywood : How to Sell Your Idea, Story, Screenplay, Manuscript (Paperback)

Important:

Enjoy the process!

NEW PRIZE FOR ASIAN WRITERS

The investment house that sponsors the Booker Prize has begun a new award intended to recognize Asian authors living in the region and writing in their own language, Agence France-Presse reported. The prize, an annual award of $10,000 to be known as the Man Asian Literary Prize, was announced yesterday in Hong Kong and is to be given next autumn for the first time by Man Investments. Robb Corrigan, a spokesman for the company, said, "There is a specific goal to bring Asian voices to the global stage." Peter Gordon, director of the Hong Kong Literary Festival, which took part in the announcement, said the prize would be open to writers in 24 countries in a "triangle defined by Japan, Indonesia and Afghanistan."

For more: News

Point of View (POV)

I'm looking at my latest posting and realize, ey, I've written it like I'm just taking notes for me. Well, I guess I am in a way. This blog is my take on the latest book I'm reading.

For more info on POV's or subjects covered thus far, I recommend getting Self-Editing for Fiction Writers and get your own notes going. Besides this blog, I got a notebook with more notes.

First Person POV is the “I” voice from a narrator or specific character, making it more intimate.

Important: Here, the POV character must be strong and interesting enough. Yet, not too eccentric or bizarre that we lose connection.

Shalla Question: So, has any successful, best selling author written about an eccentric/bizarre character in first person? (Love to find a book)

Limitation with 1st Person POV – narrator must be in the scene

CURE: Write each chapter from a different narrator in 1st person


"Oh book, illuminate me!"


Omniscient POV is the “IT” voice directly from the writer. Here, it’s okay if characters don’t know the info. More perspective, less intimacy.

Third Person POV is a balance with some perspective and some intimacy.

How to create more intimacy or more distance?
--check your word choice
--more adjectives, more feelings
--syntax
--character’s emotion

A Note on Descriptions
If the description is only for info, it interrupts and slows the pace.
If the description conveys the character’s personality or mood, it can vary the pace, add texture and does not interrupt flow.

In other words, describe by “showing” a character’s personality or mood.

Reasons for creating Distance
1.) to put more focus on the action not the personalities
2.) if the scene is of minor characters
3.) to describe a situation or state of mind beyond the VP character
4.) VP character is a psychotic killer

Reason to stick to 1 POV per Scene is to control distance.

SHOW vs. TELL Revisited

Time to knit pick:

Sample #1

The conversation was barely begun before I discovered that our host was more than simply a stranger to most of his guests. He was an enigma, a mystery. And this was a crowd that doted on mystery. In the space of no more than five minutes, I heard several different people put forth their theories—all equally probable or preposterous—as to who and what he was. Each theory was argued with the conviction that can only come from a lack of evidence, and it seemed that, for many of the guests, these arguments were the main reason to attend his parties.

What’s wrong with this paragraph?

It tells the story which is a good thing but no dialogue, no specific characters talking or doing stuff. No specific setting. Where is this happening on real time? In other words, give us a scene!

Sample #2 (F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby) --BETTER

“I like to come,” Lucille said. “I never care what I do, so I always have a good time. When I was here last, I tore my gown on a chair, and he asked me my name and address—within a week I got a package from Croirier’s with a new evening gown with it.”

“Did you keep it?” asked Jordan.

“Sure I did. I was going to wear it tonight, but it was too big in the bust and had to be altered. It was gas blue with lavender beads. Two hundred and sixty-five dollars.”

(etc. etc.)

What’s different between Sample 2 and Sample 1?

We’ve got a Scene instead of a sequel/narrative:

-specific characters (Lucille, Jordan, etc.)
-specific setting ie. on real time (even though it’s in 3rd person-past, it’s as if we’re there, watching, participating, judging what’s going on)
-dialogue galore (characters talking, interacting with one another, “verbs”)
*
KNIT PICKING KNIT PICKS:
Readers judging, creating opinions on what’s going on because of character actions, words, and reactions.

What characters are saying.

From reading Lucille’s lines, is she a gold digger? Is she materialistic? (she mentioned the high cost of the gift)
And who is the generous, possibly rich guy who bought her the gown? Do I like her? Do I like Jordan? Do I like the guy they’re talking about?

My take at the moment: Character identification is important. Though we probably don’t have to like all these characters, at least one should interest us.

This scene is also revealing about the mysterious man (Gatsby’s) character because of the way other characters think and talk about him.

In other words, instead of getting the info like a list, it is revealed to us little by little by other characters actions and critiques. (Yes, I repeat the same point over and over again, looking at it from all sides, angles, dimensions etc. until one day poof! It’s integrated. Permanently ;)

Now, jumping a little here (the book suggests we “show why your characters feel the way they do”), let’s see what we can find here… Aha!

Sentence from Sample #2

“There’s something funny about a fellow that’ll do a thing like that,” said the other girl eagerly.

So, instead of saying the girl said eagerly, should I who why the character feels eager? No, according to Self Editing for Fiction Writers, p-17, just drop “eagerly.”

So, no, don’t have to explain that adverb/description. Why?

R.U.E. (Resist the Urge to Explain)
Never describe a character’s emotion. It’s repetitive. Cut the explanation. So, no, she said happily, he said ecstatically, it grew magically, etc. Instead, rewrite the passage to show that it is.

Example: She said happily.
Our goal is to rewrite and show “happily.”

“I go sell you this car for mere three hundred if you lemme an’ my drunken ass alone.”
“That’s fantastic!” she said.

Example: It grew magically.
Our goal is to rewrite and show “grew magically.”

Earle stands, scratching his scruffy neck with a fork. “Yous a city folk. Yous don’t know nothin’ about farmin’.”

“Oh yeah!” Kyra squeezes her fists together, her face growing more and more flushed. “See that plot of land?! I sprinkled it with a canister of seeds and its growing.”

“Well, ain’t that a miracle.”

Hmm, okay, for this one, I wonder if I over did it? And I wonder if putting “her face growing more and more flushed” is telling instead of showing. But then again, the book did say, none of these are hard fast rules. So I’ll have to go with my instinct and make the call on this. It may be easier when I’m revising my manuscript and I have all the info on the scene and plot. Well, okay, try again:

Example: It grew magically.
Our goal is to rewrite and show “grew magically.”

“What?” Mama took me to a corner. “All you did was put banana extract on your scalp and your hair grew out blonde?”

“Yeah, amazing, huh?”

Okay, more direct to the point. More action instead of “mama said”. I wonder what the book will say about that. Well, guess I’ll find out in the following chapter. (I love this book :)

What do I think of flashbacks?

They’re all over Desperate Housewives. Yes, I study the show, its scripts etc. Flashbacks can stop the current flow of action, sure, but, when done well, it makes the scene richer, more beautiful. Ie. One of the episodes started with Susan having trouble with dating, then flashbacks to Susan’s history of unluckiness. It’s done efficiently (quickly), wittily though at the same time informative and gives a better sense of Susan, what she’s been thru so, greater character connection.

Also, well-done flashbacks can be a good mechanism to build suspense. Ie. What’s going to happen next? Oh! This scene’s going so well! Then, a well done/entertaining/informative flashback comes along which can heighten suspense and add a new dimension to the story.

Oh, and turn flashbacks into Scenes instead of a narrative whenever possible. When writing, I’d follow my intuition instead of just following the ridiculous rule of “no flashbacks.” (Of course at the moment, I’m not writing for category romance which has more set boundaries)

Here's an Article by Nancy Kress 3 Tips for Writing Successful Flashbacks

CHARACTERIZATION and EXPOSITION

How to make readers care about our character:
1.) put them into scenes
2.) introduce characters slowly
a.) writing physical descriptions – just enough to jumpstart readers imagination
b.) writing personality descriptions – show by what other characters are saying
thru action
thru reaction
thru interior monologue
thru dialogue (accents, slang etc.)

ie. “fish for clean clothes” = slob

Less Flashbacks, only essentials (But Desperate Housewives scripts are always using flashbacks... Is this a new thing?)

Let readers take an active role. Make them experience the story. In other words, use Scenes.

Exposition is the background, back story. It’s the info needed to follow and appreciate the plot. (So, Exposition is the Sequel/Narrative?)

How to make readers care about exposition?
1.) Put them into scenes (Show instead of Tell)
2.) Introduce expositions slowly, and only give as much info, history or characterization as necessary
3.) Make sure it is not disguising as dialogue


Shalla’s Questions: Best seller Carl Hiassen introduces characters in pages of exposition and flashbacks which apparently readers love. So, is he just an exception? So, all I need to do is write flashbacks and exposition like Carl Hiassen?

To be continued...

For now, my MR2 is passing it's Smog Test easily, effortlessly and quickly. As for the weather, it's cool and comfortable :) Yes! My MR2 passed the smog--woopee! Someday, I'm converting that car to run on water. I've seen cars converted to run on vegetable oil, but I'm holding off. My next car? a hybrid :)

Questions of the Day--SHOW vs. TELL

Practicing SHOW vs. TELL

TELL: He almost drops the cat box.

SHOW #1: He swings at them, letting go of the cat box.

SHOW #2: He swings at them, the cat box slipping from his fingers.

My question is: Is SHOW #1, enough showing?

Or do I have to upgrade it to SHOW #2?

Or are both okay?

SELF-EDITING for FICTION WRITERS-- Mastering the Art of Editing

A wonderful Literary Agent, suggested Self-Editing for Fiction Writers as a great book to help edit novels. So, I immediately ordered it from Amazon, ready to give it a try.

As always, I got my retractable pencil, my bottled water and my cat, and got ready to master it. Yes, my goal is to master every nook and constructive, helpful cranny of this book. It received high ratings from Amazon purchasers plus that top agent who suggested it plus, I scanned thru it and it looks like a winner. So, I'm determined to master it. That's the only practical way, so I don't have to keep referring to it as often and instead concentrate on using it on my latest manuscript.

So, here are my notes.

SHOW and TELL

SCENE
-immediate and transparent
-where reader can see breathless anticipation of characters
-takes place in real time (even flashbacks)
-just use enough setting to jumpstart the reader's imagination
-contains action ie. beats/Internalization
-engages reader's emotions

SEQUEL
-2nd hand report
-narrative summary
-no specific setting
-no specific characters
-no dialogue
-engages reader's intellect
-gives resting period between scenes
-gives continuity (transitions between scene to scene)

***Important things to remember***

SHOWING vs. TELLING characters' emotions

Show why your character feel the way they do.
ie. Shalla took one look at the cat and jumped up and down cheerfully.

Change to:
Describe the cat in such a way that the readers feel gleeful themselves.

Don't just give readers info, give them the experience.

Ie. Shalla is happy.

Change to:
Beautiful jazz music starts to play, bringing a huge mile onto Shalla's lips. And before long, she is tapping her foot and clapping her hands!

R.U.E. = resist the urge to explain

At this point, I wrote some questions down:
1. So, in writing dialogue. Let's say, a character's from Missourri and she has a thick accent. When writing her dialogue, shouldn't I make sure she says "Mazurrah" (and spell it that way to show she has an accent) and wouldn't letting her say "Missourri" (and spelling it that way but telling the readers, she has an accent, not be good enough?).

Ie. The old yokel from a small town if Fayettesville has got one thing to say to Californian's she's visiting, "You shore are good to me just like folks in Mazurrah!"

(Just read the chapter on See How It Sounds and apparently, what's in vogue is, keep the spelling as is. So: "You sure are good to me just like folks in Missouri!"

2. How can I make switching from first person to third person POV's flawless?

3. Is making sure to show vs. tell really that important? Many published classics don't follow this rule.

Here, my question was immediately answered in the next page. This is not a hard-and-fast rule. In fact, none of the self-editing principles in this book should be treated as rules. There are going to be times when telling will create more engagement than showing. (p.19)

The book then follows with writing exercises. Very helpful. It even has an example in first person POV, which is how I'm writing my novel.

For its 1st Chapter, I'm rating this book: a GEENIE

That means, it's helpful and it's going to make all my wishes come true!!!
Thanks G!